David Syme (1827-1908) was a newspaper proprietor who was born on 2 October 1827 at North Berwick, Scotland. Early in 1851, he went via Cape Horn to California seeking gold. By mid-1852 he was in Melbourne, and in the next three years prospected with some success on Ballarat, Bendigo, Castlemaine and Beechworth diggings. In 1855 he lost a possible fortune at Egerton near Ballarat when a promising claim was jumped. Ebenezer Syme bought the insolvent Melbourne Age for £2000, and invited David Syme to take up a share. In September 1856 Syme put up some cash and his contracting business to obtain a half-share. He helped to manage the paper but returned to contracting late in 1857. When Ebenezer retired in 1859 Syme reluctantly returned to the business, and on Ebenezer's death next year he began his fifty-year career as publisher and editor of the Age. (C. E. Sayers, 'Syme, David (1827–1908)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/syme-david-4679/text7741, published first in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 25 August 2019._Reproducation of a image of David Syme.david syme, portrait, the age, journalist

David Syme (1827-1908) was a newspaper proprietor who was born on 2 October 1827 at North Berwick, Scotland. Early in 1851, he went via Cape Horn to California seeking gold. By mid-1852 he was in Melbourne, and in the next three years prospected with some success on Ballarat, Bendigo, Castlemaine and Beechworth diggings. In 1855 he lost a possible fortune at Egerton near Ballarat when a promising claim was jumped. Ebenezer Syme bought the insolvent Melbourne Age for £2000, and invited David Syme to take up a share. In September 1856 Syme put up some cash and his contracting business to obtain a half-share. He helped to manage the paper but returned to contracting late in 1857. When Ebenezer retired in 1859 Syme reluctantly returned to the business, and on Ebenezer's death next year he began his fifty-year career as publisher and editor of the Age. (C. E. Sayers, 'Syme, David (1827–1908)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/syme-david-4679/text7741, published first in hardcopy 1976, accessed online 25 August 2019._Reproducation of a image of David Syme.david syme, portrait, the age, journalist

This school was one of the earliest in St Kilda. The 1842 plan of Crown Lands that were sold to establish what became the village of St Kilda reserved an area on Acland Street for the 'Church of England and School'. Christ Church was constructed on the site in 1854-57. A school had started before then but was closed for about a year after the Head Teacher abandoned his students in search of gold. A sign on the door read 'This school is closed in consequence of the master having gone to the diggings'. The school was re-opened in 1853, with only two pupils on the first day. The new Headmaster was John Hadfield, a teacher who had recently arrived in Melbourne from Wiltshire, England. He stayed on as Headmaster for the next 22 years. Free secular compulsory education was introduced in Victoria from 1873. Until a permanent State school could be built in the area, the Government used the St Kilda Town Hall for this purpose, and the students from Christ Church school were transferred there. The Brighton Road State School was opened in January 1875, with John Hadfield was its first Headmaster. The Government then leased the old Christ Church schoolroom and established a second school there. The Headmaster was James A Ure. The school continued until the 1940s. The building was burnt down in 1977.The building burnt down in 1977.black and white gloss photograph good condition unmountedFirst State School in St Kilda, Acland St, St Kilda 22 Nov 1933st kilda, christ church, acland street, st kilda schools, john hadfield, james a ure, christ church school, christ church college

This school was one of the earliest in St Kilda. The 1842 plan of Crown Lands that were sold to establish what became the village of St Kilda reserved an area on Acland Street for the 'Church of England and School'. Christ Church was constructed on the site in 1854-57. A school had started before then but was closed for about a year after the Head Teacher abandoned his students in search of gold. A sign on the door read 'This school is closed in consequence of the master having gone to the diggings'. The school was re-opened in 1853, with only two pupils on the first day. The new Headmaster was John Hadfield, a teacher who had recently arrived in Melbourne from Wiltshire, England. He stayed on as Headmaster for the next 22 years. Free secular compulsory education was introduced in Victoria from 1873. Until a permanent State school could be built in the area, the Government used the St Kilda Town Hall for this purpose, and the students from Christ Church school were transferred there. The Brighton Road State School was opened in January 1875, with John Hadfield was its first Headmaster. The Government then leased the old Christ Church schoolroom and established a second school there. The Headmaster was James A Ure. The school continued until the 1940s. The building was burnt down in 1977.The building burnt down in 1977.Framed and mounted original photograph, black and white. First state school room in Victoria.st kilda, christ church, acland street, st kilda schools, john hadfield, james a ure, christ church school, christ church college

This building is a fine example of a very early small brick country court house which retains its furnishings and has important associations with the early history of the Eltham township. It was used for Eltham Road Board meetings in the 1860s and later to provide additional school accommodation. It is the oldest public building remaining in Eltham and forms an important group in historic and streetscape terms with the adjoining former police residence. The survival of the furnishings (of unknown origins) is of particular significance given the building's age. This building, and the former police residence beside it, were constructed as a result of a petition by five Eltham residents in 1857. The nearest police were at Heidelberg eight miles away or at the Caledonia Diggings 21 miles away. After the construction of the Court of Petty Sessions at Eltham in 1859-60 (which was designed by the Public Works Department and built by a Mr Duncan for a cost of 536 pounds), it was used for a variety of purposes. Eltham Road Board meetings were held there until 1868 when the board was transferred to Kangaroo Ground and as the Road Board Secretary's office, until this was transferred to Wingrove Cottage in 1867. It was used as an overflow for the Dalton Street School in 1875. According to National Trust records, the Eltham Court House is a relatively rare building type. There are only six other known examples of similar small brick country court houses in the state which have small projecting entry porches and a gabled form. Roll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Neltham, eltham courthouse, main road

This family history book was published as a family record of the Ah Chow family. A limited number of copies were printed. Thomas William (Bill) Ah Chow was a Chinese-Australian soldier, farmer, fire lookout and legendary bushman of East Gippsland in Victoria. Many Chinese came to the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s to seek their fortune at the Omeo and Cassilis diggings. Many of the immigrants later settled and integrated into their local communities working as farm labourers, tending market gardens, making furniture, running grocery stores and cafes or practising Chinese medicine. Thomas William "Bill" Ah Chow of Bruthen, Victoria attempted to enlist early in the War but was rejected for being "not substantially of European origin". Undeterred, he reapplied and was accepted in June 1917. During his service with the 5th Battalion, he was wounded at least three times. After the War, Bill returned to Bruthen where he drove sheep, worked cattle and eventually assisted in the building of roads through the area. He became a Forestry Commission fire-spotter and built a hut called 'Moscow Villa' in 1942. He lived in the hut during the summer months and in winter, returned to his family in Ensay. Whenever there was fire danger, he rode his horse up to the fire tower on Mt Nugong and acted as look-out. Bill worked for the Forestry Commission for more than twenty years and came out of retirement to continue his duties when no suitable replacement could be found. Bill died in 1967 and is buried in Omeo. Moscow Villa still stands and is a popular camping site This is a useful reference item. As a family history it is detailed and contains useful copies of personal documents. Bill Ah Chow, along with the Ah Chow family were well known in Orbost and East Gippsland. This booklet is a testament to his life. A soft covered 97pp book with a cream cover. On the front is a coloured photograph of a Chinese man in traditional robe and hat. On the back cover is Moscow Villa. It contains information, copies of 1949 photographs, documents, hand -written letters and a will. There is an envelope attached to the inside cover containing a CD, photos and family tree.ah-chow-william-thomas family-history-ah-chow

Velvet Soap was a widely used laundry bar soap launched in 1906, produced by J. Kitchen & Sons, owned by John Ambrose Kitchen (1835 - 1922). Kitchen was born in Britain and emigrated to Victoria in 1854. After a less than successful period at the Caledonian and Blackwood diggings, Kitchen returned to Melbourne and joined his father and brothers in establishing a tallow candle making works. Through merger and expansion the company became the pre-eminent manufacturer of soap and candles in the eastern colonies in the mid to late 19th century. Kitchen also speculated in a number of enterprises but suffered financial setbacks as a result of the 1890s bank crashes. Despite this, the company continued to grow in the early twentieth century with the introduction of products such as Velvet Soap and Solvol. The company merged with the British company Lever Bros in 1914 who eventually took full control of the company in 1924, becoming Lever and Kitchen. Advertising for Velvet Soap in Australia was extensive and pervasive. All manner of surfaces were used to advertise the product such as building walls, roofs, and most commonly, enamelled sheet metal signs which were fastened to any available surface internally and externally. The most common form of sign that Velvet Soap used was the words 'PURE VELVET SOAP' in white lettering within a vivid dark blue, elongated Maltese cross. On the enamelled metal signs the Maltese cross sat on a red background with a yellow border. While this was the dominant form for Velvet Soap signs, there were variations from the standard. The Velvet Soap sign is of historical significance as a representative of painted signs that were once a common form of advertising during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. - : http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/14447#sthash.Vb6KAUWl.dpufHistoric - Advertising Sign - Velvet SoapTin sign with white, yellow, red and blue enamel. Pure velvet soap.puffing billy, enamel sign, pure velvet soap

John Christopher Ruschmeyer arrived in Melbourne aged 26 aboard the 'Essex' from Hanover, Germany via London in 1864. Shortly after his arrival in Australia he travelled to the Bendigo diggings. He became one of many thousands of German diggers on the Central Victorian Goldfields. He married Elizabeth Little Shepherd (Morrison) in 1874, a widow who had travelled down from Brisbane after the death of her first husband (John Shepherd). He became a naturalized citizen in 1893. Shortly after his marriage and having mined Golden Gully for some years he turned to hotel keeping and was the licensee of the Town and Country Hotel in Woodward Road, Golden Gully up until his death in 1911. The family of 4 daughters and 3 sons survived him. The family of Ernest, Maude, Christopher, Ethel and Edith (twins), Charles and Dolly Ruschmeyer all lived in the Bendigo area. His sons continued working in the mining tradition. He is buried with his wife in the Bendigo Cemetery. After his death Elizabeth moved to Thistle St until her death in 1922. Christopher Ruschmeyer and his family lived in a small house (now part of a poultry farm) in Woodwood road opposite the TOWN AND COUNTRY HOTEL. A brother Ernest Walter Ruschmeyer lived in a house next to the hotel. Ernest built the house. After Ernest's death in 1927 another brother Charles Hex Ruschmeyer married Ernest's wife Gertrude. The hotel was first licensed in 1898 and closed in 1916. John Ruschmeyer was the licensee until his death in 1911. Elizabeth took over the license until 1912 when it was sold to a Catherine E Hoffaer. This information is provided by Neil Graham of Strathfieldsaye whose Grandfather on his Mother's side was John Ruschmeyer and John Christopher Ruschmeyer was his Great Grandfather.Digital image: image shows Town and Country Hotel, Diamond Hill. Ruschmeyer's were the publicans. Standing outside hotel, were from left, Ethel, Dolly, Maude, Edith, Elizabeth.person, family, ruschmeyer, john christopher ruschmeyer, town and country hotel, ruschmeyer, diamond hill bendigo

James Venn Morgan was known affectionately as ‘The Father of Kew’. Born in Somersetshire on February 21, 1823, he sailed to Australia in April, 1851. James V. Morgan, was a member of one of the first parties to leave for the diggings. At Chewton, near Castlemaine his party tried their luck in an abandoned shaft, and in two weeks returned to Melbourne after having won 35lb weight of gold. James Venn Morgan was content with his success, and induced his partners to invest their money with him in land. After obtaining the advice of a friend, the party negotiated with Mr Samuel Watts, of Collingwood, who had recently purchased land from the Crown, and from him they took over at £15 an acre about 32 acres of land in the district that is now known as Kew. This land extended from where the Kew Post-office now stands to the locality of the Boroondara Cemetery. Here it was that Mr Morgan decided to settle, and, after having had the land surveyed, the partners apportioned it by drawing straws for the four sections into which it had been divided. One of them sold his holding later in the year for £100 an acre, and was sorry for it afterwards. In 1853 Mr. Morgan built the first house in Kew, and this house is the one in which he still resides. Here with his wife, he settled down to market gardening and dairying. So successful was the new venture that he induced his father and other members of the family to come out to Australia to assist him. Gradually the district became settled, Mr. Morgan parted with a portion of his holding, and subdivided and built on the remainder, which he still retained. In 1884 he found himself in a position to retire from active business.He celebrated his 100th birthday in 1923. He was later to die in the same year. The Argus, 17 January 1923.Rare and historic hand-tinted framed portrait of one of the founding pioneers of the district.Hand tinted photograph in a gilt frame of the Kew pioneer James Venn Morgan (1823-1923).james venn morgan, kew - pioneer families, kew - landowners

James Venn Morgan was known affectionately as ‘The Father of Kew’. Born in Somersetshire on February 21, 1823, he sailed to Australia in April, 1851. James V. Morgan, was a member of one of the first parties to leave for the diggings. At Chewton, near Castlemaine his party tried their luck in an abandoned shaft, and in two weeks returned to Melbourne after having won 35lb weight of gold. James Venn Morgan was content with his success, and induced his partners to invest their money with him in land. After obtaining the advice of a friend, the party negotiated with Mr Samuel Watts, of Collingwood, who had recently purchased land from the Crown, and from him they took over at £15 an acre about 32 acres of land in the district that is now known as Kew. This land extended from where the Kew Post-office now stands to the locality of the Boroondara Cemetery. Here it was that Mr Morgan decided to settle, and, after having had the land surveyed, the partners apportioned it by drawing straws for the four sections into which it had been divided. One of them sold his holding later in the year for £100 an acre, and was sorry for it afterwards. In 1853 Mr. Morgan built the first house in Kew, and this house is the one in which he still resides. Here with his wife, he settled down to market gardening and dairying. So successful was the new venture that he induced his father and other members of the family to come out to Australia to assist him. Gradually the district became settled, Mr. Morgan parted with a portion of his holding, and subdivided and built on the remainder, which he still retained. In 1884 he found himself in a position to retire from active business. He celebrated his 100th birthday in 1923. He was later to die in the same year. The Argus, 17 January 1923.Rare and-tinted framed photograph af Annie Morgan, the wife of one of the founding pioneers of the district.Hand tinted photograph in a gilt frame of Anna Morgan (nee Chidgey), the wife of James Venn Morgan. Anna Morgan was the wife of one of Kew's earliest pioneers and landowners. She died in 1915.anna morgan, kew - pioneers

Background on Bridle Path up Stony Creek Gorge Pre 1840 C. B. Hall, squatter on Mokepilly Run 1841-1842, first European to discover the Fyans Creek valley, the entrance of which became known as Hall's Gap. He later recorded that he followed a number of tracks which he assumed had been made by the Aboriginies and described one as "leading up a wild romantic glen and over on to the source of the Glenelg River". This could well have been the route taken up Stony Creek gorge by the first timber-cutters in this part of the Grampians to the saddle between the Wonderland and Mt. Difficult ranges known as Valley Gap 1850s/60s Timber cutters and shingle splitters were reported to be moving into the eastern side of the Grampians and by the mid 1860s there were a number of families connected to the supplying of timber to Pleasant Creek living in the "Hall's Gap ranges". John Wakeham, the first store owner in Pleasant Creek in 1854, established a timer-mill in upper Stony Creek Gorge in the late 1850s. Wakeham is credited for the clearing and levelling of the first bridle-path up the gorge. 1870s By the mid 1870s the track had been extended over Valley Gap to the Victoria Forest (the upper region of the Victoria Valley). McKeon's bullock team was known to have hauled red gum from the Valley to Stawell in the late 1870s and the 1880s. 1880s In 1887 an article in the Pleasant Creek news describes the Stony Creek Gorge track as "being a ledge alongside the mountain range, formed in the early days with the aid of earth and timber, along which the bullock teams used to travel to Horsham and plains of the Wimmera beyond." 1890s Gold was discovered in the catchment area of Stony Creek and by the end of the 1890s a new track was built from "near the junction of Fyan's and Stony Creeks, up the gorge to the diggings settlement. The mining Department had paid L300 for its construction and, when completed, the track was "three miles and 30 chains in length, the side cuttings at the narrowest part being 10 feet between" and "the watercourses which cross the track at various points" having been "filled up with rocks rolled down the sides of the hills, and consequently there can be no damage caused by bushfires which destroyed the former wooden bridges erected on the old track to Wakeham's saw-mill, the remains of which are still to be seen at the side of the diggings" The article goes on to further describe the track as one which "can with ease travel with a two horse conveyance either up or down" and that the workmen engaged in the construction of the track would be attending "a ball that night at McKeon's farm near the mouth of the gap to celebrate the successful completion of the undertaking". 1900s At what time the bridle path was extended beyond Valley Gap to the Wartook basin on the Mt. Difficult Range has not yet been determined. However, it is known that, by the turn of the century, people were travelling between Halls Gap and the caretakers' residence at Wartook Reservoir along what was now known as the "Bluff Road. Wartook's embankment had been constructed in 1887 and at that time there was already a track from Rosebrook Station homestead (near the present day Wartook Pottery) to the reservoir. Philip Rose owned both Rosebrook and Wartook Stations from the mid 1840s to the late 1850s and had regularly leased the Wartook basin to Cobb & Co. to rest horses there. 1920s Following the war of 1914-1918, tourism really took off in the Grampians, and Halls Gap rapidly grew. People would travel as far as they could on the many tracks then hike to the many lookouts being discovered by local tour guides. This led to the need for access across the range so that horse riders and the increasing number of vehicles could travel between Horsham and Halls Gap. To this end, the Bluff Road was improved and extended on 1929 and at its opening in March, 1930, by Lady Somers it was renamed the Mt. Victory Road.Map of Mt Victory Road and othersaccess routes, mt victory rd, bridle path, roads

Fern gullies around Jehosaphat Gully Covered under National Estate. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p125 The magnificent Kinglake National Park, fringing Nillumbik’s north, is the largest national park close to Melbourne. Thanks to the vision and hard work of a band of local people, the park was created from what was rapidly becoming degraded land. Seeing a threat to Kinglake’s indigenous flora and fauna, several prominent local people campaigned for a national park, which was established in 1928.1 Since then, the park has grown through donations and acquisitions of land, from around 13,800 acres of land (5585ha) to 22,360 hectares. The Sugarloaf and Everard Blocks – of almost 8000 hectares – stand in Nillumbik and the park extends into Mitchell and Murrundindi Shires and the City of Whittlesea. Mt Everard commemorates William Hugh Everard, State member for Evelyn when the park was established. Before 1928, European settlers had degraded the Kinglake area, which was named after the celebrated English author and lawyer, Alexander William Kinglake. Remains of gold shafts and diggings in the park are reminders of Kinglake’s first settlers, who hoped to strike it rich at the gold diggings. But like other gold fields in this shire, they proved not very lucrative and soon timber cutting replaced mining in importance. However, before long, the accessible timber supply ran out, so in the 1920s agriculture took over – particularly potatoes and berry fruits – which involved large-scale clearing.2 The park’s instigator was retired Melbourne University Professor of Music, William Laver.3 As chair of the Kinglake Progress Association he began negotiations to have crown lands on the southern scarp of the Great Dividing Range reserved as a national park. Even before the park was proclaimed, from 1927, KPA members cut tracks to the major scenic points. Professor Laver was one of several people who gave land for the park, donating around 50 acres (20ha), including the Jehosaphat Gully.4 Laver chaired the park’s first Committee of Management, which raised money to employ a ranger and provide facilities, including tracks and roads for fire protection vehicles, toilets and shelters. The committee charged fees for firewood collection, some grazing of livestock, and visitor entrance, and obtained small State Government and Eltham Shire grants. In 1957 the State Government provided revenue for national parks. Then, in 1975, the State Government took over the management and the Committee of Management became an advisory committee, which disbanded in 1978. Originally, the park covered crown land in the Shires of Eltham and Whittlesea; then Wombelano Falls in Yea and other areas were added. In 1970 the park extended into the Shires of Eltham, Healesville, Whittlesea and Yea.5 Bush fires have been an ongoing problem. In 1939 hundreds of eucalypts and acacias had to be sown around the Jehosaphat Gully to rejuvenate the forest. To manage bushfires, the Committee of Management, then the State Government, worked closely with the Forestry Commission, shire councils and local fire brigades. Early national parks focussed on recreation. But by the 1980s, conservation, education and scientific research became more important, playing a vital role in preserving representative samples of the natural environment. Each year many thousands of people use the park’s extensive network of walking tracks amongst the protected plant and animal life as well as camping, cycling and horse riding. The park, along the slopes of the Great Dividing Range, has lookouts revealing magnificent views of the Melbourne skyline, Port Phillip Bay, the Yarra Valley and the You Yangs. Vegetation in the Masons Falls area includes messmate forest, Austral grass-trees, ferns and Hazel Pomaderris. In spring, orchids, lilies, everlasting daisies, correas, grevillea and heath appear. Around Jehosaphat Gully are wet and dry forest, fern gullies and banksia. Animal life includes wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, possums, gliders and bandicoots. Male lyrebirds can be heard mimicking in the Jehosaphat Gully, particularly in the Everard Block in winter.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, kinglake national park, jehosaphat gully

A copy of a white piece of paper with creases photocopiedThis meeting was held at Winters' Flat below Magpie List of subscriptions and donations towards the purchase of a Tent to be erected on the Balaarat [sic] diggings, for the purposes of public worship in connexion with the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Also for the establishment of a Sunday School and of a Day School if found practicable. March 1853 Mr James Jones, Mr Joseph Wearne, Mr Thomas Wearne, Mr McCulchan, Mr Mathews and family, Mr & Mrs Harding, Mr Rees, Mr Charles Axborough, Mr John Henderson, Mr Alexander Ross, Mr Roger Parsons, Mr Baker, Mr Isaac Cooper, Mr Hill & family, Mr & Mrs Douglass, Mr & Mrs Reynolds, Mr Benjamin Sargent, Mr Thompson, Mr Dunstan, Mr Moyle, Mr Fletcher, Mr & Mrs Odie [sic], Mr William Wearne, Mr Brady, Mr Carter, Mr Moulton, Mr James, Mrs Crowfield, Mr Smith, Mr Crombie, Mr John Day, or Davy, Mr Adams, Buninyong, Mr Joseph Wearne, ?, A friendjames jones, mr joseph wearne, mr thomas wearne, mr mcculchan, mr mathews and family, mr & mrs harding, mr rees, mr charles axborough, mr john henderson, mr alexander ross, mr roger parsons, mr baker, mr isaac cooper, mr hill & family, mr & mrs douglass, mr & mrs reynolds, mr benjamin sargent, mr thompson, mr dunstan, mr moyle, mr fletcher, mr william wearne, mr brady, mr carter, mr moulton, mr james, mrs crowfield, mr smith, mr crombie, mr john day, or davy, mr adams, buninyong, oddie, mr and mrs oddie

This photograph is a copy displayed in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. The original photograph is in the La Trobe Collection in the State Library of Victoria. William Henry Gaunt (1830-1905), judge, was born on 27 July 1830 at Leek, Staffordshire, England, son of John Gaunt, banker, and his wife Mary, née Bakewell. Educated at Leek Grammar School and Whitchurch, Salop, he migrated to Melbourne, and entered the Victorian public service and was rapidly promoted. By March 1854 he was chief clerk at Beechworth, the administrative centre of the Ovens goldfield. In July 1855 the resident warden commended Gaunt as 'a highly valuable public servant' with an intimate knowledge of the district and the 'temper and disposition of the miners'. Appointed sub-warden in the Beechworth district in January 1856 and a Chinese protector in August, he was given control of the extensive Woolshed district. When European miners attacked a party of Chinese at the Buckland River diggings in May 1857 Gaunt was sent to restore order. One of his proclamations, issued in Chinese characters, concluded 'W. H. Gaunt, your protector—tremble and obey!' In June he was appointed a police magistrate and next month was sent to take charge at the Buckland where the Chinese had been expelled from the diggings; the police force assisting him was led by Robert O'Hara Burke. In January 1858 Gaunt was appointed a warden, in November was transferred to Chiltern, north of Beechworth, and in August 1859 was made a commissioner of crown lands. In February 1860 Gaunt was appointed a coroner of Victoria, acting at Indigo, near Chiltern. In April 1865 he was transferred to Beechworth, became visiting justice of the gaol and later moved to Sandhurst. In January 1869 he was appointed returning officer for the mining district of Ballarat and visiting justice of the gaol. He was associated with this area for the rest of his life and won high repute for his integrity. In 1874 he chaired the inaugural meeting of the first Australian competitive swimming club. For years he studied law and was called to the Bar in December 1873. He was one of the many public servants dismissed by Graham Berry on 9 January 1878 (Black Wednesday). After petitioning the Queen in vain over his dismissal he began practice in Ballarat as a barrister. He soon became a leading authority on mining laws; one of the cases in which he was involved was the lengthy inquest on the bodies of the twenty-two miners drowned in the New Australasian mine disaster at Creswick in 1882. He was appointed a temporary judge of the Insolvency Court in 1889 and a County Court judge in 1891. In 1900 he was chairman of the royal commission which considered Metropolitan Board of Works matters, and in 1902 was president of the inquiry into the unification of municipalities in Victoria. In 1860 Gaunt married Elizabeth Mary, the youngest daughter of Frederick Palmer; they had nine children. Of the surviving five sons and two daughters, Ernest Frederick Augustus and Guy Reginald Archer both became admirals and were knighted; Cecil Robert became a lieutenant-colonel, Clive Herbert a government advocate in Rangoon and Mary (Mrs H. L. Miller) one of the first women students to enrol at the University of Melbourne (1881), although she did not complete her degree; she became a successful novelist. Gaunt died on 5 October 1905. An anonymous colleague said: 'I don't think he was ever excelled as a police magistrate, and during the many years he was on the County Court bench he earned the highest regard. His capacities were as unquestioned as his integrity, and more could not be said of any judge'. Select Bibliography Votes and Proceedings (Legislative Assembly, Victoria), 1878, 3, (58) Government Gazette (Victoria), 22 Feb, 15 Aug 1856, 30 June 1857, 5 Jan 1858, 16 Aug 1859, 3 Feb 1860, 7 Mar, 11 Oct 1862, 28 Mar, 4 Apr 1865, 17 May 1867, 9 June 1868, 22, 29 Jan 1869 Ovens and Murray Advertiser, 21 May 1857, 11 Mar 1865 Colonial Secretary's in-letters, goldfields, 25 Mar 1854, 21 July, 18 Nov 1855, 22 Aug 1857 (Public Record Office Victoria) scrapbook and newsclippings (privately held). Related Entries in NCB Sitesview family tree Gaunt, Mary Eliza (daughter)go to ADB entryPhotograph of Judge W. H. Gaunt standing beside chair holding top hat and cane, under glass, in cream frame with cream matte.Printed name underneath: JUDGE W. H. GAUNT

This image is a reproduction of an 1899 original depicting the 'Williams Good Luck Mine' on the Mopoke Reef (also called 'Morepork Gully') in the Dingle Ranges, approximately three miles from Beechworth. The foreground of the image is littered with piles of smashed rock and detritus, known as ‘mullock’, beside a reinforced mine shaft, a vertical access passageway allowing miners to enter the mine and haul ore out using lifting technology such as a poppet heads, whims or windlasses. A group of miners and a dog appear close to an open-sided miner’s hut. Following the discovery of gold at Beechworth in 1852, rushes quickly followed at surrounding creeks and gullies in the district. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, small syndicates of miners continued to work old or abandoned quartz reefs, often persisting without the assistance of heavy machinery to remove the large amounts of rock, in order to obtain yields at ever greater depths. The group of miners in this photograph are Mr. Roger Williams and Sons, who revived operations at the ‘Old Good Luck’ mine on the Mopoke Reef in the Dingle Range near Beechworth around 1892, working the site for more than two decades. An emigrant from Cornwall with experience in the tin mining industry, 19 year old Roger Williams senior sailed to New Zealand in 1840, then to Australia where he spent time in the Bendigo Gold Fields before settling in Beechworth in the early 1860s. Mr Williams senior worked on various mining activities in the district, including the Rocky Mountain Tunnel project. Conversant with the character of gold-bearing reefs in the area, the syndicate dug an eight hundred foot tunnel, digging down as far down as two hundred feet with little capital save their labour, to connect and provide better working access to the mass of reefs and veins in the vicinity. Progress was hampered by poor air quality charged with fumes from dynamite and large quantities of rock had to be crushed to obtain payable yields. The Victorian Goldfields are filled with ruins and remnants of the area's rich mining history, ranging from small alluvial diggings to the remains of huge mining companies. Site names often changed several times throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some sites were abandoned and forgotten, others were worked continuously over many decades. The names of mines were often repeated at different locations throughout the Victorian Goldfields. For example, there is a Mopoke Gully heritage mine near Fryers Creek, Victoria. 'Mopoke' is a common onomatopoeic name for Morepork and Australian Boobook owls. This image has historical, social and research significance for patterns of emigration during of the Victorian Gold Rush, and the historical, social and environmental impacts of mining at Beechworth at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As gold became scarce and government support and large company investment waned, poor hard-working miners laboured intensively to make a living through periods of high unemployment. This image can be compared and studied alongside other historical mining photographs and objects in the Burke Museum Collection. It has potential to improve our understanding of miners working conditions and the shifting character of mining in the Beechworth district. Black and white rectangular reproduction photograph printed on matte photographic paper.Obverse: Williams Good Luck Mine Beechworth / Roger! / Reverse: 6858 / burke museum, beechworth museum, beechworth, gold fields, gold rush, victorian gold rush, gold ming history, colonial australia, australian gold rushes, mining technology, beechworth historic district, indigo gold trail, migration, indigo shire, good luck gold mine, victorian goldfields, mining syndicates, gold fever, quartz-mining, small-scale mining, old good luck mine, mopoke gully, quartz reefs beechworth

Madagascar was a large British merchant ship built for the trade to India and China in 1837 that disappeared on a voyage from Melbourne to London in 1853. The disappearance of Madagascar was one of the great maritime mysteries of the 19th century and has probably been the subject of more speculation than any other 19th-century maritime puzzle, except for the Mary Celeste. Madagascar, the second Blackwall Frigate, was built for George and Henry Green at the Blackwall Yard, London, a shipyard that they co-owned with the Wigram family. A one-eighth share in the vessel was held throughout her 16-year career by her first master Captain William Harrison Walker Walker. Madagascar carried freight, passengers, and troops between England and India until the end of 1852. In addition to her normal crew, she also carried many boys being trained as officers for the merchant marine. Known as midshipmen from naval practice, their parents or guardians paid for their training, and they only received a nominal wage of usually a shilling a month. Due to the Victorian Gold Rush, Madagascar, under the command of Captain Fortescue William Harris, was sent to Melbourne with emigrants. She left Plymouth on 11 March 1853 and, after an uneventful passage of 87 days, reached Melbourne on 10 June. Fourteen of her 60 crew jumped ship for the diggings, and it is believed only about three replacements were signed on. She then loaded a cargo that included wool, rice, and about two tonnes of gold valued at £240,000, and took on board about 110 passengers for London. On Wednesday 10 August, just as she was preparing to sail, police went on board and arrested a bushranger John Francis, who was later found to have been one of those responsible for robbing on 20th July the Melbourne Private Escort between the McIvor goldfield at Heathcote, Victoria and Kyneton. On the following day, the police arrested two others, one on board the ship and the other as he was preparing to board. As a result of these arrests, Madagascar did not leave Melbourne until Friday 12 August 1853. After she left Port Phillip Heads Madagascar was never seen again. When the ship became overdue many theories were floated, including spontaneous combustion of the wool cargo, hitting an iceberg and, most controversially, being seized by criminal elements of the passengers and/or crew and scuttled, with the gold being stolen and the remaining passengers and crew murdered. There have been many rumors as to what happened to Madagascar over the years but what really happened is still a mystery. The lithograph was made around 1950 from an original painting of Madagascar a Vessel with a notorious past and is interesting and a significant item for the ships part in early Victorian history. The picture is it’s self not valuable or can be associated with a significant person in history. The interest lies in the events that are linked to the ship in the mid 19th century.Lithograph of the ship Madagascar, in a wooden frameThe Madagascar East Indiaman 1000 tonsflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, lithograph, the madagascar, east indiaman

A plaster replica of the 377 ozs gold nugget that was discovered in March 1861 in Robinson Crusoe valley at a depth of 5 feet by Mr John Knott and his son. It was the largest nugget found on the field. Value in 2016 $595,463. An article by the Bendigo Advertiser on Saturday 16 March 1861 describes the discovery "One of the largest pieces of gold that have been turned out of the ground on Bendigo, was yesterday brought to light in a small gully called Dead Bullock Gully, on the Kangaroo Flat side of Robinson Crusoe. The fortunate discoverers of the treasure are in this instance, as is generally the case, "fossickers," and where the nugget was found is in some old ground that has no doubt been turned over times innumerable within a few feet of the spot where the prize was lying hid. The exact weight of the nugget is 377 oz 6¾ dwts of as pure gold as ever came out of the ground. The finders are Mr John Knott and his son; the latter,a lad, being the party who actually found it, which he did under rather peculiar circumstances. He was down below in the old hole, putting a drive into an old pillar that had been left, when he drove his pick into the mass of gold, and partially discovered it. Under the excitement of the moment he cried out loudly, and his father, who was on top, immediately jumped down the hole, under the impression that his son had met with an accident, but fortunately found that he only required assistance in extracting the welcome stranger. The following is a description of the nugget. Length, twelve inches; width, six; while in some places it is of about two inches in thickness, in others it is only about half an inch. It has that peculiarity of form which from the days of the early finders of nuggets has enabled one to discover a resemblance to something either common or uncommon. We have had nuggets resembling frying pans, legs of mutton, dampers, and other articles in use in the rosy days of the diggings. In the present instance several parties who have seen the nugget assert that both in shape and size it is very much like an Australian Platypus, one of the ends of the nugget being exactly in formation like the snout of the animal. It will be exhibited today in the gold office of Mr Bannerman, and will, no doubt,attract the gaze of a crowd. Mr Knott states that at breakfast, before going to work in the morning, the boy mentioned to his mother that he had dreamt on the previous night that he would find a large nugget. May the similar dreams of every alluvial miner come as true as this realization of a prize worth between fourteen and fifteen hundred pounds in value."It has a sticker on it that says 'The Platypus 112'mining, models, plaster model of victorian gold nugget, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87375584

A history of Eltham Post Office. Australia Post: Gold brought life to the township - Diamond Valley News, Tuesday July 2, 1985, p17 On February 1, 1854, the first Eltham Post Office was established, commencing an association between the township and the Postmaster-General's Department that has continued for 131 years. At that time, the number of permanent residents would have been fairly small, probably less than 200. The discovery of gold in June 1851, at Anderson’s Creek, some five miles away, and later at Caledonia Diggings, Queenstown (now known as St Andrews), about 14 miles to the north-east, brought large numbers of prospectors passing through the township, hopefully culling the creeks and gullies for the precious metal. This additional "floating population" brought a greater demand for supplies and for communication with the outside world, and so it helped in the development of Eltham. Today, Eltham is a thriving township. It boasts an excellent shopping centre, municipal offices, court house. post office and many other amenities. Eltham continued to develop at a leisurely pace. During 1860, a total of just over 8000 postal articles were handled at the Eltham Post Office. By 1862, the mail route was "to and from Melbourne by way of Eltham and Kangaroo Ground, three times a week, by coach". There was also a branch mail that operated between Eltham and Greensborough, three times weekly. This was also conveyed by coach. Some time between 1864 and 1868 the management of the post office passed from Thomas Hunniford to his daughter, Miss Anne Hunniford, who managed the Eltham Post Office until her death in 1928. A big improvement in communication was provided for Eltham residents when a telegraph office was established at the post office in 1877. During 1923 a manual telephone exchange was provided at Eltham, the first two subscribers being J.J. O’Connor and Eltham Police Station. In 1949 the manual exchange was replaced by an automatic exchange and there were some 150 subscribers. Following the death of postmistress Miss Anne Hunniford in 1928, B.M. Burgoyne was placed temporarily in charge of the office. In 1929, J. N. Burgoyne was appointed postmaster, and he in turn was succeeded by H. C. Burgoyne in 1951. The post office was moved to a new site in 1954, but continued under the charge of Mr Burgoyne. In January 1958 there was a further change of site when the post office was raised to official status and transferred to new premises in Main Rd. William Donoghue was acting postmaster when the new office was opened. In March 1958 Mr W.E. Tovey was appointed postmaster, followed by Douglas McG. Gilmour in 1959. William Donoghue was fully appointed in 1966 and Barry Reichelt followed in 1973, prior to the present postmaster, Peter Jolly in November 1982. Peter is a young man with 18 years' experience. He commenced his training as a postal clerk at the training school in Melbourne in 1968 and was promoted to postal clerk at the Brunswick Post Office in 1969. He was finally transferred as postmaster to Fawkner Post Office in 1980. He has been at Eltham Post Office for the past 2½ years. He is married with one child and lives in Montmorency. The Eltham Post Office employs a staff of 21, of whom seven are indoor staff, 12 are postmen and two are drivers. The postmen in Eltham have an uphill battle delivering mail because of the hilly terrain. Nine of the postmen deliver mail on motorbikes, and the two delivery vans are both four wheel drives. Eltham Post Office services basically a residential area, with deliveries to 5600 homes. This is growing at the rate of 600 homes every 18 months, i.e. about 32 homes per month. At the present rate we will need a new postman every 18 months.Digital file only - Digitised by EDHS from a scrapbook on loan from Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes), daughter of Frank Stokes.anderson's creek, anne hunniford, b.m. burgoyne, barry reichelt, beryl bradbury (nee stokes) collection, eltham police station, eltham post office, eltham post office history, gold, h.c. burgoyne, j.j. o'connor, j.n. burgoyne, peter jolly, postmaster, telephone exchange, thomas hunniford, w.e. tovey, william donoghue

Rob Upson became a volunteer at the Bendigo Visitor Centre in 1998. The Staff produced a monthly newsletter called ‘The Grapevine’. Being reasonably new to Bendigo, Rob became interested in its history and began writing articles to share with the volunteers. He called them ‘Grapevine Cuttings’ under the pen name of ‘Merlot’. Rob wrote about 90 articles over a period of 12 years until ‘The Grapevine’ was finally pruned and shutdown. Rob is a valuable volunteer for the Bendigo Historical Society.Sixty Five Newsletters in PDF format from the Grapevine collection that cover the following historical items: Grapevine Newsletters by Rob Upson (Bendigo Historical Society) 10828 Index 10828 Index - Parent Document (This Page) 10828.00 ‘Objection your Honour’ 10828.01 Bendigo’s Gold Volume 10828.02 Harry Boyle (Cricketer) 10828.03 Ellen Clacy on the Goldfields 10828.04 Gold Fever and Vandemonians 10828.05 The Railway to Bendigo (Part 1 and 2) 10828.07 The Pioneer’s Grave at Maiden Gully 10828.08 The First Parliamentary Election, Bendigo 1855 10828.09 The Origin of Place Names 10828.10 The Tram (Parts 1 to 4) 10828.13 W.D.C. Denovan 10828.14 Knipe’s Castle 10828.15 John Hanlon Knipe 10828.16 1st January 1900 in Bendigo 10828.17 William Gay – Bendigo Poet 10828.18 St. Aidan’s Orphanage 10828.19 The Year 2000 – a Prediction from 1967 10828.20 Dr. Henry Backhaus 10828.21 St. Kilian’s Catholic Church 10828.22 S.T. Gill – Goldfields Artist 10828.23 Cobb and Co. 10828.24 ‘The Lights of Cobb and Co.’ by Henry Lawson 10828.25 Federation Celebrations – Sydney 1901 10828.26 The Australian Flag of Stars 10828.27 Old Treasury Building – Melbourne 10828.28 Key Dates in Bendigo’s First 50 Years 10828.29 The March from Robe to Bendigo and China’s Long March 10828.30 A Goldfields Quiz 10828.31 Did You Know That ………..? 10828.32 The Weekly Times 1869 10828.33 Mark Twain in Australia 10828.34 Bendigo’s Jewish Synagogue 10828.35 Sly Grog on the Goldfields 10828.36 A Brief History of Breweries in Australia 10828.37 The Breweries of Bendigo 10828.38 The Cohn Brothers of Bendigo 10828.39 Mary McCarthy – aged 114 10828.40 Langley Hall and Bishopscourt 10828.41 William ‘Bendigo’ Thompson 10828.42 Lachlan MacLachlan 10828.43 ‘Said Hanrahan’ by John O’Brien 10828.44 The Origin of Sandhurst 10828.45 Lister House 10828.46 Arthur Thomas Woodward 10828.47 The Students of Arthur Thomas Woodward 10828.48 Henry Leggo 10828.49 Chiko Rolls and Four ‘n Twenty Pies 10828.50 HMVS Nelson and Victoria’s Navy (Parts 1 and 2) 10828.52 Anthony Trollope in Australia (Part 1 to 3) 10828.55 Regional Towns of Victoria – a Quiz 10828.56 Exploration and Settlement of Victoria (Parts 1 and 2) 10828.58 The Major Mitchell Expedition into Victoria (Parts 1 to 3) 10828.61 The Gold Rush (Part 1 and 2) 10828.63 The Road to the Diggings (Part 1 and 2) 10828.65 Harold Desbrowe-Annear (Part 1 and 2) 10828.71 Nom de Plumes 10828.72 The New Zealand Gold Rush 10828.73 Ernst Mueller and Ettore Cadorin 10828.74 Sir John Monash 10828.75 P & O Ships 10828.76 Rosalind Park 10828.82 Bendigo Street Names 10828.83 A Constitutional Proposal and Early Bendigo Vineyards 10828.84 Ferdinand von Mueller 10828.85 John Boyd Watsonhistory, bendigo, grapevine cuttings

Hunniford's Eltham Post Office, Main Road near Bridge Street, Eltham, c.1895. Possibly Miss Anne (Annie) Hunniford, Post Mistress, on left. Annie was post mistress from the mid 1860s until her death in 1928. Photo taken by Clark Bros, 25 Thomas St, Windsor. Clark Bros operated from this address from c.1894 to 1914. Australia Post: Gold brought life to the township - Diamond Valley News, Tuesday July 2, 1985, p17 On February 1, 1854, the first Eltham Post Office was established, commencing an association between the township and the Postmaster-General's Department that has continued for 131 years. At that time, the number of permanent residents would have been fairly small, probably less than 200. The discovery of gold in June 1851, at Anderson’s Creek, some five miles away, and later at Caledonia Diggings, Queenstown (now known as St Andrews), about 14 miles to the north-east, brought large numbers of prospectors passing through the township, hopefully culling the creeks and gullies for the precious metal. This additional "floating population" brought a greater demand for supplies and for communication with the outside world, and so it helped in the development of Eltham. Today, Eltham is a thriving township. It boasts an excellent shopping centre, municipal offices, court house. post office and many other amenities. Eltham continued to develop at a leisurely pace. During 1860, a total of just over 8000 postal articles were handled at the Eltham Post Office. By 1862, the mail route was "to and from Melbourne by way of Eltham and Kangaroo Ground, three times a week, by coach". There was also a branch mail that operated between Eltham and Greensborough, three times weekly. This was also conveyed by coach. Some time between 1864 and 1868 the management of the post office passed from Thomas Hunniford to his daughter, Miss Anne Hunniford, who managed the Eltham Post Office until her death in 1928. A big improvement in communication was provided for Eltham residents when a telegraph office was established at the post office in 1877. During 1923 a manual telephone exchange was provided at Eltham, the first two subscribers being J.J. O’Connor and Eltham Police Station. In 1949 the manual exchange was replaced by an automatic exchange and there were some 150 subscribers. Following the death of postmistress Miss Anne Hunniford in 1928, B.M. Burgoyne was placed temporarily in charge of the office. In 1929, J. N. Burgoyne was appointed postmaster, and he in turn was succeeded by H. C. Burgoyne in 1951. The post office was moved to a new site in 1954, but continued under the charge of Mr Burgoyne. In January 1958 there was a further change of site when the post office was raised to official status and transferred to new premises in Main Rd. William Donoghue was acting postmaster when the new office was opened. In March 1958 Mr W.E. Tovey was appointed postmaster, followed by Douglas McG. Gilmour in 1959. William Donoghue was fully appointed in 1966 and Barry Reichelt followed in 1973, prior to the present postmaster, Peter Jolly in November 1982. Peter is a young man with 18 years' experience. He commenced his training as a postal clerk at the training school in Melbourne in 1968 and was promoted to postal clerk at the Brunswick Post Office in 1969. He was finally transferred as postmaster to Fawkner Post Office in 1980. He has been at Eltham Post Office for the past 2½ years. He is married with one child and lives in Montmorency. The Eltham Post Office employs a staff of 21, of whom seven are indoor staff, 12 are postmen and two are drivers. The postmen in Eltham have an uphill battle delivering mail because of the hilly terrain. Nine of the postmen deliver mail on motorbikes, and the two delivery vans are both four wheel drives. Eltham Post Office services basically a residential area, with deliveries to 5600 homes. This is growing at the rate of 600 homes every 18 months, i.e. about 32 homes per month. At the present rate we will need a new postman every 18 months.Sepia photograph mounted on cardpost office, eltham, main road, anne jane hunniford (1855-1928), clark bros. photo

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

Sepia photograph of Hunniford’s Eltham Post Office, Main Road near Bridge Street, Eltham, c.1888 (Postmistress Anne Hunniford possibly on left). The building originally had a shingle roof. Anne Hamilton born 1814 Co Tyrone, Ireland married Michael Head Burgoyne (1820-1843) in 1839, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. They had two children, Charlotte Caroline (1840) and John James Thomas Neville (Londonderry, Ireland 1844) Whilst pregnant with John, husband Michael died. Following John’s birth, she emigrated to Victoria, Australia where she married Thomas Hunniford in 1854. Daughter Anne Jane Hunniford was born in Eltham in 1855. Anne (Annie) Jane Hunniford and John James Thomas Neville Burgoyne were half siblings. In the mid 1860s Annie Hunniford succeeded her father, Thomas Hunniford as Post Mistress for Eltham. Photo dated based on advertising on façade of the building by Annie’s half-brother, John James Thomas Burgoyne promotes his services as the area manager for John M’Ewan and Co, Auctioneers as well as him being agent for the National Mutual Life Association of Australasia, National Insurance Company of Australasia, Federal Mutual Livestock Association of Australasia, and as a House, Land, Estate, Insurance and Financial agent. This was the time period that he placed advertising for same in the local paper. Australia Post: Gold brought life to the township - Diamond Valley News, Tuesday July 2, 1985, p17 On February 1, 1854, the first Eltham Post Office was established, commencing an association between the township and the Postmaster-General's Department that has continued for 131 years. At that time, the number of permanent residents would have been fairly small, probably less than 200. The discovery of gold in June 1851, at Anderson’s Creek, some five miles away, and later at Caledonia Diggings, Queenstown (now known as St Andrews), about 14 miles to the north-east, brought large numbers of prospectors passing through the township, hopefully culling the creeks and gullies for the precious metal. This additional "floating population" brought a greater demand for supplies and for communication with the outside world, and so it helped in the development of Eltham. Today, Eltham is a thriving township. It boasts an excellent shopping centre, municipal offices, court house. post office and many other amenities. Eltham continued to develop at a leisurely pace. During 1860, a total of just over 8000 postal articles were handled at the Eltham Post Office. By 1862, the mail route was "to and from Melbourne by way of Eltham and Kangaroo Ground, three times a week, by coach". There was also a branch mail that operated between Eltham and Greensborough, three times weekly. This was also conveyed by coach. Some time between 1864 and 1868 the management of the post office passed from Thomas Hunniford to his daughter, Miss Anne Hunniford, who managed the Eltham Post Office until her death in 1928. A big improvement in communication was provided for Eltham residents when a telegraph office was established at the post office in 1877. During 1923 a manual telephone exchange was provided at Eltham, the first two subscribers being J.J. O’Connor and Eltham Police Station. In 1949 the manual exchange was replaced by an automatic exchange and there were some 150 subscribers. Following the death of postmistress Miss Anne Hunniford in 1928, B.M. Burgoyne was placed temporarily in charge of the office. In 1929, J. N. Burgoyne was appointed postmaster, and he in turn was succeeded by H. C. Burgoyne in 1951. The post office was moved to a new site in 1954, but continued under the charge of Mr Burgoyne. In January 1958 there was a further change of site when the post office was raised to official status and transferred to new premises in Main Rd. William Donoghue was acting postmaster when the new office was opened. In March 1958 Mr W.E. Tovey was appointed postmaster, followed by Douglas McG. Gilmour in 1959. William Donoghue was fully appointed in 1966 and Barry Reichelt followed in 1973, prior to the present postmaster, Peter Jolly in November 1982. Peter is a young man with 18 years' experience. He commenced his training as a postal clerk at the training school in Melbourne in 1968 and was promoted to postal clerk at the Brunswick Post Office in 1969. He was finally transferred as postmaster to Fawkner Post Office in 1980. He has been at Eltham Post Office for the past 2½ years. He is married with one child and lives in Montmorency. The Eltham Post Office employs a staff of 21, of whom seven are indoor staff, 12 are postmen and two are drivers. The postmen in Eltham have an uphill battle delivering mail because of the hilly terrain. Nine of the postmen deliver mail on motorbikes, and the two delivery vans are both four wheel drives. Eltham Post Office services basically a residential area, with deliveries to 5600 homes. This is growing at the rate of 600 homes every 18 months, i.e. about 32 homes per month. At the present rate we will need a new postman every 18 months.Sepia photograph (two copies plus two black and white enlargements)Shop originally had a shingle roofpost office, eltham, main road, anne jane hunniford (1855-1928), federal mutual live stock insurance association of australasia, federal mutual livestock association of australasia, john j burgoyne, john m'ewan and co. auctioneers, national insurance company of australasia, national mutual life association of australasia

1823-1923.MR. JAMES VENN MORGAN. "FATHER OF" KEW."In a Village in Somersetshire in England on February 21, 1823, a son was born to George and Sarah Morgan. The child was so delicate that his parents feared that he would not live. How little ground the parents parents had for their fears may be judged from the fact that the boy, christened James Venn Morgan is still alive and hale. He is able to exhibit with pride the paper with its faded ink on which a clergyman wrote the certificate of his baptism almost 100 years ago. But for some slight infirmities of sight and hearing, Mr. Morgan, who is within six weeks of completing the 100th year of his life, is in good health, and is well able to attend to his business affairs. His immediate cause for regret is that he is not now able to do a day's work in his garden, as he was 12 months ago. After spending his early life in England, where he learned his trade as shoemaker, Mr Morgan came to Australia in April, 1851. He carried letters of introduction to Mr. Tripp, a solicitor, of Melbourne, who strongly recommended him to begin business as a shoemaker, and accordingly he opened a shop at the corner of Swanston and Bourke streets, where the Leviathan Stores now stand, and was not long in working up a good connection. Among his customers at that time Mr. Morgan recalls Mr. Justice A'Beckett and many leading men in law and medicine of the day. Then the news was flashed through Melbourne of the discovery of gold at Ballarat. Nothing can give a clearer idea of the excitement this news caused in Melbourne than that Mr. Morgan, who was a member of one of the first parties to leave for the diggings, left uncompleted in his workshop one of a pair of riding boots he was making for Mr. J. B. Weir. As the purchase of suitable clothing would have taken time, he set out to make his fortune wearing a top hat. At Ballarat he stayed for five or six weeks, and returned to Melbourne with 10oz. of gold. He remained in the city long enough to finish the second of the two riding boots, and then, with three companions, set out for Chewton, near Castlemaine. Here fortune smiled. The party tried their luck in an abandoned shaft, and in two weeks returned to Melbourne again after having won 35lb. weight of gold. How Kew Was Born. Mr Morgan was content with his success, and induced his partners to invest their money with him in land. After obtaining the advice of a friend, the party negotiated with Mr Samuel Watts, of Collngwood, who had recently purchased land from the Crown, and from him they took over at £15 an acre about 32 acres of land in the district that is now known as Kew. This land extended from where the Kew Post-office now stands to the locality of the Boroondara Cemetery. At that time there was not a house in the district, and there was a fairly large population of aborigines, but no white men. Here it was that Mr Morgan decided to settle, and, after having had the land surveyed, the partners apportioned it by drawing straws for the four sections into which it had been divided. One of them sold his holding later in the year for £100 an acre, and was sorry for it afterwards. In 1853 Mr. Morgan built the first house in Kew, and this house is the one in which he still resides. Here with his wife, he settled down to market gardening and dairying. He tells with a laugh how he was paid 1/ a lb for the first potatoes he grew, and 1/ a quart for milk. So successful was the new venture that he induced his father and other members of the family to come out to Australia to assist him. How different Kew of those days was from the Kew of to-day will be understood from Mr. Morgan's statement that for weeks at a time they never saw a a white face other than those of the family. The blacks, he says, although very noisy, were entirely friendly. Gradually the district became settled, Mr. Morgan parted with a portion of his holding, and subdivided and built on the remainder which he still retains. In 1884 he found himself in a position to retire from active business. Youth in Old Age. In Mr Morgan's garden, which is a large, one trees which he and his father planted more than 60 years ago are still bearing heavy crops of apples. Mr. Morgan has been a widower since 1915. He has three daughters all of whom are married, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of the great-grand children reccntly informed Mr. Morgan that he was about to be married. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of Mr. Morgan to-day is his activity. Not only does he move about with surprising alacrity, but is able to go into the streets and attend to his business affairs with but little fatigue The Argus, 17 January 1923, p.12.This work forms part of the collection assembled by the historian Dorothy Rogers, that was donated to the Kew Historical Society by her son John Rogers in 2015. The manuscripts, photographs, maps, and documents were sourced by her from both family and local collections or produced as references for her print publications. Many were directly used by Rogers in writing ‘Lovely Old Homes of Kew’ (1961) and 'A History of Kew' (1973), or the numerous articles on local history that she produced for suburban newspapers. Most of the photographs in the collection include detailed annotations in her hand. The Rogers Collection provides a comprehensive insight into the working habits of a historian in the 1960s and 1970s. Together it forms the largest privately-donated collection within the archives of the Kew Historical Society.A group portrait on the occasion of the 100th birthday of James Venn Morgan in 1923. Dorothy Rogers used this photograph in 'A History of Kew' (1973). It faces page 17. In the book, the caption reads "JAMES VENN MORGAN'S 100TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY. The party was held at 'Morganville'. Mr Morgan is shown with a group of descendants."James Morgans 100th Birthday Party. james venn morgan, kew, model dairy, dorothy rogers