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Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Rangefinder, E R Watts & Sons, 1930-1945
E. R. Watts and Son, makers of theodolites and other surveying instruments, of 123 Camberwell Road, London. The company was established in 1856 by Edwin Watts at twenty-three he had saved £100 from his earnings to start the business with his staff consisting of one boy and later Alexander Clarkson as an apprentice with the workshop a small room over a Bemondsey stable. Watts' first order was from Negretti and Zambra for a mining dial Alexander Clarkson In the early days the firm worked mainly on marine compasses. Edwin Watts would go down to the Docks to adjust the compasses once they had been installed on the ships. In May 1873 the business moved to larger premises a house with a garden. The workshop was also the home of Mr and Mrs Watts and their five sons and three daughters. By now there were fifteen to twenty men employed by the firm. The company were commissioned to supply the Theodolites and Levels for the construction to the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1881. Towards the end of the century, the firm began to make heliographs continuing to produce them for the government until just before the Second World War when by agreement assigned their manufacture to another firm. 1904 The first dividing engine was completed by George William Watts. It was so remarkable an instrument at the time and for years afterwards, In 1907 Arthur Ames went to Canada and started an organisation in Winnipeg in 1909 this became a separate company called E. R. Watts and Son Ltd. of Ottawa. This firm developed considerably and was eventually with the co-operation of three other instrument companies (Cambridge Instrument Co, Ross, and Negretti and Zambra), were reconstituted as ”Instruments Ltd” of Ottawa and Toronto. During the next ten years, the firm expanded greatly to include glass grinding, leather work, dividing and engraving, testing, adjusting and packing. This expansion was continued during the First World War when workshops were completed and the machinery installed and running within eleven weeks from the start of construction. During the war, a Sergeant Coles, among the rats, lice and mud of the trenches, fitted various bits of scrap into his cocoa tin and made the first Flash Spotter for plotting the positions of enemy guns. Coles was rushed home to the firm's factory where he and George William Watts designed a spotter not made out of a cocoa tin and as a result, the Watts Vertical Force Variometer was developed during WWI. Other Watts instruments made in the First World War included the Light Mountain Theodolites which were taken on Mt Everest expeditions. In 1919 ER Watts and Sons was incorporated as a limited company and in 1939 G. A. Whipple joined the Board of Directors. Shortly afterwards, Frank Charles Watts died having been Chairman of the firm for over 37 years and seen it through the First World War with all its expansions and difficulties. He was succeeded by his brother George William Watts with the vacant post of Managing Director being filled by G. A. Whipple. During the Second World War, the company expanded further and the number of employees rose to well over 1,300. In 1946 Watts acquired 78% of Adam Hilger and the microscope maker James Swift and Son Who were Manufacturers of Theodolites, Levels, Alidades, Meteorological Instruments, Variometers, and many other types of scientific instruments Then in 1948 the company amalgamated with Adam Hilger as Hilger and Watts which was then incorporated as a public company.Naval Rangefinder with a vertical wooden handle, and an arrangement of optical lenses. Three reversible brass inserts calibrated on both sides in yards, correspond to various base heights, (20 and 25 feet, 30 and 35 feet and 40 and 50 feet). They are fitted along the axis of the instrument. When the scale for the appropriate base height is selected and inserted, the carriage can be slid for coincidence and the distance read at the index mark on the sliding carriage.inscribed "Rangefinder Cotton Type Mk II" Calibrated scale up to 5000 yds (50 ft), 5000 yds (35 ft), 4000 yds (25 ft) made by E. R. Watts & Son.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, rangefinder, cotton type, e r watts & sons, naval range finder, marine equipment -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, 'Melton South Chaff Mill employees, Unknown
Charles E “Ernie” Barrie started constructing a Chaff mill on the corner of Brooklyn and Station road in 1900. It soon became a thriving business and was ideally located close to the railway line. Ernie and his father William and other Barrie brothers had been operated travelling chaff cutters in the district of Melton and Werribee. Within a short time the mill expanded into two big sheds in partnership with his brother James E known as “Ted”. The eldest brother William was in the Manager living in Melton South. In 1906 Ernie applied for a railway crossing on Brooklyn Road to have direct access for railway trucks to be shunted to the mill to be loaded. The Mill was also had the first phone to be connected, No 1, and No’s 2, 3 were the Golden Fleece and Macs Hotels. In 1906 Ernie married Jessie Lang daughter of the Head Teacher at Melton State School No 430 (1896 –1917). The Barrie house on the north side of the mill was completed in August 1906. It survived for almost 60 years until demolition. Chaff mills were very susceptible to fires and often burnt down and would be rebuilt again ready for the peak of the harvesting season. The final demise of the Mill occurred in a spectacular blaze on the night of Friday 2nd December 1977, just before the earth tremor as reported in the local paper. Brian Dobson the local photographer lived close by and captured the night blaze. A video was also taken of the action by the fire brigade. My parents Bon and Edna Barrie were living at 19 First Avenue, and took colour slides of the smouldering ruins in the half -light. Ironically Bon had spent the first year of his life (born in April 1909 and sister Mary born October 1907) at the house beside the mill. Trethowan’s Chaff mill in Brooklyn road was also destroyed by fire, which stated in the evening on Tuesday April 28th 1987. It was established in 1910 by Dixon Brothers, followed by, Ebbot & Kebby, Robinson, Trethowan and Butler and was with the Trethowan family when it burnt down. Melton South was small a community referred to as Melton Railway Station. Member of the community raised the idea to have a public hall. In 1909 Cr Barrie, Mr Nesbitt and Delany formed a committee to build a community hall. Cr Barrie donated the land and The Exford Hall was completed in September 1910 later to be named Victoria Hall. It was demolished in 1992. Colour slide in Barrie archive. In April 1910 the Ernie sold the Mill to Glover Onians (HSK Ward) family moved away to a property in Trundle NSW. Ernie had acquired 640 acres (a square mile) and leased a further 1920 acres of adjoining land. It was the practise of the farmers in the area at the time to buy up or lease the surrounding land from the 640 acre crown land blocks to make up acerage for a viable wheat farm. His wife Jessie found the climate to be very hot and when the Darlingsford property at Melton was put up for sale in the latter part of 1910 and was passed in at the auction. My grandfather saw this an opportunity to return to Melton. The negotiations to Darlingsford were finalised on May 11th 1911. Barrie bothers with connections to Chaff mills and farming in Melton from the 1900s William Henry, Charles Ernest, James Edwin, Samuel John, Robert, Arthur Roger, Albert Walter. Three grandsons and a great-grandson are in business earthmoving and farming in Melton today. (2013) Memoirs by Wendy BarrieEmployees at Chaff Mill, it was located on the corner of Brooklyn and Station Road, Melton South. local identities, agriculture -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph, Peter Pidgeon, Grave of (Captain) Gordon Watts-Phillips and Mary Hilda Watts-Phillips, Eltham Cemetery, Victoria, 5 April 2021
Charles Gordon Watts-Phillips was born in 1849 at Forest Hill, Surrey, England, the son of Dramatic Author, Watts Phillips, and Lily Mariner. He departed England for Australia around 1874. His sister Roland was a favourite Australian actress of the early 1900s. Gordon as he was known, whilst residing in Goolwa, South Australia and working as a clerk met and married a widow, Jane Luxon (nee Miller) on the 7th August, 1876 at the Wesleyan Church in Strathalbyn, South Australia. Jane, Gordon’s elder by some 11 years was born in Ireland in 1838, the daughter of Robert Joseph Miller, a carpenter and Jane Miller. She had previously married Captain William Luxon in 1861 at Encounter Bay, South Australia at age 22 and they had four children: William (1864), George Robert (1865), Miriam Louisa (1867) and Harriet Jane (1869), all born at Encounter Bay. Gordon and Jane had two further children together: Caroline Roland Watts-Phillips (1877 Islington S.A.) and Charles Gordon Watts-Phillips (1879 Yatala, S.A.). At some stage, Jane then deserted her husband. Gordon obtained a master's certificate and was a part owner of a small trader. He had also been captain of one of the passenger boats on the Darling River. He was reputedly a popular coastal skipper. By 1891 Gordon was the Captain of the S.S Omeo operating around Sale, Victoria. In August of that year some of the heaviest flooding of the Thomson River ever experienced in twenty years occurred over the 3rd and 4th of August. Gordon, and others, rescued the lives of many families over that period for which he was awarded a Bronze Medal by the Royal Humane Society. By 1892 the S.S. Omeo had passed to another Captain and Gordon subsequently retired from the sea and moved to Melbourne. Whilst residing in Coburg, Victoria, Gordon met Mary Hilda Harvey Huxley who was living in Brunswick. Mary was born in Horsham, the daughter of George Harry Huxley, a miner, and Emma Deane. Having not heard from Jane for some years and believing her dead, Gordon and Mary marry at Carlton on Christmas Eve, 1900. Interestingly, an announcement of the marriage was not placed in The Age newspaper until September 1903, nearly three years after the event by which time Gordon and Mary had a son, Victor Gordon Watts-Phillips, born 8 February 1903 in Carlton. Within months of the placement of this marriage announcement, his former wife, Jane, makes a reappearance but apparently does not interfere and Mary and Gordon continue to live together as husband and wife. Around the same time in late 1903, Gordon’s brother, Basil Watts Phillip wrote from London to the Victoria Police seeking assistance to locate his brother. He had last heard from him in a letter dated Cunninghame, Gippsland, 1891. He indicated that about 1893 Gordon and Jane and their two children were living at Beaconsfield Parade, Albert Park but the whereabouts of all was now unknown. He mentioned Gordon had also been awarded 21 guineas by Judge Boucaut on the 26th February 1884, also a silver medal, for arresting two ruffians who had brutally assaulted a jockey (in South Australia) and that he had been awarded the Royal Humane Society's medal, London, and in 1891, was presented with the Royal Humane Society's certificate of merit (Victoria). Basil also stated his brother had lost the sight of one eye through a stab he received in New York and had a scar on his temple, one on the wrist, two under the shoulder blade, and one on the thigh, and two bullet wounds in the leg. Basil’s quest was published in the Melbourne Herald and assistance was soon forthcoming to the Police. In June 1906 Gordon made his Will, leaving all his estate to his youngest son Victor. Mary was appointed Executrix and it was witnessed by Olive Huxley, married woman, and James Huxley, a pottery maker. James was subsequently killed in France in May 1918. Gordon and Mary have a second son, Basil Douglas born in Carlton in 1911 but he dies as toddler in 1913. At some point Gordon and Mary made their home at Eltham though official electoral roll records record them at Little Flinders Street Melbourne, employed as a caretaker and from 1906 in Brunswick as a decorator then painter. Eltham may have been a ‘holiday’ home but it seems Mary was actively engaged in the community as a newspaper report in the Advertiser in 1922 not long after Gordon’s death indicates Mary was one of the best known and best liked ladies of the Eltham district. She was actively engaged in all matters, tending towards the welfare of the district. At the time of Gordon’s death Mary was president of the Ladies' Public Hall Committee, responsible for the conduct of numerous, and successful entertainments. Gordon’s first and only legal wife, Jane Luxon Watts-Phillips nee Miller, died 6 November 1921 and was buried 8 November 1921 at Springvale Cemetery. Jane had lived 34 years in South Australia and 30 years in Victoria. With Jane now dead, Gordon was now officially a widower and just three weeks later, the retired master mariner of Eltham at age 55 remarried Mary, 42, of 174 Hickford Street, East Brunswick on the 29th November 1921 in the Parish of St Cuthbert, East Brunswick. Gordon died at their home, ‘The Rest’, at 174 Hickford Street, East Brunswick on February 9, 1922 and was buried at Eltham Cemetery on February 11. An interesting link is established with the heavy floods of August 1891 by the erection of a tombstone in the Eltham cemetery. The stone bears the inscription: - “In loving memory of (Captain) Gordon, dearly beloved husband of Mary Watts Phillips. Died 9th February 1922, aged 62 years." Beside the stone is a replica, carved in a marble scroll, of the Royal Humane Society of Australia's Certificate of merit. Part of the wording of this certificate is as follows:- “At a general court of directors holder at the offices of the society at Melbourne on the 6th day of September 1891, it was resolved that the courage and humanity displayed by Gordon Watts Phillips aged 30-years captain of S.S. Omeo, Sale, in rescuing many families from drowning during the heavy floods on Thomson River on 3rd and 4th of August 1891 call for the admiration of the court, and justly entitles him to the certificate of merit of this society, which is hereby awarded." Unbeknownst to Gordon, his second and subsequent legal marriage to Mary initiated a revocation of his Will of 1906, which had solely benefited his son Victor. Consequently, Mary had to apply for Letters of Administration and the only legal beneficiaries would be Mary and his two children by Jane. On June 18, 1940, at age 61, Mary married 70-year-old Arthur Ernest Fenn in Melbourne. Unfortunately for her, Arthur died a year later in July 1941 and was buried in the Cohuna Cemetery near Echuca. Mary lived a further 8 years, passing away suddenly July 4, 1948 in Carlton, and was buried July 7 with her beloved husband Gordon, at Eltham Cemetery. In Loving Memory of (Captain) Gordon Dearly beloved husbandof Mary Watts-Phillips Died 9th Feb. 1922, aged 62 years Also Mary Hilda Loved wife of above Died 4th July 1948 "At rest"Born Digitaleltham cemetery, gravestones, (captain) gordon watts-phillips, mary hilda harvey watts-phillips (nee huxley) -
Federation University Historical Collection
Letter - Correspondence and envelope, Ballarat School of Mines Invoices in Envelopes, c1905, c1905
A number of mostly sealed and addresses envelopes containing invoices from the Ballarat School of Mines. .1) C. Laidler, invoice from 8 shillings 8 pence for chemical apparatus, 17 July 1905 . .2) Mr Kofoed of the Asylum for Insane Wendouree - invoice .3) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr D. Bonan .4) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr R.E. Holdsworth .5) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr O'Bern .6) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Meade .7) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Macartney .8) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Arthur Loveland .9) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr William Harris .10) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Hamilton .11) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr G.F. Johnson .12) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Bieske Esq .13) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr C. Stevenson .14) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Dempster .15 Addressed envelope to Mr H. Bryant, and invoice from the Ballarat School of Mines for chemistry apparatus, 21 November 1905 .16) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr A.C.S. Leathes .17) Addressed envelope to Mr F.J. Martell School of Mines and an invoice from A. Ruddock, house painted and decorator .18) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr R.J. Webster .19) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr L. Thompson .20) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Tregurtha .21) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Baker .22) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr K. McTaggart .23) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr John W. Nettle .24) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr E. Pollard .25) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr R. Nevett .26) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr J. Smart .27) Sealed envelope addressed to Miss M. Janssen .28) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Bantle .29) Invoice from the Ballarat School of Mines to Mr McTaggart for Chemistry Apparatus .30) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Eklund 31) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Fitzgerald .32) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Fraser .33) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr B. Humffray .34) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Fairley .35) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Lowenthal .36) Sealed envelope addressed to Messrs Martin and Simmons .37) Envelope addressed to Mr Daly with an invoice for chemistry apparatus, 21 November 1905 .38) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Elliott .39) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr E. Evans .40) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr W.E. Eyres .41) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Kingston .42) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Robin .43) Envelope addressed to Mr James Martin, and invoice for term fees for the Ballarat School of Mines. .44) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Lounda .45) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Richardson .46) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Danton .47) Sealed envelope addressed to Mr Lennonballarat school of mines -
Ballarat Tramway Museum
Magazine, K. V. Newmann and MMTB Public Relations Officer, "MMTB News", 1965
Eight issues of "MMTB News" - The Magazine of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board. Two copies of each issue. Second copy added 31/8/2004. All issues printed with an off-white gloss paper cover with the rest of the magazine white glass paper. 2719.1 - Vol. 2, No. 1 - 16 pages, January 1965, with a photo of the Board meeting in the Board room of the MMTB, notes or articles on traffic congestion, a short history of public street transport in Melbourne, TMSV tour of 7/2/1965 with PCC 980, and" Some Views on Public Transport". 2719.2 - Vol. 2, No. 2 - 16 pages, February 1965, with a photo of Dusseldorf 3 section tramcar on the front cover, notes on the costs of concessions, press visit to the Carlton Power control supervisory centre, "Melbourne - 1985", Mark VI buses, tool safety, "Staggered Working Hours", hydro-foil on Sydney Harbour, "Traffic Congestion". 2719.3 - Vol. 2, No. 3 - 12 pages, March - April 1965, with a photo of W7 1012 and bus 751 on the front cover, notes or articles on "New Trams for Melbourne", retirement of D.H. Eakin, "Traffic Congestion", "Tramway buses at the Gippsland Fires", The Australian Good Neighbour movement. 2719.4 - Vol. 2, No. 4 - 16 pages, May - June 1965, with a photo of L 101 at West Maribyrnong terminus during an Association of Railway Enthusiasts tour (photo Robert Wilson), notes or articles; "A Motorist Speaks Up for Trams", "Tramways Hospital a Major Benefit", parking in the central city, tramway ambulance, "Radio Control is Human Nerve Centre", staff shortages, retirement of Mr. Stan Bowen, the ARE Tram Tour, and Port Melbourne Tramways Social Angling Club. 2719.5 - Vol. 2, No. 5 - 16 pages, July 1965, with a photo of the Doncaster Bus depot on the front cover, articles or notes; Freeways, Public Transport, Decimal conversion, Doncaster Bus depot, Melbourne in twenty years, Engineering Department - Bus branch, visit of Mr Ken Hall and Frank Kirby overseas to study new trams. 2719.6 - Vol. 2, No. 6 - 20 pages, August September 1965 with a photo of W6 921 being lowered at Preston Depot, with notes or articles; an abridged version of an address by R. J. Risson to the Constitutional Club in Melbourne, lost items on trams, Bus Engineering, and social or sporting club news. 2719.7 - Vol. 2, No. 7 - 16 pages, October - November 1965 with a photo of PCC 980 on the front cover, notes or articles on; free travel for USA City shoppers, safety, Stores Department printing section, Ballarat's Tramways Diamond Jubilee - TMSV tour to Ballarat on 15/8/1965 including two photos, PCC 980, Christmas functions, retirement of Arthur Wisdom and Bill Wallis. (Reference photos Reg. Item - 1877). See btm2819i9 for image of the article re the TMSV Tour to Ballarat. 2719.8 - Vol. 2, No. 8 - 16 pages, December 1965 with a photo of cable car set No. 1 on the front cover with notes or articles; Children's art show, "Quest for New Tram", "The Development of Melbourne's Trams" and sporting or social club news. Has a Christmas message from Chairman, Mr. Risson with photograph.Each issue has stamped on the front cover or inside "The Australian Railway Historical Society (S.A. Branch).trams, tramways, mmtb, carlton control, buses, pcc 980, ballarat, new trams, are, tmsv -
Ballarat Tramway Museum
Magazine, Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB), "MMTB News", 1967
Eight issues of "MMTB News" - The Magazine of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board. No. 1 not in bag 11/9/2016 when checked - further checking to be done. All issues printed with an cream colour paper cover with the rest of the magazine white glass paper. 2721.1 - Vol. 4, No. 1 - 16 pages, January 1967, with a photo of the W7 1031 prior to running out of Preston Depot with its crew and depot starter, photo of opening of Glenferrie Rd Malvern, "Like to Drive a Tram?" - Hawthorn driver training school with photos, intake of new conductors, Stores - The Board's Housekeeper - Mr. D. Tatam, extension of the East Preston route, Children's Christmas party, trackwork and duplication of East Coburg to Bell St, laying of a cable tram cable. 2721.2 - Vol. 4, No. 2 - 16 pages, February 1967, with a photo of North Fitzroy bus crews prior to running out, "Sixty years of Essendon Tramways", R. Risson's speech to the ANA on 26/1, Annual report highlights, Tramways band, retirement of Max Jones. Photo of Mr. Risson scanned - see i9 2721.3 - Vol. 4, No. 3 - 16 pages, March 1967, with a photo of a model of the proposed St. Kilda junction arrangements, "Trams and Buses - they keep them rolling", St. Kilda Junction scheme, Overhead crews, Conductresses Uniforms, new conductors, sports and social club news. 2721.4 - Vol. 4, No. 4 - 16 pages, April 1967, with a photo of the reconstruction of Camberwell Road, "Melbourne Needs Trams", Tramways Band, Long Service awards, retirement of Roy Allen, Jack Moffatt World wide TV broadcast from South Melbourne depot, sports and social club news. 2721.5 - Vol. 4, No. 5 - 16 pages, May 1967, with a photo of bus maintenance work at North Fitzroy, Tram track maintenance procedures, retirement of Arthur Battye, death or Harold Wallace, sports and social club news. 2721.6 - Vol. 4, No. 6 - 16 pages, June 1967 with a photo of the World TV broadcast, "Our World" that featured South Melbourne Depot, tram track maintenance procedures, TMSV Visit to Rubicon with bus 570, staggered working hours, first MMTB built tramcars (T166), TMSV all night tour, retirement of Bill Trickey, sports and social club news. 2721.7 - Vol. 4, No. 7 - 16 pages, July - August 1967 with a photo of visiting US Sailors on a tramcar, changes to tramways routes (Norm Cross), retirement of Val Marchesi, Tom Addison, J. J. McKenzie, Gordon Mitchell, sports and social club news. 2721.8 - Vol. 4, No. 8 - 16 pages, September - October 1967 with a photo of Ray Harvey working on a RC2 Controller, tram charter by Bob Wilson, Essendon reunion, sports and social club news. Two copies of each other than No. 1, No. 3 and No. 8 as at 12/9/2016.-Each issue has stamped on the front cover or inside "The Australian Railway Historical Society (S.A. Branch).trams, tramways, mmtb, hawthorn, essendon, tramways band, st kilda road, trackwork, tmsv, tv broadcasts, tramcars -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Document - LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BENDIGO COLLECTION: BENDIGO TEACHERS' COLLEGE GRADUATION CEREMONY 1959
A faded blue document titled "Bendigo Teachers' College Graduation Ceremony 1959". Also on the front page is a list of the staff working at the college. On the inside page is the "Significance of the Ceremony" and "Order of Ceremony". The welcome to visitors was given by Mr. F. M. Courtis and the 'Graduation Book' was presented to Mr. A. L. Harris by Miss J. C. Burnett. Mr. C. L. Barker made the final call of the 1959 roll. Congratulations were offered by Cr. H. W. Snell J.P., Cr. P.V. Bowles the President of Strathfieldsaye Shire and Mr. E. P. Seymour, Head Teacher of Violet Street State School. The Occasional Address was presented by Mr. J. G. Greening Chief Inspector of Primary Schools. The following page contains a list of the "Students of 1958-59". The back page has the "Principal's Charge". There is also a type written insertion containing the graduation songs. Bolton Bros. Print, Bendigo. The College staff are - Mr. S. H. Walters (Principal), Miss J. C. Burnett, Mrs. N. F. Fawdry, Mrs. F. M. Petri, Miss. M. G. Bremner, Mrs. D. J. Andrew, Miss C. M. Oughton Jones, Miss B. H. Cowling, Miss V. J. Graham, Mr. F. M. Courtis, Mr. D. A. Newbury, Mr. F. X, Martin, Mr. C. L. Barker, Mr. A. Linton, Mr. F. G. East, Mr. T. J. McCabe, Mr. P. F. Fitzpatrick, Mr. M. Pratt, Mr. W. Bernoth, Mr. R. L. Strauch, Mr. R. E. Wittman and Mr. C. Houston. The students of 1958-59 are Raymond Arthur Aisbett, James Allen, Wyn Margaret Barber, Lawrence Alexander Bernard, Gwenda Rosalie Blandford, Brian John Bourke, Dorothy Frances Burns, Alan Charles Bush, Melva Grace Campbell, Janet Frances Ceveri, Aileen Heather Cole, Dorothy Irene Comer, Francis James Comer, Pamela Wendy Cooper, Richard Mary Cotter, Laurence Peter Curtain, Desma Maree Derrick, John Michael Deviny, Aileen Mary Doolan, Sandra Dawn Downie, Jean Rosemary Feltscheer, Janette Rosemary Finnin, Valerie Joy Freeman, Thomas Joseph Gibson, Dorothy Helen Gray, Judith Anne Gray, Mary Catherine Gread, Leslie Brian Grenfell, Helen Elizabeth Hipwell, Helen Mary Hurley, Peter Geoffrey Hyden, Alan Clifford Inglis, Valerie Margaret Lindell, Bruce Henry Lohrey, Douglas Ernest Lynch, Hilary Ann McGrath, Barry Alexander McWha, Ann Marjorie Matulin, Margaret Joan Mossop, Moira Anne Mullins, Nildo John Munari, Verna Margaret Osterfield, Ruth Lorraine Phillips, Richard John Pywell, Michael Lynton Ramm, Nola Wendy Reyne, Gilda Jane Richards, Margaret Elizabeth Rilen, Keith James Rodda, Gary William Rodgers, Brendon Gordon Smith, Ronald Noel Teasdale, Mary Veronica Wharton, Kaye Dianne Whinfield and David William Williams.bendigo, education, bendigo teachers' college graduatio, la trobe university bendigo collection, collection, bendigo teachers' college, bendigo, education, teaching, teachers, students, bendigo teachers' college students, bendigo teachers' college staff, tertiary education, teacher training, graduation, graduands, graduation ceremony, book -
The Beechworth Burke Museum Research Collection
Card (Series) - Index Card, George Tibbits, Ford Street, Beechworth, 1976
George Tibbits, University of Melbourne. Faculty of Architecture, Building and Town & Regional PlanningIndex system that support the research for Beechworth : historical reconstruction / [by] George Tibbits ... [et al]Arranged by street names of BeechworthEach index card includes: street name and number of property, image of property, allotment and section number, property owners and dates of ownership, description of the property according to rate records, property floor plan with dimensions.beechworth, george tibbitsbeechworth, george tibbits -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Allwood House, Hurstbridge, 16 April 2008
Allwood - built in 1894 by Henry Hurst’s relatives, stands near the site of his house, which was demolisherd in the 1940s. Until 1924 Hurstbridge was known as Allwood. The building, one of the district's oldest is situated back from the corner of Arthurs Creek Road and Main Road. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p17 Hurst, who was a surveyor, came to Melbourne in 1852 by default, as on the way to Sydney he contracted typhoid and was off-loaded in Melbourne. Deciding to settle near Melbourne, he selected some land near the present Eltham railway station and was one of the first to grow crops there.2 But disaster struck again, when his shack was looted and burned, while he was carting goods for sale to nearby goldfields. It was then that Hurstbridge’s first settler, Cornelius Haley, asked Hurst to manage his 160 acres (65ha) grazing property and 9000 acres (3443ha) of leased land where the present Hurstbridge stands. Hurst proved equal to the tough conditions and he and his brother, Fred, cut a track with a bullock team from the property to Romsey, where Haley had selected some land. Hurst also put up a bridge across the creek near his house, after which Hurstbridge was named. He ran the property helped by two ticket-of-leave men and others, several of whom were sailors who had abandoned ship in search of gold, and were working there temporarily. In 1866, only 14 years after coming to Australia, Hurst met an early tragic death. One day a bushranger named Burke came to the house and demanded a horse. Hurst thought the bushranger might be an officer in search of runaway sailors3 and anyway, did not like the look of him, so he refused. A tussle followed and apparently Hurst shot first.4 He was shot and died five hours later from loss of blood. Later, troopers found Burke, who was subsequently hanged. The event is recorded in the Old Melbourne Gaol. The government offered the family £500 but the family refused it as ‘blood money’. Hurst’s father, Robert, even signed a petition against the bushranger’s death, claiming one life did not replace another. Hurst’s family continued to live in the district and saw a rise in their fortunes. They bought Haley’s cattle station and built the present Allwood House, using the original home as an orchard packing shed. The present Victorian style timber house had several outbuildings including a blacksmith’s shop. The property passed on to William Gray, an orchardist and nurseryman, who married Hurst’s grandniece, Frances. The business boomed from the early 1900s when it supplied most of the orchards in the area. Gray was Eltham Shire’s President for two terms and was asked to stand for parliament, but his wife’s illness and other family commitments prevented him from doing so. Then several calamities drove the family to bankruptcy. During World War One, Gray lost more than one million pounds on trees shipped overseas, which the Lloyd’s company had refused to insure. Other factors, including the Great Depression, ruined the family’s fortunes. The land was reduced from more than 640 acres (256ha) to 50 acres (20ha) and the older members married and left. After Mr Gray died, the house was leased, until his daughter Sheila Ferguson and her husband Gordon settled there in 1951, after buying it from other family members. However in 1975 the Shire designated the property as a passive recreation reserve. The Ferguson family sold most of the land, leaving the house on 0.6 hectares.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, hurstbridge, henry hurst, allwood house -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Document - CARWARDINE COLLECTION: INFORMATION RE COLLECTION
Handwritten note from Tim Gibson, a descendant of the original Cawardine family, has donated the items in the Carwardine Collection (Cat No. 3401). CARWARDINE, Walter Henry Walter Henry Carwardine Groom: Walter Henry CARWARDINE. Bride: Elizabeth Arnold THORPE. Year married: 1863. Place: Victoria, Australia. Walter died 1923 in Caulfield, Victoria. Age: 89 years. Parents named as John CARWARDINE and Charlotte WILCOX. Buried: Bendigo Cemetery, Victoria. Area: Mon G1. Grave number: 21110. Service date: 03 June 1923. Elizabeth Arnold Carwardine (Thorpe) Died 1911 in Bendigo, Victoria. Age: 70 years. Parents named as Joseph THORPE and Jane ARNOLD. Buried: Bendigo Cemetery, Victoria. Area: Mon G1. Grave number: 21110. Service date: 19 May 1911. Eleven children located Victorian records for Walter and Elizabeth. 1. Henry Thorpe CARWARDINE. Born: 1864 Dunolly, Victoria. Birth recorded under CAWARDINE. Died: 1916 Bendigo, Victoria. Age: 52 years. Married: Jessie Mary Jean BURNS. Year: 1891. Place: Victoria. See Post: CARWARDINE Henry married Jessie BURNS 1891 2. Hugh Wilcox CARWARDINE. Born: 1866 Dunolly, Victoria. Died: 1952 Bendigo, Victoria. Age: 86 years. Buried: Bendigo Cemetery, Victoria. Area: Mon G1. Grave number: 21110. Service date: 22 May 1952. 3 Guy CARWARDINE. Born: 1867 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 1942 Cohuna, Victoria. Age: 74 years. Married: Minnie LANSELL. Year: 1892. Place: Victoria. Minnie was born 1863 in Sandhurst, Victoria. Parents named as William LANSELL and Jane Crouch ANDERSON. Minnie died 1954 in Cohuna, Victoria. Age: 91 years. Parents named as William LANSELL and Jane Crutch ANDERSON. 4. Mary Charlotte Arnold CARWARDINE. Born: 1869 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 1942 Bendigo, Victoria. Age: 72 years. Married: Luther Edwin Goldsmith BRIGHT. Year: 1891. Place: Victoria. Luther was born 1865 in Ballarat, Victoria. Parents named as Alfred Goldsmith BRIGHT and Sophia JACOBSON. Luther died 1892 in Prahran, Victoria. Age: 26 years. Parents named as Alfred Goldsmith BRIGHT and Siphia Goldsmith JACOBSON. 5. John CARWARDINE. Born: 1871 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 1871 Sandhurst, Victoria. Age: 02 days. Buried: Bendigo Cemetery, Victoria. Area: Mon C4. Grave number: 3881. Service date: 17 April 1871. 6. Thomas Brunsdon CARWARDINE. Born: 1872 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 1876 Sandhurst, Victoria. Age: 03 years. Buried: Bendigo Cemetery, Victoria. Area: Mon C4. Grave number: 3881. Service date: 07 April 1876. 7. Rose Elizabeth CARWARDINE. Born: 1874 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 09 October 1963, Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. Age: 89 years. Buried: Karrakatta Cemetery, Western Australia. Area: Anglican. Section: ZU. Gravesite: 0356. Grantee: Muriel Carwardine ARCHER. Married: Arthur Sydney CHAMBERS. Year: 1905. Place: Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. Arthur died 1950, Williams district, Western Australia. 8. Walter Henry CARWARDINE. Born: 1876 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 1937 Bendigo, Victoria. Age: 60 years. Buried: Bendigo Cemetery, Victoria. Area: Mon H6. Grave number: 30803. Service date: 11 February 1937. Married: Flora Constance HILL. Year: 1906. Place: Victoria. Flora was born 1876 in Bendigo, Victoria. Parents named as Frederick HILL and Mary Ann KERSHAW. Flora died 1959 in Bendigo, Victoria. Age: 84 years. Parents named as Frederick HILL and Mary Ann KERSHAW. Buried: Bendigo Cemetery, Victoria. Area: Mon H6. Grave number: 30803. Service date: 13 October 1959. 9. James Arnold CARWARDINE. Born: 1878 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 1947 Heidelberg, Victoria. Age: 69 years. Cremated: Fawkner Memorial Park, Victoria. Service date: 06 September 1947. Cremated remains location: Not recorded. First World War Embarkation Roll. Name: James Arnold CARWARDINE. Service number: 4158. Rank: Private. Roll title: 6 Infantry Battalion - 13 to 18 Reineforcements. (Dec 1915 - July 1916) Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918. Date of embarkation: 29 December 1915. Place of embarkation: Melbourne. Ship embarked on: HMAT Demosthenes. Ship number: A64. Married: Frances Georgina TURNER. Year: 1919. Place: Victoria. Frances was born 1875 in Eaglehawk, Victoria. Parents named as James Perriman TURNEER and Caroline GORDEN. Frances died 1956 in Brighton, Victoria. Age: 76 years. Father named as James TURNER. Mother unknown. Cremated: Fawkner Memorial Park, Victoria. Service date: 29 November 1956. Cremated remains location: Rose Garden 02. 10. Albert Augustus Arnold CARWARDINE. Born: 1880 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 1885 Sandhurst, Victoria. Age: 05 years. Buried: Bendigo Cemetery, Victoria. Area: Mon C4. Grave number: 3881. Service date: 18 July 1885. 11. George Frederick Brunsdon CARWARDINE. Born: 1888 Sandhurst, Victoria. Died: 02 August 1916, France. First World War Embarkation Roll. Name: George Frederick CARWARDINE. Service number: 3794. Rank: Acting Sergeant. Roll title: 24 Infantry Battalion - 9 to 12 Reinforcements. (Feb-April 1916) Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918. Date of embarkation: 08 February 1916. Place of embarkation: Melbourne. Ship embarked on: HMAT Warilda. Ship number: A69. First World War Roll of Honour. Name: George Frederick Brunston CARWARDINE. Service number: 3794. Rank: Private. Unit: 24th Battalion. (Infantry) Service: Australian Army. Conflict: 1914-1918. Date of death: 02 August 1916. Place of death: France. Cause of death: Killed in action. Cemetery or memorial details: Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. Sources: Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria. Registry of Deaths and Marriages, Western Australia. Bendigo Cemetery Records, Victoria. Fawkner Memorial Park Cemetery Records, Victoria. Karrakatta Cemetery Records, Western Australia. First World War Embarkation Rolls. AWM145 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Army.bendigo, business, carwardine soap and candle -
Bendigo Military Museum
Honour Board - EAST BENDIGO PRIMARY SCHOOL HONOUR BOARD WW1, original plaques, post WW1
The Bendigo East Primary School was opened in 1915. In 1916 it was decided to plant an ANZAC Avenue of trees and this was completed on 16 June 1916. The plaques were placed after WW1. The school was closed in 1998 and the plaques were relocated to the nearby White Hills Secondary College in Napier Street on this board. In the early 2000's the Honour Board was donated to what is now called the Bendigo Military Museum. One hundred years after planting, later in 2016 the trees were removed in controversial circumstances. On the board 8 never returned, there is 1 x "DCM" winner, 1 x "MC" winner and 1 x "MM" winner. There are 3 x Wright Brothers of which 2 never returned. The plaque states that the soldiers attended the school which is obvious they could not have due to the opening date. The following Heritage report suggests that the names were of individual soldiers who lived in the area. EXTRACT FROM HERITAGE COUNCIL VICTORIA 2016 SUBMISSIONS HEARING “The Bendigo East School (‘the school’) was officially opened by Mr Frank Tate, Director of Education, on 7 April 1916. Approximately two months later, on 16 June 1916, Arbor Day was celebrated at the school with the planting of an ‘Anzac Avenue’ along a path from the front gate on Strickland Road (‘the pathway’) to commemorate the landing of soldiers at Gallipoli. The school’s ‘Anzac Avenue’ was one of an estimated 37 known to have been planted by school children throughout Victoria during mid-1916 as part of a program led by the Education Department, which included a recommendation to schools on 18 May 1916 that commemorative avenues be planted (‘the 1916 plantings recommendation’). At around this time, avenues of honour were also planted across Victoria to commemorate fallen WWI soldiers (‘the wider commemorative plantings phenomenon’). There were other commemorative plantings at the Place away from the pathway (‘the other commemorative plantings’). Anzac Day was celebrated at the Place in the years subsequent to 1916 and on 11 December 1920 the school’s ‘Anzac Avenue’ was officially opened. Embossed copper plates, mounted on wood, were fixed in front of the trees in memory of individual soldiers from the district who had seen active service in WWI. There is evidence that as many as 32 plaques may have been made and affixed (‘the name plaques’). Plaques were removed from their locations at some stage before 1964, mounted on a board and displayed in the school building. These are now located and displayed at Bendigo Sub - Branch of the Returned Services League.” EAST BENDIGO HONOUR BOARD – COPPER PLAQUES (27 PLAQUES in total). 1. 2441 CPL G.V. LE KIM 60th BATT. M.M. (George Vincent LEE-KIM, born in Bendigo, Awarded Military Medal. RTA. NOK Father’s Address: C/- Strickland Rd, Bendigo). 2. 3821 PTE. E.B. HEM 20TH BATT. (Edward Bert Hem born in Bendigo. RTA. NOK Mother’s address: White Hills Post Office). 3. 3513 PTE. C.A. FOLEY 57th BATT. (Charles Albert Foley born in Bendigo. RTA. NOK Father’s address: Wilkie Street, Bendigo). 4. 5241 PTE. G. E. WRIGHT 6th BATT. † (George Edwin Wright born in Bendigo. KIA 8/12/1916. NOK Father’s address: 55 Charleston Rd. Bendigo). 5. 2663 L.CPL. N. E. DAVIS 60th BATT. (Norman Edward Davis born in Footscray. RTA. NOK Mother’s address: 193 Strickland Rd. Bendigo). 6. PTE. A. MOOG 16-6th BATT. † (5143 Adolph Moog born in Bendigo. Died of wounds received in action 8/12/1916, NOK Father’s address: Municipal Yards, Bendigo.) 7. 6515 SGT. W.A. BIRCHMORE DCM 11TH BATT. FIELD ARTILLERY (William Albert Birchmore born in Bendigo. Awarded DCM. RTA. NOK Mother’s address: Butler Street, California Gully) 8. 3924 PTE. J.P. NEWMAN 5TH BATT. † (392 (NAA) James Pausey Newman. Born in Bendigo. KIA 25/7/1916. NOK Father’s address Strickland Road, Bendigo) 9. 4865 PTE. H. T. NUGENT 5TH PIONEER BATT. † (also 4765 Hector Thomas Nugent born in Bendigo. KIA 26/11/1916. NOK Mother’s address: 55 Charleston Rd Bendigo). 10. 835 PTE. C.J. WRIGHT 7TH BATT. † (825(NAA) Charles Julian Wright. Born in Bendigo. KIA at Gallipoli 25/4/1915 NOK Father’s address 55 Charleston Rd Bendigo) 11. 5242 PTE. T.S. WRIGHT M.M. 6TH BATT. (Thomas Stanley Wright born in Bendigo. RTA. NOK Father’s address: 55 Charleston Road, Bendigo). 12. 13111 PTE. R.I. LEE 5TH FIELD AMBCE (19111 Robert Irwin Lee. Born in Kilcunda, Vic. RTA. NOK Wife’s address C/- Barnard Street, Bendigo) 13. 3731 DRIVER T.S. BROWN 5TH BATT.† (Thomas Sheridan Brown born in Bendigo. Died in the Field in France of Heart Failure. NOK Father’s address: Mundy Street, Bendigo). 14. 60999 PTE. J. SPENCE 5th BATT. (John Spence born in Bendigo. RTA. NOK Father’s address: 99 Talbot St, Brunswick) 15. 5127 PTE. S.A. LOY 7TH BATT. (Samuel Arthur John Loy. Born in White Hills, Bendigo. RTA Medical discharge. NOK Wife’s address C/- Hargreaves St Bendigo.) 16. 1649 PTE. A.M. HUTCHINSON 60TH BATT. (Alexander Morton Hutchison. (Note different spelling) born in Bendigo. RTA. NOK Mother’s address Wilkie Street, Bendigo). 17. 3035 PTE. R.J. FLACK 10TH – 7TH BATTs. † (Robert John Flack born in Bendigo. KIA France 17/8/1916. NOK Father’s address: Strickland Road, Bendigo). 18. 4558 PTE. J.J. O’BRIEN 60TH BATT.† (John James O’Brien born in Glenalbyn, Vic. KIA 28/9/1917. NOK Father’s address 68 Strickland Rd. Bendigo). 19. 5233 CPL. G. WHITTING MOTOR TRANSPT. COY. (George Whitting born in White Hills, Bendigo. RTA. NOK Mother’s address: 46 Baxter Street, Bendigo). 20. 5203 PTE. A.J. TATTERSALL 6TH BATTALION (Arthur James Tattersall born in Mandurang, Vic. RTA. NOK Wife’s address “Thornwell”, Bendigo East PO.) 21. 2ND LIEUT. K.G. EMONSON M.C. 38th BATT. (Keith Glanfield Emonson born in Sydney NSW. RTA – Medical discharge/ GSW head. NOK Father’s address: Strickland Road, Bendigo). 22. LIEUT. A.J. HAMPSON RAILWAY UNIT (Alfred John Hampson R/N 2300. Born in Bendigo. RTA. NOK wife’s address: 76 Addison St. Elwood, Vic). 23. 216 SIGNLR R.P. BROWN 38TH BATT † (Raymond Patrick Brown, born in Bendigo. KIA 28 May 1917. NOK. Mother’s address: 138 Mundy Street, Bendigo). 24. 15118 STAFF SGT. A. EMONSON 3RD L. H. F. AMBULANCE (Harry Allen Phipps Emonson born in Sydney NSW. RTA. NOK Father’s address Strickland Road, Bendigo, Vic). 25. 1724 CPL. L.J. CHAPPLE 5TH BATT. (Leslie John Chapple born in Bendigo. RTA. NOK Father’s address: Nolan Street, Bendigo) 26. 4557 PTE. E. O’BRIEN 60TH BATT. (Edward Charles O’ Brien, RTA. (NOK Father’s address: Strickland Rd, Bendigo). 27. 3557 SIGNLER F. H. LYALL 5TH BATT. (Francis Hubert Lyall born in Bendigo. RTA. NOK Father’s address: Strickland Rd, Bendigo). Honour Board, Bendigo East Primary School, timber backing with a white timber edging. At the top is a silver Rising Sun Badge with the dates in white "1914 & 1919". There are 27 bronze plaques, each has the Soldiers Regt Number, Name, Rank and Unit, for those that did not return there is a Cross added, if the Soldier won an award it is also added. At the bottom left hand corner is a brass plaque with details. Refer Aquisition for details. On the brass plaque, “These plaques were placed on the Avenue of trees at the school entrance on 20 December 1920. They were a memorial to those who enlisted from the Bendigo East School in the 1914 - 18 War. Mr R. J. Lee a Returned Soldier was Principal at this time”memorials-honour boards, military history-service records, metalcraft-bronze, east bendigo -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Great Hall, Montsalvat, 8 January 2008
Great Hall at Montsalvat built 1938-52, designed by Justus Jorgensen Covered under National Estate, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) State Significance, Victorian Heritage and Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p129 At first glance, Montsalvat, the artists’ community at Hillcrest Avenue, Eltham, could belong to another time and place. The French provincial Gothic-style buildings blend picturesquely with the introduced and native trees and farm animals on the five hectare property. But Montsalvat belongs very much to today’s Eltham, having inspired much of its creative activity and style. The use of mud-brick and recycled building materials, for which Eltham is so well-known, was largely popularised by Montsalvat. Montsalvat – unique in Victoria and probably in Australia – is registered by the National Trust and National Estate.1 Montsalvat, named after the castle of the Knights of the Holy Grail, has attracted artists and intellectuals since it was founded in 1934. For years at weekends, artists, lawyers, philosophers, politicians and others, who shared a love for what Montsalvat stood for, gathered for a meal and stimulating discussion. The focus for this gathering of talent was Justus Jörgensen, an eccentric man with vision and charisma. It was Jörgensen’s foresight that saw the creation of Montsalvat, which in 1975 was formed into a trust to benefit the Victorian people. The property was then valued at about three million dollars. It is now visited by thousands of people annually. Born in 1894 and brought up a Catholic, Jörgensen had trained as an architect. He later studied painting at the National Gallery School under artist, Frederick McCubbin, then joined the studio of artist Max Meldrum. In 1924, Jörgensen married medical student Lillian Smith, and with artist friends they travelled to Europe to study the great masters. In London Jörgensen exhibited in several major galleries. One of his still life paintings was included in the book The Art of Still Life by Herbert Furst, which featured 100 of the greatest ever still life paintings.2 In 1929, Jörgensen returned to Melbourne where Lil, now qualified, worked as an anaesthetist at St Vincent’s Hospital. They bought a small house in Brighton and Jörgensen rented a large building in Queen Street for his studio until the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria bought it in 1955. While designing and overseeing the building of a studio for his friend the famous cartoonist Percy Leason, in Lavender Park Road, Jörgensen decided to buy land for a country retreat in Eltham. So the building of Montsalvat began. Jörgensen gathered around a dozen of his friends and students from his Queen Street studio. They set to work, first at weekends then some decided to live permanently on the site. Jörgensen had seen mud-brick buildings in Spain and recognised that Eltham’s clay soil was ideal for mud-bricks and although labour intensive, it was a very cheap way of building. Jörgensen’s students and friends worked under his direction with the help of local tradesmen, including carpenter, Len Jarrold and later stone mason, Horrie Judd. In return Jörgensen would give the students a painting lesson or two. It was the Great Depression when many were out of work. Jörgensen also inspired people to give generously of money and materials. With their help Jörgensen found second-hand materials for building. Friends donated slate for roofing, discarded firebricks were used for flooring and windows and doors and a cast-iron circular staircase came from a wrecker. The students’ day started at 7am with building and domestic chores, shared equally between the sexes. The first building was used by his friends at weekends and then became a home for his wife Lil. It consisted of three rooms and an attic under a high-pitched roof. Jörgensen then built a similar structure with the same high-pitched roof as a more permanent home for his students. The two buildings were joined together with a tower and a studio for Jörgensen. While excavating for the studio a reef of yellow mud-stone was found and then used in construction. The next building was the Great Hall, to be used for dining, exhibitions and meetings and completed in 1958, after a halt during the war. Whelan the Wrecker donated the stone-framed windows from the building that housed the Victorian Insurance Co. in Collins Street, which had been demolished in the 1930s. The swimming pool was donated and cubicles were built for the students with their initials marked in tiles on each doorstep.1 One of Jörgensen’s great abilities was to recognise how to use material which harmonised. He would comb through wreckers’ yards for what he needed. Regarding his buildings as sculptural pieces, his first consideration was for the aesthetic quality of a building and only then for its functionality.2 At Montsalvat, Jörgensen found he was able to put his ideas into practice without compromise and those who worked with him had to conform to his ideas. With the Jörgensens, the colony’s original nucleus consisted of the Skipper family – Mervyn and wife Lena, daughters Helen and Sonia and son Matcham,who was to become an eminent jeweller and sculptor represented in National Gallery collections throughout Australia and in European museums.3 Other members were Arthur Munday, Lesley Sinclair, Helen Lempriere, Ian Robertson, John Smith, George Chalmers, John Busst and Sue Van der Kellan; also Jörgensen’s three sons – Max, Sebastian and Sigmund – and Saskia, Sonia Skipper and Arthur Munday’s daughter. Montsalvat went through some hard times when local gossips spread rumours of sexual shenanigans at Montsalvat. However Montsalvat also had many local supporters – especially amongst the local tradespeople. The colony was certainly unconventional – with Jörgensen’s wife Lil (and son Max) and life-time partner Helen Skipper, (mother of Sebastian and Sigmund) living at Montsalvat. Sonia Skipper says in her biography that the group were ‘very conscious of their responsibilities to each other and a desire to make their relationships work’.4 By World War Two many buildings around the Great Hall were completed. Jörgensen was a pacifist, as were most of his students. Some of the Montsalvat community enlisted while others engaged in essential services like dairy farming and market gardening for the war effort. It was then that Jörgensen constructed farm buildings. After the war many well-known personalities such as Clifton Pugh, landscape gardener Gordon Ford, and builder Alistair Knox, were drawn to Montsalvat. They learnt that building was not a ‘sacred cow’ only for professionals, but that anyone who was willing to get their hands dirty could do it. The post-war shortage of materials also encouraged builders to follow Montsalvat’s lead in reusing materials. When Jörgensen died in 1975, his influence did not – thanks largely to the vigilance of his son, Sigmund, who became its administrator. The weekend dinners have gone, but in 2008 about 14 artists still work at Montsalvat – some living there – including a couple who have been there since its early days. Under Sigmund’s direction Montsalvat further expanded its activities which included festivals, art exhibitions, concerts and weddings. Sigmund completed the Chapel, then the Long Gallery next to the pool, After the barn burnt down, he replaced it in 1999 (the builder was Hamish Knox, Alistair’s son) with a new gallery and entrance and added a restaurant. Sigmund has been careful that any new building blends in with the character of Montsalvat. In 2006 Montsalvat was restructured for its continued financial viability and with the help of Arts Victoria a new executive officer was appointed. A representative board from the wider community was established, which includes members from the former Montsalvat Trust including Sigmund Jörgensen – who is now the heritage and arts adviser to the new company Montsalvat Ltd.5 Today, visiting Montsalvat one still sees artists, students and visitors enjoying the unique and beautiful surroundings.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, eltham, great hall, montsalvat -
Federation University Historical Collection
Photograph - Photograph - Black and White, Jas. Brown et al, Edith and Maud Yung and Yung Family, 1 1909
.7 Richard Henry Watson was Edith Emma Watson's (nee Yung) son. Edith Emma was also the mother of Alice Watson, artist and dressmaker, who trained at the Ballarat School of Mines in the 1930's. .1 Black and white photograph of two women, one standing and the one seated, on a grey background 1909 .2 Black and white photograph of a reverend and seven altar boys, on and dark cream background, within folder c1897 .3. First Confirmation Certificate, with prayer,1902 .4 Sepia photograph on cream background of young boy,1917 .5 Small black and white photograph with black border of young male .6 Black and white circular photograph of a woman and girl, on cream background postcard,1908 .7 Black and white photograph with white border of bride and bridesmaid,1946.1 Front: Celoron Cabinet, Edith and Maud Yung 1910. Versa: Nanna and Aunty Maud .2 Front: Rev Greenham + choir boys.Versa: 2nd from left is William John Yung (John) died at age 8 1897. Nhill, William Yung. John (second from left, died young aged 8 in Allendale. Parents John Yung and Mary Ann Sudweeks .3 Baptised Ethel Emma Yung; Confirmed 14th December 1902; First Communion 25th December 1902; Signed by C Allanby; A Daily Prayer (eight lines); Confirmed by Arthur(?) V Bishop of Ballarat. S.P.C.K. Riddle & Couchman Lith, London .4 Front bottom: Copies may be obtained. Melbourne Photographic company, *Bridge Street Ballarat*. Verso: G.A. Yung died at Ypres, Belguim 1917 .5 Front bottom:Willetts Elite Studio. RHS H. Yung. Verso: Elite Photographic Studio. Patronised by the Royal Princes and Suite. Special photographer to His Excellency the Govenor. Willetts Bridge Street Ballarat. Paper note with photo: Henry( Harrie) Yung ( George Edgar's brother) was born at Loch in Gippsland and became a railway worker. Richard Henry (Harry) Watson Edie Watson's (nee Yung) son was named after him. .6 Front: Lena and Ethel Yung Verso:Postcard: a note to her sister Miss E Yung Yendon from Lena Yung - "Dear Edie, Received PC(?) I don't know whether you know anyone here. This is Mother's cousin with me. She was up on holiday. Hoping you are all well. Love to all. I remain yours Lena." 1908. Pink postage stamp showing RAT 08 (Alice Watson, Murtoa) .7 Verso: Elite Photos 278 Flinders Lane Melbourne C.5540 Beryl Yung - bride Margaret Middleton - maid, 9th Feb 1946 POST Correspondence 4213 celeron cabinet, edith yung, reverend greenham, choir boys, john yung, william yung, mary sudweeks, nhill, allandale, ethol emma yung, c allanby, arthur b, h.yung, beryl yung, margaret middleton, elite photos, g a yung, willetts studio, elite photographic studio ballarat, confirmation certificate 1902, millinery, bride, bridesmaid -
Ringwood and District Historical Society
Photograph, R.F. Miles, Sergeant, AIF (undated)
Written on back of photograph, "R.F. Miles". Two pieces of paper are enclosed with the photographs and read as follows: "R. F. Miles. Raoul Fortescue Miles was one of the seven sons of Captain Edward Thomas Miles and Mrs. Charlotte Eliza Miles. There were also four girls. Names of these in order are: Edward Leslie, Amy Florence, Augustus Temple, Lilian Ethel (Mrs. G.M. Parker), Hilda Clare (Mrs. J.W. Barrett), Arthur Hunter, Thomas Alfred, Sydney Derwent, Raoul Fortescue, Kathleen Mary Edith (Mrs. Howe), Keith Lyttleton. The only survivors are Thomas Alfred and Kathleen Howe. Raoul Miles served in the 12 Bn. in the first AIF and rose to the rank of sergeant. He Married an English girl at the end of 1st World War and brought her as an 18 year old bride to Australia. He worked Hendon which was owned by Captain Miles. In the early twenties he went to Seaford and opened a cafe on Napean Highway. He then opened an estate agency as well in front of his house. He was a councillor in the then Shire of Frankston and Hastings. He was Shire President at some time. Just before the 2nd World War he opened an estate agency in Frankston near the station. He also had a post office agency in the building which he owned. After the war he and his brother Sydney subdivided land and built houses at Seaford. His wife died suddenly and for some years he lived alone in a two storey houses divided into two flats. He died when he was about 72 or 73. During World War 2 he was a recruiting officer for the R.A.A.F. He had five children: - Jean (Mrs. Hayward, Portland?), Barbara (Mrs. Collins, Wattle Park), Laurie (Mrs. Thorpe Woods, Kent, England), Ted, Seaford?, Bill, Seaford?". -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Document - LA TROBE UNIVERSITY BENDIGO COLLECTION: BENDIGO TEACHERS' COLLEGE GRADUATION CEREMONY 1958
A faded document titled "Bendigo Teachers' College Graduation Ceremony 1958". The front cover also contains a list of the staff teaching at the college. They are The Principal Mr. L. J. Pryor, Miss J. C. Burnett, Mrs. F. M. Petri, Mrs. N. F. Fawdry, Miss M. G. Bremner, Mrs. D. J. Andrew, Mrs. M. E. Boardman, Miss B. H. Cowling, Miss E. M. Jones, Mr. F. M. Courtis, Mr. C. L. Barker, Mr. T. J. McCabe, Mr. G. W. D. Boyd, Mr. P. F. Fitzpatrick, Mr. R. L. Strauch, Mr. G. S. Poulsen, Mr. M. Pratt, Mr. F. X. Martin and Mr. N. J. Taylor. On the inside cover is the "Significance of the Ceremony" and the "Order of the Ceremony". Mr. F. M. Courtis gave the Welcome to Visitors and the College Charge was given by the Principal. The 'Graduation Book' was presented to Mr. A. L. Harris by Miss J. C. Burnett. Mr. C. L. Barker called the final roll for 1958 and Congratulations were offered by The Mayor Cr. H. W. Snell J.P. and Mr. R. L. Harrowfield Head Teacher of Golden Square State School. The Occasional Address was given by Mr. J. R. Lyall Assistant Chief Inspector of Primary Schools.The following page contains a list of the "Students of 1957-58" - John Victor Anderson, Margaret Betty Baker, Patricia Ann Banko, George Edward Bazley, Elizabeth Margaret Bower, Nancy Elva Boyle, Enid Gilmour Brown, Wendy Lorraine Bulleid, Fairlie Anne Burkinshaw, Barry Henry Burns, Katherine Alice Byrnes, Bryan Clarke Campbell, Elizabeth Joyce Chapman, Alison Amelia Clark, Valerie Nancy Clough, Georgina Mary Agnes Coppock, Eric Bruce Hindle Coventry, Faye Margaret Crump, Dorothy Lilian Cunnington, Elizabeth Jean Dalrymple, Lois Anne Davies, Brian Leslie Dolan, Moira Margaret Dowd, June Frances Ellis, James Cornelius Finnegan, Graeme Reynolds Fleet, Elaine Rose Fuga, Rosemary June Garonne, James Alfred Geehman, Ronald James Goodman, Bernard Thomas Gray, Dorothy June Gregson, Joy Margaret Ham, Dorothy Rose Harice, Arthur Herbert Harris, Brian Hopper, Dorothy Anne Hosking, Nancy Elizabeth Hughes, Irene Margaret Hynes, Donald James Low, Elspeth Faye McCarthy, Richard James McGowan, Geoffrey Douglas McLean, Junella Maree McPhail, Beryl Martin, Carmel Monica Mullins, Charles Peter O'Connor, Nancy Lorraine Peck, Ian Alwyn Raeburn, Raymond Edward Reardon, Ruth Lorraine Reid, Patricia Margaux Roberts, Robert Herbert Robertson, Phillip Edward Rowe, Lesley Margaret Silke, Francis William Sleeth, Margaret Joy Sloane, Murray Francis Sweeney, Elwyn Beth Thompson, Margaret Ann Wadley, Janet Ann Wallis, Geoffrey Michael Warman, Kevin George Watson, Patricia Anne Weight, Margaret Anne West, Ronald Thomas White and Irene Mary Wolfe. The back page has the "Principal's Charge". There is also a white type written insertion containing the words of the songs and a plan of the seating and movements of the ceremony. Boltons Print, Bendigo.bendigo, education, bendigo teachers' college graduatio, la trobe university bendigo collection, collection, bendigo, bendigo teachers' college, bendigo teachers' college students, education, teaching, teachers, students, graduation, tertiary education, book, graduation ceremony, graduands, history, bendigo teachers' college staff, history -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Document - Property Binder, 836 Main Road, Eltham
Newspaper article: Was woman found in well put in it? Diamond Valley Local, 16 February 1954, story of wife of baker found in well before Burgoyne family purchased bakery. Newspaper article: Bakery goes ... locals protest, The Valley Voice, 18 July 1979, Joh Ebeli protests about planned destruction, history of building memories of Alistair Knox. Note on demolition of Eltham Bakery building, 1979, by Joh Ebeli who tried to save front of house with friend names Elwers. Photocopy newspaper article: Murder mystery at bakery, History comes to life for old building, 4 November 1979, Harry Burgoyne remembers his grandfather John James Thomas Neville Burgoyne bought bakery in 1896 at time of body found in well, bakery build 1860-1864, sold in 1921. Photocopy newspaper article: Public meeting called over Eltham restaurant proposal, Diamond Valley News, 4 October 1988, protests re proposal for motel and restaurant. Photocopy newspaper article: Fresh tales at an old mine, Diamond Valley News, 4 October 1988, Ausminde Pty Ltd applied for renewal of exploration licence at Old Tree Hill Mine, last mined by Stan Bone and Bill Wallace, photograph of Russell Yeoman at site. Photocopy of line drawing, The Bakery, by Joh Ebeli, 1978. Photocopy of photograph, Old Bakery, next to house built 1880. Photocopy of photograph with Old Bakery in background. On August 12, 1902, appearing before T. Smallman, Esq,. Police Magistrate, and Messrs. W. Duncan and W.J. Taylor, Justices of the Peace is Luther Haley, baker. Wilfred Henry Johnston, by his agent Stanley Ernest Elder had applied for a warrant of ejectment under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1890 against Luther Haley from the bakery premises at the corner of Main Road and York Street. From the evidence presented it is made known that Mrs Burgoyne of Eltham had purchased the property some months earlier from Mr Johnston, which consisted of a store and bakery establishment at Eltham occupied by Mr. Luther Haley, and whose lease expired some little time back, and up to the present time, Mr. Haley was not prepared to leave. He informed the court that he was unable to secure at Eltham a suitable house in which to carry on his business, but he was building a place near the railway station which he expected to be done in about three weeks time, at which time he would give up possession of the bakery. Mr Smallman informed the defendant, Luther Haley, that he would have to quit the premises in three weeks from the present date, and that a warrant of ejectment would be issued. However he also informed Mr Haley that he would order the warrant to lie in the office for three weeks from that date. The premises under construction refered to by Luther Haley in court were situated on the western side of Main Road, near the railway station slightly opposite present day Arthur Street. It was opened around September 1902 as a General Store, Bakery and Tea Rooms. In June 2024 Annie Hackrath shared a memory of living in the old bakery: "My husband and I lived in the old bakery for 18 months in 1978-9 , husband Geoff used the old bakery out the back as a wood workshop, making turnery and handcrafted furniture. The front shop was operated as a “sometimes” art gallery which we called “Gouge and Grain”. There were old sheds against the back fence which we thought were probably stables from the bakery days. Lovely memories of the old place which had so much character and seemed to attract a multitude of interesting creative people! Sad that it was pulled down; a friend salvaged some of the lead light glass in the old doors and included it in a new door panel for us."main road, eltham, property, shops, businesses, eltham bakery, burgoyne family, joh ebeli, alistair knox, harry burgoyne, john james thomas neville burgoyne, one tree hill mine, stan bone miner, bill wallace miner, russell yeoman, henry rech, ausminde pty ltd, john street, bridge street, judy paynter, art gallery, gouge and grain, annie hackrath, geoff hackrath -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Print - Vessel - Steamship, A.V. Gregory, SS Casino off Point Lonsdale, ca. 1899-1932
Print of a picture of the S.S. Casino, This print is from an original painting by the Australian marine artist A V Gregory (1867-1957), also known as Arthur Victor Gregory. Gregory lived and worked in South Melbourne. He took over the Gregory Studio owned by his father, George Frederick Gregory, painting actively between 1899 and 1932. He usually signed his works as ‘A V Gregory’. Some of his original works have been sold for thousands of dollars. The S.S. Casino was a passenger and freight steamer built in Dundee, Scotland, in 1882 for the Newcastle and Hunter River Steam Navigation Company of N.S.W. She weighed 425 tons gross with a length of 160.4 feet, beam of 24.1 feet and a depth of 10.2 feet. She had saloon accommodation for 35 people, a fore cabin for 25 more people, and she carried 300 tons of cargo. While on her delivery journey on May 30th 1882 the S.S. Casino called in at the Port of Warrnambool for coal ., narrowly escaping going ashore in gale force winds due to the quick action of the pilot. At that time, still at anchor, she impressed the directors of the Belfast and Koroit Steam Navigation Company so much that they bought her immediately; she was ideal for trade along the West Coast of Victoria. (The Belfast and Koroit Steam Navigation Company was first managed by Messers. Saltau and Osburne and after the passing of Mr. Osburne, by produce merchants Messers H. Sautau and Sons, who had a hay and corn store and shipping agency on the corner of Liebig and Koroit Streets in Warrnambool. ) The S.S. Casino became “the most famous steamer to operate in Victorian waters along the West Coast” by author Jack Loney. Captain Boyd was her first Master, followed by Captain Chapman, who stayed with her from 1890 until 1924. Captain W. Robertson followed for a short term, and then Captain Middleton then took command from 1925 - 1932. The S.S. Casino had several mishaps during her life. One was on 3rd January 1898 when she collided with the S.S. Flinders in Apollo Bay with minor damage. Another was on 24th October 1924 when she grounded on a reef at Point Hawdon near Grey River and most of her cargo (of Christmas goods) had to be dumped into the sea. Then in February 1929 she was ‘holed’ when she struck a submerged object as she entered Lady Bay, Warrnambool. On the morning of 10th July 1932, after attempting to berth at Apollo Bay jetty in heavy seas, Captain Middleton decided to take her out into the bay and wait until the seas abated. It was not realised that the anchor used to steady her as she manoeuvred to her berth had pierced her hull. She put about and headed for the beach but sank. Captain Middleton and nine others lost their lives; nine people were rescued including the two female passengers. Captain Middleton had been in charge of the S.S. Casino for seven years. He was the first ship’s Master to lose his life in a shipwreck in the West Coast trade. In the years following the turn of the century, the S.S. Casino remained the only regular trader with normal passenger accommodation along the West Coast. From 1882 she had made at least 2,500 voyages on the one run. Flagstaff Hill’s collection has a photograph of a portrait of Captain Chapman, , a ship model of the S.S. Casino that shows both forms of power under which she sailed, steam and sail. The ship is painted green and flies three flags. The inscription across the case of the ship model, incorrectly dated, tells the sad story of the wreck of the ship and the loss of lives on July 10th 1932 at Apollo Bay. A print in the Collection shows S.S. Casino underway in the heavy sea off Point Lonsdale, another two photographs show her at the Port of Warrnambool, leaving from the Breakwater in Lady Bay and another identifies the S.S. Casino as a ship from the Belfast and Koroit Steam Navigation Company. (Belfast is the original name for the township of Port Fairy).This print of the S.S. Casino is of significance for its association with the coastal trader S.S. Casino. The wreck of the S.S. Casino is considered an important part of Victorian and Australian cultural heritage and as such has been declared and protected as an Historic Shipwreck under State and Commonwealth Law in the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act (1976). The detailed image of the vessel depicted in this print shows one of the many sail and steam vessels painted by the renowned Victorian marine artist A V Gregory, whose original works are highly valued today by marine collectors.Print with hand-painted watercolour highlights depicting the port side steamship SS Casinounderway in a heavy sea, merchant flag flying at the stern. Mounted in a decorative wooden frame behind glass. The original painting was by A V Gregory. The title of the picture is repeated in handwritten words on the matte below the artist's signature on the print.Signed "A V Gregory" Hand painted title "SS Casino off Point Lonsdale"flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, newcastle and hunter river steam navigation company, belfast and koroit steam navigation company, h. sautau and sons, s.s. casino, west coast trader s.s. casino, victorian coastal trader, captain boyd, captain w. robertson, captain chapman, captain middleton, apollo bay shipwreck, s.s. casino at lady bay warrnambool, saltau and osburne, a v gregory, arthur victor gregory, melbourne artist -
Uniting Church Archives - Synod of Victoria
Photograph, C. 1870s
ADB entry: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/langham-frederick-3987 Frederick Langham (1833-1903), Wesleyan missionary, was born on 24 April 1833 at Launceston, Van Diemen's Land, son of Samuel Langham, builder, and his wife Eliza, née Robinson. Nurtured in a Methodist home he attended the Paterson Street Sunday school and was 'converted' under the ministry of Rev. William Butters. In 1847 the family moved to Victoria where Langham joined the Fitzroy Church. After two years training as a teacher in Britain he returned to Melbourne and on 16 November 1854 at Richmond married Ann Elizabeth Knight. In January 1855 Langham became headmaster of the Wesleyan Denominational School at Barker Street, Castlemaine, where he was a contemporary of Shirley Baker at the other Wesleyan school. Influenced by Rev. Thomas Raston to consider missionary work, Langham was prepared for the ministry by Rev. John Harcourt and in 1858 was received into the Victorian Conference. He was appointed to Fiji where he arrived in June. Langham served at Lakemba in 1858-63, Bau in 1864-66 and Viwa in 1868-70. As one of the assertive 'colonial young men', he was resented at first by Rev. James Calvert and his colleagues, but Langham soon dominated the mission and was chairman of the Fiji district in 1869-94. From 1871 he lived at Bau where he won repute among Methodists as King Cakobau's adviser. Although his policies did not please all the missionaries, they accepted him as their spokesman. Believing himself the champion of the Fijians he encouraged annexation by Britain, but often nettled the colonial administrators by his paternalism and lack of imagination. To his colleagues he was 'Father' Langham and Sir Arthur Gordon referred to him as 'The Cardinal'. In 1874-75 and 1890 Langham and his wife visited Melbourne mainly for their health. They finally left Fiji in April 1895 and lived in Sydney where Langham worked on the revision of the Fijian Bible. Though always reluctant in Australia to travel on deputationary work, he identified himself with the Orange cause and was easily persuaded to give anti-Catholic missionary lectures, which involved him in public controversy with Cardinal Patrick Moran. In 1898 Langham went to England to see his New Testament through the press. The subsequent burning of some testaments at the Roman Catholic mission at Namosi received much publicity in Australia. Langham's wife had helped his revision and was author of many Fijian hymns. Their adopted (European) daughter Annie Langham Lindsay died on 21 December 1901, just before the revised Old Testament was completed. His wife did not recover from this shock and died on 5 January 1902. Langham became a supernumerary in 1901 and travelled on deputationary work in Britain, mainly for the British and Foreign Bible Society, of which he was a life governor. He also shared in the 'simultaneous mission' of the Evangelical churches. In addition to the Fijian Bible he had published other works in Fijian, some in conjunction with other authors. Recommended by Sir William MacGregor, Langham was awarded a doctorate of divinity by the University of Glasgow. He died at Wilton Villa, Albion Grove, Hackney, on 21 June 1903 and was buried in Abney Park cemetery. Although he bequeathed a 'cannibal fork with human bone attached' to a sister in Melbourne, the rest of his Fijian collection was sold. He instructed his trustees to destroy his journals and correspondence but many of his original letters are in other collections. Physically impressive with leonine hair and beard, Langham cut his missionary role in the cloth of the schoolmaster. As a disciplinarian his punishments were severe but tempered with justice; he once insisted on being caned by a wrongfully punished boy. His relentless energy and simple piety won him renown as a great missionary by his denomination and those of the religious public familiar with the romanticized version of his career. Sepia toned carte de visite studio portrait of the Rev. Frederick Langham"Langham c.1873-77"rev frederick langam, wesleyan methodist missionary, minister, fiji -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, The Robins, 13 Kangaroo Ground-Warrandyte Road, North Warrandyte, 2 March 2008
Built by noted artist Theodore Penleigh Boyd, father of architect Robin Boyd. Covered under National Estate, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Local Significance and Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p111 The Robins at Warrandyte,* was once home to a member of a famous family and is also one of the first reinforced concrete houses in Victoria. The builder, Theodore Penleigh Boyd, born in 1890, was a talented painter1 noted for his works of the Warrandyte bush. He was the father of architect Robin Boyd, author of the Australian Ugliness and the uncle of painter, Arthur Boyd. Penleigh Boyd’s great grandfather was Sir William A’Beckett, Victoria’s first Chief Justice. Penleigh Boyd is considered by some to be an ‘unsung hero’ overshadowed by more famous members of his family. Mornington Gallery Director Andrea May said many believed Boyd ‘had never received the national acclaim that he deserved’.2 Classified by the National Trust3 and part of the Australian National Heritage,4 The Robins is set well back near the end of Kangaroo Ground – Warrandyte Road, unobserved by passers-by. Built in 1913, The Robins has some Art Nouveau influences and is a descendant of the Queen Anne style. It is covered in stucco and has a prominent attic, which Boyd used as a studio. Some parts of the house are up to 33 centimetres thick and built in part with pisé (rammed earth) and in part with reinforced concrete. Amazingly, Boyd built The Robins without an accessible driveway, and only a narrow track along which he had to cart building materials. The journey was uphill and Boyd terraced the land with Warrandyte rock5 without the aid of machinery. At only 33 years, Boyd was killed in a car accident in 1923. He was buried in Brighton near the home of his parents. Several people have since owned the house, including political journalist, Owen Webster. Boyd was born at Penleigh House, Wiltshire, and studied at Haileybury College, Melbourne and The Hutchins School, Hobart. He attended the Melbourne National Gallery School and in his final year exhibited at the Victorian Artists’ Society. He arrived in London in 1911 and his painting Springtime was hung at the Royal Academy. He painted in several studios in England and then worked in Paris.6 There he met painter Phillips Fox through whom he met artists of the French modern school and also his wife-to-be, Edith Anderson, whom he married in Paris in 1912. After touring France and Italy, the couple returned to Melbourne. In 1913 Boyd held an exhibition and won second prize in the Federal Capital site competition, then the Wynne Prize for landscape in 1914. In 1915 Boyd joined the Australian Imperial Force, and became a sergeant in the Electrical and Mechanical Mining Company. However he was severely gassed at Ypres and invalided to England. In 1918 in London Boyd published Salvage, writing the text and illustrating it with 20 black-and-white ink-sketches of army scenes. Later that year he returned to Melbourne, and, despite suffering from the effects of gas, he held several successful one-man shows, quickly selling his water-colour and oil paintings. In his short career Penleigh Boyd was recognized as one of Australia’s finest landscape painters. He loved colour, having been influenced early by Turner and McCubbin. His works are in all Australian state galleries, the National Collection in Canberra as well as in regional galleries.7 His wife Edith was also an artist having studied at the Slade School, London, and in Paris with Phillips Fox. After her marriage she continued to paint and excelled in drawing. In later years she wrote several dramas, staged by repertory companies, and radio plays for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, in which she took part. She was the model for the beautiful red-haired woman in several of Phillips Fox’s paintings and the family hold three of his portraits of her. *Possibly named after the Aboriginal words warran, meaning ‘object’ and dyte, meaning ‘thrown at’.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, kangaroo ground-warrandyte road, north warrandyte, the robins -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Southernwood, cnr Bolton and Brougham Street, Eltham, 30 January 2008
Walter Withers once lived at the corner of Bolton and Brougham Streets, Eltham. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p105 Walter Withers, one of Australia’s most famous artists, once lived in Southernwood, the weatherboard house at the corner of Bolton and Brougham Streets, Eltham. Withers, one of the first prominent artists to live in Eltham, was known for his lyrical paintings of the Australian bush and is associated with the Heidelberg School of artists.1 Withers was born in 1854 at Handsworth, Warwickshire, England, the grandson of an artist. He studied art at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. But in 1882 his father, opposing an artistic career for Withers, ordered him to go to Australia. However, after working as a jackaroo on several country properties for 18 months, Withers resumed painting in Melbourne, where he enrolled in evening art classes at the Melbourne National Gallery school of painting under G F Folingsby. Employed as a draughtsman by William Inglis & Co, then by Ferguson & Mitchell, lithographic printers, Withers produced portraits in black-and-white for several periodicals. His work was exhibited in the Old Academy, Melbourne. At this time he met and became life-long friends with artists Frederick McCubbin, Tom Roberts and Louis Abrahams.2 In 1887 Withers went to England and married Fanny Finn. They lived in Paris for awhile, where Withers studied at the Academie Julian. After his return to Melbourne in 1889, Withers lived at the artist camp at Eaglemont, then moved close to the Charterisville mansion, where he established a studio and sub-let cottages to other artists. Around 1892 Withers opened a Collins Street studio, had his first exhibition, and started giving painting classes. One of his pupils was Norman Lindsay,3 also to become a prominent artist. Withers had long been attracted to Eltham, but had to wait until 1903 to live there, after the railway line was extended to Eltham in 1902. He could then commute to the painting classes he gave in Melbourne.4 Withers lived on the two and a half acres (1.0ha) Bolton Street property with his wife and five children. They were joined for a short time by prominent painter Sir Hans Heyson who took lessons from Withers. Withers added a studio to the Queen Anne/Edwardian style seven-bedroom home, which had been built in 1891. Each bedroom included a fireplace and most rooms had 12 foot high (3.6m) ceilings. The house retains several fine leadlight windows. Withers painted his largest canvas The Return from the Harvest in 1905, at his Eltham studio. He is represented in national, state and regional galleries, and in many private collections in Australia and abroad. In 1904-05 Withers was president of the Victorian Artists’ Society. Withers at times stayed during the week at his studio in Oxford Chambers, Melbourne, and on weekends and holidays with his family at Eltham. Withers lived in Eltham until his death in 1914, aged 60 years. He had been plagued by rheumatism and in later life by heart and lung disease. It is said he died of a stroke peacefully in a rocking chair in front of the lounge-room fire. He is buried at St Helena in the St Katherine’s Anglican Church cemetery.5 In 1983, the auction of the house sparked fears that it would be pulled down, or substantially altered. Fortunately the new owners decided to retain the house. Some security was given to the house’s future when it was later included in the Heritage Overlay to the Nillumbik Planning Scheme. The property is also important because it is one of only a few left in the district, which were once owned by noted artists. These include three in Warrandyte: one formerly owned by Penleigh Boyd, another by Frank Crozier, and the other by Danila Vassilieff; and two in Eltham: Percy Leason’s in Lavender Park Road and Justus Jörgensen’s Montsalvat. A small park at the corner of Bible and Arthur Streets, Eltham is named in Walter Withers’ honour.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, bolton steet, brougham steet, eltham, southernwood, walter withers house -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Stonygrad, 34 Hamilton Road, North Warrandyte, 30 January 2008
Vassilieff dynamited rock from his own property to build his house. Stonygrad is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p135 Stonygrad, the home built by Expressionist painter and sculptor Danila Vassilieff, is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Vassilieff, who amongst others influenced painter Sydney Nolan and Albert Tucker, was a member of the artists group the Angry Penguins.1 He was also a highly regarded art teacher at the nearby Koornong Experimental School and taught at Eltham High School. Art critic Robert Hughes described Vassilieff’s painting as ‘lyrical without social commentary’, and said Vassilieff was ‘the most oddly neglected artist in recent Australian History’.2 Vassilieff, who was born in 1897 in Russia, had an unusually adventurous life before he settled in Warrandyte. The 12th of 18 children, he lived on a farm in the Don Basin. Vassilieff trained with the Imperial Military Academy at St Petersburg and fought in World War One as an officer in the White Russian Army against the communists. In 1920 he was captured, then escaped from prison, stole a horse and rode bareback 150 miles to the Black Sea, helped at first by Tartar freebooters. He then travelled to India, Shanghai and arrived in Queensland as a refugee in 1923 where he began painting. He and his wife Anisia bought a sugar farm near Ingram,3 and later he constructed railway lines at Mataranka, in the Northern Territory.4 In 1929 Vassilieff went to Brazil for formal art training from former fellow-officer Dmitri Ismailovich, but he soon left to travel up the Amazon River. He then worked as a sidewalk artist in the West Indies and travelled for two years in England, France and Spain. In 1937 he arrived in Melbourne where he lived until his death in 1958. His first major Australian series was the Carlton streetscapes and from 1951 he sculpted in local hard limestone.5 Vassilieff rejected all dogma and regarded religious subjects as suitable only for decorative arts. In 1944 he helped defeat a communist attempt to take over the Contemporary Art Society. For a short time, from around 1955, Vassilieff taught at various Victorian schools.6 The Angry Penguins painted mainly between 1937 and 1947, and included Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Joy Hester. The group formed as they felt isolated from European thought and art (including Surrealism) from which their work was derived. They were also angry at what they considered to be the complacency and insularity of their society. They maintained Australians at first were scarcely aware of the threats of the Wall Street Crash and Hitler and were little interested in the Spanish Civil War. The Angry Penguins also objected to the White Australia Policy. Hughes said although most of the Melbourne Expressionists in the 1940s were unskilled and their work crude in style, they helped jolt Australian painting from its pastoral complacency. Their style influenced nearly every painting produced by significant figurative artists in Melbourne in the 1950s such as Charles Blackman. From 1939 Vassilieff built Stonygrad, mainly with local stone. The house stands at the end of a private road surrounded by trees with the quiet occasionally broken by the sounds of bellbirds. To build his house Vassilieff dynamited rock and cut trees from his own property. The original section of the three-level house is of irregular-shaped pieces of solid stone, exposed inside like the exterior. Vassilieff later built sections with timber and brick. Inside is rustic and cave-like, and several rooms are linked by arched openings with no doors. One undulating wall was carved out of rock from which two sculptured heads protrude. Several ceilings are of rough-hewn logs and the built-in table and bookcase are rough, as is a timber ladder leading to a bedroom. Not for the elderly or unsteady! Yet the general impression in the muted light is beautiful, with artistic originality.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, danila vassilieff, hamilton road, north warrandyte, stonygrad -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Souvenir - Rope Sample, before September 1891
The rope was part of the distress rocket used during the time that the sailing ship Fiji was in distress, before it became a wreck. The three-masted iron barque Fiji had been built in Belfast, Ireland, in 1875 by Harland and Wolfe for a Liverpool based shipping company. The ship departed Hamburg on 22nd May 1891 bound for Melbourne, under the command of Captain William Vickers with a crew of 25. The ship’s manifest shows that she was loaded with a cargo of 260 cases of dynamite, pig iron, steel goods, spirits (whisky, schnapps, gin, brandy), sailcloth, tobacco, coiled fencing wire, concrete, 400 German pianos (Sweet Hapsburg), concertinas and other musical instruments, artists supplies including brushes, porcelain, furniture, china, and general cargo including candles. There were also toys in anticipation for Christmas, including wooden rocking horses, miniature ships, dolls with china limbs and rubber balls. On September 5th, one hundred days out from Hamburg in squally and boisterous south west winds the Cape Otway light was sighted on a bearing differing from Captain Vickers’ calculation of his position. At about 2:30am, Sunday 6th September 1891 land was reported 4-5 miles off the port bow. The captain tried to put the ship on the other tack, but she would not respond. He then tried to turn her the other way but just as the manoeuvre was being completed the Fiji struck rock only 300 yards (274 metres) from shore. The place is known as Wreck Bay, Moonlight Head. Blue lights were burned and distress rockets fired whilst an effort was made to lower boats but all capsized or swamped and smashed to pieces. Two of the younger crewmen volunteered to swim for the shore, taking a line. One, a Russian named Daniel Cartland, drowned after he was swept away when the line broke. The other, 17 year old able seaman Julius Gebauhr, a German, reached shore safely on his second attempt but without the line, which he had cut lose with his sheath-knife when it become tangled in kelp. He rested on the beach a while then climbed the steep cliffs in search of help. At about 10am on the Sunday morning a party of land selectors - including F. J. Stansmore, Leslie Dickson (or Dixon) and Mott - found Gebauhr. They were near Ryan's Den, on their travels on horseback from Princetown towards Moonlight Head, and about 5km from the wreck. Gebauhr was lying in the scrub in a poor state, bleeding and dressed only in singlet, socks and a belt with his sheath-knife, ready for all emergencies. At first they were concerned about his wild and shaggy looking state and what seemed to be gibberish speech, taking him to be an escaped lunatic. They were reassured after he threw his knife away and realised that he was speaking half-English, half-German. They gave him food and brandy and some clothing and were then able to gain information about the wreck. Some of the men took him to River nook, a nearby guest house owned by John Evans, where he was cared for. Stansmore and Dickson rode off to try and summon help. Others went down to the site of the wreck. Messages for rescuing the rest of the crew were sent both to Port Campbell for the rocket rescue crew and to Warrnambool for the lifeboat. The S.S. Casino sailed from Portland towards the scene. After travelling the 25 miles to the scene, half of the Port Campbell rocket crew and equipment arrived and set up the rocket tripod on the beach below the cliffs. By this time the crew of the Fiji had been clinging to the jib-boom for almost 15 hours, calling frantically for help. Mr Tregear from the Rocket Crew fired the line. The light line broke and the rocket was carried away. A second line was successfully fired across the ship and made fast. The anxious sailors then attempted to come ashore along the line but, with as many as five at a time, the line sagged considerably and some were washed off. Others, nearly exhausted, had to then make their way through masses of seaweed and were often smothered by waves. Only 14 of the 24 who had remained on the ship made it to shore. Many onlookers on the beach took it in turns to go into the surf and drag half-drowned seamen to safety. These rescuers included Bill (William James) Robe, Edwin Vinge, Hugh Cameron, Fenelon Mott, Arthur Wilkinson and Peter Carmody. (Peter Carmody was also involved in the rescue of men from the Newfield.) Arthur Wilkinson, a 29 year old land selector, swam out to the aid of one of the ship’s crewmen, a carpenter named John Plunken. Plunken was attempting to swim from the Fiji to the shore. Two or three times both men almost reached the shore but were washed back to the wreck. A line was thrown to them and they were both hauled aboard. It was thought that Wilkinson struck his head on the anchor before s they were brought up. He remained unconscious. The carpenter survived this ordeal but Wilkinson later died and his body was washed up the next day. It was 26 year old Bill Robe who hauled out the last man, the captain, who had become tangled in the kelp. The wreck of the Fiji was smashed apart within 20 minutes of the last man being brought ashore, and it settled in about 6m of water. Of the 26 men on the Fiji, 11 in total lost their lives. The remains of 7 bodies were washed onto the beach and their coffins were made from timbers from the wrecked Fiji. They were buried on the cliff top above the wreck. The survivors were warmed by fires on the beach then taken to River nook and cared for over the next few days. Funds were raised by local communities soon after the wreck in aid of the sufferers of the Fiji disaster. Captain Vickers was severely reprimanded for his mishandling of the ship. His Masters Certificate was suspended for 12 months. At the time there was also a great deal of public criticism at the slow and disorganised rescue attempt to save those on board. The important canvas ‘breech buoy’ or ‘bucket chair’ and the heavy line from the Rocket Rescue was in the half of the rocket outfit that didn’t make it in time for the rescue: they had been delayed at the Gellibrand River ferry. Communications to Warrnambool were down so the call for help didn’t get through on time and the two or three boats that had been notified of the wreck failed to reach it in time. Much looting occurred of the cargo that washed up on the shore, with nearly every visitor leaving the beach with bulky pockets. One looter was caught with a small load of red and white rubber balls, which were duly confiscated and he was ‘detained’ for 14 days. Essence of peppermint mysteriously turned up in many settlers homes. Sailcloth was salvaged and used for horse rugs and tent flies. Soon after the wreck “Fiji tobacco” was being advertised around Victoria. A Customs officer, trying to prevent some of the looting, was assaulted by looters and thrown over a steep cliff. He managed to cling to a bush lower down until rescued. In 1894 some coiled fencing wire was salvaged from the wreck. Hundreds of coils are still strewn over the site of the wreck, encrusted and solidified. The hull is broken but the vessel’s iron ribs can be seen along with some of the cargo of concrete and pig iron. Captain Vickers presented Bill Robe with his silver-cased pocket watch, the only possession that he still had, as a token for having saved his life and the lives of some of the crew. (The pocket watch came with 2 winding keys, one to wind it and one to change the hands.) Years later Bill passed the watch to his brother-in-law Gib (Gilbert) Hulands as payment of a debt and it has been passed down the family to Gilbert Hulands’ grandson, John Hulands. Seaman Julius Gebauhr later gave his knife, in its hand crafted leather sheath, to F. J. Stansmore for caring for him when he came ashore. The knife handle had a personal inscription on it. A marble headstone on the 200m high cliffs overlooking Wreck Beach, west of Moonlight Head, paying tribute to the men who lost their lives when Fiji ran aground. The scene of the wreck is marked by the anchor from the Fiji, erected by Warrnambool skin divers in 1967.This rope is part of the collection of artefacts from the wreck of the Fiji. Flagstaff Hill’s Fiji collection is of historical significance at a State level because of its association with the wreck Fiji, which is on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S259. The Fiji is archaeologically significant as the wreck of a typical 19th century international sailing ship with cargo. It is educationally and recreationally significant as one of Victoria's most spectacular historic shipwreck dive sites with structural features and remains of the cargo evident. It also represents aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and its potential to interpret sub-theme 1.5 of Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes (living with natural processes).Rope, plaited, brown in colour, cut straight at one end, and the other end is separated into 3 pieces, from distress rockets used during the wreck of the sailing ship Fiji. Rope was in envelope printed with an address, and a description, and there was a display card with further details on it. Printed on the envelope: "Shire of Hampden / PO Box 84, Camperdown 3260" Hand written "rope of wreck of Fiji / 7cm / Mr Wm "Boyce" Display card with rope includes words "Piece of Rope from the Fiji distress rockets and was donated to Flagstaff Hill by a private donor in 1989"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, rope, the fiji, william boyce, distress signal, rocket rescue, life saving equipment -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Photograph - Shipwreck rescue, c. 1890's
The photograph taken on Sunday September 6, 1891, shows the Port Campbell Rocket Rescue Crew and Equipment at Wreck Beach, Moonlight Head, preparing to save the stranded men on the wreck of the barque Fiji. The man standing in the middle, front of the photograph, facing the ocean, is Herbert Maxwell Morris, a farmer at Barruppa near Princetown, also a member of the Rocket Rescue Crew. The Rocket Rescue lifesaving method used an explosive rocket to shoot a light line from shore across to the distressed vessel. The line was then secured to the ship’s mast and a heavy, continuous line was then sent out with a ‘breaches buoy’ attached (a buoy similar to the seat of a pair of trousers). The stranded seafarers would sit in the seat and be pulled along the line to safety. A lot of skill was needed to set up the line to reach its target and the Crew trained regularly to keep up their skills. The three-masted iron barque Fiji was built in Belfast, Ireland, in 1875 by Harland and Wolfe for a Liverpool based shipping company. The ship departed Hamburg on May 22, 1891, bound for Melbourne under the command of Captain William Vickers with a crew of 25. The Cape Otway light was sighted on September 5, 1891. However, the bearing was different from Captain Vickers’ calculations. At about 2:30am the next morning land was reported only 4-5 miles away. The captain tried to redirect the ship in the rough weather without success and the Fiji struck rock only 300 yards (274 metres) from shore. The crew burned blue lights fired rockets to signal distress. The lifeboats either capsized or were swamped and smashed to pieces. Two younger crewmen volunteered to swim for the shore with a line. One, a Russian named Daniel Carkland, drowned after he was swept away when the line broke. The other, Julius Gebauhr, a 17 year old German able seaman, reached shore safely on his second attempt but had cut the line lose with his sheath-knife when it tangled in kelp. He climbed the steep cliffs in search of help. Later that morning a young man, William (Willie) Ward, saw the wreck of the ship close to shore near Moonlight Head from the cliffs and the alarm sent for help from Princetown, six miles away. At around the same time a Mott’s party of land selectors, including F. J. Stansmore, Leslie Dickson, was travelling on horseback from Princetown towards Moonlight Head. They were near Ryans Den when they found Gebauhr in the scrub, bleeding and dressed only in singlet, socks and a belt with his sheath-knife. They thought the man may be an escaped lunatic, due to his wild and shaggy looking state and what seemed to be gibberish speech. After Gebauhr threw his knife away they realised that he was speaking half-English, half-German as he talked about the wreck. They gave him food, brandy and clothing, and he was taken to a nearby guest house Rivernook, owned by John Evans, where he was cared for. Most of the party went off to the wreck site. Stanmore and Dickson rode for help from both Port Campbell for the two Rocket Rescue Crew buggies, and Warrnambool for the lifeboat. The vessel S.S. Casino sailed from Portland towards the scene. Half of the Port Campbell Rocket Crew and equipment arrived after a 25 mile journey and set up the rocket tripod on the beach below the cliffs. By this time the weary crew of the Fiji had been clinging to the jib-boom for almost 15 hours, calling frantically for help. The Office in Charge of the Rocket Crew, W. Tregear, ordered the rocket to be fired but the light line broke and the rocket was carried away. A second line, successfully set up by Herbert Morris, crossed the ship and was secured. The anxious sailors tried to come ashore along the line but some were washed off as the line sagged with too many on it at one time. Other nearly exhausted crewmen made their way through masses of seaweed and were often smothered by waves. Only 14 of the 24 who had remained on the ship made it to shore. Rocket Crew members and onlookers on the beach took it in turns to go into the surf and drag the half-drowned seamen to safety. These rescuers included Bill (William James) Robe, Herbert Morris, Edwin Vinge, Hugh Cameron, Fenelon Mott, Arthur Wilkinson and Peter Carmody, who was also involved in the rescue of men from the Newfield. Arthur Wilkinson, a 29 year old land selector, swam out to help one of the ship’s crewmen, a carpenter named John Plunken who was trying to swim from the Fiji to the shore. Two or three times both men almost reached the shore but were washed back to the wreck where they were both hauled back on board. Wilkinson was unconscious, possibly from hitting his head on the anchor before they were brought up. Plunken survived but Wilkinson later died and his body was washed up the next day. The 26 year old Bill Robe hauled out the last man; it was the captain and he’d been tangled in the kelp. Only 20 minutes later the wreck of the Fiji was smashed apart and it settled in about 6m of water. Of the 26 men on the Fiji, 11 in total lost their lives. The remains of 7 bodies were washed onto the beach. Their coffins were made from timbers from the wrecked Fiji and they were buried on the cliff top above the wreck. The survivors were taken to Rivernook and cared for over the next few days. Funds were raised by locals soon after the wreck in aid of the sufferers of the Fiji disaster. Captain Vickers was severely reprimanded for his mishandling of the ship. His Masters Certificate was suspended for 12 months. There was public criticism of the rescue. The important canvas ‘breeches buoy’ and heavy line for the Rocket Rescue was in the half of the rocket outfit that didn’t make it in time for the rescue as they had been delayed at the Gellibrand River ferry. The communications to Warrnambool were down so the call for help didn’t get through on time. The boat that had been notified of the wreck failed to reach it in time. Much cargo looting occurred. One looter was caught with a small load of red and white rubber balls. Essence of peppermint mysteriously turned up in many settlers homes. Sailcloth was salvaged and used for horse rugs and tent flies. Soon after the wreck “Fiji tobacco” was being advertised around Victoria. A Customs officer, trying to prevent some of the looting, was assaulted by looters and thrown over a steep cliff. He managed to cling to a bush lower down until rescued. In 1894 some coiled fencing wire was salvaged from the wreck. Hundreds of coils are still strewn over the site of the wreck, encrusted and solidified. The hull is broken but the vessel’s iron ribs can be seen along with some of the cargo of concrete and pig iron. Captain Vickers presented Bill Robe with his silver-cased pocket watch, the only possession that he still had, as a token for having saved his life and the lives of some of the crew. Years later Bill used the pocket watch to pay a debt, and it was handed down through that family. Seaman Julius Gebauhr later gave his knife, in its hand crafted leather sheath, to F. J. Stansmore for caring for him when he came ashore. The knife handle had a personal inscription on it. A marble headstone on the cliffs overlooking Wreck Beach pays tribute to the men who lost their lives when Fiji ran aground. The scene of the wreck is marked by the anchor from the Fiji, erected by Warrnambool skin divers in 1967. Captain Vickers’ pocket watch and Julius Gebauhr’s sheath knife are amongst the artefacts salvaged from the Fiji that are now part of the Fiji collection at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The man identified in the photograph, Herbert Maxwell Morris, was the nephew of the Victorian era artist, William Morris. Herbert had sailed from England to Australia and was about 25 years old when he joined the Rocket Rescue Crew at Port Campbell. His successful rocket line firing at the Fiji wreck site was noted by author Jack Loney in one of his historic shipwreck books. Later Morris moved from his property at Baruppa to Laver’s Hill to run a more profitable enterprise. This photograph is significant as an image of a historical event, being the willingness of local volunteers to aid in the saving of lives of stranded seafarers. It gives a clear picture of the use of Rocket Rescue Equipment in shore-to-ship rescues. Flagstaff Hill’s Fiji collection is of historical significance at a State level because of its association with the wreck Fiji, which is on the Victorian Heritage Register VHR S259. The Fiji is archaeologically significant as the wreck of a typical 19th century international sailing ship with cargo. It is educationally and recreationally significant as one of Victoria's most spectacular historic shipwreck dive sites with structural features and remains of the cargo evident. It also represents aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and its potential to interpret sub-theme 1.5 of Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes. The Fiji collection meets the following criteria for assessment; Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history, possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history, and potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history. Black and white photograph. Subject is the Rocket Rescue Crew from Pt Campbell on Wreck Beach, Moonlight Head, at the wreck site of the barque 'Fiji'. September 6, 1891.warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, shipwrecked artefact, pocket watch, fob watch fiji, william vickers, william robe, bill robe, gebauhr, stansmore, carmody, wreck bay, moonlight head, fiji shipwreck 1891, rocket crew, port campbell rocket crew, lifesaving crew, photograph of rocket crew, herbert morris, warrnambool, shipwreck artefact, mott, william ward, rocket rescue, breeches buoy, rivernook guest house -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Dec. 1945
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :5 Project : MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN AREA PROJECT Run : 36 Frame : 60546 Date : 12/1945 Film Type : B/W Camera : EAG4 Flying Height : 10200 Scale : 6000 Film Number : 195 GDA2020 : 37°42'47"S, 145°09'56"E MGA2020 : 338306, 5824438 (55) Melways : 22 C4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Nov. 1931
Centred over present day Reynolds Road and Mount Pleasant Road, Eltham (including Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd) Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1931 Project : MALDON PRISON Run : 21 Frame : 3160 Date : 11/1931 Film Type : B/W Camera : F8 Flying Height : 11000 Scale : 18860 Film Number : 60 GDA2020 : 37°43'31"S, 145°10'20"E MGA2020 : 338912, 5823086 (55) Melways : 22 E8 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Jan. 1951
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :65 Project : MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN PROJECT NO. 2 Run : 8 Frame : 71 Date : 01/1951 Film Type : B/W Camera : EAG9 Flying Height : 12200 Scale : 12000 Film Number : 1419 GDA2020 : 37°43'14"S, 145°09'46"E MGA2020 : 338081, 5823608 (55) Melways : 22 C6 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Feb. 1956
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :250 Project : MELBOURNE OUTER SUBURBS PROJECT Run : 18 Frame : 94 Date : 02/1956 Film Type : B/W Camera : EAG9 Flying Height : 10000 Scale : 12000 Film Number : 1176 GDA2020 : 37°42'30"S, 145°09'44"E MGA2020 : 338008, 5824963 (55) Melways : 22 C3 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Jan. 1962
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :539 Project : MELBOURNE-GEELONG PROJECT Run : 5 Frame : 14 Date : 01/1962 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC5 Flying Height : 6000 Scale : 15840 Film Number : 1524 GDA2020 : 37°42'42"S, 145°09'51"E MGA2020 : 338177, 5824603 (55) Melways : 22 C4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Apr, 1963
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :486 Project : MELBOURNE (1963) PROJECT Run : 6 Frame : 122 Date : 04/1963 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5100 Scale : 9600 Film Number : 1805 GDA2020 : 37°43'12"S, 145°09'32"E MGA2020 : 337723, 5823642 (55) Melways : 22 B6 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Oct. 1968
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :656 Project : MELBOURNE 1968 PROJECT Run : 13A Frame : 64 Date : 10/1968 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5100 Scale : 9600 Film Number : 2172 GDA2020 : 37°42'46"S, 145°10'01"E MGA2020 : 338430, 5824467 (55) Melways : 22 D4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes