The Lady Barbara Grimwade Costume Collection is comprised of Lady Barbara Grimwade's personal apparel and includes 145 pieces of clothing, 10 hats, 19 handbags, 66 pairs of shoes and assorted accessories of gloves, belts and scarves. In its breadth, this significant acquisition ranges from the mundane to the memorable, therefore giving a balanced representation of one person's taste. Following Lady Barbara Grimwade’s death in March 1990, Ararat Gallery formally accepted the generous gift of clothing and accessories donated by Lady Grimwade's son, Mr Angus K Grimwade, on 28 August 1991. Subsequent smaller donations in 1995 enhanced the collection. Lady Grimwade's Scottish forebears, the Gaerloch Campbells, first settled in Australia in 1861 in the Ararat-Beaufort district. Her great great grandfather, Mr Henry Campbell, died on the voyage to Australia. His widow, Jane, with 10 of her 13 children, farmed and grazed land, firstly at Stockyard Hill then at Fiery Creek, near Buangor, before leaving the shire in 1873. Lady Grimwade held a privileged position in Melbourne society. As the wife of Sir Andrew Grimwade, a prominent businessman, Chairman of several boards and a Trustee of various committees, Lady Grimwade met with royalty, heads of state, politicians, corporate directors, and horse and cattle breeders. Excerpt from 'Hot Pink Summers' catalogue essay, Helen Jackson, 1995.

The Lady Barbara Grimwade Costume Collection is comprised of Lady Barbara Grimwade's personal apparel and includes 145 pieces of clothing, 10 hats, 19 handbags, 66 pairs of shoes and assorted accessories of gloves, belts and scarves. In its breadth, this significant acquisition ranges from the mundane to the memorable, therefore giving a balanced representation of one person's taste. Following Lady Barbara Grimwade’s death in March 1990, Ararat Gallery formally accepted the generous gift of clothing and accessories donated by Lady Grimwade's son, Mr Angus K Grimwade, on 28 August 1991. Subsequent smaller donations in 1995 enhanced the collection. Lady Grimwade's Scottish forebears, the Gaerloch Campbells, first settled in Australia in 1861 in the Ararat-Beaufort district. Her great great grandfather, Mr Henry Campbell, died on the voyage to Australia. His widow, Jane, with 10 of her 13 children, farmed and grazed land, firstly at Stockyard Hill then at Fiery Creek, near Buangor, before leaving the shire in 1873. Lady Grimwade held a privileged position in Melbourne society. As the wife of Sir Andrew Grimwade, a prominent businessman, Chairman of several boards and a Trustee of various committees, Lady Grimwade met with royalty, heads of state, politicians, corporate directors, and horse and cattle breeders. Excerpt from 'Hot Pink Summers' catalogue essay, Helen Jackson, 1995.

The Lady Barbara Grimwade Costume Collection is comprised of Lady Barbara Grimwade's personal apparel and includes 145 pieces of clothing, 10 hats, 19 handbags, 66 pairs of shoes and assorted accessories of gloves, belts and scarves. In its breadth, this significant acquisition ranges from the mundane to the memorable, therefore giving a balanced representation of one person's taste. Following Lady Barbara Grimwade’s death in March 1990, Ararat Gallery formally accepted the generous gift of clothing and accessories donated by Lady Grimwade's son, Mr Angus K Grimwade, on 28 August 1991. Subsequent smaller donations in 1995 enhanced the collection. Lady Grimwade's Scottish forebears, the Gaerloch Campbells, first settled in Australia in 1861 in the Ararat-Beaufort district. Her great great grandfather, Mr Henry Campbell, died on the voyage to Australia. His widow, Jane, with 10 of her 13 children, farmed and grazed land, firstly at Stockyard Hill then at Fiery Creek, near Buangor, before leaving the shire in 1873. Lady Grimwade held a privileged position in Melbourne society. As the wife of Sir Andrew Grimwade, a prominent businessman, Chairman of several boards and a Trustee of various committees, Lady Grimwade met with royalty, heads of state, politicians, corporate directors, and horse and cattle breeders. Excerpt from 'Hot Pink Summers' catalogue essay, Helen Jackson, 1995.

This item is part of a collection of twenty black and white glass lantern slides previously housed together in an old cardboard box. [8611 - 8630] The slides are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The slides were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass lantern slide with paper edging depicting a cow with horns outdoors, with another cow in the background grazing.new south wales graziers association, travel, cattle, agriculture, j w allen, photography, glass lantern slide

This item is part of a collection of three unmounted black and white glass negatives previously housed together in a plain brown envelope. [8631 - 8633] The negatives are part of a greater collection of around forty three black and white glass lantern slides, along with other photographs and photo albums related to this collection. This item is associated with the New South Wales Graziers Association world tour of merino sheep 1928/9. The negatives were possibly used as supporting material in presentations made by J W Allen when on tour.Black and white glass negative depicting a graph relating to sheep grazing.new south wales graziers association, travel, cattle, agriculture, j w allen, photography, negative, glass lantern slide, sheep

Wallace's Hut is the oldest surviving cattlemen's hut on the High Plains, built in 1889 by the three Wallace brothers - Arthur, William and Stewart. Their father David bought land at Kergunyah as well as grazing land on the banks of the Kiewa River, North East Victoria. Once the boys were old enough, the family followed the local squatters’ custom of taking their cattle up to the mountains for the spring and summer to fatten the mob, at the same time resting their home pastures. They decided to build a hut where they could shelter from the extreme mountain weather. The timber was cut from the forest about four hundred metres east of the hut, and the hearth stone was dragged in from Pretty Valley. The chimney had a base of rubble and above this iron sheeting on a timber frame. The slab walls were lined with hessian and later with tar-paper, and inside there was a bush table, sleeping platform and a rustic fire-side settle. The hut nestled among snow gums sheltered by a rocky outcrop. The names of the Wallace brothers were burnt into the tie-beams of the roof and at the back of the mantelpiece. The Wallace family’s lease expired in the late 1930s and the hut was bought by the State Electricity Commission to house staff on the High Plains and it became the first home of Toni and Skippy St. Elmo. The SEC covered the old shingles with iron, and later on the walls and chimney as well, and they added a lean-to. Wallace’s Hut is now owned by the Crown and maintained by Parks Victoria. It is on the Historic Buildings Register and is classified by the National Trust.This image is significant because it depicts an important heritage-listed structure and refuge for cattlemen and other travellers in Victoria's High Country.A black and white photograph of a skier outside of Wallace's Hut. Several sets of skis and poles are standing around and other skiers are in the background.wallace's hut, toni and skippy st. elmo, high country huts

Dry stone construction as a technique is used for much more than paddock walls. Across the volcanic plains of western Victoriaare marvelous sheep dips, stock loading ramps, huts, dams, retaining walls, and the rich and largely undiscovered heritage of indigenous dry stone structures. Dry stone walls indicate many aspects of our rural environment; the geological beginnings of the way the landscape was created, the patterns of early settlement by pastoralists and squatters, the types of stock that grazed the land and the methods of cattle and sheep management, of the efforts to thwart the spread of rabbits .... "For the casual but interested observer dry stone walls are good to look at, to photograph, to get up alongside and see the way they are constructed, to appreciate the varying shapes and sizes of stones and learn of the techniques of keeping often quite rounded stones in place. Apart from walls and other dry stone structures on grazing land we can also see dry stone techniques used in other places and in other phases of our history. Indigenous Australians have built, and continue to build, structures for shelter or hunting or trapping eels and fish in rivers and estuaries around the country. At spots around our coast line there is evidence of simple stone structures built by early maritime explorers. Prospectors in early mining encampments used dry stone construction to build retaining walls or the low walls of rudimentary shelters. If the future of dry stone walls in the Australian landscape is to be assured. wall owners and local governments have to accept and embrace their custodial role in assuring the preservation and celebration of walls. This is not an easy task, but, along with putting the necessary statutory mechanisms to ensure their retention, it is a task that must be pursued. The Dry Stone Walls Association of Australia has as its primary goal the increase in awareness of wall owners and local governments of the importance of dry stone walls. It also seeks to increase the level of training of skilled and semi skilled wallers, and the gaining of rudimentary skills by farmers so that they can maintain their own walls". Melton Star Weekly article about the Stone Wallslandscapes of significance

non-fictionBorn in Belturbet, County Cavan, Ireland in 1824, McIllree was the youngest son of a large family. He achieved much after running away from home, aged just 14, to escape being sent into penury as a clergyman. By the time of his untimely death at Wodonga in 1882, McIllree had packed a lot into his life. He had sailed the high seas as an Able Seaman, toiled as a miner, run the Wodonga pound for 19 years, bought town blocks, set up a farm, a vineyard and a short- lived butchery business, served on local boards, appeared in court, leased and bought Upper Murray grazing lands, established a horse and cattle breeding enterprise at Biggara, taken horses to India for sale, and visited Aotearoa/ New Zealand’s Rotorua spas for a heart disease cure. Perhaps the most important even in his life was marrying a young Irish girl, Isabella Johnston from Belfast, at Wodonga in 1855. Their marriage produced 11 children, seven of whom have descendants living in Australia, Europe, Indonesia, Kiribati, the Philippines, and the United States of America.henry mcillree, irish immigration, mcillree genealogy, wodonga pioneers

non-fictionThis booklet tells the story of Baranduda State School 2222 and was produced to celebrate its centenary. It also includes information about the history of the district and some of its pioneer families. Baranduda pastoral run was taken up in 1845 and it is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal expression relating to a swamp or a water rat. A few kilometres south-west there is the beginning of the Baranduda Range, of which the summit is Mount Baranduda. Baranduda was a rural hamlet with numerous German farm selectors, who came from South Australia. Beginning with the grazing of cattle and later dairying and sawmilling were added, serving markets in Wodonga and providing timber sleepers for railway construction. The primary school was opened in 1880.baranduda state school, education victoria, community history baranduda

The photograph was taken on the property owned by the Beer family, situated on Lancefield Road. When Europeans first settled the area and the property was acquired by Michael Coolaton in the 1850s, it straddled either side of the Emu Creek. After the death of Michael Coolaton in 1896 and until the Beer family purchased it in 1953, the property was leased to a number of tenants who concentrated on a variety of grazing and cereal growing pursuits. The Beer family have raised cattle and a Clydesdale stud. Today there are remains of drystone fences and some stone buildings on the property.The Clydesdale Stud raised on this property is of significance in the former Shire of Bulla.A non-digital black and white photograph with a narrow cream border of a man driving a team of three Clydesdale horses pulling a wagon loaded with hay along a pathway . A row of gum trees is in the background.beer family, lancefield road, clydesdale stud, horses, cattle, emu creek

The original house was built around 1850 was one of Kangaroo Ground's earliest homes, part of which remains today. Built by Scottish farmer Andrew Harkness who acquired the property in 1849 at the top of the hill with magnificent panoramic views as far as Kinglake, the same year he married Sarah Oswin. The property was known as Garden Hill from at least 1865. Andrew and Sarah had four sons and five daughters. Harkness was a founder of the Kangaroo Ground School and one of the first to suggest establishing the Eltham District Road Board (1858-71) of which he was a member, the pre-cursor to the Shire of Eltham (1871-1994). He was also a Trustee of the Kangaroo Ground Cemetery. His daughter Fanny married farmer Alexander White who purchased the property in 1893. Alexander White died in 1906 and ownership transferred to Fanny White. Son, Robert White was a Councillor of the Shire of Eltham at the time the Shire acquired two acres of land on the adjacent property from the Mess brothers for the creation of the Shire of Eltham Memorial Park (1921) in which the Shire of Eltham War Memoirial tower was erected (1926). Fanny White donated a small section of land from the Garden Hill property to facilitate entry access to the park. The White family sold the property to Sir Herbert Gepp in 1925. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p29 Garden Hill, on Yarra Glen Road, Kangaroo Ground, near the War Memorial is well named. The old house and gardens overlook a magnificent panorama extending to Kinglake. The original house, built around 1850, was one of Kangaroo Ground’s earliest, and part of it remains in today’s timber house. The house was built by the early and prominent settler Andrew Harkness. Later it was occupied for a long time by Sir Herbert Gepp, renowned Australia wide.1 Harkness and Gepp are buried in the Kangaroo Ground Cemetery. Scottish farmer Harkness, who was born in 1817, acquired this property in 18492 and he and his family occupied it until the early 1920s. Harkness cleared its 152 acres (61.4 ha), fenced it and grazed sheep and cattle. Harkness proved a valuable community member. When only ten families lived in the district, he and other settlers set up a school in 1852, with Andrew Ross as the first teacher. Harkness was also one of the first to suggest establishing the Eltham District Road Board, of which he was a member for around 15 years. He was also a trustee of the Kangaroo Ground Cemetery. Harkness married in 1854 and had four sons and five daughters. The first part of the timber house he built included a kitchen-living room and a parlor. The living room’s large fireplace was bricked-in and modernised in 1940. Beside it is the old baker’s oven with its original iron door replaced by a wooden one. It is thought two wattle-and-daub huts, used for a bedroom and bathroom, were built to the west. Harkness’ son-in-law, farmer Alexander White, who had seven sons, bought the property in 1893. Harkness’ grand-daughter Flora married Ewen Cameron who became Minister for Health and was later knighted; he was not related to Ewen Hugh Cameron, a Member of the Legislative Assembly. In 1923 the White family sold the property, called Kilby Park, to Sir Herbert Gepp, who renamed it Garden Hill. Gepp used the property, which was still on the original New South Wales title, as a hobby farm. Robert White stayed on to manage the farm for a while, living in a house on the property. Gepp was born in 1877 and at 16 years began working as a junior chemist with the Australian Explosives and Chemical Company at Deer Park near Melbourne. Gepp was a pioneer in applying enlightened labour policies in industry. He initiated the Broken Hill Progress Association, to improve living conditions. It laid the ground work for the welfare schemes pursued by companies after World War One. During the mid 20th century Gepp was the most prominent liberal thinker associated with conservative politics. As a friend of Prime Minister John Curtin, he contributed to post-war reconstruction. Gepp returned to private industry and retired in 1950. Gepp made significant contributions to the solution of the great metallurgical problems of the mining industry. He was an advocate of the role of science in industry, government and the economy and helped to establish several organizations including the CSIR and the Institute of Public Affairs.3 After Sir Herbert died in 1954 his son Orwell continued to farm the property part-time. When Lady Gepp died in 1963, the land was divided among the five children, although Orwell continued to farm it as a hobby. In 1966, a daughter, Mardi Gething, now married, settled in the house. Another daughter, Kathleen, built her house close by on the property. After the Board of Works designated the property as part of a reserve for a possible reservoir, the family sold all, except the minimum 20 acres allowed, to the Board in the 1970s. Orwell then leased what was the family property from the Board to continue grazing. The two sisters and brother continued to live on the property.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, kangaroo ground

Stuchbery Farm was situated on the Plenty River bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. Alan and Ada Stutchbery moved to the valley in 1890, first living in a tent where four children were born. Alfred built a home and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden and developed a dairy. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p179 The dramatic steep-sided Plenty Gorge lies along the divide of two geological areas, and separates the Nillumbik Shire and the City of Whittlesea. On the Nillumbik side are undulating hills and sedimentary rock, and in Whittlesea, lies a basalt plain formed by volcanic action up to two million years ago. This provides the Plenty Gorge Park with diverse vegetation and habitats, making it one of Greater Melbourne’s most important refuges for threatened and significant species. The park, established in 1986, consists of around 1350 hectares, and extends 11 kilometres along the Plenty River, from Greensborough to Mernda. It provides a wildlife corridor for around 500 native plant and 280 animal species.1 The area’s plentiful food and water attracted the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people and then European settlers. By 1837 squatters had claimed large runs of land for their sheep and cattle. The Plenty Valley was among the first in the Port Phillip District to be settled - mainly in the less heavily timbered west - and was proclaimed a settled district in 1841.2 But by the late 1880s, the settlers’ extensive land clearing for animal grazing, then agriculture, depleted the Wurundjeri’s traditional food sources, which helped to drive them away. Many Wurundjeri artefacts remain (now government protected), and so far 57 sites have been identified in the park, including scarred trees, burial areas and stone artefacts. Pioneer life could be very hard because of isolation, flooding, bushfires and bushrangers. Following the Black Thursday bushfires of 1851, basalt was quarried to build more fire-resistant homes. Gold discoveries in the early 1850s swelled the population, particularly around Smugglers Gully; but food production made more of an impact. In the late 1850s wheat production supplanted grazing. In the 1860s the government made small holdings available to poorer settlers. These had the greatest effect on the district, particularly in Doreen and Yarrambat, where orchards were established from the 1880s to 1914. Links with a prominent early family are the remains of Stuchbery Farm, by the river’s edge bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La Trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. The Stuchberys moved to the valley in 1890, and the family still lives in the area. In 1890, Alfred and Ada first lived in a tent where four children were born, then Alfred built the house and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden, and developed a dairy. The family belonged to the local Methodist and tennis communities. Their grandson Walter, opened the Flying Scotsman Model Railway Museum in Yarrambat, which his widow, Vi, continues to run. Wal was also the Yarrambat CFA Captain for 22 years until 1987. Walter sold 24 hectares in 1976 for development - now Vista Court - and in 1990, the remaining 22.6 hectares for the park. Remaining are an early stone dairy and remnants of a stone barn, a pig sty and a well.3 Until it was destroyed by fire in 2003, a slab hut stood on the Happy Hollow Farm site, at the southern end of the park. The hut is thought to have been built in the Depression around 1893. This was a rare and late example of a slab hut with a domestic orchard close to Melbourne. Emmet Watmough and his family first occupied the hut, followed by a succession of families, until the Bell family bought it around 1948. There they led a subsistence lifestyle for 50 years, despite encroaching Melbourne suburbia.4 The Yellow Gum Recreation Area includes the Blue Lake, coloured turquoise at certain times of the year. Following the 1957 bushfires, this area was quarried by Reid Quarries Pty Ltd for Melbourne’s first skyscrapers, then by Boral Australia. However in the early 1970s water began seeping into the quarry forming the Blue Lake and the quarry was closed. The State Government bought the site in 1997 and opened it as a park in 1999.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, ada stuchbery, alan stuchbery, dairy, stuchbery farm, farm buildings, yarrambat, plenty gorge park

A quarry was transformed into the Blue Lake. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p179 The dramatic steep-sided Plenty Gorge lies along the divide of two geological areas, and separates the Nillumbik Shire and the City of Whittlesea. On the Nillumbik side are undulating hills and sedimentary rock, and in Whittlesea, lies a basalt plain formed by volcanic action up to two million years ago. This provides the Plenty Gorge Park with diverse vegetation and habitats, making it one of Greater Melbourne’s most important refuges for threatened and significant species. The park, established in 1986, consists of around 1350 hectares, and extends 11 kilometres along the Plenty River, from Greensborough to Mernda. It provides a wildlife corridor for around 500 native plant and 280 animal species.1 The area’s plentiful food and water attracted the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people and then European settlers. By 1837 squatters had claimed large runs of land for their sheep and cattle. The Plenty Valley was among the first in the Port Phillip District to be settled - mainly in the less heavily timbered west - and was proclaimed a settled district in 1841.2 But by the late 1880s, the settlers’ extensive land clearing for animal grazing, then agriculture, depleted the Wurundjeri’s traditional food sources, which helped to drive them away. Many Wurundjeri artefacts remain (now government protected), and so far 57 sites have been identified in the park, including scarred trees, burial areas and stone artefacts. Pioneer life could be very hard because of isolation, flooding, bushfires and bushrangers. Following the Black Thursday bushfires of 1851, basalt was quarried to build more fire-resistant homes. Gold discoveries in the early 1850s swelled the population, particularly around Smugglers Gully; but food production made more of an impact. In the late 1850s wheat production supplanted grazing. In the 1860s the government made small holdings available to poorer settlers. These had the greatest effect on the district, particularly in Doreen and Yarrambat, where orchards were established from the 1880s to 1914. Links with a prominent early family are the remains of Stuchbery Farm, by the river’s edge bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La Trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. The Stuchberys moved to the valley in 1890, and the family still lives in the area. In 1890, Alfred and Ada first lived in a tent where four children were born, then Alfred built the house and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden, and developed a dairy. The family belonged to the local Methodist and tennis communities. Their grandson Walter, opened the Flying Scotsman Model Railway Museum in Yarrambat, which his widow, Vi, continues to run. Wal was also the Yarrambat CFA Captain for 22 years until 1987. Walter sold 24 hectares in 1976 for development - now Vista Court - and in 1990, the remaining 22.6 hectares for the park. Remaining are an early stone dairy and remnants of a stone barn, a pig sty and a well.3 Until it was destroyed by fire in 2003, a slab hut stood on the Happy Hollow Farm site, at the southern end of the park. The hut is thought to have been built in the Depression around 1893. This was a rare and late example of a slab hut with a domestic orchard close to Melbourne. Emmet Watmough and his family first occupied the hut, followed by a succession of families, until the Bell family bought it around 1948. There they led a subsistence lifestyle for 50 years, despite encroaching Melbourne suburbia.4 The Yellow Gum Recreation Area includes the Blue Lake, coloured turquoise at certain times of the year. Following the 1957 bushfires, this area was quarried by Reid Quarries Pty Ltd for Melbourne’s first skyscrapers, then by Boral Australia. However in the early 1970s water began seeping into the quarry forming the Blue Lake and the quarry was closed. The State Government bought the site in 1997 and opened it as a park in 1999.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, blue lake, plenty gorge park

The Golden King Mine poppet-head stands at the school’s Yan Yean Road exit gate. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p23 Early Yarambat - Tanck's Corner Its early settlers, who in the 1840s were amongst the first non-Aboriginal people in the area,1 found life tough as they grazed their sheep and cattle. Yarrambat was then known as Tanck’s Corner or Reynolds Corner, after wood carter, Frederick Tanck, who owned land north of Ironbark Road, at the corner of Yan Yean Road, and Thomas Reynolds, owner of the opposite property. After Reynolds sold his land, the corner became known as Tanck’s Corner.2 In 1929 the district’s name was changed to Yarrambat, believed to mean ‘high hill’ in the Wurundjeri language. Tanck’s Corner was in the centre of gold-bearing country and the district is honeycombed with old tunnels and shafts. However although gold played a dominant role for decades, there was insufficient to develop a substantial township. Meat and agricultural produce made a greater impact.3 Until the mid-20th century the only substantial building was the primary school. The first gold rush occurred around 1860, the second after 1900; then during the Depression, the Government paid men to pan for gold. The first rush attracted hundreds of Chinese people to Smugglers Gully, who constructed round diggings to keep away spirits. Alluvial miners lived along the Plenty River in tents or humpies - some fenced with gardens - and some miners distilled their own ‘plonk’. It was a wild time and bushrangers - and later gangster Squizzy Taylor - were said to hide4 in the old Pioneer Tunnel in Dunne’s Gully between Heard Avenue and Pioneer Road. Mines opposite Tanck’s Corner included Beer’s Line, Golden Crown and Golden Stairs. Some of the big mines had batteries and stampers to process quartz. At first there was plenty of alluvial gold, as much as two ounces to the ton. At times gold was exposed after heavy rains so fossickers panned for gold around orchard irrigation trenches. Gold was mined until 1984 when Yarrambat’s last operating goldmine, the Golden King Mine, in North Oatlands Road, closed. The Clayton family operated it full-time, making a comfortable living and in the 1960s it was the only private family gold mine in Victoria.5 Gold was such an important part of Yarrambat’s history that a gold poppet-head is the Yarrambat Primary School’s logo. The Golden King Mine poppet-head stands at the school’s Yan Yean Road exit gate.6 However this school was built in 1988. The original school No 2054, at the corner of Ironbark and Yan Yean Roads, was opened in 1878 and modified to its present form in the 1920s. In 2000 it was relocated to the Heritage Museum at Yarrambat Park.7 The school, whose first head teacher was Charles Planner, consisted of one room with a three-roomed residence. The school was also the community centre. On Saturday nights it was crammed for dances or euchre parties, community singing or other social events. On Sundays, services for different denominations took turns each week. However the school had its teething problems. Parents accused Charles Planner of neglecting his duties and the school closed several times. When it closed in 1892, only church services continued. Social activities moved elsewhere, such as the tennis club to the Stuchbery tennis court opposite. A sports day and woodchop on Boxing Day around 1900 was held at the Evelyn Hill Hotel, also called Evelyn Arms and Tunnel Hill Hotel, on the Greensborough–Diamond Creek Road. An annual agricultural show in Diamond Creek paraded through the town, and New Year’s Day picnics at the Yan Yean Reservoir included highland dancing and competitions. Also popular were the Indian hawkers who visited every three months, selling trinkets, clothing and other items. One called Jimmy ‘Allem dem Bedi’, gave presents and told stories, played draughts and sold delicious curries he cooked over his camp fire at night.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, golden king mine, tanck's corner, yarrambat primary school

The practice of branding livestock for ownership identification has been used since at least the times of the ancient Egyptians. It was especially valuable when cattle or other domesticated animals were merged with other herds on common grazing land, or if they had strayed or been stolen, as it allowed them to be identified at a glance. The branding iron is heated in a fire, hot coals or by other means and pressed into the hide of the animal creating the brand mark. The word brand originates from the Germanic languages and means anything hot or burning. This brand belonged to Samuel Amess - who owned Churchill Island in the late nineteenth century - and was used on the farm to mark the cattle he owned.Branding iron with initials SA for Samuel Amess. Surface rust, pitted metal. churchill island, samuel amess, branding iron, cattle