Showing 705 items
matching early settlers. pioneers
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Wodonga & District Historical Society Inc
Domestic object - Meat Safe known as a "Coolgardie safe", Early 1900s
The Coolgardie safe was invented in the late 1890s on the Western Australian goldfields. Its invention was credited to a local contractor named Arthur Patrick McCormick. It was a practical system to preserve food prior to modern refrigeration. The wire grid kept the food safe from vermin and allowed breeze to blow through. It was often covered with wet hessian so that as the breeze circulated the water evaporated, creating the same concept as coolant in modern refrigerators and ice boxes. In most respects it was a variation of the bushman’s hessian bag hanging in a tree. In larger towns and cities during this time period large "ice works" could deliver block ice to areas that required a form of refrigeration. These ice blocks where held in early refrigerators to keep perishables cool. In isolated or rural households, the Coolgardie or meat safe was the next best, practical solution for food preservation. This safe was used in the home of the Conway family in Wodonga.This item is very significant to the Wodonga region as it represents the initiative and problem solving skills of the early settlers. It also reflects the primitive conditions in which they lived before the arrival of more modern services such as electricity.Meat safe or Coolgardie safe manufactured in Australia. This safe is made from metal and has been painted in green paint. 2 sides of the safe have a pattern of 6 squares of holes to allow for ventilation and air flow. The holes would also guard against insects and other vermin. There is one shelf inside, dividing it into 2 sections. The safe has a hook attached so that it can be suspended, often from a tree or on a verandah to increase air flow. The safe would often be covered by wet hessian to promote further cooling and preservation of foods such as milk, butter and meat.coolgardie safe, food preservation, pioneers innovation -
Wodonga & District Historical Society Inc
Negative - Haeusler Glass Negatives Collection - McKoy's horse, c1910
The Wodonga Historical Society Haeusler Collection provides invaluable insight into life in late nineteenth and early twentieth century north east Victoria. The collection comprises manuscripts, personal artefacts used by the Haeusler family on their farm in Wodonga, and a set of glass negatives which offer a unique visual snapshot of the domestic and social lives of the Haeusler family and local Wodonga community. The Haeusler family migrated from Prussia (Germany) to South Australia in the 1840s and 1850s, before purchasing 100 acres of Crown Land made available under the Victorian Lands Act 1862 (also known as ‘Duffy’s Land Act’) in 1866 in what is now Wodonga West. The Haeusler family were one of several German families to migrate from South Australia to Wodonga in the 1860s. This digital image was produced from one of the glass negatives that form part of the collection, probably taken by Louis Haeusler (b.1887) with the photographic equipment in the Wodonga Historical Society Haeusler Collection. The McKoy family were also early settlers of Wodonga.This item is unique and has well documented provenance and a known owner. It forms part of a significant and representative historical collection which reflects the local history of Wodonga. It contributes to our understanding of domestic and family life in early twentieth century Wodonga, as well as providing interpretative capacity for themes including local history and social history.Digital image created from the Haeusler Glass negative collection. An image of a man standing on the right of the image holding onto reins of a horse owned by the McKoy family of Wodonga. C. 1910wodonga pioneers, haeusler family, glass negatives, dry plate photography, mckoy family -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Book, The Diaries of Sarah Midgley and Richard Skilbeck, 1967
... - hand view of early pioneering life. The Skilbeck family ...Pioneer diaries of early Australian settlers, Sarah Midgley and Richard Skilbeck.Tan hard covered book with tan and yellow dust jacket. Title and text is black. Front cover has framed drawing of cottage taken from photograph which is included in the book. Map of area is on inside front and back covers.208 pages. It has a number of black and white photographic plates included.non-fictionPioneer diaries of early Australian settlers, Sarah Midgley and Richard Skilbeck.sarah midgley, richard skilbeck, diaries of sarah midgley and richard skilbeck, yangery, early pioneer life, wesleyan church warrnambool, yangery koroit -
Greensborough Historical Society
Book, Alan Marshall, Pioneers & painters: one hundred years of Eltham and its Shire, 1971
Alan Marshall describes the early European history of the Shire of Eltham, from the first settlers in the area to the painters who have made it their home. Covers Kangaroo Ground, Queenstown, Panton Hill, Christmas Hills, Eltham, Kinglake, Hurstbridge, Warrandyte, Montmorency and Lower Plenty.144 p., illus. (some col.).alan marshall, local history, shire of eltham -
City of Moorabbin Historical Society (Operating the Box Cottage Museum)
Clothing - Clothing, baby's dress, c1900
This infant's, heavily hand-embroidered dress is an example of the dressmaking skills of the women of the families of the pioneer settlers and market gardeners of the Moorabbin Shire c1900The pioneer settlers and market gardeners of Moorabbin Shire had to be self reliant and made their own clothing and utensils. This is one of many items that exhibit the skill and craftsmanship of the women in these families An infant's, white, cotton dress with heavily machine-embroidered bodice and hand-embroidered around neck and sleevesclothing, brighton, moorabbin, pioneers, dressmaking, dendy henry, market gardeners, early settlers, craftwork -
City of Moorabbin Historical Society (Operating the Box Cottage Museum)
Clothing - Clothing, lady's nightgown, c1900
This white, cotton, lady's nightgown with embroidery and feather stitch is a fine example of the dressmaking skills of the women of the families of the pioneer settlers in Moorabbin Shire c1900The Blackburn family were early settlers in Moorabbin Shire. The pioneer families had to be self reliant and made their own clothing and utensils. This is one of the many items that exhibit the skill and craftsmanship of the women in these families.A white cotton lady's nightgown with embroidery and feather stitchclothing, brighton, moorabbin, pioneers, dressmaking, dendy henry, market gardeners, early settlers, blackburn nance, craftwork -
City of Moorabbin Historical Society (Operating the Box Cottage Museum)
Clothing - Clothing, baby's dress box-pleated, c1900
This white, fine lawn cotton baby's box pleated dress with collar and matching bib is an example of the dressmaking skills of the women of the families of the pioneer settlers and market gardeners of the Moorabbin Shire.The Blackburn family were early settlers in Moorabbin Shire. The pioneer settlers and market gardeners of Moorabbin Shire had to be self reliant and made their own clothing and utensils. This is one of many items that exhibit the skill and craftsmanship of the women in these families. A white, fine lawn cotton, box -pleated baby's dress with collar and matching bibclothing, brighton, moorabbin, pioneers, dressmaking, dendy henry, market gardeners, craft work, blackburn nance -
City of Moorabbin Historical Society (Operating the Box Cottage Museum)
Clothing - Clothing, girl's dress, c1880
... pioneers early settlers... craftwork pioneers early settlers A young girl's dress, all hand ...The pioneer settlers and market gardeners of Moorabbin Shire had to be self reliant and made their own clothing and utensils. This is one of the many items that exhibit the skill and craftsmanship of the women of these familiesThis hand embroidered girls dress with cut-work is and example of the dressmaking skills and craftwork of the women of the pioneer families. The Maggs family were early settlers in Moorabbin ShireA young girl's dress, all hand embroidered, with cut-work c1880 clothing, brighton, moorabbin, dressmaking, dendy henry, market gardeners, maggs geoff, craftwork, pioneers early settlers -
Clunes Museum
Book, PAINTINGS BY RICHARD A SMOLICZ / TEXT BY W. WATSON SHARP, AUSTRALIA'S EARLY DWELLINGS AND CHURCHES, 1983
THIS BOOK IS A RECORD OF SOME OF THE PIONEER DWELINGS AND CHURCHES WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE EARLY SETTLERS IN AUSTRALIA. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH OF ENGLAND CLUNES 1860 FEATURED AT PAGES 122-123HARDCOVER BOOK WITH GREEN COVER, TITLE IS WHITE ON SPINE, DUST COVER RED PANEL WITH GOLD SURROUND FEATURING A COLOURED IMAGE OF A DWELLING THAT APPEARS TO BE SET INTO A RURAL ENVIRONMENT.F RECORD OF SOME OF THE PIONEER DWELINGS AND CHURCHES WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE EARLY SETTLERS. 156 PAGESnon-fiction THIS BOOK IS A RECORD OF SOME OF THE PIONEER DWELINGS AND CHURCHES WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE EARLY SETTLERS IN AUSTRALIA. ST. PAUL'S CHURCH OF ENGLAND CLUNES 1860 FEATURED AT PAGES 122-123local history, book, st paul's church of england clunes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Ellis Cottage, Diamond Creek, 23 January 2008
Built by William Ellis in 1865 of local uncut stone about 30cm thick, the cottage is now a museum and home to the Nillumbik Historical Society. Ellis Cottage is historically significant for its association with the Ellis family, who were pioneers of the Diamond Creek district and the benefactors of the notable Nillumbik Cemetery gateway. It illustrates the development of farming in the area. Ellis Cottage is historically and technically significant for its rare use of uncut local stone for building purposes. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. National Estate Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p79 Ellis Cottage, built by William Ellis, is a memorial to the courage of pioneers in the Diamond Valley area.1 Now a museum and home to the Nillumbik Historical Society, it is a fine example of an early settler’s house in Diamond Creek – and one of the few original buildings standing from the middle of the 19th century. It is a poor man’s cottage – typical of the dwellings of those who had to work hard to wrest a living in this district, because most of the land was not fertile enough for major forms of farming. The pretty stone cottage at 10 Nillumbik Square, built in 1865, is made of local uncut stone about one foot (30 cm) thick. It once stood near the centre of the 147 acres (59.4ha) Ellis bought in 1850. The property extended from Diamond Creek to Reynolds Road and from Perversi Avenue to the Wattle Glen School. It stood in the electoral parish of Nillumbik. The Nillumbik township (later called Diamond Creek) was not created until 1867. In 1912 the property was cut in half by the new railway to Hurstbridge. Ellis paid £147/10/- for the land - about three times what a Victorian farmer would usually earn in a year. Despite the poor quality soil Ellis became a very successful farmer with an orchard, vegetables and a dairy herd. Five years later, in 1855, Ellis bought 70 acres (28.3ha) from neighbour, Hugh Larimour. In 1857 Ellis bought 208 acres (84ha) at Yarra Glen. In 1877 he bought 122 acres (49.3ha) at Diamond Creek and later bought land at Greensborough and Woodstock. Ellis was born in 1815 at Blackawton, a small Devonshire village, and became a tenant farmer. It is not known why Ellis came out to Australia or settled in Diamond Creek. In 1847 he married Margaret Child at the Melbourne Presbyterian Church. Ellis and Child had no children and 18 years after the wedding, while probably living in Kangaroo Ground, Ellis built this small cottage. The simple cottage has a central hall and two rooms on each side. To maximise the small space the ceiling cavity was designed large enough to provide sleeping accommodation accessed via a ladder. Each room was heated by an open fireplace and the one in the kitchen was large enough to roast a sheep. A large cellar under the front room probably stored farm produce. Water came from a well as reticulated water did not arrive at Diamond Creek until 1914. In 1870 Ellis’ 22 year-old nephew Nathaniel joined him from England.2 Until 1890 they developed Ellis Park, praised in The Evelyn Observer, May 30,1890 as a model farm. Ellis had become wealthy, and on his death in 1896 his estate was valued at £9000. In his will he left £100 to construct memorial gates at the Nillumbik Cemetery where he was buried.3 Ellis left the farm to his second wife Louisa. As he had no children, upon her death the farm passed to Nathaniel, but he did not take it up. The farm was sold and leased several times until 1967, when engineer Phillip Lovitt bought the property and carried out major structural works. The Shire of Diamond Valley bought it in the 1980s and in 1989 restored it with the Nillumbik Historical Society. The stone walls of the cottage had been plastered with mud and straw mortar, which were removed as they were riddled with vermin. Doors, windows and a floor were replaced and the original roof of timber shingles had been replaced with slate. The well was too deeply cracked to be restored, so was used for a flower bed. Two mature Italian Cypresses at the entry are also heritage protected as they relate to similar trees planted at Shillinglaw Cottage and other early buildings in Nillumbik Shire.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, ellis cottage, diamond creek, nillumbik historical society, william ellis -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Shillinglaw Cottage, 6 January 2008
Covered under National Estate, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Local Significance and Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p95 Thanks to an Australia first effort by local residents, the historic Shillinglaw Cottage still survives. The cottage at Panther Place, Eltham, once stood about 100 metres away on Main Road. But in 1963 it faced demolition to make room for the Eltham Shire Offices (since demolished). However residents rallied to save Shillinglaw Cottage and became the first in Australia to remove and reconstruct an early settler’s brick building. A fundraiser was the residents’ compilation of loved recipes into the cookery book, Flavour of Eltham. The cottage, built in the late 1870s by noted pioneer builder George Stebbing, is one of Eltham’s earliest buildings and associated with significant early settlers. It is on the National Estate and National Trust Registers. The cottage was constructed with handmade bricks in the Flemish Bond style, typical of cottages and farmhouses in Flanders, Europe. It features burnt ‘header’ bricks over the façade, which gives a chequered effect. The roof is made of slate, while the windows are 12-paned sash with relieving arches. It is not clear who were the first owners of the cottage. The National Trust claims that Stebbing built it for farmer Thomas Cochrane.1 Others say Cochrane first owned the land but Stebbing was Shillinglaw’s first owner and remained so until 1887. The Shillinglaw family then bought it and lived there for around 80 years until 1963 when they sold it to the Eltham Council.2 Farmer Thomas Cochrane bought the Shillinglaw Cottage site from land developer Josiah Holloway. The site was the largest in what Holloway called Little Eltham, of some 30 acres (12 ha), extending along the creek from Henry Street to Luck Street. In 1874 Cochrane sold the land to George Stebbing. Meanwhile in 1861, Stebbing was the owner and occupier of a house at Pitt Street, Eltham, which he had built. Evelyn Observer journalist James Rossiter rented the Pitt Street house, then in 1881 Phillip Shillinglaw occupied it. Stebbing constructed several buildings of note in the area, including the Uniting Church at John Street, the building beside it – a former bank – and St Margaret’s Church of England in Pitt Street. Stebbing was also an Eltham Shire Councillor from 1871 to 1873 and a trustee and treasurer of the Eltham Wesleyan Church.3 In the 1870s he is recorded as the owner of up to five houses. Earlier he had been described as a bricklayer and later became a farmer. In 1882 Stebbing returned to the Pitt Street house and Shillinglaw occupied the new house in Main Road, which he owned from 1887. Shillinglaw was a prolific poet and preached at the Eltham Primitive Methodist Church, where he also served as Sunday School superintendent and led the Young People’s Society Christian Endeavour. The Shillinglaws saw many changes in their property’s boundaries – the major one occurring at the turn of the century when land for the railway and Eltham station was acquired from their holding. The northern part of the remaining land was then used for some of the first commercial developments in what was to become the Eltham Shopping Centre. Later still, the land immediately north of the cottage was bought by the Eltham War Memorial Trust for the War Memorial Buildings and the fire station. The Trust’s land eventually passed to the council. The council bought the remaining two acres (0.8 ha) with the house, and with the exception of the commercial development between the fire station and the post office, all of the former Shillinglaw land is owned by the council or government instrumentalities.4 Since the late 20th century, the cottage has had varied uses, such as a handcrafts store and as a restaurant.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, shillinglaw cottage -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Marguerite Marshall, Stuchbery Farm dairy, 14 March 2008
Stuchbery Farm was situated on the Plenty River bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. Alan and Ada Stutchbery moved to the valley in 1890, first living in a tent where four children were born. Alfred built a home and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden and developed a dairy. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p179 The dramatic steep-sided Plenty Gorge lies along the divide of two geological areas, and separates the Nillumbik Shire and the City of Whittlesea. On the Nillumbik side are undulating hills and sedimentary rock, and in Whittlesea, lies a basalt plain formed by volcanic action up to two million years ago. This provides the Plenty Gorge Park with diverse vegetation and habitats, making it one of Greater Melbourne’s most important refuges for threatened and significant species. The park, established in 1986, consists of around 1350 hectares, and extends 11 kilometres along the Plenty River, from Greensborough to Mernda. It provides a wildlife corridor for around 500 native plant and 280 animal species.1 The area’s plentiful food and water attracted the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people and then European settlers. By 1837 squatters had claimed large runs of land for their sheep and cattle. The Plenty Valley was among the first in the Port Phillip District to be settled - mainly in the less heavily timbered west - and was proclaimed a settled district in 1841.2 But by the late 1880s, the settlers’ extensive land clearing for animal grazing, then agriculture, depleted the Wurundjeri’s traditional food sources, which helped to drive them away. Many Wurundjeri artefacts remain (now government protected), and so far 57 sites have been identified in the park, including scarred trees, burial areas and stone artefacts. Pioneer life could be very hard because of isolation, flooding, bushfires and bushrangers. Following the Black Thursday bushfires of 1851, basalt was quarried to build more fire-resistant homes. Gold discoveries in the early 1850s swelled the population, particularly around Smugglers Gully; but food production made more of an impact. In the late 1850s wheat production supplanted grazing. In the 1860s the government made small holdings available to poorer settlers. These had the greatest effect on the district, particularly in Doreen and Yarrambat, where orchards were established from the 1880s to 1914. Links with a prominent early family are the remains of Stuchbery Farm, by the river’s edge bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La Trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. The Stuchberys moved to the valley in 1890, and the family still lives in the area. In 1890, Alfred and Ada first lived in a tent where four children were born, then Alfred built the house and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden, and developed a dairy. The family belonged to the local Methodist and tennis communities. Their grandson Walter, opened the Flying Scotsman Model Railway Museum in Yarrambat, which his widow, Vi, continues to run. Wal was also the Yarrambat CFA Captain for 22 years until 1987. Walter sold 24 hectares in 1976 for development - now Vista Court - and in 1990, the remaining 22.6 hectares for the park. Remaining are an early stone dairy and remnants of a stone barn, a pig sty and a well.3 Until it was destroyed by fire in 2003, a slab hut stood on the Happy Hollow Farm site, at the southern end of the park. The hut is thought to have been built in the Depression around 1893. This was a rare and late example of a slab hut with a domestic orchard close to Melbourne. Emmet Watmough and his family first occupied the hut, followed by a succession of families, until the Bell family bought it around 1948. There they led a subsistence lifestyle for 50 years, despite encroaching Melbourne suburbia.4 The Yellow Gum Recreation Area includes the Blue Lake, coloured turquoise at certain times of the year. Following the 1957 bushfires, this area was quarried by Reid Quarries Pty Ltd for Melbourne’s first skyscrapers, then by Boral Australia. However in the early 1970s water began seeping into the quarry forming the Blue Lake and the quarry was closed. The State Government bought the site in 1997 and opened it as a park in 1999.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, ada stuchbery, alan stuchbery, dairy, stuchbery farm, farm buildings, yarrambat, plenty gorge park -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Blue Lake, Plenty Gorge Park, 2008
A quarry was transformed into the Blue Lake. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p179 The dramatic steep-sided Plenty Gorge lies along the divide of two geological areas, and separates the Nillumbik Shire and the City of Whittlesea. On the Nillumbik side are undulating hills and sedimentary rock, and in Whittlesea, lies a basalt plain formed by volcanic action up to two million years ago. This provides the Plenty Gorge Park with diverse vegetation and habitats, making it one of Greater Melbourne’s most important refuges for threatened and significant species. The park, established in 1986, consists of around 1350 hectares, and extends 11 kilometres along the Plenty River, from Greensborough to Mernda. It provides a wildlife corridor for around 500 native plant and 280 animal species.1 The area’s plentiful food and water attracted the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people and then European settlers. By 1837 squatters had claimed large runs of land for their sheep and cattle. The Plenty Valley was among the first in the Port Phillip District to be settled - mainly in the less heavily timbered west - and was proclaimed a settled district in 1841.2 But by the late 1880s, the settlers’ extensive land clearing for animal grazing, then agriculture, depleted the Wurundjeri’s traditional food sources, which helped to drive them away. Many Wurundjeri artefacts remain (now government protected), and so far 57 sites have been identified in the park, including scarred trees, burial areas and stone artefacts. Pioneer life could be very hard because of isolation, flooding, bushfires and bushrangers. Following the Black Thursday bushfires of 1851, basalt was quarried to build more fire-resistant homes. Gold discoveries in the early 1850s swelled the population, particularly around Smugglers Gully; but food production made more of an impact. In the late 1850s wheat production supplanted grazing. In the 1860s the government made small holdings available to poorer settlers. These had the greatest effect on the district, particularly in Doreen and Yarrambat, where orchards were established from the 1880s to 1914. Links with a prominent early family are the remains of Stuchbery Farm, by the river’s edge bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La Trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. The Stuchberys moved to the valley in 1890, and the family still lives in the area. In 1890, Alfred and Ada first lived in a tent where four children were born, then Alfred built the house and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden, and developed a dairy. The family belonged to the local Methodist and tennis communities. Their grandson Walter, opened the Flying Scotsman Model Railway Museum in Yarrambat, which his widow, Vi, continues to run. Wal was also the Yarrambat CFA Captain for 22 years until 1987. Walter sold 24 hectares in 1976 for development - now Vista Court - and in 1990, the remaining 22.6 hectares for the park. Remaining are an early stone dairy and remnants of a stone barn, a pig sty and a well.3 Until it was destroyed by fire in 2003, a slab hut stood on the Happy Hollow Farm site, at the southern end of the park. The hut is thought to have been built in the Depression around 1893. This was a rare and late example of a slab hut with a domestic orchard close to Melbourne. Emmet Watmough and his family first occupied the hut, followed by a succession of families, until the Bell family bought it around 1948. There they led a subsistence lifestyle for 50 years, despite encroaching Melbourne suburbia.4 The Yellow Gum Recreation Area includes the Blue Lake, coloured turquoise at certain times of the year. Following the 1957 bushfires, this area was quarried by Reid Quarries Pty Ltd for Melbourne’s first skyscrapers, then by Boral Australia. However in the early 1970s water began seeping into the quarry forming the Blue Lake and the quarry was closed. The State Government bought the site in 1997 and opened it as a park in 1999.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, blue lake, plenty gorge park -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Memorial Arch Gateway, Nillumbik Cemetery, Diamond Creek, 23 January 2008
The Nillumbik Cemetery is of historical, architectural, aesthetic and social significance at a Regional level (North-east Melbourne). The memorial arch is of State significance. Nillumbik Cemetery, which was established in 1867, is of historical and social significance for its association with the early history of Diamond Creek and as a record of the pioneering families of the district. Significant graves include those of the famous writer Alan Marshall, author of 'I Can Jump Puddles', footballer Gordon Coventry, and William Ellis, notable early settler and benefactor. The 1897 Tudor/Gothic revival memorial arch, bequeathed by William Ellis, is a rare design in ornamental gateways and is relatively large for the size of the cemetery. It is unique in Victoria as a cemetery gateway arch. The burial ground has associated structures, such as the hexagonal timber sexton's office, post and wire fence and picket hand gate along Main Street, all probably built in the early twentieth century. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. National Trust of Australia (Victoria) - Regional significance Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p83 Entering Nillumbik Cemetery through an ornamental gateway and shaded by the Monterey Cypress hedge helps one leave the busy world outside and contemplate yesterday’s Diamond Creek. The gateway, classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), and inscribed with ‘JANVA VITAE’ (gate of life), was a gift from a distinguished pioneer, William Ellis. Ellis, who was an original trustee of the Nillumbik Cemetery representing the Primitive Methodists and a successful farmer, bequeathed £100 to build the red-brick and carved stone gateway in 1887. In 1867 surveyor Edward Bage had set aside two acres (0.8ha) now 35 Main Street, for this cemetery, in what was then called the village of Nillumbik. Several earlier burials on private lands in the district might have been exhumed and re-interred in the new cemetery. The first burials in the cemetery are thought to be of ‘a Chinaman who hanged himself from a tree behind the Church of England’ and ‘another man who was drowned in a water-hole behind the same church’.1 The 1000 or so graves in the cemetery are grouped into five denominational sections: two Anglican and one each for the Methodist (the largest), Catholic and Presbyterian Churches. It is believed that several unmarked graves are of Aborigines and Chinese miners.2 Perhaps the most famous person buried in the cemetery was author Alan Marshall, who died in 1984 and wrote, among other books, I Can Jump Puddles. Surprisingly his grave is particularly modest consisting of only a grassed plot with a tiny boulder and a simple bronze plaque. It lies about halfway down the main path, at the west and third row back. The first European, interred at the cemetery on July 9, 1869, was Hannah, aged 13 years eight months, daughter of local orchardist John Lawrey and wife Honor.3 Each grave has a story which reflects a rich history. Phillip Cummings, who died in 1884, provided the barn for Diamond Creek’s first school, run by the Primitive Methodist Church. The barn stood at the corner of Phipps Crescent and the main road.4 Former Eltham Shire councillor George Stebbings, who died in 1896, built several prominent buildings in the district, including Shillinglaw Cottage in Eltham.5 The grave of miner James Joseph Whyte, who died in 1908, is a reminder of Diamond Creek’s gold mining history. At age 51, Whyte died from a rock fall in the Diamond Mine, Diamond Creek. Diamond Creek’s first butcher, Patrick Ryan, became President of the Shire of Heidelberg and Chairman of the Eltham Hurstbridge Railway Trust. A former gold miner, he was grandfather of local historian Reverend Jock Ryan. He was buried in an unmarked grave halfway down the central path. His son John Lawrence, who is buried elsewhere, had been a Mayor of the City of Heidelberg. George Martin Pizzey gave a hall, for what was to become The St John’s Anglican Church in Diamond Creek. He was a Crimean War veteran, mason and leather goods manufacturer in Melbourne, who died in 1915. The two world wars took a heavy toll of locals with 54 personnel buried here, two thirds of whom served in World War One. A sporting pioneer was Greensborough District Cricket Club founder, Andrew Webb, who was buried in 1971. Politician Roy Mountford Vale (Monte), who died in 1977, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Greensborough, and a founding councillor and president of the Diamond Valley Shire. Modern-day residents are also remembered in this cemetery. The tragic Ash Wednesday bushfires took their toll on the district: William Marsden of Panton Hill CFA died, aged 39, fighting bushfires at Upper Beaconsfield in 1983.6 Several graves tell of those who held distinguished positions overseas, including William Constable, who died in 1989. Constable was artistic director of a ballet company, art director of more than 30 films for London-based film productions, and was awarded best Film Art Director at the Moscow Film Festival in 1960.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, diamond creek, memorial arch, gateway, nillumbik cemetery, william ellis -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Document (item) - Allansford land purchase document, Land purchase document, 1864
This paper contains details of the purchase of Lot 11 in the Township of Allansford in 1864. The purchaser, Isabella McQueen, was born in Scotland in 1814, married Alexander McQueen in 1850 and with her family migrated to Australia in 1854. After her husband's death in 1860 Isabella purchased the land in Frank Street, Allansford in 1864 and lived in a house there with family members until her death in 1895. She had purchased the land, via an agent, from John Allan who with his brothers were the pioneer European settlers in the Allansford area. John Allan had created the township of Allansford in the mid 1850s by sub-dividing the land he owned there. John Allan moved to the Gippsland area late in 1864. This piece of paper is most significant as it is an original record of an early transaction in the history of Allansford, a town now part of Warrnambool City.Mrs isabella McQueen Bot. of Robert Gregory As agent for J M Allan Esq. Lot no. 11 as marked and described on the Plan of Subdivision of the Township of Allansford. For which I have received the um of five pounds Stg. being the purchase money of same. Robert Gregory 21st October 1864allansford history, john allan, isabella mcqueen