The Kew Historical Society's map collection includes a substantial number of real estate subdivision plans, mainly of Kew but also of surrounding suburbs in Melbourne. Most of the subdivision plans date from the 1920s and 1930s when the districts old homes and local farmland were being split up to accommodate residential growth in the postwar period. These early plans were assembled by a local firm, Jas R Mather & McMillan, which had an office in Cotham Road. Many of the plans, and sometimes photos, were annotated by the agents. The ‘new’ Balwyn Picture Theatre was built and owned by Balwyn Theatres Pty Ltd in ca. 1928. By 1930, this first Balwyn Theatre was destroyed by fire after a break-in. Following the fire, a new cinema was constructed. This plan for a Cinema and eleven shops presumably dates from 1927/28 when the Company announced that this location in Whitehorse Road ‘was the most central and best suited [area] for their Theatre and shops’.Subdivision plans are historically important documents used as evidence for the growth of suburbs in Australia. They frequently provide information about when the land was sold as well as evidence relating to surveyors and real estate and financial agents. The numerous subdivision plans in the Kew Historical Society's collection represent working documents, ranging from the initial sketches made in planning a subdivision to printed plans on which auctioneers or agents listed the prices for which individual lots were sold. In a number of cases, the reverse of a subdivision plan in the collection includes a photograph of a house that was also for sale by the agent. These photographs provide significant heritage information relating house design and decoration, fencing and household gardens.The photograph may also be aesthetically significant depending on the importance of the photographic atelier.Subdivision plan showing the Balwyn Theatre and its adjoining shop sites in Whitehorse Road Balwyn. The 11 shop sites were noted for their depth (133 ft - 145 ft. [Map.0041]balwyn theatre -- balwyn (vic.), subdivisions -- balwyn (vic), subdivision plans

After training as a Cartographic Draftsman within the mining industry, I worked as a property illustrator for real estate firms in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne for 22 years from 1983. I initially photographed houses with a Polaroid camera and made a 'thumbnail' sketch while there. The photos were used to scale off a sketch in pencil and then that sketch was overlaid with drafting film and the 'pen and ink' completed. The pens I used were the Rotring ‘Rapidigraph’ drafting pens. The ink was also made by Rotring (German).The film was ‘Rapidraw’, polyester drafting film, double matte. It takes a very fine line and doesn’t bleed. As well as house sketches, there were often floor plans and site plans ordered. Aerial sketches were ordered when the property needed an overall view. (Margaret Picken, 2020)The Ernest House (former) at 75 Walpole Street was designed by Harry Ernest in 1955/56. It is one of ten Victorian dwellings in Neil Clerehan’s important 1961 book Best Australian Houses, which illustrated cutting-edge residential design of the day. The house is also significant as Harry Ernest’s first residential commission, introducing elements that characterised his subsequent output.This drawing of the house is one of a series created by Margaret Picken for a number of real estate agents in Melbourne between 1983 and 2006. Each work is signed and dated by the artist.Gift of Margaret Picken, 2020Pen and ink architectural drawing on drafting film of 75 Walpole Street, Kew by Margaret Picken.75 WALPOLE ST., KEW / MARGARET PICKEN '90 / WOODARDS ~artist -- margaret picken 1950-, architectural drawings -- houses -- kew (vic.), 75 walpole street -- kew (vic.)

After training as a Cartographic Draftsman within the mining industry, I worked as a property illustrator for real estate firms in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne for 22 years from 1983. I initially photographed houses with a Polaroid camera and made a 'thumbnail' sketch while there. The photos were used to scale off a sketch in pencil and then that sketch was overlaid with drafting film and the 'pen and ink' completed. The pens I used were the Rotring ‘Rapidigraph’ drafting pens. The ink was also made by Rotring (German).The film was ‘Rapidraw’, polyester drafting film, double matte. It takes a very fine line and doesn’t bleed. As well as house sketches, there were often floor plans and site plans ordered. Aerial sketches were ordered when the property needed an overall view. (Margaret Picken, 2020)The Ernest House (former) at 75 Walpole Street was designed by Harry Ernest in 1955/56. It is one of ten Victorian dwellings in Neil Clerehan’s important 1961 book Best Australian Houses, which illustrated cutting-edge residential design of the day. The house is also significant as Harry Ernest’s first residential commission, introducing elements that characterised his subsequent output.This drawing of the house is one of a series created by Margaret Picken for a number of real estate agents in Melbourne between 1983 and 2006. Each work is signed and dated by the artist.Gift of Margaret Picken, 2020Pen and ink architectural drawing on drafting film of 75 Walpole Street, Kew by Margaret Picken.75 WALPOLE ST., KEW / MARGARET PICKEN '90 / WOODARDS ~artist -- margaret picken 1950-, architectural drawings -- houses -- kew (vic.), 75 walpole street -- kew (vic.)

Built in 1897, "it is one of the best-known of the Melton farm properties established in the historic break-up of the large pastoral estates at the turn of the twentieth century". Melton Heritage Study Stage 2 Volume 3Farm house located at 2389-2485, Diggers Rest-Coimadai Road, Diggers Rest. local architecture, local identities

All Saints Estate is a family-owned winery established in 1864 and located on the banks of the Murray River in Wahgunyah, Northeast Victoria. Original owners George Sutherland Smith, and John Banks, arrived from Caithness, Scotland in 1852. After being involved in a range of enterprises, they established the vineyard, including a castle based on the design of The Castle of Mey in Scotland, which was built in 1864. In 1873 in London, Sutherland Smith became the first Australian winemaker to win an award at an overseas wine show. Banks died in 1876 and All Saints remained in the hands of G. Sutherland Smith and his family, until after some variable fortunes in the late 1980s, it fell into the hands of a syndicate in 1989. After being passed in at a receiver’s auction in 1991, All Saints was acquired by Brown Brothers of Milawa in 1992. It is now owned and operated by the children of Peter R. Brown. During the early 1980s, All Saints took bulk orders for different corporations such as Ansett Air Freight, packaging them in jugs as this for special occasions or functions.This jug is representative of an historic and continuing leading Australian Winemaker located in Northeast Victoria.A pottery wine jug of tradition colours featuring a lower half of natural earthenware colour and a brown glazed top section. It has a loop handle and a cork closure. Originally it also had a wax seal closure. Company information and logos are featured on each side.On side 1: "All Saints / WAHGUNYAH, NORTH EAST VICTORIA/ Tawny Port / G. SUTHERLAND SMITH & SONS / 17.5% ALC/VOL. PRODUCE OF AUSTRALIA 750 ML" On reverse side: Below an image of an Ansett Airfreight Aeroplane: "We offer to you our warmest, / best wishes for the Christmas Season/ and a year of continued/ peace and prosperity. / Merry Christmas, / from Ansett Air Freight." Underneath the jug: " Elischer / AUSTRALIA" all saints estate, australian wine industry, north east victoria wineries, viticulture australia

From the estate of Mary Cruickshank mother- in-law of Peter SimmenauerGreen oblong tin containing a bicycle tire tube repair kit containing patches, reinforcing patch, sandpaper rubber solution and chalk.Made for the man who will have the best.transport, bicycles

Handwritten notes and typed copy of same, on Lansell's Big 180 Mine. Notes mention Sill of Shaft, Depth of Shaft, working 1871 to 1906. Notes include geographical features met in mining and best yields for Sept. and Dec. 1885 and March, June & Sept 1886. Notes taken from M. D. and Bendigo Advertiser. Albert Richardson Collection. document, gold, lansell's big 180 mine, lansell's big 180 mine, notes on lansell's big 180 mine, m d, bendigo advertiser, lansell's estate.

This map was produced sometime around mid 1909 to advertise portions of land from the Greystones Estate for sale by public tender. The selling agents were Young Brothers of Horsham and L.A. Fairbairn of Bacchus Marsh and Melbourne. The seller was Molesworth R. Greene who was a pioneer pastoralist in the Bacchus Marsh area and had also acquired other properties in Victoria and interstate. Molesworth Greene died in 1916 so this sale came towards the end of his life. A total of 4,176 acres was offered for sale in multiple lots. Successful tenderers could buy single or multiple lots. The results of the sale were reported in the Bacchus Marsh Express newspaper on the 16th October 1909, page 3. At the sale a total of 3, 420 acres was sold. A single page paper map showing portions of land for sale from the Greystones Estate near Bacchus Marsh. The map includes extensive details about the property, number of allotments for sale, terms and conditions of the sale and prices. The map includes an inserted reference map showing the location of the property in relation to Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and Castlemaine. The top of the map appears to be missing resulting in some loss of the text. The sale notice in the Bacchus Marsh Express of 10 July, 1909, page 3, column 1 appears to duplicate the text overall in the auction plan. Based on this the missing text is likely to be: "Important Subdivisional Sale 'Of Portion of One of the Best and Most Favourably known Estates IN THE RENOWNED BACCHUS MARSH DISTRICT. And situated only six miles from that prosperous township, two miles from Rowsley, and three miles from Parwan, all Railway towns, connected with the Estate by metal roads." Scale: 20 chains to 1 inch The map is pasted into a bound volume containing 76 maps or plans in total. bacchus marsh victoria maps, land sales, land sales bacchus marsh, greystones estate bacchus marsh, molesworth r. green 1827-1916, land sales rowsley

This majestic peacock embodies the technical achievement, skill and ingenuity of artisans during the 19th century. It is now known as the 'Loch Ard Peacock' and was designed and modelled in 1873 by Paul Comolera (1818-1897) and fired in one piece at the Minton factory at Stoke-on-Trent in the United Kingdom in 1875. The peacock has been portrayed in symbolic motifs and has figured heavily in folktales and fables since antiquity, and many cultures around the world see it as a symbol of beauty, rebirth and power. Wealthy Victorians loved majolica, and the large peacock would have been the ultimate home accessory as a conservatory ornament – combining their desire for nature, the exotic and vibrant colours. The peacock model was listed in catalogues by Minton & Co. for a retail price of 35 guineas or sold as a pair for 90 guineas. Minton & Co. was founded in 1793 by Thomas Minton (1765–1836) and became a famous pottery and porcelain manufacturer. Comolera was a French artist and sculptor, renowned for dramatic naturalistic forms and life-size renditions of birds and animals that won him admiration in public and artistic circles. He was employed by Minton & Co. from 1873 to 1880, and the life-sized peacock became his best-known work. Comolera kept a live peacock loaned from the nearby Duke of Sutherland's Trentham Hall Estate in his studio to create a life-size model of fine buff earthenware model, which was then hand painted in brilliantly coloured green and blue glazes to mimic the peafowl’s dazzling plumage. There are no surviving production records, but according to documents in the Minton Archive, nine peacocks were made by Comolera. However, today, some historians now believe that twelve were fired at the Minton factory; research is ongoing. These peacocks were so admired that Minton & Co. used them as exhibition showpieces at International Exhibitions in London, Paris, and the United States of America, ensuring the company had a worldwide reputation. So, when Melbourne hosted an International Exposition in 1880, Minton & Co. sent out ceramics and tiles, and in particular, this peacock was intended to be part of their exhibit in the British Court in the Exhibition Building, built in the Carlton Gardens. The early dispatch date (1878) indicates that the company may have intended to exhibit their wares, including the peacock, at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition, but the company did not take up this option. The ship that Minton & Co. used to bring the peacock and their other wares to the Australian colonies was the ill-fated Loch Ard, which sunk after striking Mutton Bird Island near Port Campbell, Victoria, in calm foggy weather in June 1878 on the final leg of the ship's journey to Melbourne. The loss of 52 lives made it one of Victoria’s worst shipwrecks. Therefore, this peacock never made it to the grand exposition in Melbourne, as Minton & Co. had planned. Charles McGillivray dragged this peacock, still in its original packing case, onto the beach in the gorge just two days after the Loch Ard went down. The peacock was rescued unscathed apart from a chip on its beak (only repaired in 1988). After a disagreement with a Melbourne Customs Officer, Joseph Daish, McGillivray stopped his salvage operations, leaving the peacock on the beach. The second salvagers were James Miller and Thomas Keys. Miller was a member of the firm Howarth, Miller and Matthews, Geelong, who had brought the salvage rights to the Loch Ard wreck on 10 June. When Miller and Keys arrived at the wreck site, a storm had washed many of the salvaged goods, including this peacoc,k back into the sea. The two men found the peacock in its case ‘bobbing along in the water’ and pulled it back to the beach. To ensure the peacock wasn't washed out to sea again, Miller and Keys hauled the packing case containing the peacock up the gorge's cliff face to the top, ready to be transported. In an interview in 1928, Keys claimed that at the time of the rescue, the head had broken from the body. This account was proven to be true in 1988, following the birds' display in Brisbane. This peacock began its life in Australia, not in the grandeur of an International Exhibition as intended, but in the hallway of a simple domestic house in Geelong. It appears Minton & Co. did not attempt to buy this peacock back. Florence Miller, daughter of James Miller (Loch Ard salvage rights holder), later remarked that the only item of real value rescued from the wreck had been the peacock and that this had been kept by her father in the family home at Malvern for many years and became a treasured family possession. As such, this 'Loch Ard peacock' was almost forgotten and mistaken with other Minton peacocks around the world. Miss Florence Miller tried to sell the peacock due to financial difficulties in the 1930s but was unsuccessful. While attempting to sell her Loch Ard relic, it was displayed in the window of the old Argus newspaper office, which was at 76 Collins Street, Melbourne; the Argus had relocated to the corner of Elizabeth and La Trobe Streets in 1926. Between 1935 and 1939, the old Argus building was occupied by the Joshua N. McClelland Print Room, which sold not only paintings and prints but also antiques and authentic replicas, as well as hosting exhibitions. Miss Florence Miller loaned her peacock for display at the Victorian Historical Exhibition held in the National Gallery on 1st June 1935, the 57th anniversary of the Loch Ard wreck. As a result, the peacock attracted public attention in books, newspapers and magazine articles that told the story of its survival from a shipwreck. Miss Florence Miller was keen to sell the peacock, even writing overseas to Captain Blain on November 30th, 1938, about the possibility of a sale, but this became no longer possible due to the outbreak of war. Recent information points to the Loch Ard peacock being owned by John S R Heath before its sale to Frank Ridley-Lee in May 1941. Research is ongoing, but it seems likely that John Samuel Robert Heath, a leading Melbourne dentist with a practice in Collins Street, and his wife, a dental mechanic, had purchased Miss Miller’s Loch Ard peacock before its sale in 1941. They were lovers of fine arts, music, wine and food. The peacock in the window of the old Argus building could have attracted their attention as they had already purchased the old stone Presbyterian Church on Warrigal Road, Oakleigh, in 1933 and had converted its interior. The home, renamed The Studio, even included Melbourne’s first all-electric kitchen. The peacock was perfect for display in the Studio’s entrance. A magazine article published after the conversion was completed included photographs of the interior. The picture of the ‘portico’ had a caption below that stated, “Some of her [Mrs Heath’s] finest pottery was salvaged from the Loch Ard Wreck”. In 2025, Heath’s two remaining sons remember running around in the entrance with the peacock standing there, oblivious to its value. Heath was an accomplished artist, studying under Max Meldrum. He painted and exhibited his works at The Studio and in a public exhibition, and he was a finalist eight times in the coveted Archibald Prize portrait competition, including the submission of his self-portrait that is now part of his grandson’s collection. The next owner of the Loch Ard Peacock was Frank Ridley-Lee. He displayed it at his home in Ivanhoe after buying it at an auction in May 1941. The peacock remained in the hands of the Ridley-Lee family until it was offered for sale by auction in 1975 as part of an art collection belonging to Mrs Ridley-Lee's estate. The peacock was not sold at this time, as the reserve price of $4500 was not met. This news was passed on to the board of the newly created Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. Urgent efforts were made to collect the necessary money through fundraising by the Warrnambool City Council and public donations. The Fletcher Jones Company and the Victorian Government contributed half the cost. On 9 September 1975, the Loch Ard peacock was purchased by Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and it found a new home at the maritime museum. Since then, it has only left Warrnambool twice. Firstly, in 1980, at the centenary celebrations of the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, and secondly, in 1988, the peacock was given pride of place at the entrance to the Victorian Pavilion at the Brisbane World Expo, acknowledging that this Minton Majolica peacock is the most significant shipwreck object in Australia. The Minton majolica peacock is considered of historical social and aesthetic significance to Victoria and is one of only a few 'objects' registered on the Victorian Heritage Register (H 2132), as it is a most notable and rare object associated with the Minton factory of the 1870s and works by the celebrated sculptor Paul Comolera along with the wreck of the Loch Ard on the Victorian coastline. This Minton peacock is historically significant for its rarity; it was one of only 9-12 known to exist. The shipwreck of the Loch Ard is also of significance for Victoria and is registered on the Victorian Heritage Register Ref (S 417). Flagstaff Hill has a varied collection of artefacts from Loch Ard and its collection is significant for being one of the largest accumulation of artefacts from this notable Victorian shipwreck. The collections object is to also give us a snapshot into history so we can interpret the story of this tragic event. The collection is also archaeologically significant as it represents aspects of Victoria's shipping history that allows us to interpret Victoria's early social and historical themes. The collection is historically significant is that it is associated, unfortunately with the worst and best-known shipwreck in Victoria's history. The peacock, resplendent in polychrome glaze, stands perched on a rocky plinth decorated with vines, leaves, flowers, blackberries and wild mushrooms. The peacock’s breast is cobalt blue; the wings and legs are in naturalistic colours. The tail is a mass of feathers coloured in green, ochre blue and brown — a fantastic display of artistry and Minton expertise. Inscribed at the base :P Comolera, and a Minton & Co. design number: 2045.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, loch ard, loch ard gorge, peacock, paul comolera, victorian heritage register, minton peacock, minton & co., stoke upon trent, bird figures, mintons, ceramics, international expositions, majolica, naturalistic, staffordshire, john samuel robert heath, peacock statue, loch ard peacock, majorca peacock