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Surrey Hills Historical Society Collection
Photograph, Grovedale Road Quarry in the 1920s - looking north, c1920
The quarry was part of John Butler Maling's property. He was one of the original settlers of the area and farmed the area between Weybridge Street and Whitehorse Road. Clay was quarried from part of this area and used to make the bricks used in the construction of his home, known as 'Ancyra'. This is still extant at the corner of Weybridge and James Streets. Maling grazed cows and used the quarry as a water source. He was the uncle of John Butler Maling, Mayor of Camberwell. He was married to Kate Conlon in 1882. They had 3 children: Silas Young, Alick and Zillah. Maling was born in c1829 in Shepreth, Cambridgeshire; he died in Surrey Hills on 9 October 1912 and is buried in Box Hill Cemetery - CE-*-0586. Mrs Kate Maling (born c1859 in Co Meath, Ireland) died at the property on 8 March 1921. She is buried in Brighton General Cemetery. Probate was valued at over 10,000 pounds and included other properties in Sandringham, Hawthorn and Macedon. At the time of her death the Surrey Hills property was described as being 23 cres with 2 brick houses, 1 cow, 2 heifers and 40 fowls or chickens. The property was subdivided after her death. The quarry was filled in after several drownings or near drownings and the land is now occupied by a park and playground maintained by the City of Boroondara. Beckett Park is sited on horizon to the left beyond the trees. This documents the landscape prior to close settlement and is material to early building and farming in the Surrey Hills area.Black and white photo of the quarry between Grovedale Road and James Street taken in the 1920s and looking north. In the foreground is an area of water with high banks dividing the horizontal centre. Beyond are paddocks and trees behind which is a row of at least 3 single-storey houses. Light poles can be seen along a distant street. There are many mature trees in the background. The houses and trees are positioned along Whitehorse Road in the vicinity of Westminster Street. Shadows indicate the photo was taken in early morning or evening.quarries, grovedale road, james street, surrey hills, balwyn, clay quarries, ancyra, kate conlon, kate maling, john butler maling, farming -
Surrey Hills Historical Society Collection
Photograph, 'Maitland', 1 Bedford Avenue, Surrey Hills, c 1900, 1900
Maitland' was built in 1889 for Thomas Zeplin, who was a Professor of Music. He owned all the land bound by Union Road, Wilson and Montrose Streets and the railway line. 1 Bedford Avenue stayed in family ownership until purchased by Camberwell Council in 1986, initially for a car park. However it was renovated to become part of Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre. It was opened on 23 November 1990. No 3 Bedford Avenue was built for Thomas Zeplin's daughter and named 'Mervyl' or 'Merryl'. Mrs Brodecky (donor) was the great-granddaughter of Thomas Zeplin. The 2 girls are granddaughters of Thomas Zeplin. Electoral roll information: 1972 & 1977: Albert Vojteck Brodecky, manager, 1 Bedford Avenue. 1977: Ray Nanette Brodecky. There are 2 copies. Thomas had this built for his son and family. The house was occupied by his family, though sometimes rented out. His great-grand-daughter Mrs. A. Brodecky sold to the Camberwell Council in 1986. This was the only surviving photo in the family after the fire. Courtesy: Mrs. A. BrodeckyBlack and white photo of 2 houses taken from the street front. On the LHS is a Victorian double-fronted single-storey villa of Hawthorn brick construction, with wrought iron lacework to the veranda, slate roof and picket fence, with an established garden. Next door at No 3 is a double-storey Victorian terrace with a similar fence and building materials. There are 2 young girls standing in front between the properties.maitland, bedford avenue, 1900, surrey hills neighbourhood centre, victorian style, mervyl, merryl, mr thomas zeplin, mrs nanette brodecky, mr albert vojteck brodecky -
Parks Victoria - Mount Buffalo Chalet
Crockery
The jug and cup were purchased from a second - hand shop in Bairnsdale. Jug is older than cup as the chalet is represented as a single storey structure. The cup is later as the second storey appears in the illustration. 'Souvenirs in relation to the Chalet and Mount Buffalo wee first mention in December 1912... A large range of souvenirs has since been associated with the Chalet and Mount Buffalo from crafted wooden items, silver spoons, cups etc... The collection includes a broad selection of products that have been sold throughout much of the Chalet's history, each representative of the transient fashions of their period.' (Pg. 114. Historica) 'A group of tableware items is notable for its black transfer printed decoration, which features the Chalet building. Interestingly, the printed designs represent the Chalet at two different stages in its building history under the Victorian Railways, in 1926 after completion of the north wing, and 1937-39, after the second storey is added to the front.. manufactured in England by A.B. Jones and sons, a Stoke on Trent pottery firm which operated under the trade name of Grafton China between 1900-1972.' (Pg. 114. Historica)Listed in Draft Inventory of Significant Collection Items . Appendix A.3. Souvenirs. (Pg 168. Historica)..1] Ceramic jug. Souvenir of Mt Buffalo. White ceramic squat milk jug with a black transfer illustration/drawing on front side. Picture is of the MtBuffalo Chalet from the front. Some worn gold glaze detail. It appears to be a single story building with a planted garden at the front with a fence. Trees to one side and people walking up steps. "THE CHALET, MT BUFFALO NATIONAL PARK, VICTORIA." is written under the illustration. Jug has a faint crack. .2] White ceramic cup with gold edging around top of cup. Black transfer drawing of the chalet with a second storey. Rocks and tree in foreground and "THE CHALET. MT BUFFALO." underneath transfer. .1] "THE CHALET, MT BUFFALO NATIONAL PARK, VICTORIA." is written under the illustration. On the base of the jug, with sun motif, "ENGLAND / GRAFTON CHINA /A / B J / & SONS / LOFTUS MORA / PTY. LTD" .2] "THE CHALET. MT BUFFALO." underneath transfer. Under cup, "A.B.J. / GRAFTON / CHINA / MADE IN / ENGLAND" -
Wodonga & District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - State Bank of Victoria, Wodonga
The Title for the land on which this building stands was granted on 27 August 1857 and the land was bought by Keith Field and A. Maitland. It stood on 1 / 2 acre of land with 250 lengths down South Street and 200 lengths along Sydney Road. The 1 / 2 acre block on the northern side was also purchased by the same buyers. The State Savings Bank was built in 1915, just three years after the State Savings Bank of Victoria was established. It was branch number 731. The building served as a bank until about 1970. It is now owned and used as an office by a local law firm. It is a single storey rendered masonry building with a parapet concealing the roof. Key features of the High Street facade are horizontal bands of masonry, timber windows outlined with moulded details and ornamentation accentuated the door. A more modern branch was opened in a more central location in HIghs Street. The State Bank of Victoria was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank in 1990. These images record the premises of a bank which served the Wodonga community and businesses for many years.3 photos of the State Bank of Victoria in High Street Wodonga at various points in its history.state bank, wodonga businesses, financial institutions wodonga -
Clunes Museum
Photograph
PHOTOGRAPH OF BUILDINGS IN FRASER STREET CLUNES..1 ORIGINAL SEPIA PHOTOGRAPH MOUNTED ON CARDBOARD OF J.W. PRESTONS CLUB HOTEL, E.S.A BANK AND STATE SAVINGS BANK. ALL TWO STOREY BUILDINGS IN FRASER STREET, CLUNES. .2 BLACK AND WHITE COPY OF ABOVE MOUNTED ON CARDBOARD .3 BLACK AND WHITE COPY OF ABOVE PRINTED ON MATTE PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPERCLUB HOTEL - FRASER ST. CLUNES - BUILT 1870local history, photography, photographs, hotels, club & buildings in fraser street -
Vision Australia
Photograph - Image, Pat and Beth Lightfoot, 1985
Howard Murray (Pat) Lightfoot (1904-1991) served as President for the Association for the Blind in 1952-1954 and 1964-1972 respectively. He joined the Association in 1938 as a sighted member of the General Committee, and was part of the group that dealt with the breakdown of a uneasy financial agreement that existed between the RVIB and AAB, the incorporation of the AAB under the Charities Act and the development of a rehabilitation centre at Kooyong for those who wished to have support without a residential component. After losing his father at an early age, Pat Lightfoot began working as an office boy for Nicholas Pty Ltd, later studying and becoming an accountant - such skills highly needed by the newly incorporated Association. According to 'No Sight, Great Vision', he was a highly skilled communicator, whose friendly and approachable manner won over most of those who opposed his presence on the general committee due to his sight. His support for and recognition of the work done by Mr Paterson led to him standing aside for the position of President and nominating his friend until the Committee overrode him in 1952. His appointment signaled a change in how the organisation was run, and introduced John Wilson as Secretary as well as Stan Horsfall as Treasurer in 1953, which helped move the administration style from social volunteering to business thinking. Health concerns caused him to resign in 1954, however when his health improved he rejoined the Committee in 1958 and again became a key worker in keeping the organisation financially healthy. The "H.M. Lightfoot Centre" - a two storey building attached to Paterson Hall was named after him. In these three photographs Pat and his wife Beth look or stand next to the portrait painted of Pat Lightfoot, for the centenary celebrations.3 coloured photographs of Pat and Beth Lightfooth.m. lightfoot, association for the blind -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Edendale Farm Homestead, 29 January 2008
Edendale Farm is Nillumbik Shire Council's environment centre situated in Gastons Road, Eltham between the railway and the Diamond Creek. The homestead on the property was built in 1896 and is of historical significance, being the subject of a Heritage Overlay under the Nillumbik Planning Scheme. The Edendale property was originally part of an extensive land purchase in 1852 from the Crown by pioneer Eltham farmer Henry Stooke. He initially purchased 51 acres and later expanded his holdings by purchasing another three adjacent Crown allotments extending northerly from Josiah Holloway's Little Eltham subdivision. Despite clearing the land, Stooke did not build on this property, choosing to live on his property "Rosehill" at Lower Plenty. In 1896 Thomas Cool, Club Manager of the Victoria Coffee Palace in Melbourne purchased 7 acres of the original Stooke land and built the house now known as Edendale. Cool did not farm the land, instead using it as a gentleman’s residence, retiring to Eltham at weekends. In 1918 he purchased an additional 7 acres but in 1919 he sold the property. Later owners included J.W. Cox, the Gaston family and D. Mummery. In the 1980s the Eltham Shire Council purchased the site for use as a Council depot, but this use did not proceed. Subsequently, it was used as the Council pound. The Edendale Farm Pet Education and Retention Centre was established in the summer of 1988/1989 and was set up to replace the existing dog kennels with a high standard pet retention centre. The design style of the building was established to compliment the features of the existing house. It was equipped with 10 retention pens, a veterinary room and a pet education area where school children and other interested parties learnt about pet care procedures. It was later developed into a community farm and was run by an advisory committee and in 2000 it became an Environment Centre. In early 2006 an advisory committee was established for the development of a master plan for future development at Edendale Farm. The committee included Russell Yeoman, a former long-time shire planner and founding member of the Eltham District Historical Society. At the time of filming the Master Plan and future for Edendale was about continuing to develop Edendale as a centre of environment learning and looking at expanding displays and school program, running a lot more of life-long learning and workshops around sustainable living. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p101 A sharp turn from busy Wattletree Road by the railway line, brings a surprise. Only 1.4 km from Eltham’s centre, sheep feed, blissfully unaware of the hectic suburban activity so close by. At the entrance to the 5.6ha Edendale Farm is another surprise. A work of art that looks like huge tree trunks transformed into bowler and top-hatted men. The Fences Act 1968 by Tony Trembath with Mark Cain and John Doyle, 1996, is classified by the National Trust of Australia as having Regional Significance. The title refers to a government act on disputes between neighbors over the placement of fences and boundaries. This takes a ‘wry swipe’ at a community divided by trivial squabbles. It also celebrates making do with limited resources.1 Further along on the left, the office wall is decorated with a massive Eltham Copper Butterfly, designed by Robert Tickner and made by school children with used plastic bottles and other waste material. Nillumbik Council runs Edendale as an Environmental Education Centre, to help preserve and enhance the local environment. As early as 1988 the former Eltham Shire Council realised Edendale’s importance in meeting people’s needs, particularly of children, to enjoy farmland. The centre, with the Eltham North Reserve to the north - including remnant bushland and open parkland - makes up the major part of the public open space for this area. The council considers this area will become increasingly important to the local community for recreational use.2 Educational programs aim to encourage community involvement to ensure the long-term rehabilitation and protection of natural bushland areas. Edendale is used by people of all ages - from school children to adults - for environmental programs and workshops, as well as for recreation, to enjoy the domestic animals and to picnic. Edendale is also home to the Environmental Works staff who manage reserves and roadsides and support Nillumbik Friends environmental groups. The Friends propagate plants at the nursery, which grows indigenous plants and sells these to the public.3 The centre demonstrates the sustainable living the farm teaches, with features like solar hot water and drive lighting and for the fireplace, logs of recycled cardboard. Edendale has had a varied history as a dog pound and even as a retreat for Thomas Cool, Club Manager of the Victoria Coffee Palace in Melbourne. His single-storey weatherboard house built in 1896, which still stands, was grander than most homes in Eltham. Although such buildings were common in many other parts of Melbourne, Eltham’s poverty and remoteness did not encourage such construction. The Victorian rectangular-shaped house, with a corrugated iron roof and veranda, has elegant large rooms, leadlight windows, ceiling roses, two bay windows and ornately carved wooden fireplace surrounds. Cool bought seven acres (2.8ha) from pioneer Eltham farmer Henry Stooke’s 200 acre (81ha) farm, which he had bought from the Crown in 1852. In 1918 Cool bought an extra seven acres (2.8ha) but in 1919 sold the estate to farmer John Cox. In 1933 Cox sold Edendale to Mrs Elizabeth Gaston, after whom the road leading to the centre was named. The property was owned by several Gaston family members, who called it Edendale, then by a police constable, Douglas Mummery, until the Shire of Eltham bought it in 1970. Oddly Edendale was known as Mummery’s for almost 20 years, although Mummery owned it only for a short time.4 The shire used Edendale as a dog pound until amalgamation with other municipalities in 1996. The pound then moved to the Yan Yean Road, Plenty site, which had been used by the former Diamond Valley Shire Council. To the west and north the centre is bounded by Diamond Creek and on the east by the Melbourne-Hurstbridge railway line. Part of the Research creek forms the centre’s southern boundary.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, edendale farm -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Marguerite Marshall, Art Gallery at Clifton Pugh's Artists' Colony, Dunmoochin, Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge, 5 February 2008
Art Gallery with mural painted by Clifton Pugh (1924-1990) at his Artists' Colony, Dunmoochin, Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. Following military service in the second world war, Clifton Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie at the National Gallery School in Melbourne as well as Justus Jorgensen, founder of Montsalvat. For a while he lived on the dole but also worked packing eggs for the Belot family saving sufficient to purchase six acres (2.4 ha) of land at Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. He accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in a property of approximately 200 acres, stablishing it as one of the first artistic communes in Australia alongside Montsalvat in Eltham. It was around 1951 that Pugh felt he had '"done moochin' around" and so the name of the property evolved. He bought timber from Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminer's huts, it was a one room wattle-and-daub structure with dirt floor. Over the years it expanded with thick adobe walls made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors. All materials other than the local earth were sourced from second hand materials, most found at wreckers' yards. Artists from across the nation were drawn to Dunmoochin, with several setting up houses and shacks on the property, maintaining their independence but sharing their artistic zeal. Artists who worked or resided at Dunmoochin included Mirka Mora, John Perceval, Albert Tucker, Fred Williams, Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and John Olsen. In 2002, Pugh's house along with its treasure trove of art and a library of some 20,000 books was destroyed by fire. Traces of Pugh's home remain with the presence of the Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design, procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. In place of Pugh's house rose two double-storey mud-brick artists' studios topped with corrugated iron rooves curved like the wings of a bird with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings survived the fire. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p153 It’s not surprising that artist Clifton Pugh was drawn to Cottles Bridge to establish his artists’ colony Dunmoochin. Undisturbed by the clamour of modern life at Barreenong Road, Pugh was surrounded by the Australian bush he loved, and where his ashes were later scattered. The 200 acres (81ha) of bushland, broken by glimpses of rolling hills, has more than 50 species of orchids and Pugh shared his property with native animals including kangaroos, emus, phascogales, wombats, and diverse bird life. Pugh encouraged these creatures to join him in the bush by creating, with Monash University, a holding station where the animals were raised. Dunmoochin inspired Pugh for such paintings as in a book on orchids and the Death of a Wombat series.1 But his love for the bush was accompanied by the fear that Europeans were destroying it and much of his painting illustrated this fear and his plea for its conservation.2 However it was his house rather than the surrounding bush that was to be destroyed. Tragically in 2002 Pugh’s house, with its treasure of art and library of 20,000 art books, was destroyed by fire. Traces of the beauty of Pugh’s home still remain, however, in the magnificent Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. Now in place of Pugh’s house, are two double-storey mud-brick artists’ studios topped with corrugated roofs curved like birds’ wings, with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings remain.3 Pugh grew up on his parents’ hobby farm at Briar Hill and attended the Briar Hill Primary School, then Eltham High School and later Ivanhoe Grammar. At 15 he became a copy boy for the Radio Times newspaper, then worked as a junior in a drafting office. Pugh was to have three wives and two sons. After serving in World War Two in New Guinea and Japan, Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie, at the National Gallery School in Melbourne.4 Another of his teachers was Justus Jörgensen, founder of Montsalvat the Eltham Artists’ Colony. Pugh lived on the dole for a while and paid for his first six acres (2.4ha) at Barreenong Road by working as an egg packer for the Belot family. Pugh accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in the 200 acre property. They, too, purchased their land from the Belot family by working with their chickens. Around 1951 Pugh felt he had ‘Done moochin’ around’ and so the name of his property was born. Pugh bought some used timber from architect Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminers’ huts it was a one-room wattle-and-daub structure with a dirt floor. It was so small that the only room he could find for his telephone was on the fork of a tree nearby.5 Over the years the mud-brick house grew to 120 squares in the style now synonymous with Eltham. It had thick adobe walls (sun-dried bricks) made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors with the entire structure made of second-hand materials – most found at wreckers’ yards. Pugh’s first major show in Melbourne in 1957, established him as a distinctive new painter, breaking away from the European tradition ‘yet not closely allied to any particular school of Australian painting’.6 Pugh became internationally known and was awarded the Order of Australia. He won the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times, although he preferred painting the bush and native animals. In 1990 not long before he died, Pugh was named the Australian War Memorial’s official artist at the 75th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. Today one of Pugh’s legacies is the Dunmoochin Foundation, which gives seven individual artists or couples and environmental researchers the chance to work in beautiful and peaceful surroundings, usually for a year. By November 2007, more than 80 people had taken part, and the first disabled artist had been chosen to reside in a new studio with disabled access.1 In 1989, not long before Pugh died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 65, he established the Foundation with La Trobe University and the Victorian Conservation Trust now the Trust for Nature. Pugh’s gift to the Australian people – of around 14 hectares of bushland and buildings and about 550 art works – is run by a voluntary board of directors, headed by one of his sons, Shane Pugh. La Trobe University in Victoria stores and curates the art collection and organises its exhibition around Australia.2 The Foundation aims to protect and foster the natural environment and to provide residences, studios and community art facilities at a minimal cost for artists and environmental researchers. They reside at the non-profit organisation for a year at minimal cost. The buildings, some decorated with murals painted by Pugh and including a gallery, were constructed by Pugh, family and friends, with recycled as well as new materials and mud-bricks. The Foundation is inspired by the tradition begun by the Dunmoochin Artists’ Cooperative which formed in the late 1950s as one of the first artistic communes in Australia. Members bought the land collaboratively and built the seven dwellings so that none could overlook another. But, in the late 1960s, the land was split into private land holdings, which ended the cooperative. Dunmoochin attracted visits from the famous artists of the day including guitarists John Williams and Segovia; singer and comedian Rolf Harris; comedian Barry Humphries; and artists Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and Mirka Mora. A potters’ community, started by Peter and Helen Laycock with Alma Shanahan, held monthly exhibitions in the 1960s, attracting local, interstate and international visitors – with up to 500 attending at a time.3 Most artists sold their properties and moved away. But two of the original artists remained into the new millennium as did relative newcomer Heja Chong who built on Pugh’s property (now owned by the Dunmoochin Foundation). In 1984 Chong brought the 1000-year-old Japanese Bizan pottery method to Dunmoochin. She helped build (with potters from all over Australia) the distinctive Bizan-style kiln, which fires pottery from eight to 14 days in pine timber, to produce the Bizan unglazed and simple subdued style. The kiln, which is rare in Australia, is very large with adjoining interconnected ovens of different sizes, providing different temperatures and firing conditions. Frank Werther, who befriended Pugh as a fellow student at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne, built his house off Barreenong Road in 1954. Werther is a painter of the abstract and colourist style and taught art for about 30 years. Like so many in the post-war years in Eltham Shire, as it was called then, Werther built his home in stages using mud-brick and second-hand materials. The L-shaped house is single-storey but two-storey in parts with a corrugated-iron pitched roof. The waterhole used by the Werthers for their water supply is thought to be a former goldmining shaft.4 Alma Shanahan at Barreenong Road was the first to join Pugh around 1953. They also met at the National Gallery Art School and Shanahan at first visited each weekend to work, mainly making mud-bricks. She shared Pugh’s love for the bush, but when their love affair ended, she designed and built her own house a few hundred yards (metres) away. The mud-brick and timber residence, made in stages with local materials, is rectangular, single-storey with a corrugated-iron roof. As a potter, Shanahan did not originally qualify as an official Cooperative member.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, art gallery, clifton pugh, dunmoochin, cottlesbridge, cottles bridge, barreenong road -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Marguerite Marshall, Doorway of Clifton Pugh's former house at Dunmoochin, Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge, 5 February 2008
Following military service in the second world war, Clifton Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie at the National Gallery School in Melbourne as well as Justus Jorgensen, founder of Montsalvat. For a while he lived on the dole but also worked packing eggs for the Belot family saving sufficient to purchase six acres (2.4 ha) of land at Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. He accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in a property of approximately 200 acres, stablishing it as one of the first artistic communes in Australia alongside Montsalvat in Eltham. It was around 1951 that Pugh felt he had '"done moochin' around" and so the name of the property evolved. He bought timber from Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminer's huts, it was a one room wattle-and-daub structure with dirt floor. Over the years it expanded with thick adobe walls made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors. All materials other than the local earth were sourced from second hand materials, most found at wreckers' yards. Artists from across the nation were drawn to Dunmoochin, with several setting up houses and shacks on the property, maintaining their independence but sharing their artistic zeal. Artists who worked or resided at Dunmoochin included Mirka Mora, John Perceval, Albert Tucker, Fred Williams, Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and John Olsen. In 2002, Pugh's house along with its treasure trove of art and a library of some 20,000 books was destroyed by fire. Traces of Pugh's home remain with the presence of the Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design, procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. In place of Pugh's house rose two double-storey mud-brick artists' studios topped with corrugated iron rooves curved like the wings of a bird with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings survived the fire. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p155 It’s not surprising that artist Clifton Pugh was drawn to Cottles Bridge to establish his artists’ colony Dunmoochin. Undisturbed by the clamour of modern life at Barreenong Road, Pugh was surrounded by the Australian bush he loved, and where his ashes were later scattered. The 200 acres (81ha) of bushland, broken by glimpses of rolling hills, has more than 50 species of orchids and Pugh shared his property with native animals including kangaroos, emus, phascogales, wombats, and diverse bird life. Pugh encouraged these creatures to join him in the bush by creating, with Monash University, a holding station where the animals were raised. Dunmoochin inspired Pugh for such paintings as in a book on orchids and the Death of a Wombat series.1 But his love for the bush was accompanied by the fear that Europeans were destroying it and much of his painting illustrated this fear and his plea for its conservation.2 However it was his house rather than the surrounding bush that was to be destroyed. Tragically in 2002 Pugh’s house, with its treasure of art and library of 20,000 art books, was destroyed by fire. Traces of the beauty of Pugh’s home still remain, however, in the magnificent Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. Now in place of Pugh’s house, are two double-storey mud-brick artists’ studios topped with corrugated roofs curved like birds’ wings, with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings remain.3 Pugh grew up on his parents’ hobby farm at Briar Hill and attended the Briar Hill Primary School, then Eltham High School and later Ivanhoe Grammar. At 15 he became a copy boy for the Radio Times newspaper, then worked as a junior in a drafting office. Pugh was to have three wives and two sons. After serving in World War Two in New Guinea and Japan, Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie, at the National Gallery School in Melbourne.4 Another of his teachers was Justus Jörgensen, founder of Montsalvat the Eltham Artists’ Colony. Pugh lived on the dole for a while and paid for his first six acres (2.4ha) at Barreenong Road by working as an egg packer for the Belot family. Pugh accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in the 200 acre property. They, too, purchased their land from the Belot family by working with their chickens. Around 1951 Pugh felt he had ‘Done moochin’ around’ and so the name of his property was born. Pugh bought some used timber from architect Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminers’ huts it was a one-room wattle-and-daub structure with a dirt floor. It was so small that the only room he could find for his telephone was on the fork of a tree nearby.5 Over the years the mud-brick house grew to 120 squares in the style now synonymous with Eltham. It had thick adobe walls (sun-dried bricks) made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors with the entire structure made of second-hand materials – most found at wreckers’ yards. Pugh’s first major show in Melbourne in 1957, established him as a distinctive new painter, breaking away from the European tradition ‘yet not closely allied to any particular school of Australian painting’.6 Pugh became internationally known and was awarded the Order of Australia. He won the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times, although he preferred painting the bush and native animals. In 1990 not long before he died, Pugh was named the Australian War Memorial’s official artist at the 75th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. Today one of Pugh’s legacies is the Dunmoochin Foundation, which gives seven individual artists or couples and environmental researchers the chance to work in beautiful and peaceful surroundings, usually for a year. By November 2007, more than 80 people had taken part, and the first disabled artist had been chosen to reside in a new studio with disabled access.1 In 1989, not long before Pugh died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 65, he established the Foundation with La Trobe University and the Victorian Conservation Trust now the Trust for Nature. Pugh’s gift to the Australian people – of around 14 hectares of bushland and buildings and about 550 art works – is run by a voluntary board of directors, headed by one of his sons, Shane Pugh. La Trobe University in Victoria stores and curates the art collection and organises its exhibition around Australia.2 The Foundation aims to protect and foster the natural environment and to provide residences, studios and community art facilities at a minimal cost for artists and environmental researchers. They reside at the non-profit organisation for a year at minimal cost. The buildings, some decorated with murals painted by Pugh and including a gallery, were constructed by Pugh, family and friends, with recycled as well as new materials and mud-bricks. The Foundation is inspired by the tradition begun by the Dunmoochin Artists’ Cooperative which formed in the late 1950s as one of the first artistic communes in Australia. Members bought the land collaboratively and built the seven dwellings so that none could overlook another. But, in the late 1960s, the land was split into private land holdings, which ended the cooperative. Dunmoochin attracted visits from the famous artists of the day including guitarists John Williams and Segovia; singer and comedian Rolf Harris; comedian Barry Humphries; and artists Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and Mirka Mora. A potters’ community, started by Peter and Helen Laycock with Alma Shanahan, held monthly exhibitions in the 1960s, attracting local, interstate and international visitors – with up to 500 attending at a time.3 Most artists sold their properties and moved away. But two of the original artists remained into the new millennium as did relative newcomer Heja Chong who built on Pugh’s property (now owned by the Dunmoochin Foundation). In 1984 Chong brought the 1000-year-old Japanese Bizan pottery method to Dunmoochin. She helped build (with potters from all over Australia) the distinctive Bizan-style kiln, which fires pottery from eight to 14 days in pine timber, to produce the Bizan unglazed and simple subdued style. The kiln, which is rare in Australia, is very large with adjoining interconnected ovens of different sizes, providing different temperatures and firing conditions. Frank Werther, who befriended Pugh as a fellow student at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne, built his house off Barreenong Road in 1954. Werther is a painter of the abstract and colourist style and taught art for about 30 years. Like so many in the post-war years in Eltham Shire, as it was called then, Werther built his home in stages using mud-brick and second-hand materials. The L-shaped house is single-storey but two-storey in parts with a corrugated-iron pitched roof. The waterhole used by the Werthers for their water supply is thought to be a former goldmining shaft.4 Alma Shanahan at Barreenong Road was the first to join Pugh around 1953. They also met at the National Gallery Art School and Shanahan at first visited each weekend to work, mainly making mud-bricks. She shared Pugh’s love for the bush, but when their love affair ended, she designed and built her own house a few hundred yards (metres) away. The mud-brick and timber residence, made in stages with local materials, is rectangular, single-storey with a corrugated-iron roof. As a potter, Shanahan did not originally qualify as an official Cooperative member.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, art gallery, clifton pugh, dunmoochin, cottlesbridge, cottles bridge, barreenong road -
Surrey Hills Historical Society Collection
Photograph, Timothy Leigh's Estate Agency, c 1900, c 1900
Donor information is that the man is Timothy Leigh and the boys are his sons. The building was on the corner of Union Road and Sunbury Crescent. This site was later occupied by New Litho P/L (printers).B&W photo of a 2 storey Victorian building with ornate lacework trim and veranda panels to the upper storey. Signage on the veranda includes "South British Insurance Fire Company" and "T Leigh Land & Estate Agency". The block next door is vacant with some coverage with small trees. A man and 3 boys are standing in front of the building on the roadside.Diagonally across the top LH corner in black ink: "JB & H Leigh" Top centre: "C/O Sunbury Cres and / Union Rd / c1893 / Timothy LEIGH and sons" in blue biro in Alan holt's handwriting, the in the same handwriting on a rectangular white sticker: "SURREY HILLS PROPERTY EXCHANGE BUILDINGS / (N.W. corner of Sunbury Cres and Union Rd SH) / c1893 / Timothy Leight - Estate Agent / with sons Henry and Herbert / (From Mrs Esler HENSHAW of C'bury - Granddaughter / of Timothy and daughter of Henry LEIGH)" Then centre in the same handwriting "3129" Then on a white sticky label in Jocelyn Hall's handwriting: "Given by Mrs Henshaw / to Alan Holt / who gave them to / N. C. Collection" leigh, timothy, real estate agents, insurance agents, t leigh life & estate agency