After a quiet period, interest in bookplates in Australia began to increase in the early 1970s, Entrepreneurial art and book collectors such as Edwin Jewell and others commissioned multiple Bookplate designs from a range of well known fine artists. At a 1997 meeting in Melbourne of the Ephemera Society of Australia Edwin Jewell and others announced the formation of the Australian Bookplate Society. The society was instrumental in promoting the art of the bookplate through establishment of the Australian Bookplate Design competition. The competition includes a design award for secondary schools students.Winner of the Australian Primary Student Design Award section of the Australian Bookplate Design competition 2020.Freehand drawn quartered shield within a rectangular border. The four segments of the shield are drawn with - clockwise from upper left, Boy doing handstand, earth & rocket, Girl on skateboard surmounting smiley sketch, dog in landscape.Ellie Flanagan lower right of sketched frame.

Sydney PERN (c1876-23 October 1967 ) Born Battley, England Dr Sydney Pern began practicing medicine in the Victorian town of Yarram before setting up practice in Ballarat. He was a competent artist, and as an amateur anthropologist collected Aboriginal artefacts during travels in Central and Northern Australia. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007. Unframed coastal landscape art, artwork, meetung, sydney pern, unframed

Sydney PERN (c1876-23 October 1967 ) Born Battley, England Dr Sydney Pern began practicing medicine in the Victorian town of Yarram before setting up practice in Ballarat. He was a competent artist, and as an amateur anthropologist collected Aboriginal artefacts during travels in Central and Northern Australia. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Watercolour landscape glued onto card depicting a view towards Mount Dandenong.art, artwork, sydney pern, landscape, mount dandenong

A framed oil painting depicting an Australian bushscape. Gift of David Alexander, 2013david alexander, art, artist, alexander, landscape, churchill, gippsland campus

British born artist John Wolseley relocated to Australia in 1976, where he travelled extensively through the outback mainly recording the natural history of remote north Australia in large, minutely detailed paintings. Since 2009, he has travelled to Darwin annually to continue his exploration of the Top End, visiting Arnhem Land and Daly River to work with Indigenous artists to research and capture the detail and essence of particular landscapes. His works reflect how landscape can be thought of as fields of energy in which plant forms move or dance with rhythmic life. After The Fire - Leaf Surge represents the vibrant regrowth of new foliage emerging from a landscape recently ravaged by fire.

Stephen Wickham is an Australian photographer and painter who has been actively exhibiting his works since the 1980s. A long standing preoccupation with Mt Buffalo since the 1980's has seen the artist produce a number of photographic suites and exhibitions that have been likened to German Romantic iconography and associated heavily with the European migrant experience (Robert Nelson, The Age 16 June 2001). Born to Viennese parents, hiking in the mountains for Wickham represents a traditional European family pastime. This series of work is comprised of expeditionary photographs taken between 1980 and 1985. Charles Green describes Wickham's landscape photographs as sublime, transcendental, spiritual and symbolic (Art in Australia Spring 1988). Set in Victoria’s Mount Buffalo National Park, the Mount Buffalo series captures the mountain plateau during winter. Rather than focusing on a lush green landscape, Wickham presents the viewer with close-ups of the snow-covered flaura and fauna of the alpine region.Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Miriam Kenter in memory of Master George Willibrord Kenter

Stephen Wickham is an Australian photographer and painter who has been actively exhibiting his works since the 1980s. A long standing preoccupation with Mt Buffalo since the 1980's has seen the artist produce a number of photographic suites and exhibitions that have been likened to German Romantic iconography and associated heavily with the European migrant experience (Robert Nelson, The Age 16 June 2001). Born to Viennese parents, hiking in the mountains for Wickham represents a traditional European family pastime. This series of work is comprised of expeditionary photographs taken between 1980 and 1985. Charles Green describes Wickham's landscape photographs as sublime, transcendental, spiritual and symbolic (Art in Australia Spring 1988). Set in Victoria’s Mount Buffalo National Park, the Mount Buffalo series captures the mountain plateau during winter. Rather than focusing on a lush green landscape, Wickham presents the viewer with close-ups of the snow-covered flaura and fauna of the alpine region.Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Miriam Kenter in memory of Master George Willibrord Kenter

Stephen Wickham is an Australian photographer and painter who has been actively exhibiting his works since the 1980s. A long standing preoccupation with Mt Buffalo since the 1980's has seen the artist produce a number of photographic suites and exhibitions that have been likened to German Romantic iconography and associated heavily with the European migrant experience (Robert Nelson, The Age 16 June 2001). Born to Viennese parents, hiking in the mountains for Wickham represents a traditional European family pastime. This series of work is comprised of expeditionary photographs taken between 1980 and 1985. Charles Green describes Wickham's landscape photographs as sublime, transcendental, spiritual and symbolic (Art in Australia Spring 1988). Set in Victoria’s Mount Buffalo National Park, the Mount Buffalo series captures the mountain plateau during winter. Rather than focusing on a lush green landscape, Wickham presents the viewer with close-ups of the snow-covered flaura and fauna of the alpine region.Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Miriam Kenter in memory of Master George Willibrord Kenter

Stephen Wickham is an Australian photographer and painter who has been actively exhibiting his works since the 1980s. A long standing preoccupation with Mt Buffalo since the 1980's has seen the artist produce a number of photographic suites and exhibitions that have been likened to German Romantic iconography and associated heavily with the European migrant experience (Robert Nelson, The Age 16 June 2001). Born to Viennese parents, hiking in the mountains for Wickham represents a traditional European family pastime. This series of work is comprised of expeditionary photographs taken between 1980 and 1985. Charles Green describes Wickham's landscape photographs as sublime, transcendental, spiritual and symbolic (Art in Australia Spring 1988). Set in Victoria’s Mount Buffalo National Park, the Mount Buffalo series captures the mountain plateau during winter. Rather than focusing on a lush green landscape, Wickham presents the viewer with close-ups of the snow-covered flaura and fauna of the alpine region.Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Miriam Kenter in memory of Master George Willibrord Kenter

Stephen Wickham is an Australian photographer and painter who has been actively exhibiting his works since the 1980s. A long standing preoccupation with Mt Buffalo since the 1980's has seen the artist produce a number of photographic suites and exhibitions that have been likened to German Romantic iconography and associated heavily with the European migrant experience (Robert Nelson, The Age 16 June 2001). Born to Viennese parents, hiking in the mountains for Wickham represents a traditional European family pastime. This series of work is comprised of expeditionary photographs taken between 1980 and 1985. Charles Green describes Wickham's landscape photographs as sublime, transcendental, spiritual and symbolic (Art in Australia Spring 1988). Set in Victoria’s Mount Buffalo National Park, the Mount Buffalo series captures the mountain plateau during winter. Rather than focusing on a lush green landscape, Wickham presents the viewer with close-ups of the snow-covered flaura and fauna of the alpine region.Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Miriam Kenter in memory of Master George Willibrord Kenter

Stephen Wickham is an Australian photographer and painter who has been actively exhibiting his works since the 1980s. A long standing preoccupation with Mt Buffalo since the 1980's has seen the artist produce a number of photographic suites and exhibitions that have been likened to German Romantic iconography and associated heavily with the European migrant experience (Robert Nelson, The Age 16 June 2001). Born to Viennese parents, hiking in the mountains for Wickham represents a traditional European family pastime. This series of work is comprised of expeditionary photographs taken between 1980 and 1985. Charles Green describes Wickham's landscape photographs as sublime, transcendental, spiritual and symbolic (Art in Australia Spring 1988). Set in Victoria’s Mount Buffalo National Park, the Mount Buffalo series captures the mountain plateau during winter. Rather than focusing on a lush green landscape, Wickham presents the viewer with close-ups of the snow-covered flaura and fauna of the alpine region.Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Miriam Kenter in memory of Master George Willibrord Kenter

Stephen Wickham is an Australian photographer and painter who has been actively exhibiting his works since the 1980s. A long standing preoccupation with Mt Buffalo since the 1980's has seen the artist produce a number of photographic suites and exhibitions that have been likened to German Romantic iconography and associated heavily with the European migrant experience (Robert Nelson, The Age 16 June 2001). Born to Viennese parents, hiking in the mountains for Wickham represents a traditional European family pastime. This series of work is comprised of expeditionary photographs taken between 1980 and 1985. Charles Green describes Wickham's landscape photographs as sublime, transcendental, spiritual and symbolic (Art in Australia Spring 1988). Set in Victoria’s Mount Buffalo National Park, the Mount Buffalo series captures the mountain plateau during winter. Rather than focusing on a lush green landscape, Wickham presents the viewer with close-ups of the snow-covered flaura and fauna of the alpine region.Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Miriam Kenter in memory of Master George Willibrord Kenter

Hoda Afshar's 2018 body of work, "Remain," offers a forthright and unapologetic political commentary on Australia's border protection policy, shedding light on its impact on human rights. This collection comprises a film and a series of photographic portraits that chronicle the stories of stateless men who chose to stay on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, even after the closure of the immigration detention centre in October 2017. In the accompanying film, the experiences of these men are conveyed through episodic fragments, narrated with a mix of lyrical and brutal voiceovers. Some express themselves through poetry, others through song, while some recall the riots and suicides. Set against the backdrop of a picturesque landscape featuring lush foliage and crystal-clear water—a stark contrast to the harsh realities described—the emotional impact of the work is intensified. It creates a simultaneous sense of beauty and horror. The photographic portraits of the same individuals are equally compelling. Positioned prominently against a dark backdrop, these subjects assert their presence, emphasizing their right to be seen. The deliberate simplicity of these portraits serves as a powerful political statement, countering the invisibility imposed by the act of detention. Afshar metaphorically acknowledges the struggles faced by these men, depicting them contending with the elements—fire, water, and earth—yet never questioning their inherent humanity. Here we see Behrouz Boochani, the Kurdish Iranian writer whose memoir ‘No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from the Manus Prison’ won the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Literature and the Prize for Non-Fiction in 2019. Boochani was held in detention on Manus Island from 2013 until the centre’s closure in 2017 and was forced to remain on the island in a stateless condition.

This item was created for Wodonga Historical Society by the artist, Betty L. Barberis in 2009. Betty Barberis nee Barton was one of 12 children born to Roderick Barton and Myrtle Ann Hore of Gundowring in the Kiewa Valley. She was born in 1927 and attended Upper Gundowring Primary School. Betty was encouraged to enter a project for the "Young Farmers" by illustrating a book. She won first prize for Victoria and the book was exhibited at the Royal Melbourne Show. This resulted in Betty attaining a Manual Art Teacher's Studentship which she completed at Wangaratta Technical School. Here she learned many new skills ranging from garment design to ceramics. She also attended Melbourne Teachers College. Betty created many decorative banners, the first being for the Australian section of the World Scout Jamboree in 1948. Over her long career she was to create many other banners and commissioned work, including this banner created for Wodonga Historical Society and featuring the Wodonga Water Tower. Betty’s great body of work included landscapes, millinery, ceramics, and a bronze sculpture of her husband Vern Barberis who was a fellow schoolteacher and represented Australia as a weightlifter, winning a bronze medal at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. She also illustrated several books and had exhibitions in many galleries including in Albury. Betty passed away at The Grange, Wodonga on 26 November 2013.This banner was created by a renowned and highly regarded artist from Northeast Victoria.A large velvet banner created for the Wodonga Historical Society by noted local artist Betty L. Barberis. It is mounted on a pine rod and features an image of the water tower in Wodonga, Victoria. The majority of the banner is hand stitched.Around the edge of the central image: "Wodonga Historical Society Victoria.wodonga historical society, betty l. barberis

After a quiet period, interest in bookplates in Australia began to increase in the early 1970s, Entrepreneurial art and book collectors such as Edwin Jewell and others commissioned multiple Bookplate designs from a range of well known fine artists. At a 1997 meeting in Melbourne of the Ephemera Society of Australia Edwin Jewell and others announced the formation of the Australian Bookplate Society. The society was instrumental in promoting the art of the bookplate through establishment of the Australian Bookplate Design competition. The competition includes a design award for secondary schools students.shades of black and white tree in landscape.Signed beneath plate in pencil Olivia Moroney. 2020

Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon on the south coast of Iceland. It is formed by ice breaking off the Breidamerkurjokull in the Vatnajokull National Park. The ice floats out to sea through a narrow channel and is often washed back onto the black lava sand beach by tides and storms. This area is frequently battered by wind and heavy rain and received a lot of ash and dust from the 2010 eruption. The images in this exhibition were taken over several visits: never in good weather. They are my interpretation of the wild beauty in this ever-changing landscape of rock and ice. australian photography, iceland, landscape

Photograph of the Nathalia WWI Avenue of Honour taken in 2006 by avenue researcher Michael Taffe. The Nathalia avenue consists of Australian native trees known as Kurrajongs. This photograph forms part of a large collection of images of Avenues of Honour at Hymettus, Ballarat from Michael Taffe's twenty-five years of research into the avenues leading to his PhD ' First World War Avenues of Honour: Social History through the Landscape.'. nathalia, avenue of honour, ballarat, phd, michael taffe, social history, landscape, kurrajongs,

non-fictionthesis, great war, ballarat, avenue of honour, michael taffe, war memorials, memory, landscape

A small book of 47 pages printed at The Specialty Press Melbourne. Covers in poor condition due to wear and water but content pages fair although cover now detached.fictionedna walling, gardeners, poetry

Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon on the south coast of Iceland. It is formed by ice breaking off the Breidamerkurjokull in the Vatnajokull National Park. The ice floats out to sea through a narrow channel and is often washed back onto the black lava sand beach by tides and storms. This area is frequently battered by wind and heavy rain and received a lot of ash and dust from the 2010 eruption. The images in this exhibition were taken over several visits: never in good weather. They are my interpretation of the wild beauty in this ever-changing landscape of rock and ice. australian photography, iceland, landscape

Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon on the south coast of Iceland. It is formed by ice breaking off the Breidamerkurjokull in the Vatnajokull National Park. The ice floats out to sea through a narrow channel and is often washed back onto the black lava sand beach by tides and storms. This area is frequently battered by wind and heavy rain and received a lot of ash and dust from the 2010 eruption. The images in this exhibition were taken over several visits: never in good weather. They are my interpretation of the wild beauty in this ever-changing landscape of rock and ice. australian photography, iceland, landscape

Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon on the south coast of Iceland. It is formed by ice breaking off the Breidamerkurjokull in the Vatnajokull National Park. The ice floats out to sea through a narrow channel and is often washed back onto the black lava sand beach by tides and storms. This area is frequently battered by wind and heavy rain and received a lot of ash and dust from the 2010 eruption. The images in this exhibition were taken over several visits: never in good weather. They are my interpretation of the wild beauty in this ever-changing landscape of rock and ice. australian photography, iceland, landscape

Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon on the south coast of Iceland. It is formed by ice breaking off the Breidamerkurjokull in the Vatnajokull National Park. The ice floats out to sea through a narrow channel and is often washed back onto the black lava sand beach by tides and storms. This area is frequently battered by wind and heavy rain and received a lot of ash and dust from the 2010 eruption. The images in this exhibition were taken over several visits: never in good weather. They are my interpretation of the wild beauty in this ever-changing landscape of rock and ice. australian photography, iceland, landscape

Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon on the south coast of Iceland. It is formed by ice breaking off the Breidamerkurjokull in the Vatnajokull National Park. The ice floats out to sea through a narrow channel and is often washed back onto the black lava sand beach by tides and storms. This area is frequently battered by wind and heavy rain and received a lot of ash and dust from the 2010 eruption. The images in this exhibition were taken over several visits: never in good weather. They are my interpretation of the wild beauty in this ever-changing landscape of rock and ice. australian photography, iceland, landscape

Jokulsarlon is a glacial lagoon on the south coast of Iceland. It is formed by ice breaking off the Breidamerkurjokull in the Vatnajokull National Park. The ice floats out to sea through a narrow channel and is often washed back onto the black lava sand beach by tides and storms. This area is frequently battered by wind and heavy rain and received a lot of ash and dust from the 2010 eruption. The images in this exhibition were taken over several visits: never in good weather. They are my interpretation of the wild beauty in this ever-changing landscape of rock and ice. australian photography, iceland, landscape

The grave of Thomas Sweeney, former convict turned respectable citizen. The Murray and Sweeney families were both early settlers of the Eltham district and connected by marriage. Their family plots are located side by side in the Catholic section of the Eltham Cemetery. Irish-born Thomas Sweeney is regarded as the first settler in Eltham. He was transported to Sydney in 1823 after being convicted of arson. He was granted his freedom in 1838 and married Margaret Meehan in the same year. They moved to Melbourne and in 1842 Thomas purchased 110 acres beside the Yarra River in the vicinity of present-day Sweeneys Lane. He called the property ‘Culla Hill’ and built a small slab hut (reputedly with Wurundjeri help; Margaret is said to have run an informal hospital for them in return). This was followed in 1846 by more substantial buildings consisting of a three-roomed Irish-style ‘longhouse’ and a barn made of stone and handmade bricks, with doors large enough to accommodate a fully loaded wagon. When the gold rush came, Thomas prospered by selling meat and potatoes to the prospectors, enabling him to purchase a further 308 acres in 1856. He promoted the construction of a bridge over the Plenty River and the establishment of a school at Eltham. Roman Catholic Church services were held at Culla Hill in the early years. When he died in 1867, he was regarded as a respected member of the community. Thomas and Margaret are buried in Eltham Cemetery with many of their descendants. Their first son John continued to farm Culla Hill until his death in 1909. Culla Hill passed out of the Sweeneys' possession in 1939. The house and barn remain today, though lesser outbuildings have gone. The facade of the house is much the same as it was in the 1840s. Sacred To the memory of Thomas Sweeney Who died Sep 6th 1867 Aged 65 years May his soul res in peace Also his wife Margaret Died Oct 3rd 1884 aged 73 years And their daughters Annie Died Aug 22nd 1860 aged 21 years Johanna Died Aug 19th 1872 aged 22 years Margaret Died 7th Sep 1913 aged 72 years R.I.P. Also In Memory Of John Sweeney Died 24th May 1909 Aged 65 years Also of his wife Ellen Died 8th March 1910 Aged 64 years R.I.P Also In Memory Of Caroline Infant daughter of John & Ellen Sweeney Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p55 From the piety and poverty of 19th century Eltham, 20th century artists and environmentalists, to today’s comfortable middle class, Eltham Cemetery records it all — and more. A visit to Eltham Cemetery reveals an important social record since its beginnings in 1858. The cemetery was situated on about six acres (2.4ha) (now around 4.8ha) at the corner of Mount Pleasant and Metery Roads.1* It is thought that Metery Road was originally called Cemetery Road, but in the early 1940s, a resident, possibly a councillor, objected to the name resulting in the change.2 Much can be gleaned about the developing Eltham community from burial styles and the names of former local residents. Originally the cemetery was divided into Christian denominations, like others of that time, following the United Kingdom burial system. In 1861 the cemetery included Church of England, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and Wesleyans (later Methodist) sites. Graves also indicated social class. Some had grand tombstones, perhaps fenced with ornamental cast iron railing, but most in the 1860s and 1870s were constructed of modest stone slabs.3 This indicated the poverty of the district, which was largely inhabited by farmers on small landholdings. A poignant reminder of the high rates of infant mortality of those times, are the many infants and young children recorded on the headstones. Major changes occurred in the cemetery in the late 20th century as Christian adherence weakened and society became more egalitarian and informal. In the early 1970s a non-denominational lawn section for burials was established. Since then all new areas have been non-denominational to accommodate the more diverse local community. Now, instead of large ornamental headstones, some mourners have chosen boulders, reflecting the natural Eltham style, while others choose graves in the lawn areas or niches in walls. In the late 1970s, the University Donor Section was established north-west of Candlebark Lawn for those who donated their bodies for The University of Melbourne medical research. In the early 1980s the natural Australian garden style, popular in Eltham, was mirrored in a new section called Ashes Walk. Local landscape architect Gordon Ford, who had popularised this style, designed the Walk using boulders shaded by native plants beside curved pathways. Landscape architect Robert Boyle later redesigned Ashes Walk and developed other parts of the cemetery in keeping with this style.4 Appropriately Ford, who died in 1999, was interred in the Native Garden Section in a cluster of sites shaded by a large eucalyptus tree.5 By 2007, about 6400 interments were recorded in the Eltham Cemetery. Close inspection reveals notable names in the district’s history. The grave of Thomas Sweeney, a former convict who became a respected citizen, can be found in the Roman Catholic section near the path. Eltham Primary School’s first headmaster, David Clark, is buried in a modest grave in the Church of England section to the east of the path from the main entrance. Sir William Irvine, Victorian Premier from 1900 to 1902, whose grave is in the north-east Presbyterian section was at various times Victoria’s Chief Justice, Deputy Governor and Treasurer.6 Further south is the grave of social reformer Bertram Wainer, born in Scotland in 1928 and died in 1987. He campaigned to legalise abortion and exposed police corruption in allowing illegal ‘backyard’ abortions. Other prominent local residents interred in the cemetery include: Justus Jörgensen, who founded Montsalvat; Alistair Knox, the mud-brick housing pioneer and Eltham Shire Councillor from 1971 to 1975 and President in 1975; Clem and Nina Christensen, who had a major influence on the literary development of post World War Two Australia. Others were: composer Dorian Le Gallienne; artist Peter Glass; Stephen Dattner, a prominent Melbourne furrier; ALP parliamentarian for Greensborough, Pauline Toner and political scientist and commentator, Professor William Macmahon Ball.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, annie sweeney, caroline sweeney, ellen sweeney, eltham cemetery, graves, gravestones, johanna sweeney, john murray, john sweeney, margaret sweeney, mary ellen drain, mary murray, thomas murray, thomas sweeney

Robert Thomas Miller Born in Melbourne in 1916 Studied commercial art at RMIT and for many years worked as graphic designer and design director at ACI Ltd. Member of the Victorian Artists's Society (Council member since 1965), Australian Guild of Realist Artists, Old Water Colour Society Club (past president), Australian Watercolour Institute, Hughesdale Arts Group (past president), Burnie (Tas.) Coastal Art Group. His watercolours have won over 40 major awards, including Victorian Artists' Society, 1973 Artist of the Year Award, and the Rotary Club of Camberwell Watercolour Prize (twice). Represented in many Australian collections both public and private.Maritime artRobert T. Miller, Mission to Seafarers Victoria CollectionA framed and glazed mat mounted watercolour painting by award winning artist Robert T Miller in ''landscape" format showing moored, masted ships; The modern frame is of moulded or carved wood with appearance of brushed gilt type gilding; image is mounted with pale grey window mount; Backing sealed with paper wire strand hanging system;Artist signed front lower right corner of painting in black ink; no date; sepia label adhered on top centre Verso with artist bio and brief CV ; Other exhibition labels adhered ; inscription describing acquisition and title of work; ( details TBA) M3 in black markerharbour, dockside, artwork, marine art, robert thomas miller, robert t. miller, watercolour, artwork-paintings

'Fulling', the half-hectare property at Pitt Street, Eltham was the home of landscape designer Gordon Ford and his wife Gwen. Ford bought the property in 1948, originally part of an orchard. The garden encapsulates the major trends of Australian garden design in the second half of the 20th century. The garden design is based on mass (plants) and void (paths and pools), textures and forms. It epitomises the Eltham style because of its relaxed informality and attraction to native wildlife. The mud brick house and designed and built by Ford commenced in 1948. Several extensions were added up to 1970 and were built by Graham Rose (Source: information panel for exhibition, n.d.) Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p147 A narrow timber gate opens onto a garden that has had a huge impact on natural garden development in Australia since the 1950s.1 Fulling, the half-hectare property at Pitt St, Eltham, was the home of the landscape designer, Gordon Ford, who died in 1999. The garden ‘encapsulates the major trends of Australian garden design in the second half of the 20th century...and epitomises the Eltham style of garden’.2 It in turn, was influenced by several Victorian major landscape designers of the mid 20th century – Ellis Stones, Peter Glass and Edna Walling. The gate opens onto a sandy gravel path, one of several, which wind around dramatic pools and what appear to be natural bush, but on close inspection are carefully integrated native, indigenous and exotic plantings. Retaining walls and steps of rock through the garden link different terrace levels. Lichen-covered boulders serve as steps across a pool, leading to the triple level mud-brick house. Ford bought the property, which was originally part of an orchard, in 1948. As the son of a Presbyterian minister, Ford received a good education, which included learning Latin. This was advantageous when he worked in plant sales for the Forestry Commission, before the Second World War. In the late 1940s, however, Ford turned to building and landscape gardening. He worked on the Busst house, an early mud-brick building designed by Alistair Knox and at the same time, Ford was employed by Ellis Stones. Knox described Ford as, ‘one of the funniest men of the district. ...Rocky’s (Ellis Stones) Depression stories and Gordon’s memory and quick tongue made the jobs the most enjoyable of all those hysterical times that made Eltham the centre of the eternal laugh, between the years of 1945 and 1950’.3 Ford’s house, like so many after the war, was built progressively, as more space was needed and formerly scarce materials became available. It began with an army-shed of timber-lined walls, now used as the kitchen. Ford then built what is now the lounge room, and the house grew ‘like topsy and on a shoestring,’ says his widow Gwen. A lot of second-hand materials such as window frames were used, a style made famous particularly with their extensive use at Montsalvat, the Eltham Artists’ Colony. The house was constructed as a joint venture with friends, including artist Clifton Pugh, who built Ford’s bedroom for £10. The polished floorboards and solomite (compressed straw) ceilings, interspersed with heavy beams, exude warmth. The result is a home of snug spaces, with soft light and garden vistas. Several other mud-brick buildings were constructed as needed, including a studio and units for bed-and-breakfast clients. The garden, which has been part of the Open Garden Scheme since the mid 1980s, is based on a balance of mass (plants) and void (paths and pools), textures and forms. It epitomises the Eltham style because of its relaxed informal ethos and attracts native animals. Wattlebirds, scrub wrens, pardalotes, currawongs, owls and even kangaroos, have been seen at Fulling. Gwen, a former English teacher who has worked on the garden since around 1970, urged and helped Ford write his book, The Natural Australian Garden.4 Several of Ford’s favourite trees are in the garden, including the native Casuarina or She-Oak. In spring, the garden is dusted with the purple Orthrosanthus multiflorus or blue native irises and rings with the calls of birds attracted to plants like the callistemons, correas and grevilleas.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, fulling, gordon ford garden, pitt street, eltham mud brick buildings, mud brick house

The Eltham Community and Reception Centre was Australia's first public mud-brick building. Commissioned in 1977 by Eltham Shire Council, led by Shire president (and architect) Robert Marshall, architects Whitford and Peck were asked to design a multipurpose facility in mud-brick and timber. The official opening was performed by the Hon. R.J. Hamer; E.D., M.P., Premier of Victorai on Saturday, April 22, 1978. Architects: Whitford & Peck Pty Ltd Quantity Surveyor: D.J. Cant & Associates Structural Civil Engineers: Charlett & Moore Pty Ltd Landscape: Peter Glass, Dennis Edwards Mech Elec: Lobley Treidel & Partners Pty Ltd Acoustics: Riley Barden & Kirkhope Builder: L.U. Simon Pty Ltd Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p177 The Wiggles performed there, so has the ABC’s Play School. New citizens have made their vows, volunteers have been honoured, school children have performed, weddings celebrated and people mourned at funerals. Since 1978 the Eltham Community and Reception Centre at the corner of Pitt Street and Main Road, has provided a beautiful and quintessential Eltham environment for people from all over Melbourne. Recognised as Australia’s first public mud-brick building, the centre was built partly on the site of the parsonage of the former Methodist Church (now the Uniting Church).1 Commissioned by the Eltham Council headed by President Robert Marshall, architects Whitford and Peck were asked to design a multipurpose facility in mud-brick and timber. Following public consultation, it was agreed to build a centre for dances, exhibitions, films, plays or concerts. The results – at a cost of around $620,000 – captured the Eltham rustic style. The building – in soft tones of mud-brick and timber and immense floor-to-ceiling windows – overlooks the Diamond Creek and sporting fields. Eltham’s strong artistic heritage is reflected in the centre. Although the lighting is not ideal for a gallery and labels cannot be placed on walls, the centre hosts the Nillumbik Art Awards and displays around ten to 20% of the Nillumbik Shire Art Collection, usually for around a year at a time.2 On permanent display, close to the entrance, is local artist Clifton Pugh’s White Choughs in the Landscape. Further to the right is the Walter Withers Gallery, named after a local member of the Heidelberg School of artists. As part of the Eltham Gateway opposite the Eltham Hotel, the centre stands on what was once part of the Eltham Town Centre along this section of Main Road, then known as Maria Street. On the same site once stood the house and flour mill owned by Henry Dendy, best known as the founder of Brighton, although he lived longer in Eltham. Beside the drive is a wheel-rim tool with accompanying plaque, illustrating a technology important during the horse-powered age and now almost completely gone, as has the blacksmith’s shop that had housed it nearby. The implement is a platform for fitting iron tyres to the wooden rims of cartwheels. Beneath it is a capsule placed in 1985 to commemorate Victoria’s 150 years, which is to be opened in 2035. Although the plants, forming part of the landscaping by Peter Glass and Denis Edwards, are largely indigenous and other native species, some exotic plants are protected as an important link with the site’s past. Planted at the front around 1920, is a large Peppercorn tree with two joined trunks growing from the base, and close by is a Bhutan Cypress (Cupressus torulosa). Three other Peppercorn trees fringe the drive. The building includes two halls – the larger seating 250 people – and a large foyer overlooking trees and ovals. Both halls have retractable rear walls providing varying spaces as required, and guests can use several external decks. A site for outdoor theatre has been carved out of the natural slope outside the entrance. The Bricklayers Union refused to use the traditional mud-bricks, which weigh more than 22kg. As a result the mud-bricks were redesigned to reduce their weight and were laid back-to-back to produce a wall of normal thickness.3 The centre’s massive timber frame is reminiscent of timber bridge construction, with infill panels of mud-brick.4 In accord with the rustic style are colossal rough-sawn posts, bolts and steel brackets. The combination of mud-brick, exposed feature timber framing and creative design in this centre, characterises Eltham’s innovative buildings and the social movement behind them from the 1940s to the 1970s.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 community and reception centre, mudbrick construction