Named after Queen Alexandra, these beautiful gardens opened in 1908 and are designed in the formal style typical of the early 1900s.Early postcard showing original architectural features and plantings.The Alexandra Gardens, Cotham Road Kew. The postcard depicts a pedestrian bridge within the Gardens. The bridge, on which are standing two children, has rustic sides. On the evidence of this postcard, planting within the Gardens included a range of exotic specimens including a variegated aloe and water lilies. Native vegetation can be seen in the distance.alexandra gardens - kew (vic), postcards -- kew (vic.)

At the beginning of the 1890s, the Kew businessman and Town Councillor, Henry Kellett, commissioned J.F.C. Farquhar to photograph scenes of Kew. These scenes included panoramas as well as pastoral scenes. The resulting set of twelve photographs was assembled in an album, Kew Where We Live, from which customers could select images for purchase.The preamble to the album describes that the photographs used the ‘argentic bromide’ process, now more commonly known as the gelatine silver process. This form of dry plate photography allowed for the negatives to be kept for weeks before processing, hence its value in landscape photography. The resulting images were considered to be finely grained and everlasting. Evidence of the success of Henry Kellett’s venture can be seen today, in that some of the photographs are held in national collections.It is believed that the Kew Historical Society’s copy of the Kellett album is unique and that the photographs in the book were the first copies taken from the original plates. It is the first and most important series of images produced about Kew. The individual images have proved essential in identifying buildings and places of heritage value in the district.Completed in November 1890, the railway viaduct (now the Chandler Highway Bridge) linked Kew and Fairfield. The viaduct is significant as the most substantial extant engineering remnant of the Outer Circle Railway Line. Opened in March 1891, the viaduct crossed the Yarra River in a single span, atop three supporting brick pillars. Following the closure of the railway line in 1927, and the construction of the Chandler Highway in 1930, the bridge was used for vehicular traffic. In 1891 when this panoramic photograph was taken, the grounds of what was then the Kew Lunatic Asylum extended down to the River and eastward beyond the viaduct. The landscape surrounding the Asylum was planted with traditional exotic trees such as Oaks, Pines and Cedars, and landmark trees from northern Australia such as the Hoop Pine. Remnant indigenous trees such as the River Red Gum, Yellow Box and Lightwood were scattered around the site, including beside the Yarra River.Railway Bridge Over the Yarrakew illustrated, kew where we live, photographic books, henry kellett, railway viaduct - - kew (vic)

These trees planted in the nineteenth century are an exceptional collection of exotic conifers and deciduous trees.These trees classified by the National Trust means that the trees are an essential part of Australia's heritage and should be preserved for future generations.A coloured pamphlet divided into three parts, with trees and coloured picture on one side and a map of where the trees are situated on the other.Right hand corner of coloured picture, there is the logo of the Friends of the Ballarat Botanical Gardensjohn garner collection, dr, significant trees, ballarat botanical gardens, gardens, ballarat, map

A dark green hardcover book with a self embossed pattern and lines around the edges of the covers. The title Weeds, Poison Plants and Naturalised Aliens of Victoria is printed on the spine at the top in gold lettering with double gold lines above and below. The author Ewart. is printed in the middle with the date of publication 1909 at the bottom. Alfred J.Ewart, D.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. was the Government Botanist and Professor of Botany in the Melbourne University and was assisted by J.R.Tovey, Herbarium Assistant. Detailed coloured plates are throughout the book. It has two parts. P.110 Inside is a tan coloured piece of paper printed with the Department of Agriculture, Victoria. The title: Fungus Diseases or Citrus Trees in Australia, and Their Treatment: with Twelve Coloured Plate and 186 Figures. Presumably this is from another book which was donated by the same people. The book has not been located as yet.non-fictionAlfred J.Ewart, D.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S. was the Government Botanist and Professor of Botany in the Melbourne University and was assisted by J.R.Tovey, Herbarium Assistant. Detailed coloured plates are throughout the book. It has two parts: Part 1 - Poisonous, Injurious, and Proclaimed Weeds (Native and Introduced), With The Coloured Plates. Part 11 - Census of The Naturalised Aliens And Introduced Exotics. P.110australian plants, plants, botany, australian flora, weeds

Situated in King Street, Eltham, Alistair Knox built his home and office in 1962-1963 with mud-bricks made from the local soil and recycled materials blending the house with bush around it. Knox popularised the Eltham earth building movement, begun by Montsalvat founder, Justus Jorgensen. Alistair Knox (1912-1986) was also an Eltham Shire Councillor 1971-1975 and Shire President in 1975. Knox established the inaugural Eltham Community Festival in 1975. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p145 Lack of money was a strong incentive for Alistair Knox to do what he did best when he built his house and office at King Street, Eltham in 1962-63. He used mud-bricks from local soil and recycled materials, characteristically blending the house with the bush around it. The result was a work of art. Knox popularised the Eltham earth building movement,1 begun by Montsalvat founder Justus Jörgensen. He was also an Eltham Shire Councillor from 1971 to 1975 and Shire President in 1975. For Knox mud-brick building was not just a building style, but a spiritual experience and a way of relating with nature. At 40 he rediscovered God and his building reflected his theological, political, philosophical and particularly environmental world view, which was far ahead of its time.2 He also contributed to building development in his use of concrete slab foundations when stumps and bearers were the norm. Knox was introduced to mud-brick construction in 1940 by Jörgensen, then shortly after, Knox joined the Navy. In 1946 Knox studied Building Practice and Theory at Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT University). There he befriended fellow student and artist Matcham Skipper who belonged to what was then called the Jörgensen Artists’ Colony. Knox decided to build an earth building in Eltham, partly because the post-war huge building demands resulted in expensive and scarce building materials. He asked artist Sonia Skipper for help who, with Matcham, had constructed mud-brick buildings at the Artists’ Colony. The simple rectangular low-lying house at King Street is framed by native plants and a 3.6 metres wide pergola surrounds the building. Wedded to the landscape, a door in every room at the perimeter, opens outside. The property also includes a forge, a small hut built by son Macgregor at 15, and a mud-brick tower for chickens. Building materials were foraged from a wide variety of sources. Some of the joinery material came from old whisky vats. When the Oregon of the highest quality ‘was put through the wood-working machines, it gave off a deep smell of whisky that made the whole atmosphere exotic and heady’.3 Amateur builders, including schoolboys from Knox’s Presbyterian Church, made some of the mud-bricks. But the building was finished with the professional help of Yorkshire builder, Eric Hirst. Inside, the light is subdued with the mud-brick, beamed timber ceilings and floors of slate, timber or orange-brown tiles. Skylights, with rich blue and red leadlighting, illuminate one entrance area and this feature is repeated as edging on the door. The centre of the house is like a covered courtyard, with rooms built around it. The central room, 11 metres x 7 metres, was built in the same proportions as Knox’s mud-bricks. Clerestory windows on four sides infuse the room with a soft light. A huge brick fireplace extends beyond one corner and opposite is a small one where timber can only be placed vertically. The slate for the floor was discarded from the Malthouse Brewery now used as a theatre in Southbank. In the middle is a large refectory table and benches that seat 18. Like much of the house, it is rugged, yet beautiful. Made of Western Australian Jarrah by Macgregor with a chain saw and an adze, it retains knot and nail holes. Each wall has an opening, 2.4 metres at the ends and 3.6 metres at the sides. Only one has doors and these concertina doors are made of the backs of old church pews. The main bedroom has an ensuite with a marble hand basin discarded from the Victorian Parliament building; and a dressing room, where two wardrobes of polished timber recovered from a tip are attached to the walls. Separate from the house is the strikingly original circular-shaped office made of bluestone sourced from the original Army campsite at Broadmeadows.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, alistair and margot knox house, alistair knox design, mudbrick construction, eltham, king street