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Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Marguerite Marshall, Eltham Library, Panther Place, Eltham, 18 April 2008
Rear view of Eltham Library showing loading dock and ramp to the front of the building. Designed by multi-award winning architect, Gregory Burgess, for which he won the 1995 Royal Australian Insitute of architects (Vic.) Merit Award in the New Institutional category. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p183 Award-winning Eltham Library, with its earthy tones blending into the nearby parklands, celebrates some of the best of Eltham’s spirit. Designed by multi-award winning architect, Gregory Burgess, the library at Panther Place, won him the 1995 Royal Australian Institute of Architects (Vic) Merit Award in the New Institutional category.1 The design is typical of Burgess’ work, emphasising natural materials and forms, and the integration of building and site.2 In its distinctive architectural character, Burgess celebrated the spirit of Eltham’s artist/architect Justus Jörgenson and mud-brick builder Alistair Knox. However this library, which opened in 1994, follows decades of efforts to acquire a suitable library for local residents. It was only in 1971 that Eltham acquired its first purpose-built library. In the 1930s books were borrowed from a mobile library run by Mr Foster of Bible Street. From the 1930s to the early 1950s, adults borrowed books from the newsagency and general store in Main Road (still a newsagency) near Arthur Street. As late as the 1950s, adults borrowed books in the shire office foyer, then in Main Road near the corner of Arthur Street.3 In the early 1950s the ratepayers voted for lower rates rather than a library, in a referendum to build a public library financed by higher rates. Children depended on volunteers for their library service until 1966. In 1946 the inaugural meeting of the Eltham War Memorial Trust’s Women’s Auxiliary, decided to support the Trust by raising funds to buy land and build a Children’s Library, Baby Health Centre and other facilities. The auxiliary formed the Children’s Library Committee, which included Mrs Morrison, Mrs Bow and Mrs Currie. They ran a library service in the stage area of the Eltham Hall, at the corner of Arthur Street and Main Road. In 1952 the books were relocated to a room in the newly opened Baby Health Centre on Main Road. Then in 1961, the Children’s Library received its own hall beside the Eltham Pre-School Centre on Main Road. From there, each month, volunteers delivered books to every school in the shire. In 1966 the Children’s Library closed after 17 years of service, following the transfer of the Trust land and buildings to the Shire of Eltham. The books were donated to nine schools in the shire and to Community Aid Abroad. An important boost to the library service came in 1965, when the Heidelberg Regional Library Service was formed by the City of Heidelberg with the Shires of Eltham and Diamond Valley. Its first library service for Eltham Shire was a bookmobile van. Books for children and adults were finally housed in one building in 1966, when the shire converted the Brinkkotter house in Dudley Street, into a library. At last in 1971, the Eltham Library moved to new premises attached to the shire offices near Panther Place. However these were demolished in 1996, by State Government appointed commissioners during council amalgamations. Meanwhile the Heidelberg Regional Library Service was disbanded in 1985 and the Yarra Plenty Regional Library Service was established. The burgeoning population brought pressure for a bigger library. Eltham was one of several municipalities in the 1970s and 1980s, battling with the State Government for adequate funding for public libraries. Funds were so tight, that in 1987 Eltham councillors threatened to close the library. However public petitions persuaded them to set aside funds to replace the cramped library facilities. In 1992 the Federal Government gave $887,496 towards the $3 million cost of the 1560 square metre library.4 The result is a light and spacious building with surrounding verandas, made of sustainable natural materials including earth and recycled and radially sawn timbers. It includes a gallery and function areas. In 2004 Mr Burgess won Australian architecture’s highest accolade: the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal. He has received more than forty professional and community awards.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, eltham, eltham library, panther place -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Digital Photograph, Alan King, Original Kangaroo Ground Primary School No. 2105 building, Eltham-Yarra Glen Road, Kangaroo Ground, 28 December 2007
Kangaroo Ground's first school began in 1851 with 22 pupils from the district's ten families. It was a single room school located further south on the site, which also served as a Presbyterian church. The first teacher was Andrew Ross. The school building was used as a Post Office between 1854 and 1858 and during 1857 also served as a Court of Petty Sessions. With a growing farming community, a new building was warranted and the original Sate School No. 352 was closed and a new building, State School No. 2105 was oipened October 1, 1878. A residence for Head Teacher Henry Wallace School was erected in 1879 attached to the left of the school building. That residence is now home to the Andrew Ross Museum, which opened in 1993. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then / Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p35 In a corner of the Kangaroo Ground Primary School playground stands an old weatherboard building. This structure, attached to the former teacher’s weatherboard residence facing Main Road, first served as a school in 1878. The former residence, built in 1879, houses the Andrew Ross Museum, which opened in 1993. It is named after the school’s first teacher,1 who also founded The Evelyn Observer newspaper, which began on the site in 1873. Later the printing presses were moved to brick newspaper offices by the Kangaroo Ground Hotel, which became the Shire of Eltham offices. However Kangaroo Ground’s first school began in 1851 for 22 pupils from the district’s ten families, in a slab building further south on this site. Andrew Harkness and other settlers campaigned for the building, which was built on half an acre (0.2ha) donated by local farmer, James Donaldson. Builder was Samuel Furphy, father of the novelist Joseph.2 The single room measuring 30 feet x 18 feet (9m x 5.5m), was unlined and the green slabs shrank, allowing the wind and rain entry through cracks except when they were stuffed with paper.3 The building served as a Presbyterian church as well as a school, where fees were 18 pence a week for education. Young men also attended evening classes there in winter. At one stage, a corner of the room was curtained off for the schoolmaster’s living space, and the platform, which was used for sleeping, was also the pulpit during church services. Teacher Andrew Ross also took church services when the minister was unable to attend, which happened frequently as he had long distances to travel on the bad roads. In 1857 the school building was also used as the Court of Petty Sessions, and from 1854 until 1858, it served as a post office. During the gold rush fossickers on their way to the Caledonia Diggings at Queenstown (now St Andrews) prospected the district, but did not remain long, as the fields were not rich in gold. But the farming community grew, until by 1878 the population warranted the building of State School No 2105 – the present one-roomed tongue-and-groove lined building measuring 49 feet x 18 feet (15m x 5.5m), to accommodate 60 children. The old school, No 352, was closed, and the new one opened on October 1, with Henry Wallace as head teacher, assisted by work mistress Annie Johnston. Early teachers included Messrs Smith, Hamilton and Prosser, with sewing teachers Misses Sweeney, Limerock and Oliver. In the early 1920s a small room was built on the front veranda of the teacher’s residence, and used as a State Savings Bank agency until about 1934. In 1928 the schoolroom’s three-tiered floor was replaced by a flat floor and teacher’s platform (which has since been removed). A half-glassed partition wall then divided the large room into two rooms in which the old style form-type desks were replaced with dual desks. The small playground, surrounded by pine trees and a picket fence, was extended in 1931 with an additional acre or so (0.4 ha) of land. During World War Two the school faced closure because of a fall to seven in the enrolment, but by 1946 it had increased again to 45. Mr Eric Morgan was head teacher and Mrs Margaret Banks was assistant head teacher, a position she held for ten years. In 1955, under the head teacher Mr V Gardiner, who taught there for 13 years, the school won a prize for the best-kept garden and school ground in the inspectorate. A district subdivision increased the enrolment in 1968 to 65 and a bus service was established. After the hall which had been used for lessons was demolished late that year, the pupils met in the original fire brigade meeting room (now the tennis club, diagonally opposite the general store). The new school building with a storeroom and staffroom was built in 1974.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, kangaroo ground, andrew ross museum, eltham-yarra glen road, kangaroo ground primary school no. 2105, kangaroo ground state school, state school no. 2105 -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Document - Arthur T. Pattinson, 1962
10570 South African (Boer) War Memorial Bendigo. The monument commemorates those who died in service or were killed in action while serving in the South African (Boer) War. It is a bronze statue of a soldier on a granite base. Leader (Melbourne), 19 November 1904. “There was a large assemblage on the afternoon of 11th November, when the ceremony of unveiling the soldiers' memorial statue was performed by Brigadier-General Gordon in the presence of a muster of branches of the defence forces. The statue, which is in bronze, is mounted on a massive granite base, on the foot of which is the following inscription: — "Bendigo's tribute to the memory of the Australian soldiers who, in the South African war of 1899 - 1902 gave their lives for Queen and Empire. The statue was modelled by Mr. J. Walker, a young Bendigonian, who has been studying for two or three years under Mr. A. T. Woodward art instructor at the local school of mines.“ Ola Cohn recalled in her autobiography meeting John Walker as a sculpture student at the Bendigo School of Mines and that he had later received the commission for the Boer War Memorial although she neglects to mention its location. John Walker was born in Bendigo and first studied sculpture at the Bendigo School of Art. Walker, then went to England to study at the Royal College of Art London, and in Paris at the Académie Colarossi and Julian Academy. John Walker worked as a sculptor in both Bendigo and West Brunswick before turning to chicken farming in the Bendigo suburb of White Hills. The photo of A. T. Pattinson was taken by George Leake Massingham, a professional photographer, who had seven children, one of whom died at birth. After arriving in Australia from England, he established himself as a travelling photographer, an occupation he continued after his marriage. He travelled throughout country Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, setting up studios along the way. The family ended up moving with him, travelling to Sydney, Narrandera, Bendigo, Newtown, Geelong and Deniliquin. Correspondence re Boer War Memorial Bendigo Boer War Memorial Bendigo. Letters and photo from and to Mrs Wilson, eldest daughter of Mr Arthur T. Pattinson who was a model for the Boer War sculpture. 10570a A black and white photo of Trooper Arthur T. Pattinson restored by BHS Volunteers. 10570b The original photo as sent by Mrs Wilson to Harold Curnow (Bendigo Historical Society) in 1962. The photo is mounted on heavy brown cardboard and has an old catalogue number of "P680" inscribed on it. The cardboard is torn and held together with sticky tape. On the front in italics is printed G.L. Massingham, Bendigo. 10570c Notes on the rear of the photo from Mrs Wilson state that "the photo is of Arthur T. Pattinson (Rusty), an Australian Light Horse trooper who served in the Boer War. The Boer War Memorial in Pall Mall Bendigo represents a trooper on guard. The sculptor was Jack Walker who used Pattinson as a model, and it is regarded as an excellent likeness." 10570d A letter from Harold Curnow back to Mrs Wilson on Jan 4th, 1963, acknowledging receipt of the photo and a letter received, noting the significance of the historical information. 10570e Handwritten letter 29/11/1962 from Mrs Wilson to Mr Curnow introducing herself as Mr. Pattinson's eldest daughter and answering the letter he wrote to her father. She mentions the bad health of her parents. Arthur modelled for the statue at least two to three times per week in a studio on the top floor of a building in Bull St. He was the original model to the best of her knowledge. Another model possibly Mr P. Handmear may have sat as a model for renovations (*). The rifle was a light horse rifle issued to Pattinson as he was still serving in 1904. Arthur and Handmear were boys together and very close. * Note - the plaster model was repaired prior to casting in metal. 10570f An obituary notice: 18/11/64 "On Nov. 17 at Frankston, Emma, wife of the late A. T. Pattinson (Rusty), late of Bendigo. 10570g Letter Nov. 20th, 1962, from Harold Curnow to Mr Arthur T. Pattinson, Kent St., Mornington, Vic. "Dear Mr Pattinson, Last week your brother, Brit., whom I have known for many years, supplied the Bendigo Advertiser with some interesting information regarding your role as the model for the late Jack Walker when he was making the statue for the Boer War Memorial here. Yesterday however, another claimant to the distinction of being the model was advanced in the Bendigo Advertiser by Mr Richard Marshall, of Moran Street, Bendigo who said that the soldier's model was Phillip Handmear. I understand that your brother has sent the newspaper cuttings on to you. When he called to see me yesterday, he suggested that I write to you for further particulars. Can you recall the discussion you had with Jack Walker when he approached you about acting as the model and do you remember how many times you posed for him, and whether the work was done in the house, in the yard, or in one of the outbuildings at Moran Street? In short, any details at all. At this point in time we are considering an interesting facet in Bendigo's history, so any seemingly unimportant incidents could really be useful if we knew about them. Have you any old newspaper cuttings mentioning your name in connection with the memorial? Do you remember any remarks that passed between you and Jack Walker during the long sessions you must have put in on this work? This could be very important. And do you recall where the rifle came from? Did you or Jack Walker borrow it from the military authorities? Back in 1934 Jack Walker recalled having had to pull the plaster model down and remake it when he discovered it was slightly off-balance and was slowly toppling forward. He told me he had to get his model to pose again. Do you know anything about this? Could it have been that he got Mr. Handmear in for the final stage of the work? That, of course, would apply only if you were not available. Incidentally, I never heard of Mr Handmear until I saw his name in yesterday's "Advertiser". In any case I intended contacting your brother or you to enquire whether any member of your family has an old photograph of you in your Boer War uniform, that is, one taken about the time of or just after the Boer War. I am sure that members of the Bendigo Branch of the Royal Historical Society would be most interested to see it. I hope you will have the time and inclination to consider the many points I have raised in this letter because the subject has aroused a lot of interest in Bendigo. Hoping you are well and quite as active as you wish, I remain, with all good wishes, Yours sincerely, Harold Curnow". john walker, jack walker, boer war memorial bendigo, arthur pattinson, soldiers' memorial bendigo