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Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Councilor Tom and Mrs. May Barrie, Unknown
Tom Barrie served the community in the following Shire of Melton Councilor Member for 32 years 1941–1970 Elected as Councilor for Melton South 1970–1973 Councilor for Rockbank 1943–1944 Shire President for three terms 1958–1959 ditto 1964–1965 ditto Council Representative: Bacchus Marsh High School and Western Suburbs Municipalities. Representative on delegation to prevent Melton post primary students being sent to Deer Park prior to the establishment of Melton High SchoolPossibly being presented with Shire of Melton illuminated address at the Melton Shire Officeslocal identities, council -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Macs Hotel Demolition, 1973
Minn's Hotel established by George Minns. In 1911 the late Mrs. Hay’s estate was in the preliminary stages of dispersal and the hotel known as Minns was sold to a Mr McDowell of South Melbourne. Mr. McDowell lived in Melton for five and a half years, and it was during this time that the cottage was erected in High Street and the hotel became Macs.Mac’s Hotel under demolition (Minns)local architecture -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Farming 1960’s Ferris Road, 1965
Closed wire gate at the entrance to the 150 acres ploughed paddock. Tractor GBL 963 with front loader, HAB with Roller, JCJ 100, JCJ 101, Res Track, Red tray truck with straw bales, Black International with bine on tray.Photo taken in yard on south side of house facing Ferris Rd gate with stubble paddock on the right sideagriculture -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Chaff cutting and hay-pressing mills, 1909
In the early 1900’s Charles Ernest Barrie and his brother Ted were in partnership in a Chaff cutting and Ha y processing Mill on the corner of Station and Brooklyn road Melton South. By 1906 Charles Ernest and James Edwin were in partnership in the Station Road mill when a connecting rail line across Brooklyn Road for a siding was constructed to the Melton Railway Station. In 1911 the Mill’s letterhead shows C.E. BARRIE Hay Pressing and Chaff Cutting Mills. This Mill as sold to H S K Ward in 1916 and stood until 1977 when it burnt down in a spectacular fire.Owned by C.E Barrie. Buildings were on the west side of Station Road in Melton South, 100 metres north of Brooklyn Roadlocal identities, pioneer families, agriculture -
Melton City Libraries
Drawing, Open Day at Strathtulloh, Unknown
"Strathtulloh, 1402-1600 Greigs Road, Melton South, is significant as an early property in Victoria, retaining different eras of pioneering dwellings, ranging from a ruin to a fine Colonial style homestead. The property has close historical association with the early settlement of the Melton district, and was owned by the Henty family in the 1840s. The Strathtulloh property was alienated by the Crown in 1840 to Charles James Garrard, who sold it in 1848 to Charles and Stephen Henty, whose sister Jane and her husband Samuel Bryan lived there in the late 1840s. In 1853 the property then passed to William Tulloh, after whom the homestead was named. A primitive bluestone ruin of near the Toolern Creek, built of vesicular bluestone and mud mortar, is of unknown origin. It has commonly been assumed to pre-date 1840, and to have belonged to the original holder of the Exford lease, Dr Watton or Port Phillip Association member Dr Cotterill. This is unlikely, as the 1841 census records Dr Watton, and everyone else in the district, as living in a ‘wood’ dwelling. It may instead have been the residence of Garrard, and the Bryans, in the 1840s and an early map names a site near here as ‘Bryan’s outstation’. It is assumed that the two-level stone building that became the kitchen is the earliest intact building on the site, and was the first homestead; it is likely to date to the 1840s or 1850s. The main homestead is a substantial villa constructed of random coursed bluestone, with a verandah facing three sides, attic bedrooms with dormer windows, a fan light over the front door, a hipped roof originally clad in slate, and a large cellar. Although demonstrating characteristics of pioneering construction, such as unworked log beams, pit sawn beams, hand-sawn lintels and colonial door locks, documentary evidence shows that it was built c.1869. The homestead has now been structurally repaired and decoratively restored; a sympathetic new semi-detached rear extension was added in the early years of the 21st century. The former kitchen building has also undergone minor repairs and alterations". Strathtulloh Homestead at 1402-1600 Greigs Road, Melton Southlocal architecture -
Melton City Libraries
Pamphlet, Thoroughbred Country, c.1985
"Melton has a long and celebrated history of horse breeding and racing. Draught horses were a crucial aspect of life in the early days of European settlement, and were heavily depended upon for both transport and agricultural labour. Peppercorn trees at the corner of Station and Brooklyn roads have been associated with a horse trough installed there to provide a drink to workhorses carting produce to the chaff mills and railway station south of Melton.20 Breeders, trainers and harness drivers in the area later became such an influential force in the equine industry that this came to be a defining aspect of the district’s identity and reputation.Pioneer of the Victorian horse racing industry and early Rockbank squatter William Cross Yuille was one of the earliest importers of stud racehorses in the district in the 1850s. A leading sports editor and writer, Yuille established bloodstock auctioning agency W. C. Yuille & Co. and was involved in the compilation of the first Australian Stud Book, which ensures the integrity of thoroughbred breeding in Australia. According to early Melton chronicler Alexander Cameron, horse races were first organised in the area by Rockbank farmer William Keating. Keating owned racehorses of his own, and many brought horses from Melbourne for the events, which ‘drew large gatherings’.22 Melton Racing Club meetings were held on the Exford Estate with the permission of H. W. Staughton, who built a small wooden grandstand in 1882. Other early races and sports meetings are said to have been held in the vicinity of the current-day Melton golf course.23 An 1884 article reported that Melton’s ‘race programme … equals any put forth by country towns of far greater size’. Ernest Clarke was another important figure in the early horse racing industry in Melton. He established the Melton Stud in 1902, which bred numerous successful racehorses. Perhaps most notably The Welkin, one of the most famous stallions in Australian horse racing in the early twentieth century. The Welkin sired Gloaming, bred by Clarke at the Melton stud in 1915 and one of Australia’s greatest champion racehorses. During a long and prestigious career in both Australia and New Zealand, Gloaming achieved a triumphant 57 wins out of 67 starts and won a record amount of prize money. Ken Cox purchased the Stockwell Stud in Diggers Rest in 1957 and developed it into one of the largest and most renowned thoroughbred breeders in Australia. With its top-class facilities, international design standards and scientific methods, Stockwell became ‘the flagship of the Victorian breeding industry’.26 As well as racing studs, numerous trotting tracks were established on the flat plains around Melton in the 1960s.27 Other studs to play a leading role in the development of Melton as thoroughbred country were Cornwall Park and Merrywood at Toolern Vale, St John’s Lane Stud at Diggers Rest and Birchwood, Teppo Park and Dreelburn in the far north-east of the shire, near Sunbury. By 1985, thoroughbred horse breeding was such big business in Melton that the shire council adopted the slogan ‘The Heart of Thoroughbred Country’, which was used throughout its promotional material.29 But the slogan contained deeper meaning and was not just about Melton’s great equine industry and thoroughbred champions, the council explained: ‘“Thoroughbred Country” should be seen as a new concept of Melton, as a place where people can achieve the “Thoroughbred” ideal, excellence in all aspects of life’. The aim of the council in promoting ‘The Heart of Thoroughbred Country’, was ‘to instil in present and future residents the feeling that this is a place that is better than others. A place to be proud of’. In 1988, Melton’s champion reinsman Gavin Lang won his 176th race of the season, claiming the national harness racing record for the most wins in a single season.The following year, the first Melton Plate was held at Moonee Valley Racecourse, cementing the district’s importance in the harness racing industry. The inaugural winner was Victorys Phil, owned by local Danny Mullan. By the 1990s, Melton had earned the title of the ‘Home of Harness Racing in Victoria’. State-of-the-art, world-class harness racing facility and entertainment complex Tabcorp Park opened in Melton in 2009. In 2011, the Shire of Melton was home to over 140 registered trainers and over 1,200 horses. The municipality’s continuing leadership and influence in the industry today is a testament to the skills, talents and leadership of the local community over its history".Shire of Melton pamphlet of a map and information of the equine industry in Meltoncouncil -
Melton City Libraries
Archive, Melton Railway Centenary, 1984
"The Melton South Railway Station was the first stage of the direct Melbourne to Ballarat railway, whose opening in 1884 was attended by dignitaries including the Victorian Premier (Duncan Gillies), Minister for Railways (Alfred Deakin), Solicitor General (James Balfour), and the Sir William Clarke MLC".Items from Melton Railway Centenarytransport -
Melton City Libraries
Book, 'Railway Guide Book Melbourne and Adelaide, 1891
Memories of Train Travel compiled by Wendy Barrie 4/09/2013 Train travel had changed very little from the time my mothers generation to mine. The timetable meant the usual rush to Melton South by bike in her case and if she was running late the train pulled up on the crossing. I was driven to the Station from home past Keith and Mary Gillespie’s house near the Ferris Road rail crossing to Bridge road to Melton South for the 7.32 train. While attending Sunshine High School in 1961 I would meet up with three other students, two of whom I knew from Bacchus Marsh High School days. We usually got into the same compartment on the train, it was a typical country train with a corridor along the side and compartments with a door, roof racks and sometimes heated metal containers for the feet in the winter. Some of the trains came through from Horsham and Ballarat, and the Overland from Adelaide passed through in the evening, we could hear it in the distance from the Ferris Lane home. The carriages had 1st and economy class compartments showing photographs of county scenes and holiday destinations. The engine was the large A class diesel. They are still running to Bacchus Marsh 50 years later, due to the need for the greatly increased number of commuters travelling to work in the city. Sometimes the carriages were pull by a Steam engine, these were a problem in the summer time because the sparks caused fires along the train lines and then quickly spread into the dry grass, crops and stubble. The Motor Train left Spencer Street at 4.23 pm and was the best train for me to catch. Ferris Road was a designated stop and train pulled up on the road crossing. It had steps at the door and rungs to hold while alighting to the ground. The ballast along the tracks was rough and uneven and awkward to land on. The train was painted blue and yellow with the letters VR pained on the front. This saved may parents the afternoon trip to collect me from the Station. On the walk home on the gravel road I would pass Uncle Tom and Aunty May’s house before reaching home. Melva Gillespie was studying at Sunshine Technical School and we sometimes both got off the train at the same time. On other occasions the Motor Train was replaced with a diesel engine with carriages, it was also required to stop and the driver had to be notified in advance. This meant getting into the guards van a Rockbank. It was more difficult alighting from the carriage as the gap was greater and more precarious to swing out and land on the ground. A few times in my last year of study at Melbourne Teachers College in Grattan Street Carlton. I managed to catch the 2.30 pm train to Serviceton, it was express to Melton and was very quick trip. The last train, was the 5.25 pm diesel to Ballarat and I usually caught this train to Melton South Station. On one occasion after being held up on the tram in Bourke street I had to make a mad dash to the platform chasing the train as it was just moving off and yelling to the guard, fortunately I was noticed and the train ground to halt. I scrambled into the end door and took most of the journey home to recover. After the last year at High School I continued to travel on the train, 2 years to Prahran Technical School changing at North Melbourne. There were a lot school children travelling to private schools and some at the primary level and mainly from Bacchus Marsh. Rockbank children also travelled by train from the beginning of their high school years, quite a few went to Sunshine High School. Book provided a timetable and information about the stations the train travels to from Melbourne to Adelaide. transport -
Melton City Libraries
Flyer, Melton South Uniting Church Opportunity Centre, 2016
The Opportunity Shop – Established 1975 by Edna Barrie 1992 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 1900s 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. Invites to the service of conclusion of the original Uniting Church Opportunity Centre and official opening to the new shop in Melton Southchurches, local identities -
Melton City Libraries
Letter, "Vote E.W Barrie" Local Council Election, Unknown
Ernest W (Bon) Barrie was the Shire of Melton councillor South Riding from 1969-1971, and member of the Water TrustLetter to the ratepayers in the Melton Shire local identities, council -
Melton City Libraries
Document, The opp. shop song, Unknown
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 City Libraries
Financial record, C.E Barrie invoices, 1911
In 1915, Barrie built a new mill at Melton Railway Station situated between Exford Hall and Dixon’s mill. It will be 40ft by 80ft with 18ft walls. Partnership with John Ralph Schutt–West Footscray Schutt & Barrie in 1916 1916 February Ernie Barrie has sold his recently erected chaff mill at Melton South Railway Station to Messrs Dixon at a satisfactory price. The mill recently purchased from Mr Barrie to be re-erected along side their present millPurchases for the Schutt & Barrie Chaff Mills, Meltonagriculture, local identities -
Melton City Libraries
Newspaper, Melton Schools-150 years in Melton, 2005
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 -
Melton City Libraries
Newspaper, Development of Melton Newspaper articles, 2011, 2015
Newspaper articles from Melton leader and Star Real Estate relating to the development of Melton Southlandscapes of significance -
Melton City Libraries
Newspaper, Bill was a pioneer, 1989
Bill Cahill in conversation at Victoria Hall Melton South July 1974 Chaff Mills Melton’s hey day, as I call it in the days when more hay was grown in Melton and Rockbank than, I’d say in any where in Victoria. We had two chaff mills. If I can remember rightly I’m sure of this, that in one month the amount of hay and chaff that went from Melton to Melbourne was about 1800 tons, that’s hay and chaff. There was a lot of hay went from the Melton Railway Station. I have often seen whole train load going down the Schutt and Barrie, that’s Bonnie’s father’s mill at West Footscray. The mills in those days employed up to from 18- 20 men in each, that was before electricity when the mills were run on steam then, there was no power. At times those chaff mills they got a lot of shipping orders, to the Philipines and other Asian countries. They’d work shifts at night on the second shift at night time they would have an old hurricane lamp hanging above from the ceiling just over the chaff cutter, you could hardly see yourself, or see the anything. Well they worked through the whole night they might have an order come in for perhaps 100tons up 500 tons of chaff to go a boat would be in and be waiting to be loaded in Melbourne and they’d have to go and work two shifts. Then they brought in casual labour to help them through and get the order cut and get it down by rail to ship board to send it away. Talking about the hay I’ve seen wagons of hay in the farmers carting to both mills and also hay going down to West Footscray. There would be a quarter of a mile without exaggeration wagons and teams would be waiting to get into the mill, they would come down at the weighbridge at about 3-4- o’clock, 2 o’clock waiting for the bridge to open to weigh their loads, the ones that would be running late would be there at the weighbridge about half past 7 - 8 o’clock. They would be lucky to get away by night before getting their load off. A funny episode I remember well was a farmer from up, Alan Hurley you would remember him, Sam McCorkell he would put on his load in the afternoon or evening leave it up the yard, and would leave Toolern Vale about 12 or 1 o’clock in the morning and he would get down to the weighbridge and when it was breaking day he would bring half of his fowl yard down with him. The fowls would hop up on top of the load and have a ride down and when it came daylight they’d hop off and away they’d go, and I suppose everybody had some of McCorkells poultry. [laughter from the audience] That always tickled my fancy and everybody would be laughing about the fowls getting off his load of hay. I reckon that was about one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard of. The Victoria Hall, where we are tonight was originally known as the Exford Hall. I believe Bonnie’s father was the original builder and owner of the chaff mills here round the corner which is known as Wards today. Later on I understand that his father had a chaff mill here were this hall is, then Dixon Bros were just a bit on the other side. I believe Bonnie’s father sold it to Dixon Bros, and they shifted this part of the mill here and took it over and joined it up. That’s the history of the early chaff mills. Is that right Bonnie? You might like to correct, I’m about right am I? Bonnie answers yes. The original audio tape was recorded on the reel to reel tape recorder by Bon Barrie using his own tape recorder. Transferred to CD by Tom Wood using computer technology capable of adjusting the recording to a legible speed for reproduction to compact disk. Bill Cahill article featured in the The Mail Expresslocal identities -
Melton City Libraries
Newspaper, Melton Modernised by Electricity, 1939
Electricity – 1939 eeb Express Dec 9th 1937 Electric Light Petition First combined (schools) sports meeting, Melton south, Rockbank, Mt Cotterell, Toolern Vale, Sydenham West, Melton Park, Exford. Jack Wallace Starter, G Wilson (ref) G McDonald, F Ryan judges. A G Macdonald Gate Keeper, A Bamford, E W Barrie, S Rogers Announcers. M P A call meeting for 24th March Two or three progressive residence of Melton township are still pushing quietly for a water scheme for Melton and extension of electricity service expected to be provided for the beam wireless station a Rockbank. One of these has gone so far as to seek opinion of an independent engineer regarding the possibility of township water supply. May 1 1937 A move to combine in Melton Shire Council to convene a public meeting to agitiate for extension of the Electric Supply to Melton is being undertaken by the Progress Association and the Hall Committee. Melton Progress Association and Melton Mechanics Institute Committee joined in a decision to request Melton Shire Council to call a Public Meeting to push for extension of Yallourn electricity to Rockbank and Melton June 12th July 3rd Residents of Melton and Rockbank have an opportunity to reveal attitude towards proposed extension a result of MSC in convincing a public meeting MMI support from Amalgamated Wireless A/Asia Ltd directors Mr Townsing to preside which had been convened by MPAssoc and MMI nicely timed as SEC estimates for ensuing year known to be in course of preperation. Saturday 17th July 1937 Melton Move for Electricity. Meeting shows ….. extensive article …. meetin appointed Messrs Butler and Barrie canvass the town Dec 9th 1939 Mechanics Institute floor to be prepared next week Electricity installed in Melton, article featured in the Melton Expresslocal significant events -
Melton City Libraries
Newspaper, Cairn marks plane crash, 1976
"On 5 July 1936, locals in Melton South saw a plane emerge from behind clouds above the railway station, in heavy wind and rain. Engine roaring, the plane went into a spin and disintegrated into pieces in mid-air, before crashing to the ground near Arnold’s Creek. The pilot, young Australian aviator Jimmy Melrose, and a passenger, Alexander Campbell, were killed.Jimmy Melrose was a popular figure in international aviation, having been the youngest and only solo pilot to finish the London to Melbourne Centenary Air Race in 1934. His death, at the age of just twenty-two, caused an outpouring of sorrow. He was honoured with a state funeral two days later at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne, which was attended by thousands of people. Locals Maisie Arthur, Ted Wickham and Bill Cahill gave eyewitness accounts of the accident to the authorities, and an inquest found that it was the result of structural failure and poor weather. A cairn erected by locals near the scene was reconstructed by the Melton and District Historical Society in Brookfield, opposite the Melrose Memorial Reserve, on the 40th anniversary of the crash in 1976".Regional Gazette article of a cairn erected by locals near the scene of the plane accident which involved Jimmy Melrose, and passenger, Alexander Campbelllocal significant events, landscapes of significance -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Tom Barrie, Unknown
Son of Jessie and Charles Ernest Barrie of Darlingsford Melton Married Marion Ferris at Christ Church Melton on 11th May 1939. They lived on the family farm at Ferris Road Melton. They had one son, Ian who has continued in farming in Melton. He served the community in the following – Shire of Melton Councillor Member for 32 years 1941 – 1970 Elected as Councillor for Melton South 1970 – 1973 Councillor for Rockbank 1943 – 1944 Shire President for three terms 1958 – 1959 ditto 1964 – 1965 ditto Council Representative: Bacchus Marsh High School and Western Suburbs Municipalities. Representative on delegation to prevent Melton post primary students being sent to Deer Park prior to the establishment of Melton High School. Melton Bush Fire Brigade 1941 Member Melton Bush Fire Brigade Registered No. 425 1942 1942 2nd Lieutenant 1943 – 1944 4th Lieutenant Country Fire Authority Rural Services Award 1963 20 Years Long Service Badge Scots Presbyterian Church Melton Member of the Board of Management 1947 – 1969 information from Annual Reports Tom farmed the family property with his father and brothers, and later the Ferris Road property which continued with his son Ian. His childhood interest in horses began with the draft horses kept at the bluestone stable and barn at Darlingsford. When the stables were empty in the late 1980s visit, he vividly recalled the names of the horses he had handled in his youth. When the draft horse became obsolete with the introduction of tractors and trucks this interest continued with the breeding and training of harness racers. Darlingsford Drafts and Ponies. Order of Stalls Clydesdales – Dick, Dolly, Flower, Nugget, Blossom, Lofty, Prince. Roger, Rose, Violet, Don, Beauty, Baldy, Diamond. Cart and Mounts Creamy, Digger, Popsy Black and white photographs of Tom Barrielocal identities -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Charles Ernest Barrie and Jessie May Lang [Barrie], Unknown
In 1906 , Jessie May married Charles Ernest Barrie in the Methodist Church Melton on the 23rd August. They lived in the newly built house beside the Chaff Mill on the corner of Station and Brooklyn road Melton South. Black and white photograph of Charles Ernest Barrie and Jessie May Lang [Barrie]local identities -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Dorothy Beaty, Pearl Wilkie and Mary Robinson at Melton State School First Hundred Years Celebration, 1970
Dorothy Beaty (Knox): married to John Beaty. Passed away in 1981.She was a member of Melton's Country Women Association from 1938-1985. Mary Robinson nee Barrie: Born in 1907 and was the first child of Charles Ernest and Jessie May nee Lang of Melton South and Darlingsford Melton. She eventually married Keith John Robinson and they had three children, Ian, Ena May and Mary Elizabeth 'Beth". Mary died in 1999. Dorothy Beaty, Pearl Wilkie and Mary Robinson at the Melton State School 430 First Hundred Years Celebration. This was held at Mechanics Hall, Melton. local identities, local significant events, education -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Antenna for Mount Cotterill Fire Brigades Group, Unknown
Erected 1974, dismantled 2000s. The Headquarters was operated from the family home at Ferris road at its inception, and in 1974 to the Barrie home at First Avenue Melton South. A storage office and Radio Tower was erected in the yard. A connection phone line was linked to the home of Wayne and Lynn Sullivan who lived at the rear in Kurrajong Cr later became LY remote. Wayne later became Communications Officer and the Headquarters moved location to the Melton Fire Station. The Mount Cotterill Group encompassed the Rural Fire Brigades of Melton, Rockbank, Sydenham, Toolern Vale, Truganina, and Werribee and later Diggers Rest. In the stage of transition from H.F.( High Frequency) to Very High Frequency some radio sets were non CFA Tankers when the group was established. Antenna was at 19 First Avenue, Melton.emergency services -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Melton Uniting Church Opportunity Shop, 1975
Edna Barrie founded the Church Opportunity with Maisie Robinson in 1975 in the Melton South Methodist Church building. Methodist and Presbyterian Churches of Melton had combined severing their long held connection with Bacchus Marsh. A Manse had been recently built for the Melton Minister. At a Parish Committee meeting at the Melton South Church it was suggested to use the building as an Opportunity Shop. It opened in July 1975, and it raised $1,600 contribution to the church budget in 1976. In 1977 The Uniting Church in Australia was formed and the Melton South Uniting Church Opportunity shop continued to go from strength to strength expanding the buildings providing the welfare needs of the community. Melton Uniting Church Opportunity Shop, view from Brooklyn Road.churches -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Signboard, 1972
Edna Barrie handwritten notes – copied 18th October 2013 web The early story of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Victoria At Melton between Bal [Ballarat] and Melb [Melbourne] was introduced by the Revd Wlm Blamires in 1862 ably seconded by the late Mrs Westlake (afterwards Mrs Spargo). Mr J James, the active and indefatigable Revd Eb Taylor and such workers as Atkinson Corr and Ferris. Mawson and John Dare 1867 the foundation stone of the present church was laid. Revd D Waugh 1867. Melton and Toolern Vale have benefited by the generous help of Mr J Browne esquire of White Hills Station Diggers Rest and are now comprised in the Sunshine Circuit. Written at a later date – Wesleyan 16-4-1867 then Methodist 3-10-1867. Bluestone building cost Lsd 350-13-6. Seating 40 pounds Rev Ken Moore Methodist opened at Brooklyn Rd Melton South c1940 closed c 1972. Timber Church shifted from Staughton Vale, prior to this Services held in Victoria Hall Melton South. The source of the information – ? and date notes were made On the Chart outlining Melton Churches the following additional notes- At opening (nil Plaster, nil ceiling) Slate roof. Closed 1910-1911- most likely from 1867 Express My research - Melton Express noted 15th Aug 1939 porch added to Church at Melton South making the date earlier than 1940. Photographs taken when the building was being used as the UC Opp Shop and demolition of the building showing the porch. Charles Ernest Barrie was prominent in the life of the Methodist Church and established a thriving Sunday School. He built the Chaff Mills at Melton South in 1900. In 1910 he sold the Mill to Glover Onians and moved to a farm at Trundle NSW, where he lived for about a year. In May 1911 he purchased “Darlingsford” in Melton when it came on the market. The address Elizabeth St Moonee Ponds appears in the family records during this period and during WW 1 they also lived at Ascot Vale where the Lang parents lived. On returning after the war to Melton to occupy the Darlingsford house, which had been occupied by a caretaker. The family joined the Presbyterian Church. Evidenced in the Church Minute Book. 1920 What happened to the Methodist Church between 1910 – 1920? How long did it exist while in the Bluestone building in Palmerston St (Heritage listed 2008) When did the church commence in Victoria Hall? Built 1910 on land donated by C E Barrie. I attended the Methodist Church Melton Sth when monthly services were held in the afternoons. We were members of the Presbyterian Church and also supported the Melton Sth Church during the 1950’s Signboard from Melton South Methodist Churchchurches -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Revenant James Lambie, Unknown
Photo is from Werribee District Historical Society and Susan Oliver, descendent of Lambie. Information from Alec Cameron: July 28th Alec Cameron article Late Rev James Lambie came to Melton in 1863 from Paisley, Scotland. He was married the second time. By the first marriage he had one son and two daughters. By the second marriage, one son and three daughters. The second son was Mr William John Lambie. When Rev Mr Lambie took charge of the Presbyterian church it was held in a wooden building. He was a good preacher. He and his family took great interest and commenced to form a committee to collect funds to build a new bluestone church. The collected the rent money for the building. Mr Lambie lived for several years in Melton before he went to Wyndham Church to take charge there, and the family went to live there also. The reason was that the Melton Congregation could not provide the stipend he required. He came from Wyndham on a Saturday and preached to the congregation on Sunday morning and then went back to Wyndham to continue his services in the afternoon and evening. After a few years, Rev Lambie retired from the ministry and purchased a house in South Yarra where he and Mrs Lambie died. The eldest daughter Jessie, married James Scott a teacher at the Melton School. They left Melton and while teaching near Melbourne he got his BA and other degrees. He then purchased the Warnambool College for L5000 and resided there for a number of years. His wife predeceased him. There were two sons and two daughters. He was a brother-in-law of the late Mr Lang wine and spirit merchant Collins street, who was the Mayor of the City Council. His brother Mr Robert Scott was the licensee of the hotel at the corner of Bourke and Russell St and one of Mr Scott’s daughters married Mr Smith, solicitor, a nephew of the late Mr Smith of Toolern Vale, and another one married Dr Officer of Warnambool. They went to Western Australia to reside and Mr J Scott with them. He died abour 6 years ago. Miss Lambie the second eldest daughter, married Mr Samual McDonald, JP, butcher and Clerk of Courts, Melton and late correspondent for the Bacchus Marsh Express. He also acted as the Shire Secretary for the Melton Shire, and got an auctioneer’s license while here. He then left Melton to go to Shepparton, where he became the President of the Shire and the Clerk of Courts. Before he left Melton he was presented with a purse of sovereigns from the residents. The late Mr Lethbridge, Shire, was chairman. Mr McDonald left Shepparton and went to reside at Warnambool and is still living there. He had two sons in the bank. His wife died a few months ago at Boxhill, at the nursing home of her daughter, Sister Jessie McDonald, who was peronsally invested with the Royal Red Cross by the King a Buckingham Palace, for good work done at the front in the recent Great War. Mr William John Lambie, a brother was war correspondent for the “Age”in the South African war, where he was killed. The “Age” proprietary gave a shield in his memory to be shot for the Williamstown rifle competitions, called the Lambie Shield. The last time I was speaking to Mr Donald McDonald, war correspondent for the “Argus” in South Africa he said he thought the next war would be with the whites and the blacks. He said he saw some fine looking well built blacks while he was away. It looks like his words are coming true. Portrait of Revenant James Lambiechurches, local identities -
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 -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Schutt and Barrie Pty Ltd Chaff Cutting Mills, Unknown
Mary nee Barrie Robinson (1907 –1999) writes c1980 about her father Charles Ernest Barrie of Darlingsford Melton (1871 – 1931) Extract copied from her handwritten story - My father was born in Ballarat in 1871. … commenced his working life with a team of bullocks and a chaffcutter in the St Arnaud district, a work the he became most success at and would continue in to the end of his life. He eventually became the owner of a chaff mill at Melton station with an access line to the railway. [1900] The Schutt & Barrie partnership Dad later became involved in a Chaff mill at West Footscray run by John Ralph Schutt who when he met Dad was a very sick man and had begged Dad to come into the business and help him. That began a very happy association, the business was put on its feet. An empty quarry across Geelong Road opposite the mill was purchased, the chaffcutters were set up in the quarry and that was the start of a very busy and prosperous period. A branch line was run into the mill. Dad spent some afternoons at the mill going by train, and spending some hours there at night, at the same time running the farm with full time help. Two full 8 horse teams were used to work the land, which meant early rising for the horses to be fed and harnessed ready for the men to commence the days work. Charlie Lowe and Murdock Davey were two of the men who worked for Dad in those years. The firm purchased a mill at Parwan and Dad spent a lot of time and energy getting it running to their satisfaction. Monday was the day he spent time there also round the district of Parwan and Balliang. He came to know many of the their names were well known in our household for many years. [1920] Later a flour mill was built beside the Chaff mill at West Footscray but it never thrived like the mill. The chaff mill had many loyal and good men employed there and there was never any trouble between men and management. Willie Walters and Miss Renyolds were some I remember, other names me, Joyce would be able to name them. [Sister of Mary born 1920] Schutt and Barrie Pty Ltd Chaff Cutting Mills Melton South sitelocal architecture, local identities, agriculture -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Schutt and Barrie Flour Mills, 1969
Arthur Henry Schutt. Born 18th July 1912 at Spotswood He was the third child of John Ralph and Mary Jane Schutt. His grandfather was the first librarian of the Victorian Law Courts and his uncle, William Schutt, was a lawyer who later became the Chief Justice Sir William Schutt. His mother was born a Clutha House, stony Creek Yarraville, a was one of ten children. John Schutt opened a chaff mill at the corner of Williamstown and Geelong Roads at West Footscray. The mill was placed on in an old quarry below the ground which saved much of the backbreaking labour of heaving sheaves of hay up into the machinery, the below ground location enable the hay to be fed directly into the railway trucks into the cutters. An elevator then carried the chaff up from the ground directly into the waiting transport, at a great saving in manpower. The chaff mill became on of the largest in Victoria employing more than forty men, and later moved into flour milling.Schutt and Barrie Flour Mills, Melton South site. Opposite this Mill was a Public Weighbridge. A rail siding crossed Brooklyn road to serve chaff mill. The rail line crossed west of the Methodist Churchlocal identities, agriculture -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, The Cairn- Jimmy Melrose's plane crash site, 1988
Edna Barrie at the cairn, photo received from Graeme Minns in 1988. The cairn marks the site of Jimmy Melrose's plane crash in Melton South. The accident which happened on July 5th 1936. In 1934 Melrose made headlines with a series of spectacular flights. In July of that year, he set around Australia record and in that year established a new solo Australia England record when he flew to England to compete in the MacRoberston race with a De Havilland Puss Moth VH- YQO. The only Australian and the only solo pilot to complete the course within the time limit. He was seventh in finishing order and third in the handicap section making news again during the race with a dramatic landing in Darwin with empty fuel tanks. Late in 1935 Melrose imported the Phoenix for his “Adelaide to Anywhere” Charter Service. The previous year the Heston Aircraft Company had taken over the interests of the well known Comper Aircraft Company, and the first production of the new firm was the Phoenix, a single-engined all wooden five seater machine of sesquiplane configuration. The forward half of the fuselage was a streamlined rectangular section and the rear portion was a monocogue shell; the whole was of plywood fabric covered. The wing was built up of spruce box spars and lattice ribs, ply covered from the leading edge to the front spar and the fabric covered over the remainder. The tail surfaces were of similar construction. The most notable feature of the design was the lower stub wing which ran right across the fuselage embodying two box spars, plywood covered it housed the main undercarriage wheels when retracted and provided a substantial anchorage for the Nu form wing struts. The Dowty undercarriage retracted inwards, operated manually by hydraulic packs, Dual control fitted, with side by side seating for the pilots and three passenger seats behind. Power was a 200 h.p. De Havilland Gipsy VI 6 cylinder inverted in-line air-cooled engine. Six Phoenix were built; five of them registered in Great Britain and one of those was later sold abroad the remaining four were impressed into the R.A.F. in 1940. Specifications were: 40 feet 4 inches length 30 ft 2 ins height, 9ft 7ins, wing area 270 sq ft, Tare weight 2,600lbs loaded weight 3,300lbs; cruising speed 360 m.p.h. landing 50mph ceiling 14,000 ft range 700 miles. Melrose’s machine the first production aircraft was built early in 1936 and test flown of the 24th March. Painted green it carries the words “South Australian Centenary 1936” in silver of the fuselage and the name “Billing on the engine cowling in honor of Melrose’s uncle Noel Pemberton Billing, pioneer designer and founder of the Supermarine Aviation Company. The delivery flight was planned as a goodwill mission to publicise the forthcoming South Australian Centenary celebrations. Melrose left Dympne on the 9th April 1936, and flying via Marseilles, Naples, Athens, Baghdad, Basra, Karachi, Jodphur, Calcutta, Akyab, Penang, Singapore, Lombok, Darwin, Newcastle Waters and Alice Springs reached Adelaide on the 25th of April. Continuing the goodwill flight to other States, he visited Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Grafton, Brisbane, Coff’s Harbour, Sydney again, Launceston, Hobart and Mount Gambier before returning to Adelaide on the 13th May. During June Jimmy made some charter flights and early in July was engaged by Mr. A.J. Campbell a director of several mining companies from Melbourne to Darwin to commence at Essendon on the4th July. However on that day low cloud and steady rain caused the postponement. There was little improvement and Melrose was advised to delay the departure again. However he wished to reach Oodnadatta that night, and when he observed the break in the clouds decided to leave. He planned to climb above the cloud and fly to Adelaide at 3,000 feet. The aircraft was airborne about 8.10 a.m. and was last seen from Essendon climbing above the clouds. At 8.45 people at Melton (30 miles West of Melbourne) heard an approaching aircraft. The engine noise increased abnormally and eye witnesses saw the machine fall out of control from the cloud base about 800 feet and then disintegrate, fragments were scattered for 1½ miles and both occupants were killed. Hand written carbon copy by Edna Barrie.Typed by Wendy Barrie March 2014 Last Flight of Jimmy Melrose by John Burke Parade Magazine July 1972 Page 2 –4 This article gives the take off time of 7.50 am from Essendon Airport Eyewitness account at the time Maisie Arthur’s description. Newspaper article. Edna Barrie at the site of the 'Cairn'local identities, local significant events -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Mac's Cottage, c.1970
In 1911 the late Mrs. Hay’s estate was in the preliminary stages of dispersal and the hotel known as Minns was sold to a Mr McDowell of South Melbourne. Mr. McDowell lived in Melton for five and a half years, and it was during this time that the cottage was erected in High Street and the hotel became Macs. Mr McDowell sold the property to the McNichol family, who did not live in the cottage. Mrs McNichol’s sister later married A. McDonald of Melton South and occupancy was continued from that time. At time of removal 1977 to the Willows Park was under licence of Reidy family, owners of Macs Hotel High street, Melton.Weatherboard cottage located next to Mac's Hotel.local architecture -
Melton City Libraries
Photograph, Paramount Concrete, c.1972
Paramount Concrete Works tower on the site of Burnbank 1 – Cottage of Henri and Ann nee Dowling Myers side of road east of Myers Gully the junction of Reserve Rd. now known as Ryans Creek. Built c 1870. it remained in the family until a demolition order was placed on it in 1969 when vacated by Martha wife of Frederick 4th son of Ann and Henry. Her new house was built in McKenzie St on the south side near the corner of Smith St. Paramount Concrete established 1972, changed to Readmix Farley in 1983Paramount concrete with cranemisc.