Bluestone home of Josiah and Mary Park built in 1890 by English stonemason James Murray. Josiah had the blacksmith business next door and built the house and stables to house his family of 12. The laundry and bathroom were detached and water was pumped from a large underground tank by a windmill manufactured in the blacksmith shop. The verandah was added in 1920 and this photo was taken in 1974.black and white photographjosiah park, mary park, james murray

Furphy water carts were first made in 1895Furphy Water Cart, Three wheel tractor drawn tank on a wooden frame. Original wheels and body made by J. Furphy Foundry. Holds 180 gallons. Red ends has signature Furphy markings with indented writing. Refer to photos

This safe came from the property “Fairview” Tungamah. Victoria. Fairview was owned and farmed by Charles and Nellie Nunn. The safe is at least 100 yrs old and served the family of parents and 12 children well by keeping food cool in the blazing summer days. Beverley Long(McFarlane) remembers it on the farmhouse verandah of her grandparents property near the dairy where fresh milk was separated to produce cream and butter..it cooled meats, and dairy products by strips of hessian kept wet by water stored in the top tank, hanging down around the safe.More than 100 years oldMetal box construction with fly wire covering on all 4 sides. Has three shelves

The pump was restored by Alan Mitchell who was an employee of Zerbe Engineering, Ashburn Place, Blackburn. The work was carried out by Alan in their workshop.The pump was patented by Joseph W. Douglas, Middletown Conn. and the patent was assigned to W & B Douglas.A reconstructed well of red bricks. Circular, dome shaped, it has a grill on the flat top of the dome on which the force pump is situated next to the grill. It circulates the water which is held in a tank beneath the brick structure. The force pump is hand operated with a replacement handle made c1965 by Alan Mitchell who restored and donated the pump. The well is located outside the kitchen door of Schwerkolt Cottage.Patented 1842 M--D Conn.civil engineering, water supply, machinery, pumps

Kurting. Mechanics' Hall OFFICIAL OPENING. SUCCESSFUL FUNCTION. Favored by beautiful weather, the official opening ot the new Mechanics' Hall erected at Kurting proved an entire success. There was a large attendance ol local and district residents, and a sports meeting held during the afternoon in aid of Red Cross funds resulted in a substantial amount being netted. The hall, which stands on ground generously donated by Mr J. Hogan, between the school and the creek, is a substantialyvconcrete building of pleasing design, and was erected at a cost of about £330 by Mr J. H. Secombe, who also materially assisted the committee in the matter of finance. It is 48ft. long by 24ft. wide, with 12ft, walls, and should prove equal to the needs of the district for many years to come. It is well ventilated, and has large windows, these opening outwards on hinges. Doors at each side, and the back, as well as in front, give free means of access, while a fireplace in the back allows of provision being made for supper arrangements, water being laid on from a tank. Provi sion has been made for the partitioning off ot portion of the hall at any time this may be considered desirable. To provide a stage eight tables of a uniform size have been constructed to fit across the width of the hall. By these it will be possible, when euchre parties are being held, to use the full length of the hall. ... (Inglewod Advertiser, 19 July 1918) and also to convert tiie "stage" into card tables. The committee still has work ahead in the provision of a ceiling for the building and seating accomodation, but there is no doubt that the public support accorded them will be sufficient to enable these matters to be dealt with in the near future. A fine floor has been put down.Photographs of the former Kurting Hall, Victoria.kurting, kurting hall, john hogan, kurting mechanics' institute

Black and white photo of Frances Johns with her father, Mr. Francis Johns, on her wedding to George Warren on 12th August 1950.|NOTE The standpipe in background left at corner of Canterbury & Mitcham Roads together with a horse trough. Standpipe was used by local orchardist to fill tanks on horse & dray when water was short.warren george, warren frances, johns, francis, st lukes anglican church, standpipe, orchardists, frances

Centurion tank was able to ford a water obstacle of 1.4 metres but bank collapse of eroded hole could cause drowning.The 8th/13th Victorian Mounted Rifles was raised as a regiment of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps on 1 May 1948 with Headquarters in Melbourne and squadrons in Sale, Benalla/Wangaratta and Albury. In 1955 Regimental Headquarters moved to Wangaratta and a second squadron was located at Albury. The Sale squadron transferred to 4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse. In 1977 8/13 VMR Regiment was reduced to an independent squadron A Squadron 8th/13th Victorian Mounted Rifles and in 1991 was linked with 4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse forming the VMR Squadron of that regiment.Black and white photograph of ' drowned' Centurion tank during 8/13 Victorian Mounted Rifles annual exercise at Puckapunyal 1969." Crew Commander Capt Skeen, Driver Tpr Park, Gunner CFpl J Clay, Loader/ Operator l/Cpl Froulins"centurion, skeen r captain

The vessels boiling electrical was used by soldiers of 8/13 Victorian Mounted Rifles when it was equipped with Centurion tanks 1966-71. A boiling vessel fitted to British armoured fighting vehicles that permit the crew to heat water and cook food by drawing power from the vehicle electrical supply. It is often referred to by crewmembers (not entirely in jest) as the most important piece of equipment in a British armoured vehicle. The "Vessel Boiling Electric" or "BV" was an innovation at the very end of World War II, when the Centurion tank was introduced with the device fitted inside the turret. Previously, British tank crews had disembarked when they wanted to "brew-up" (make tea), using a petrol cooker improvised from empty fuel cans[4] called a "Tommy cooker". Use of the BV enabled the crew to stay safely inside the tank and reduced the time taken for breaks. The first version, known as VBE No 1, began to be replaced in the early 1950s by the stainless steel No 2 version. A VBE No 3 had improved electrical sockets and was less prone to leakage. The principal use of the BV is to heat ration pouches or tins; the hot water is then used for making drinks or washing. The BV is cuboid and accommodates four tins; typically matching the crew numbers of an armoured fighting vehicle. Ration tins are supplied without adhesive labels so the surrounding water is not contaminated. A vehicle with a defective BV is declared unfit for purpose. It is common practice for a junior member of a vehicle crew to be unofficially appointed "BV Commander", responsible for making hot drinks for the other soldiers. Example of article which improved efficiency and well-being of tank soldiers.Cilinderical metal vessel with close fitting lid, folding handle and electrical socket on side.military, tank, centurion, meals, boiling

Photograph of Puffing Billy train halted near the tanks below Menzies Creek, where drivers would take on water. The hill behind rises up to Black Hill Rd. In 1953 a landslide fell onto the tracks in this area, leading to the line's 9 year hiatus.

Letter dated 10 March 1943 to the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works about the retention of an internal water closet at 1267 Burke Road, Kew (Holmbush). Legacy accepted responsibility for any trouble which may arise through this fitting which was not directly supplied from a Storage Tank. Holmbush was the first hostel for children that Legacy started and operated from April 1943. It was later renamed Blamey House after another hostel called Blamey House was closed. Melbourne Legacy ran three residences: Blamey House (purchased 1947) , Stanhope (purchased 1945) and Harelands (purchased 1950), to take care of children whose fathers were servicemen, and who may have been left orphans, or whose mother may have been unable to care for them herself. Harelands accommodated boys and girls under the age of 14, Blamey House looked after boys over 14, and Stanhope looked after girls over 14. The children were cared for until they were old enough to become independent.A record of written correspondence in 1943 especially concerning consulting the MMBW about sewer connections.File copy of a letter to MMBW about a WC at Holmbush on white quarto copy paper, with black type, two hole punched.Initialled in ink, possibly EB.residences, holmbush, holmbush administration

Yields information about the size of the water tank that was fitted to the ESCo built sprinkler tram for Ballarat.Digital image from the Wal Jack Ballarat Album of the storage tank from the old or original ESCo sprinkler car, noted in use on a local farm at Invermay. No details as to source of print, Wal's notes the date as March 1958. See image i2 for rear of photograph.On rear of photograph in ink "Ballarat Tramways, Storage tank from old Sprinkler car, now in use on local farm at Invermay"trams, tramways, sprinkler tram, scrubber tram, esco

Gradient diagram. Colac to Beech Forest to Crowes. 2'6" gauge.colac; tulloh; coram; barongarook; water tanks; birnam; karwarren; hitt's siding; lovat; gellibrand; banool; wimba; mcdevitt; dinmont; devitt bros' siding; ditchley; beech forest; buchanan; ferguson; weeaproinah; pettitt bros' siding; j & m knott siding; kincaid siding; wyelangta; pettitt's siding; stalker; macknott; laver's hill; crowes; gradient;

In 1898 a recommendation for a railway of 2 ft 6 in gauge was handed down by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, to cost $138,000. Construction began in 1900. About 100 men were engaged in laying and ballasting the track while others, not included in the 100, formed the earthworks, culverts and bridges. Locomotive operations initially were two 2-6-2 Tank engines of the narrow gauge A class, dubbed "Coffee Pots", and these were used on the work trains between 1900 and 1902. Because of the lengthy periods of waiting time required to unload sleepers and rails or to load ballast meant that a handy replenishment of coal and water supply was necessary. With earthworks specified to the bare minimum landslips in the narrow cuttings were frequent so a repairer was stationed in each length to deal quickly with minor slips until 1904 when the cuttings were widened.B/W. The driver and seven other men on locomotive 5A and its flat cars at Beech Forest during construction of the line in c.1902. beech forest; railways; loco 5a;

Two red covered auction catalogues with black printing for an auction at the Fryerstown Creek Dredging Syndicate, Fryerstown on 8th February, 1945 comprising 52 H.P. Ruston & Hornsby Diesel Engine, 35 H.P. McDonald Super Diesel Engine, 8 in. Class G Thompson Water Pump, 6 in. Thompson gravel Pump, thousands of feet of Piping, Tanks, corr. Iron Buildings, Tools, Belting and Equipment. Contains descriptions of some of the lots. J. H. Curnow & Son were the auctioneers.business, auctioneers, j h curnow & son pty ltd, ian dyett collection - auction catalogue - fryerstown creek dredging syndicate, j h curnow & son, j l jamieson & co, national security (general) regulations, the cambridge press, w g wedd

Two pale green auction catalogue with black printing on the cover for a sale on the 15th August, 1934 at the Duplication Works, Waranga Reservoir, Rushworth Depot and the Depot, Waranga Reservoir, by order of The State Rivers & Water Supply Commission. For sale is Mining Plant, Buildings, Machinery, Rolling Stock, Timber, Tanks, Harness Sundries, etc. Some notes and prices written in one catalogue. Catalogues have columns on the right of the page for £, S & D to be noted.business, auctioneers, j h curnow & son pty ltd, ian dyett collection - auction catalogue - waranga reservoir, the state rivers & water supply commission, j h curnow & son, boltons print bendigo

The man photograph in a garden is Joseph David Starkie, who was a Bulla Shire councillor for more than twenty years and during that time he was elected Shire President four times. He was also a member of the Sunbury Waterworks Trust and served as the chairman from 1905 - 1908. While serving on the water board he was instrumental in Sunbury gaining a permanent water supply. A drinking fountain has been erected on a reserve at the Village Green to honour the arrival of the permanent water supply to the town. The installation of a permanent water supply benefitted the town and contributed to a more reliable rail service as steam trains refilled their tanks with water at Sunbury Station. Prior to this the water was transported by horse and cart from nearby Jacksons Creek.A sepia photograph of a well-dressed man who is holding a book and is standing in a front garden of a weatherboard house.starkie, joseph daniel.

40 X 30 Framed photo Barkers Tank Maker and Timber Merchant Main Street Stawell c1940 L to R. Albert Rickard Alf Barker Harold Dunn Alf Pickering Frank Floyd and ? stawell

Bartram type AK, 5 HP horizontal cylinder water cooled magneto ignition oil Engine mounted on a metal and timber chassis with 4 wheels. It has its own cam driven water pump which pumps cooling water over metal gauze for evaporative cooling. Painted green. It has two flywheels, one at each end of the crankshaft, with a flat belt pulley attached to one flywheel. Cooling tank of galvanised steel with Bartram stencilled on one side. In working order.Cast nameplate on front of crankcase with a Bartram logo cast on also "Bertram / Type / AK"

Austral 8 HP oil engine on 4 wheeled steel chassis with wrought iron wheels. Two double flywheels and flat belt pulley. Water cooled exhaust system at the crank end of the engine. Galvanised iron fuel tank slung under the engine. Painted green and black with red wheels.On an oval brass plate on the side of the engine :- "The Austral Oil Engine / Ronaldson Bros / Makers / No 663 / & Tippett / Ballarat Victoria"machinery ... engine ... oil ... metalwork

The quarry was part of John Butler Maling's property. He was one of the original settlers of the area and farmed the area between Weybridge Street and Whitehorse Road. Clay was quarried from part of this area and used to make the bricks used in the construction of his home, known as 'Ancyra'. This is still extant at the corner of Weybridge and James Streets. Maling grazed cows and used the quarry as a water source. He was the uncle of John Butler Maling, Mayor of Camberwell. He was married to Kate Conlon in 1882. They had 3 children: Silas Young, Alick and Zillah. Maling was born in c1829 in Shepreth, Cambridgeshire; he died in Surrey Hills on 9 October 1912 and is buried in Box Hill Cemetery - CE-*-0586. Mrs Kate Maling (born c1859 in Co Meath, Ireland) died at the property on 8 March 1921. She is buried in Brighton General Cemetery. Probate was valued at over 10,000 pounds and included other properties in Sandringham, Hawthorn and Macedon. At the time of her death the Surrey Hills property was described as being 23 acres with 2 brick houses, 1 cow, 2 heifers and 40 fowls or chickens. The property was subdivided after her death. The property was subdivided into 110 house blocks in c1923 - see Maling's Estate subdivision flyer on the State Library of Victoria's website. This shows that the Grovedale Park site had been acquired by Camberwell Council by this time. An attached newspaper clipping documents prices realised for a cross-section of blocks. The MMBW map of 1925, also on the SLV website, shows the outline of the clayhole / quarry. The quarry was filled in after several drownings or near drownings and the land is now occupied by a park and playground, known as Grovedale Road Park, maintained by the City of Boroondara. Beckett Park is sited on horizon to the left beyond the trees. This documents the landscape prior to close settlement and is material to early building and farming in the Surrey Hills area.Black and white photo of the quarry between Grovedale Road and James Street taken in the 1920s and looking south. In the foreground is an area of water with reeds in the LH corner. Beyond on the high banks there are single storey houses in the background and (?) some light poles. An object that looks like a tank on posts is in a cutting on the far bank.quarries, grovedale road, james street, clay quarries, farming, kate conlon, kate maling, john butler maling, ancyra

This was part of an exhibition mounted by the Surrey Hills State Savings Bank in 1976. The original print had a text which was included in our copy print as follows: "EVEN IN 1916, WATER SUPPLIES FOR MANY SURREY HILLS FARMERS AND MARKET GARDENS STILL / CAME FROM THE STAND-PIPE AT THE WARRIGAL ROAD TRAM TERMINUS. PREVIOUSLY WATER WAS / PURCHASED FROM THE VILLAGE TANK AT THE CORNER OF WINDSOR CRESCENT AND UNION ROAD. / THE PRICE WAS 1/- FOR 400 GALLONS."Black and white photo of a horse and water cart in position at the stand-pipe. A man holds the horse's reins and 2 young boys are perched on the cart. In the background is a building that may be a shop with wagons outside and further down the road is a tram.horse-drawn vehicles, water supply, warrigal road, riversdale road, transport, surrey hills, standpipe

Melton South "The establishment of a settlement of Melton South was induced by the opening of the railway in 1884. This subsequently prompted a number of industries, initially sawmills, and in the early twentieth century, chaff mills. This development coincided with the Exford ‘Closer Settlement’ estate at the beginning of the new century, boosting local population and produce, and the development of the chaff industry which employed many people in the Melton area. (Around 1912 the government had brought out English migrants to settle the Exford estate.) By c.1912 the small Melton Railway Station settlement had a boarding house (probably for chaff or sawmill employees), store, a small church and a hall. The Melton Valley Golf Club originated near the railway station in 1927 (in 1931 it moved to the present Melton links). In 1910 the community had built the large timber ‘Victoria Hall’, which became the focus of community life for several generations. In August of that same year AR Robertson MP and D McDonald applied for the establishment of a school on land set aside for that purpose by the Closer Settlement Board, near the Melton Railway Station settlement. District Inspector McRae recommended that a school for classes up to Grade 3 be established as an adjunct to the Melton State School. And so SS3717, ‘Melton Railway School’, was established in the leased Victoria Hall on 1st December 1911. Thomas Lang, head master at Melton since 1896, was in charge of both schools. As a ‘prep’ school only, it was necessary that the older Melton Railway Station settlement students travel to Melton SS430 at Unitt Street. Since 1912 local residents had been petitioning for the establishment of a separate school at Melton Railway Station on the grounds that it would be better if all children from the one home could attend the same school, and that the Victoria Hall was unsuitable as a school building. As a result an area of 2 acres - Allotment 8, Parish of Djerriwarrh, Exford Estate - was reserved for a State School on 4th March 1914. However the Department wrote that a school would not be established there in the near future, as ‘there is no likelihood in sight that the Railway Station settlement will increase in importance’. Parents persisted with their petitions to the Education Department, claiming that the Victoria Hall was too large, had no fireplace, that teachers were unable to use the wall for teaching aids, and that, being less than 20 metres away from a chaff mill employing 30 men, was too noisy. The turning point came when in 1920 the Hall Committee decided to increase its rent for the hall. In 1920 Head Teacher Lang advised the Education Department to discontinue SS3717 as an adjunct. The District Inspector supported this recommendation, and the schools separated in 1923. In April of that year 41 children, comprising Grades 1-8, moved into an almost completed brick building on the present site. On the 6th July 1923 the official opening of the school took place; after a ceremonial journey from the Hall to the school, speeches were given by the Hon AR Robertson and the Chief Inspector of Education. Everyone then journeyed back to Victoria Hall for a ‘bountiful repast’. (These dates are at odds with the date of 5th March 1925 given in Blake as the date the children occupied the new SS3717 brick school building. ) A teacher’s residence had been purchased for ₤500 in 1923, and the school’s name was changed to ‘Melton South’ in the same year. Even though the older Melton South pupils would no longer have to travel to the Unitt Street school, an additional brick room was still required at the Melton SS430 in that same year. In 1961 a new room was added to the school. In 1972, at the beginning of Melton’s boom as a satellite town, the number of enrolments was 224. The school has since shared in the exponential growth of the town of Melton, and at the time of its jubilee celebration (1983), 524 pupils were enrolled. Victoria Hall, neglected and vandalised, was demolished in 1992. It had been handed back to the Council on condition that it be replaced by a new hall, with the same name, and was commemorated by a plaque. Apart from the 1923 brick school building, and the railway station, none of the principal early Melton South public sites survive. Few early residential sites remain. (Further research will establish whether the house on the corner of Station Street and the railway line was the original teacher’s residence.)" Melton State School "On 17th May 1858 a State subsidised, combined Denominational School was opened by HT Stokes, with an attendance of about 30 children. This school was conducted in the wooden Melton Combined Protestant Church, situated on ‘a creek flat’ thought to be on the north side of Sherwin Street between Pyke and Byran Streets. It is likely that the Church had been established by 1855 and that the first minister was the Rev. Hampshire, who lived in Cambridge House on the Exford Estate. Ministers of the Protestant denominations were invited to hold services there. As there was only one resident Minister in the town (Presbyterian Mr J Lambie), laymen of the various denominations often spoke on Sundays. In 1863 this building was declared a Common School with the number 430. One of its first and most prominent headmasters was John Corr, who served from 1860 to 1864. Most of Mr Corr’s children also became teachers, including Joseph Corr, at the Rockbank school, and J Reford Corr and WS Corr, headmasters and teachers at numerous prestigious private secondary schools around Australia. John Corr purchased land alongside the school and elsewhere in and near Melton, became secretary and treasurer of the new Cemetery Trust, and by July 1861 was deputy registrar of births, deaths and marriages. He walked three miles every Sunday to teach at the Weslyan Sunday School he had established. Despite good reports from the Education Department Inspector, and burgeoning enrolments, the local school committee recommended the dismissal of, firstly, his wife (from the work mistress position), and then him from the headmaster position. Corr saw his dismissal as an attempt to redirect state aid for education from the Combined Protestant school to the support of the Free Presbyterian Minister Rev James Lambie (by one account the owner of the land on which the Common School was erected), whose son-in-law James Scott subsequently assumed responsibility for the school. Rev Lambie failed in his efforts to keep the existing school, which the Education Department Inspector and the majority of Melton citizens regarded as badly situated and badly built. Following a conditional promise of state aid, local contributors in 1868-69 raised ₤72.10.6 towards the cost of an iron-roofed bluestone rubble building 43 ft x 12 ft. This was erected on a new site of 1.5 acres (the present site). The State contributed ₤120 to the new school, which opened in 1870. A very early (c.1874) photograph of the school shows its headmaster and work mistress / assistant teacher (probably James Scott and his wife Jessie) and its (very young) scholars. Similar photos show pupils in front of the school in c.1903, and 1933. In 1877 a second bluestone room costing ₤297 was added and further land acquired from the Agricultural Society (who only needed it two days a year) to enlarge the schoolground to 3 acres. In the early 1880s an underground tank augmented the school water supply and in 1919 a five-roomed wooden residence was added. During this period the school correspondents often compained that the walls of the bluestone buildings were damp, affecting the plaster. In 1923 a brick room 26 ft 6 in by 24 ft with a fireplace and four rooms facing south, was added, and a corridor built to link the three buildings. This served adequately for the next 40 years. The school bell probably dates to 1883. The school also has a memorial gate (1951) to World War One ex-students, and an honour board to the 64 ex-students who served in the First World War. The school roll fell to 42 in the early post war-years, but was boosted by an influx of migrants, mainly from the UK, from the late 1960s. This presaged the boom in Melton’s development, and the corresponding growth of the school, with timber and temporary classrooms added to the previous masonry ones. An endowment pine plantation established in 1930 augmented the school’s fundraising activities when it was harvested in 1968. Part of the site was planted with eucalyptus trees in 1959. Famous ex-students of the early twentieth century included Hector Fraser (internationally successful shooter) and cyclist Sir Hubert Opperman". The Express Telegraph articles about the history of Melton South and Melton State Schoolseducation

"On 17th May 1858 a State subsidised, combined Denominational School was opened by HT Stokes, with an attendance of about 30 children. This school was conducted in the wooden Melton Combined Protestant Church, situated on ‘a creek flat’ thought to be on the north side of Sherwin Street between Pyke and Byran Streets. It is likely that the Church had been established by 1855 and that the first minister was the Rev. Hampshire, who lived in Cambridge House on the Exford Estate. Ministers of the Protestant denominations were invited to hold services there. As there was only one resident Minister in the town (Presbyterian Mr J Lambie), laymen of the various denominations often spoke on Sundays. In 1863 this building was declared a Common School with the number 430. One of its first and most prominent headmasters was John Corr, who served from 1860 to 1864. Most of Mr Corr’s children also became teachers, including Joseph Corr, at the Rockbank school, and J Reford Corr and WS Corr, headmasters and teachers at numerous prestigious private secondary schools around Australia. John Corr purchased land alongside the school and elsewhere in and near Melton, became secretary and treasurer of the new Cemetery Trust, and by July 1861 was deputy registrar of births, deaths and marriages. He walked three miles every Sunday to teach at the Weslyan Sunday School he had established. Despite good reports from the Education Department Inspector, and burgeoning enrolments, the local school committee recommended the dismissal of, firstly, his wife (from the work mistress position), and then him from the headmaster position. Corr saw his dismissal as an attempt to redirect state aid for education from the Combined Protestant school to the support of the Free Presbyterian Minister Rev James Lambie (by one account the owner of the land on which the Common School was erected), whose son-in-law James Scott subsequently assumed responsibility for the school. Rev Lambie failed in his efforts to keep the existing school, which the Education Department Inspector and the majority of Melton citizens regarded as badly situated and badly built. Following a conditional promise of state aid, local contributors in 1868-69 raised ₤72.10.6 towards the cost of an iron-roofed bluestone rubble building 43 ft x 12 ft. This was erected on a new site of 1.5 acres (the present site). The State contributed ₤120 to the new school, which opened in 1870. A very early (c.1874) photograph of the school shows its headmaster and work mistress / assistant teacher (probably James Scott and his wife Jessie) and its (very young) scholars. Similar photos show pupils in front of the school in c.1903, and 1933. In 1877 a second bluestone room costing ₤297 was added and further land acquired from the Agricultural Society (who only needed it two days a year) to enlarge the schoolground to 3 acres. In the early 1880s an underground tank augmented the school water supply and in 1919 a five-roomed wooden residence was added. During this period the school correspondents often compained that the walls of the bluestone buildings were damp, affecting the plaster. In 1923 a brick room 26 ft 6 in by 24 ft with a fireplace and four rooms facing south, was added, and a corridor built to link the three buildings. This served adequately for the next 40 years. The school bell probably dates to 1883. The school also has a memorial gate (1951) to World War One ex-students, and an honour board to the 64 ex-students who served in the First World War. The school roll fell to 42 in the early post war-years, but was boosted by an influx of migrants, mainly from the UK, from the late 1960s. This presaged the boom in Melton’s development, and the corresponding growth of the school, with timber and temporary classrooms added to the previous masonry ones. An endowment pine plantation established in 1930 augmented the school’s fundraising activities when it was harvested in 1968. Part of the site was planted with eucalyptus trees in 1959. Famous ex-students of the early twentieth century included Hector Fraser (internationally successful shooter) and cyclist Sir Hubert Opperman". Photo of Edna and Margaret Barrie with Miles Baunders taken for the Telegrapheducation, local identities

The development that had arguably the greatest impact in encouraging population growth in the shire during this period, was the establishment of a reliable water supply for the district. This had been a major concern of the local community for over 100 years, since the Melton township was first founded. Despite various schemes over the years to create a reliable water supply, the district was still dependent on bores, wells and tanks when the Melton Waterworks Trust was established in 1961 to address Melton’s water woes. With the opening of the Djerriwarrh Dam in December 1963, the shire’s residents finally had access to a reticulated water supply.Map shows the boundary of the area where the water will be serviced in the towncouncil