Collection of digitised photographs taken in preparation for the Class of 1973 Reunion in 2014. Garden views and buildings. Donated by Joanne Morris, former student, in June 2014. See Digitised photos- Garden Views folder- Visit to Burnley April 2014. (1) Luffmann Ponds. (2) Administration Building. (3) Emily Gibson Beds and Ginkgo biloba. (4) Looking towards Native Garden. (5) Oak tree. (6) Looking towards Rose Garden. (7) Looking towards Stream Garden and Fern Garden. (8) Looking towards Rose Garden. (9) Plaque at entrance to Field Station. (10) New gates at entrance to Field Station donated by the Friends of Burnley Gardens. (11, 12) Field Station. (13) Plaque in Herb Garden commemorating Enid Carberry. (14) Fountain in Herb Garden commemorating Enid Carberry. (15) Forestry Building. (16-18) Inside Forestry Building. (19) Sugar Gum Table Setting donated by the Friends of Burnley Gardens. (20) Plaque on Sugar Gum Table commemorating Geoff Olive. (21, 22) View of Luffmann Ponds and Summer House. (23) Plaque at Luffmann Ponds. (24) Luffmann Ponds. (25) View of former Egg-Curator's Residence from Nursery. (26) Back of Nursery. (27,28) The Burnley entry for the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2014. (29) Back of Administration Building. (30) Plant Science Laboratories. (31) Student Amenities Building. (32-34) Plant Science Laboratories. (35) Citriodora Court. (36) Eucalyptus maculata at entrance to Native Garden. (37) Native Garden, James Hitchmough Grasslands. (38) Garden view. (39) Inside the Hall. (40,41) Roof Garden. (42,43) Library. (44-50) Views of the Quad and classrooms. (51) Dairy. (52) Building 904,(Centre for Urban Horticulture) now Waterway Ecosystem Research Group. (53) Yarra Boulevard entrance.class 1973, class reunion, garden views, buildings, joanne morris, students, luffmann ponds, administration building, emily gibson beds, ginkgo biloba, native garden, oak tree, rose garden, stream garden, fern garden, field station, friends of burnley gardens, plaques, herb garden, enid carberry, fountain, forestry building, sugar gum table, geoff olive, summer house, egg-curator, residence, nursery, melbourne international flower and garden show, 2014, plant science laboratories, student amenities building, citriodora court, eucalyptus, james hitchmough grasslands, roof garden, library, quad, classrooms, dairy, centre for urban horticulture, waterway ecosystem research group, yarra boulevard entrance

Contributor: T.H. KneenBox of 47 slides, some labelled. (1) "Marjorie Hall 1st Year Student June '56 No. 1872." Working with fruit tree stock. (2) "Orchard June 1956 No. 1710." 2 men and a tractor.(3) "Camp 1957." Wilson's Promontory. (4) View of Drive No. 1677." C. 1958 (5) "GenView No. 1771." (6) "Burnley Gardens Entrance 4.4.58 N0. 1672." (7) "Wilson's Promontory Lilly Pilly Gully Nov 1960." (8) Dec '62." (9) "Dec '62." Kneen child. (10) Luffmann Ponds "Aut. 1962." (11) Grevillea Sep 1963. (12) Sep 1963.Reflection of Crack Willow in Luffmann Ponds. (13) Sep 1963. Orchard blossom. (14) View of Administration Building at sunset Aug 1964. (15) Rose 'Heat Wave.' May 1965. (16) Kneen child sitting under a tree May 1966. (17) 'Department of Agriculture Burnley Gardens' sign May 1966. (18) Administration Building May 1966. (19) Plant Science Block May 1966. ((20) Wintersweet August 1966.(Actually appears to be Witch Hazel Hamamelis mollis.) (21) Student on tractor in the Orchard October 1966. (22) Garden view, view of Principal's Residence through blossom trees October 1966. (23) Students walking through the Gardens October 1966. (24) "Leaf Cuttings Rex begonia 2 October 1966. (25) Emily Gibson beds October 1966. (26) Principal's Residence in a garden view October 1966. (27) Garden view looking towards the Principal's Residence and the Shady Garden October 1966. (28) Drive looking towards the Administration Building from the Plant Research Institute. (29) Kneen child (not Burnley?) (30) Unveiling of Burnley Horticultural College plaque commemorating 75 years, 1891-1966 - Eric Littlejohn, ?, T.H. Kneen. Includes key to Pavilion 1969. (31) "Rose Pruning Demo - Canteen." July 1969. (32, 33) "Rose Pruning Demo 1969." July 1969. (34) "Plant Science Block & College." July 1969. (35) Plant Science Block 6/69." July 1969. (36) "Burnley Gardens 6/69." looking towards Dairy and Yarra Boulevard (37) "Pond No. 1717." (38) "Pond 1748." Kneen children playing by the Luffmann Ponds, Oak tree behind.. (39) Ginkgo leaves June 1967. (42) ? (43) Erithyna caffra in flower (removed 2016) December 1966. ((44) Administration Building and Nursery from PRI." (45) Pelargoniums. (46) Azalea mollis (47) Pelargonium foreground, geranium background.marjorie hall, students, fruit trees, orchard, tractor, wilson's promontory, burnley gardens, entrance, drive, garden view, luffmann ponds, grevillea, rose, kneen family, sign, wintersweet, plant science block, administration building, students working outside, principals residence, plaque, rose pruning demonstrations, ginkgo, pelargoniums, erythryna

Contributor: T.H. KneenCardboard box of 108 35mm glass slides in metal frames made by "Gnome." Box labelled "Burnley Gardens Slides." Also 16 unused slides (1) Swan Street entrance c. (2) Orchid? b/w. (3) Nursery b/w. (4) Pasture area with man working b/w. (5) Draught horse working in the Orchard b/w. (6) Crop of corn in the Orchard c. (7) Magnolia c. (Magnolia x soulangeana). (8) Display of orange flowers c. (9) Lemon tree in the Orchard c. (10) Sign advertising 'Fruit Tree Pruning Demonstarion Sat. 2nd July (1949) c. (11) Jersey cow c. (12) Rock Point c. (13) Dahlias in the Orchard c. (14) Foundation Stone '28th August, 1946' c. (15) Felled Cypress tree 1951 b/w. (16) School truck in front of glasshouses and cacti b/w. (17)Administration Building completed but surrounded by rubble C.1949 c. (18) Plant Research Institute c. (19) Inside a glasshouse. c. (20) Administration Building c. (21) Group of female students dressed up for a function c. (22) Solenostemon (Syn. Coleus) in a glasshouse. (23, 24)Stock Matthiola incana. (25) Blossom in the Orchard c. (26) Orchard c. (27) Picking fruit in the Orchard c. (28) 2 female students holdong large bunches of poppies c. (29) Flowers growing in the Orchard c. (30) House - not Burnley c. (31) Students on an excursion c. (32) Staff member with Gladioli c. (33) Garden view - not Burnley? c. (34) Administration Building c. (35) Roses c. (36) Flowers in the Orchard c. (37) Draught horse working in the Orchard c. (38) Staff member amongst flowers in the Orchard c. (39) Garden view c. ((40) Blossom in the Orchard c. (41) Orchard c. (42) Flowers inside glasshouse c. (43) Mesembryanthemums in pots possibly in the nursery c. (44) Tree b/w. (45) Garden bed c. (46) Sign, 'Agrostology Branch, pasture Plant Research Field,' c. (47) Path to Principal's Residence c. (48) Irrigation in the Orchard b/w. (49) Cactus flowers b/w. (50) Garden view with T.H. Kneen children playing c. (51) (52) Cinerarias (now Pericallis x hybrida) in pots c. (53) Temporary building where the Grey Garden is now b/w. (54) Garden view b/w. (55) Unknown building b/w. (56) Person pruning in the Orchard c. (57) Students working in the Orchard c. (58) Swan Street with recently completed rock wall constructed by the Public Works Department b/w. (59) Lagoon paddock b/w. (60,62) Pavilion and new Administration Building before the Pavilion was removed b/w. (61) As (60) but viewed from a different direction c. (63) Plant c. (64) View through a window on the stairs in the Administration Building c. (65) Plant c. (66) Garden view of trees c. (67) Garden View b/w. (68) Blossom tree c. (69 )Garden view along path to Principal's Residence c. (70) Lagoon Paddock c. (71) Lagoon Paddock with cows b/w. (72) Inside a glasshouse b/w. (73) Entrance sign- Department of Agriculture Burnley Gardens, School of Horticulture & Primary Agriculture, Plant Research laboratory, Agrostology Branch, Fruit Preserving Branch c. (74) Plant Research Laboratory b/w. (75) Students on an excursion c. (76) Glasshouses b/w. (77) Garden view b/w. (78) Kniphophia c. (79) Hibiscus c. (80) Garden view c. (81) Dairy, Silo and dog b/w. (82) Irrigation in then Orchard b/w. (83) Garden view with magnolia c. (84) Flower plots in the Orchard c. (85) Pruning demonstration b/w. (86) Administration Building under construction c. (87) Rock Point c. (88) Mrs Kneen and Magnolia c. (89) Glasshouses c. (90) Sequoia sempervirens b/w. (91) Inside Administration Building c. (92) Luffmann Ponds b/w. (93) Sequoia sempervirend, Mrs Kneen and child c. (94) Garden bed in front of Sequoian sempervirens c. (95) Principals Residence b/w. (96) Poultry pens b/w. 1947 (97) Principals Residence b/w. (98) Student picking fruit from netted tree b/w. (99) Rock Point and Long Border c. (100) Administration Building under construction c. (101) Greenhouse b/w. (102) Rock Point c. (103) Flowers in the Orchard c. (104) Waterlilies in the Pond c. (105) Blossom tree c. (106) Hilda Kirkhope Rockery c. (107) Long Border c. (108) Plant Research Institute with flower border along drive c.burnley gardens, flower, nursery, pasture, draught horse, orchard, crops, magnolia, chicken coops, egg laying competition

Arthur Hoey, a Port Fairy Builder inspecting the ruins of a cottage on Albert Road. Arthur went on to restore the cottage. Research done by family found that the house a t one stage belonged at one time to Chidley a photographer . Further information also to hand mentions the area being used by Stan Chidley for a "scent farm". Several types of herbs and flowers were being grown thereColoured photograph of Arthur Hoey standing in a hole in the wall of the cottagecottage, building, home, house, albert road, scent farm

1. "Hockey 1969 R. Hamley Foreground" Jul 69. 2-5. "Clearing Tech Block Site" Jul 69. 6. Garden view Dec 75. 7. "Nursery Block from College Building" (roof) Mar 77. 13-14 slides garden beds in front of Administration Building Sep 81. Garden view Feb 87.23. "Wide World of Gardening' display Mar 86. 17-19 View towards Plant Research Institute. 15-16, 21-22 Construction New Library. hockey, 1969, r. hamley, tech block site, garden views, garden beds, administration building, nursery block, wide world of gardening display, construction new library, plant research institute

john garner collection, ballarat botanical gardens, gardens, ballarat, tilly thompson, tilly, lucas girls

john garner collection, ballarat botanical gardens, gardens, ballarat, tilly thompson, tilly, toop, jennifer burrell

john garner collection, ballarat botanical gardens, gardens, ballarat, trees, map, 1983

Stirrer, used in Optical Glass work, Hartung & associates, 1941 Ernst Johannes Hartung was a chemist and astronomer. Educated at the University of Melbourne (BSc 1913, DSc 1919), he became lecturer in 1919, associate professor in 1924, and succeeded Rivett as chair of chemistry in 1928, remaining in this position until 1953. Hartung?s lecturing style surged with enthusiasm and he employed the use of screen projections to demonstrate chemical phenomena to large undergraduate classes. In 1935 he recorded Brownian movement in colloidal solutions on 35 mm cinefilm, which was later copied onto 16 mm film for the Eastman Kodak Co. World Science Library. This can be viewed in the Chemistry laboratory. He researched the photo decomposition of silver halides, and was awarded the David Syme Prize in 1926. He devoted time to the design and construction of a large, new chemistry building for the School of Chemistry (built 1938?1939). During World War II he was approached by Professor Thomas Laby, chairman of the Optical Munitions Panel, to chair the advisory committee on optical materials, to produce high quality optical glass in Australia. This was successful, with large-scale production achieved within ten months at a reasonable cost. Hartung served three terms as general President of the (Royal) Australian Chemical Institute, was an ex-officio councillor of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and a Trustee of the Museum of Applied Science (now part of Museum Victoria).

An original Kerr-Grant Microbalance, modified by E.J.Hartung This balance was invented in the chemistry department by Bertram Dillon Steele, later first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Queensland 1910-1930, in collaboration with Professor Kerr Grant, Physics. The design was widely used by other chemists, including Masson's mentor, Professor Ramsay, working in London on newly discovered rare gases (especially Radon), and Professor Hartung in Melbourne, investigating the chemistry of the decomposition of silver salts in photographic processes. The principle of the microbalance was to measure the change in density of a gas by the shift in the balancing beam due to a change in pressure of the gas in the balance case. The quartz balancing beam was made by Bertram Steele who was particularly skilled in glassblowing. A quartz beam is the beam of the Aston microbalance based on the Steele/Grant instrument, and described by F.W. Aston, the inventor of the mass spectrometer. The bulb at one end of the beam contained a fixed amount of air, so that a change in the pressure of gas in the balance case changed the buoyancy of the beam, yielding a displacement in the beam which could be measured. By this means, differences in weight of about 10 nanogram could be measured, in amounts of up to 0.1 gram. Such differences are significant the increase in weight of a metal sample due to surface oxidation (Steele's interest) in the weight loss due to radioactive decay of Radium (Ramsay's work), and in the estimates of density change due to the isotopic distribution of Neon (Aston). Ernst Johannes Hartung was a chemist and astronomer. Educated at the University of Melbourne (BSc 1913, DSc 1919), he became lecturer in 1919, associate professor in 1924, and succeeded Rivett as chair of chemistry in 1928, remaining in this position until 1953. Hartung?s lecturing style surged with enthusiasm and he employed the use of screen projections to demonstrate chemical phenomena to large undergraduate classes. In 1935 he recorded Brownian movement in colloidal solutions on 35 mm cinefilm, which was later copied onto 16 mm film for the Eastman Kodak Co. World Science Library. This can be viewed in the Chemistry laboratory. He researched the photo decomposition of silver halides, and was awarded the David Syme Prize in 1926. He devoted time to the design and construction of a large, new chemistry building for the School of Chemistry (built 1938?1939). During World War II he was approached by Professor Thomas Laby, chairman of the Optical Munitions Panel, to chair the advisory committee on optical materials, to produce high quality optical glass in Australia. This was successful, with large-scale production achieved within ten months at a reasonable cost. Hartung served three terms as general President of the (Royal) Australian Chemical Institute, was an ex-officio councillor of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and a Trustee of the Museum of Applied Science (now part of Museum Victoria).An original Kerr-Grant Microbalance, modified by E.J. Hartung.

Stages in development of optical glass. Very early experiments by E.J. Hartung. Ernst Johannes Hartung was a chemist and astronomer. Educated at the University of Melbourne (BSc 1913, DSc 1919), he became lecturer in 1919, associate professor in 1924, and succeeded Rivett as chair of chemistry in 1928, remaining in this position until 1953. Hartung?s lecturing style surged with enthusiasm and he employed the use of screen projections to demonstrate chemical phenomena to large undergraduate classes. In 1935 he recorded Brownian movement in colloidal solutions on 35 mm cinefilm, which was later copied onto 16 mm film for the Eastman Kodak Co. World Science Library. This can be viewed in the Chemistry laboratory. He researched the photo decomposition of silver halides, and was awarded the David Syme Prize in 1926. He devoted time to the design and construction of a large, new chemistry building for the School of Chemistry (built 1938?1939). During World War II he was approached by Professor Thomas Laby, chairman of the Optical Munitions Panel, to chair the advisory committee on optical materials, to produce high quality optical glass in Australia. This was successful, with large-scale production achieved within ten months at a reasonable cost. Hartung served three terms as general President of the (Royal) Australian Chemical Institute, was an ex-officio councillor of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and a Trustee of the Museum of Applied Science (now part of Museum Victoria).Optical glass

Large horseshoe magnet, given to young E.J. Hartung. by an uncle. Ernst Johannes Hartung was a chemist and astronomer. Educated at the University of Melbourne (BSc 1913, DSc 1919), he became lecturer in 1919, associate professor in 1924, and succeeded Rivett as chair of chemistry in 1928, remaining in this position until 1953. Hartung?s lecturing style surged with enthusiasm and he employed the use of screen projections to demonstrate chemical phenomena to large undergraduate classes. In 1935 he recorded Brownian movement in colloidal solutions on 35 mm cinefilm, which was later copied onto 16 mm film for the Eastman Kodak Co. World Science Library. This can be viewed in the Chemistry laboratory. He researched the photo decomposition of silver halides, and was awarded the David Syme Prize in 1926. He devoted time to the design and construction of a large, new chemistry building for the School of Chemistry (built 1938?1939). During World War II he was approached by Professor Thomas Laby, chairman of the Optical Munitions Panel, to chair the advisory committee on optical materials, to produce high quality optical glass in Australia. This was successful, with large-scale production achieved within ten months at a reasonable cost. Hartung served three terms as general President of the (Royal) Australian Chemical Institute, was an ex-officio councillor of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and a Trustee of the Museum of Applied Science (now part of Museum Victoria).Horseshoe Magnet �

Ernst Johannes Hartung was a chemist and astronomer. Educated at the University of Melbourne (BSc 1913, DSc 1919), he became lecturer in 1919, associate professor in 1924, and succeeded Rivett as chair of chemistry in 1928, remaining in this position until 1953. Hartung?s lecturing style surged with enthusiasm and he employed the use of screen projections to demonstrate chemical phenomena to large undergraduate classes. In 1935 he recorded Brownian movement in colloidal solutions on 35 mm cinefilm, which was later copied onto 16 mm film for the Eastman Kodak Co. World Science Library. This can be viewed in the Chemistry laboratory. He researched the photo decomposition of silver halides, and was awarded the David Syme Prize in 1926. He devoted time to the design and construction of a large, new chemistry building for the School of Chemistry (built 1938?1939). During World War II he was approached by Professor Thomas Laby, chairman of the Optical Munitions Panel, to chair the advisory committee on optical materials, to produce high quality optical glass in Australia. This was successful, with large-scale production achieved within ten months at a reasonable cost. Hartung served three terms as general President of the (Royal) Australian Chemical Institute, was an ex-officio councillor of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and a Trustee of the Museum of Applied Science (now part of Museum Victoria).Set of analytic weights, used by E.J.H. in most of his work

SUMMARY – Uniting Church Op Shop Melton South Opportunity Shop – Brooklyn Road Melton South Est 1975 Former Methodist Church. The Opportunity Shop – Established 1975 by Edna Barrie 1992 Typed copy by Cath MacLean 2011 [Scots’ Presbyterian Church 1964] Additional information to the above summarised from Edna Barrie’s draft notes. Copied by Wendy Barrie January 2012, noting the information might be useful for future research. In 1985 the need for more shop space became apparent. Les [Bone] had plans drawn up (Surv 12/8/84) and approved by the Melton shire Council for a storeroom extension (17.800 x 9500) 1986 the small ancillary rooms at the rear of the timber church were demolished allowing the concrete slab to be laid. The building was completed in 1987. By the early 1990s the old timber Church had deteriorated, this lead to it being demolished in 2/11/1993. It was replaced with a new building containing a Pastoral Office, a meeting room and a furniture and homeware section. It was dedicated by Rev Ian Hickingbotham at 11am Sunday 5th June 1994. Service Awards were presented to 75 Opportunity Shop Volunteers by Rev Ian Hickingbotham. Funds have helped to pay for pastoral work, youth work and extra pastoral support. Lyrics for the Opportunity Shop which was located at the former Methodist Church. council, churches, local identities

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

Photo of Dr John Garner, many hours spent researching information about the Ballarat Botanical Gardens. John had a great passion for the gardens as well as researching the history and the many characters that helped create and maintain our beautiful gardens which we all enjoy so much today..john garner collection, garner, dr, research, ballarat botanical gardens, ballarat, gardens

The FBBG History Group found in their research at the Public Records Office of Victoria that the Trustees of Thomson's Estate arranged for the City of Ballarat to undertake the care of Thomson's grave following the transfer of 10 pounds. However, the grave needs restoration and it was found that the Council still bears responsibility for its upkeep.James Russell Thomson had been a generous benefactor to the City but as a bachelor, he had no descendants to care for his grave, which had fallen into disrepair. It was found that the Ballarat City Council still had responsibility for the upkeep of this grave.A one page letter to the Mayor, Councillor Verlin, Ballarat City Council from FBBG and 2 pages of black and white photographs of Thomson's grave and headstone and a coloured photograph of the Thomson tablet at the Town Hall plus a quotation for work needed on the grave.3 corrections in biro to the letter, 2nd and 2nd last line.doctor john garner, ballarat botanical gardens, friends of the ballarat botanical gardens, ballarat city council, james russell thomson, noble wilson, public record office of victoria, benefactors of the gardens and their graves, old ballarat cemetery, john garner collection, gradens, ballarat, thomson