On the 20th November 1952 SEC linesmen Stewart Aicken, Donald Odames and Desmond Veraker were working on the corner of Gisborne Road and Masons Lane in Bacchus Marsh. Veraker was in the air in a harness working on power lines when he was electrocuted. Aicken and Odames were on the ground and attempted to rescue him and revive him. Sadly Vereker died from his injuries. Aicken and Odames were later given bravery awards by the Royal Humane Society of Australasia for their actions.Royal Humane Society of Australasia certificate presented to Stewart Aicken to recognise the bravery of his actions on the 20th November 1952 in attempting to rescue fellow linesman Desmond Vereker from electrocution. It was awarded to him to accompany a bronze medal also awarded to Aicken for this act of bravery. The certificate and bronze medal are housed in a frame. Underneath the bronze medal is a black and white photograph of Aicken receiving the award from the Governor of Victoria Sir Dallas Brooks in 1953. Also in the photograph is an unidentified man and woman. The unidentified man is probably Donald Odames who was with Aicken on the 20th November 1952 and was also recognised for his bravery by the Royal Humane Society of Australasia.awards, accidents

The Royal Humane Society of Australasia (RHSA), formerly the Victorian Humane Society, is an Australian charity dedicated to the recognition of those who risk their own lives in saving or attempting to save the lives of others. It also provides assistance to persons injured as a result of their bravery, or to their next of kin if they perished in the attempt. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Humane_Society_of_Australasia) Further information may be found at website below. https://www.rhsa.org.au/about-us.html THE BENDIGO ADVERTISER (PUBLISHED DAILY.) PROGRESSION, OUR RIGHTS, AND OUR RESOURCES. SANDHURST, THURSDAY, DEO. 16, 1886 Article - Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918)Thursday 16 December 1886 - Page 2Certificate from The Royal Humane Society of Australasia awarded to James Marshall. Dated 23rd February 1887. Printed in black ink on cream coloured parchment paper. Script surrounded by a black border with decorative emblems on each corner. The Certificate was stored in a brown leather roll lined with white paper with a gold geometric pattern. Printed in gold lettering " THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA"It was Resolved "" That the Courage and Humanity displayed by James Marshall aged 42 years, Miner in going down a ladder at Pearl Co's Mine, Sandhurst, pulling a lighted fuse from a blast just about to explode and rescuing James Gilbert his fellow miner from an instant death on 6th Dec. 1886, Call for the admiration of this Court and justly entitles him to the Gold Medal of this Society which is hereby awarded".bendigo, mining, james marshall rescue, mining accident, rescue

April Meeting (Newsletter No. 233, Apr. 2017) Our meeting at 8.00pm on Wednesday 12th April 2017 is our Annual General Meeting, which includes the presentation of annual reports and the election of office bearers for the coming year. The official notification of the Annual General Meeting and Agenda are on page 8 in this Newsletter. At this meeting we are pleased to have as our guest speaker Dr. Andrew Lemon, a great friend of EDHS and a Fellow and the immediate Past President of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. Andrew is an independent Melbourne historian, author of numerous books on local history, shipwrecks, biography, schools and sport and winner of national literary awards. He has been awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Melbourne for his published works. Andrew edited the Victorian Historical Journal throughout the 1990s and served on the Library Board of Victoria and the Heritage Council. Andrew is a very entertaining presenter and in our 50th Anniversary year he has chosen to speak about ‘Fifty years of the EDHS - and why it matters.’1:03:34 duration Digital MP3 File 75 MB andrew lemon, audio recording, eltham district historical society, meeting, society meeting