Woodbury College was an indirect predecessor of Preshil School in Kew. Woodbury College was founded in Glenferrie Road by a Miss Harcourt, former principal of Sydenham College, Moonee Ponds. Miss Harcourt maintained the school until the goodwill was purchased in 1908 by Miss LJ Macey, who had previously operated Lillsden Ladies' College in Edgevale Road, between c.1891 and c.1903. The first school was in a rented building on the south side of Cotham Road between Atkins and Davis Streets. In 1910, a new school building was built on the corner of Uvadale Grove and Cotham Road [the building is still extant as of 2020]. Woodbury College was operated by Miss LJ and Miss HJ Macey until 1920. In 1921, the school amalgamated with the newly formed St Andrew's College, Mont Victor Road, Kew (Vic) under the leadership of Rev JT Lawton [who had previously been principal of St Andrew's School of the 'Pathfinder' in South Yarra]. Miss Macey was for a period the Headmistress of the amalgamated school. Another teacher at the school was Miss Margaret JR Lyttle, who in 1931, left St Andrew's to form the Preshil School.Rare ephemera relating to an early private school in Kew (Vic). The badge was donated by Helen Lade.Brass school badge which includes the initials WL within a large C, surrounded with the school crest - VERITAS VINCIT [Truth Prevails] of Woodbury Ladies College (1903-1920). woodbury college, schools - cotham road - kew - vic, private schools - kew (vic)

Woodbury College was an indirect predecessor of Preshil School in Kew. Woodbury College was founded in Glenferrie Road by a Miss Harcourt, former principal of Sydenham College, Moonee Ponds. Miss Harcourt maintained the school until the goodwill was purchased in 1908 by Miss LJ Macey, who had previously operated Lillsden Ladies' College in Edgevale Road, between c.1891 and c.1903. The first school was in a rented building on the south side of Cotham Road between Atkins and Davis Streets. In 1910, a new school building was built on the corner of Uvadale Grove and Cotham Road [the building is still extant as of 2020]. Woodbury College was operated by Miss LJ and Miss HJ Macey until 1920. In 1921, the school amalgamated with the newly formed St Andrew's College, Mont Victor Road, Kew (Vic) under the leadership of Rev JT Lawton [who had previously been principal of St Andrew's School of the 'Pathfinder' in South Yarra]. Miss Macey was for a period the Headmistress of the amalgamated school. Another teacher at the school was Miss Margaret JR Lyttle, who in 1931, left St Andrew's to form the Preshil School.Rare ephemera relating to an early private school in Kew (Vic). The hatband was worn by Lilian McCrae in circa 1918 and donated by her sister Heather Houston. The badge was donated by Helen Lade.Navy blue hatband with narrow white and yellow stripes of Woodbury Ladies College (1903-1920). woodbury college, schools - cotham road - kew - vic, private schools - kew (vic)

The extensive formal landscaped gardens of Rockingham had been created in the 1860s, and by the 1950s remained bordered to the south by the Barkers Road cutting, and to the north by Blytheswood, the neighbouring Syme family property, By 1940, the Syme family were no longer the occupiers of Rockingham. John Herbert Syme had died in October 1939, and by August the following year, his wife had made the house and garden available, rent free to the Red Cross as a convalescent home for Australian soldiers injured in the Second World War. At the time, the house was described as containing twenty rooms, including a ballroom and a billiards room, with a garden of eight acres overlooking the Yarra. The task of renovating the house to conform to its new function as a convalescent home took a year, finally opening in August 1941. Community support for Rockingham was widespread and included the decision by the National Gallery of Victoria to loan pictures from its collection to decorate the walls. Calls were made for women around Victoria to donate fruit and vegetables from their gardens, which the railways agreed to freight for free. Other local support included the work by a team of boys to establish a three-acre vegetable garden within the formal terraced gardens. From the beginning, occupational therapy formed a key component of the rehabilitation of psychologically injured soldiers. This is confirmed by contemporary newspaper accounts of weaving, ironwork, leatherwork, basketry and gardening by patients. Numerous photographs, held by the Australian War Memorial (AWM) and the State Library of Victoria (SLV), record the importance of these rehabilitation activities. The painting of the view across the river to Abbotsford may have been painted in one of these occupational therapy sessions. For many decades it hung in the occupational therapy room. It must have been on view following the sale of Rockingham by the Syme family to the Red Cross in 1955, and subsequently, until the house was demolished and its grounds finally subdivided in 1977.View of Abbotsford from the garden of Rockingham (1952) was created by V Maloney. The vantage point of the artist was the garden of Rockingham, one of two mansions overlooking the Yarra owned by the Syme family. The artwork depicts a number of sites - especially factories - that have since been demolished.Signed by the artist, lower right "V Maloney"rockingham red cross convalescent home, hospitals - kew (vic), rosemary lade, art therapy