The Orford family, a pioneer family remained continuously living and working in Eltham for 170 years from 1854 to 2024. James and Sarah Orford arrived in Sydney in 1839 aboard the ship “Orestes”; they had several children there before settling in Eltham in 1854. Three children, James Mathias, Sarah Amelia and Thomas Henry initially remained in the Eltham area. James eventually moved to Brunswick. Sarah married Arthur Butler Young and finally lived in Bunyip. Thomas who was six years old when the family arrived in 1854 remained in Eltham, married Helen Logan who died, leaving a large family. They lived in a slab hut by the Yarra at Laughing Waters and Thomas managed the Panton Park Estate, a selection owned by Magistrate Thomas Panton. Thomas’s son, Ernest Orford was born 1892 at Pitt Street, Eltham and also lived his entire life in Eltham working as a labourer, orchardist and later as a gardener and grounds keeper for Sir William Irvine, a former Chief Justice and Premier of Victoria. Ernest married Kate Thomas; their two sons Ron and Doug stayed in the area. Another of Thomas' sons, Arthur, also lived in Eltham. Four Orford generations attended Eltham schools. Doug Orford was born on the kitchen table (reference, son Ted Orford) of the family home at the corner of Reynolds Road and Mount Pleasant Road. Doug married Gwen and they established a family however Gwen died at a young age from cancer. Doug eventually remarried another Gwen and they lived for several decades in Napoleon Street, Eltham. Doug was actively involved in EDHS over many years, including serving as a committee member and vice president. Contributions by Doug and Gwen (Treasurer/Membership Secretary), his wife, assisted EDHS to continue to develop as a not-for-profit group intent on promoting and preserving our local history. Both Doug and Gwen were made Life Members of EDHS. They also acted as EDHS delegates to the Eastern Region of Historical Societies. His significant work with assisting to establish our valued Local History Centre helped develop our home base and supported the continued growth of our society. Doug’s local knowledge, suggestions and family connections were highly valued, Until recent times, he continued to regularly attend our Collections Team workshops providing his insights and historical information about photographs and society records. Doug died peacefully July 8, 2024, and represents the last link in the Orford Eltham chain which spanned 170 years. His funeral was held Thursday, July 18, 2024, at Le Pine Funerals, 848 Main Road, Eltham. Contents: Typed notes, no date: Memories of Ernest Orford [taped 1979] about his school days. Handwritten notes, no date: History of Ernie Orford Typed notes, no date: History of Thomas Henry Orford and family. Photocopy: Shire of Eltham General Rate Receipts. Received from D Orford 7 June 1923 and Received from E F Orford, 4 August 1924. Letter, no date: Nillumbik Shire to Russell Yeoman, Gwen Orford to receive Volunteer Recognition Award. Newsletter article: "The Orford Family, Eltham", Shire of Eltham Historical Society, No.80 September 1991. History of Orford family. Handwritten notes: 21 March 2011, genealogy of George Orford. On reverse Melways map makred with Orford and other land ownerships. Newspaper advertisement, 21 March 2011: "264 Reynolds Road, South Eltham", property for sale [land in ownership of Orford family]. Letter: St Margaret's Anglican Church Eltham to Doug Orford, 17 November 2011, Extracts from church records relative to Orford family. Newspaper article: "Timely facelift at war memorials', Diamond Valley Leader, 30 April 2024, Nillumbik war memorial will have some work and a bronze plaque will be installed at the Eltham Avenue of Honour, Wingrove Park; photograph of Doug Orford Newsletter item: "Welcome home medal", Eltham District Historical Society newsletter no.216 May 2014, World War I two 'Welcome Home Medals' in ownership of local men, being Harry Gilham and Doug Orford. Order of Service, Le Pine Funerals (Eltham), In Loving Memory of Douglas Frederick Orford 22nd August 1929 - 8th July 2024 Doug Orford Reminiscences (2002) in conjunction with Jock Read and Peter Bassett Smith; 4 pages - 3 typed, 1 handwritten possibly transcribed from an audio tape recording (location unknown). New word file and associated pdf created [\Dropbox\EDHS DATA\DOCUMENTS\COLLECTION CATALOGUE DOCUMENTS AND PDFs\2-2 Family Folders\EDHS_06110-2 Doug Orford reminiscences 2002.docx - 1 April 2025]Newspaper clippings, A4 photocopies, etcdoug orford, harry gilham, welcome home medal, eltham avenue of honour, nillumbik war memorial, wingrove park, henry dendy, alfred armstrong, james orford, 264 reynolds road south eltham, george orford, george joseph orford, maryanne george joseph, thomas henry orford, ernest orford, e f orford, eltham cemetery, helen orford, joseph panton, panton park, gordon lyon, banyule estate heidelberg, james matthias orford, wurundjeri, constable peter lawlor, george hill, franklin street eltham, ronald orford, eltham primary school, john brown, robert gamble school inspector, sarah orford, mary ann orford, james mathias orford, sarah amelia orford, james peet, arthur butler young, watsons creek victoria, kangaroo ground victoria, helen logan, william orford, jane orford, arthur orford, frederick orford, florrie orford, victor orford, chem orford, sunnymede eltham, panton hill estate, sir william irvine, gordon lyons, kate thomas, north eltham gospel church, harold clapp, eltham cricket club, research primary school, dalton street school eltham, keith banks, betty banks, benjamine boyd, laughing waters road eltham, freddie gilsinen, douglas frederick orford, eltham district historical society, funeral service, le pine funeral home, life member, order of service, 1934 flood, 1939 bushfires, alcock & pierce, ansell, associated schools sports, blacksmith shop, boakes, bridge street, bryce family, bullock track, butcher, catholic church, cliff lester, cliffy green, daisy smith, dave lyon, diamond creek, diana bassett smith, dick tooth, dr. frank may, eltham higher elementary school, ernie andrew, fire station, flower stall, fodder business, fruit shop, furniture store, gahan family, garni burges, greensborough, harold norman, harry hawker, hat factory, hawker & owen, hay and com store, henry hawker, henry street, j .harry butherway, jack burgoyne, jack ryan, jock read, john lyon, junk yard, kevin gahan, kilpatricks, len parsons, lyon family, machine factory, mc leans, memorial, metery road, miss reynolds, monteith 's bus, mr. gadd, mrs. bird, mrs. morrison, napoleon street, peter bassett smith, peter's gahan, plenty river, plumridge, produce store, public hall, rechabite hall, reynolds road, roger bird, rutter family, ryan family, shoe factory., staffs produce store, studley cairn gahan, sweeneys lane, swimming pool, taylor street, tennis court, warren family, wooden bridge, yarra brae road

High Street Charlton from west end c. 1950. From left - CBC Bank, garage, Trenchards Stock & Station Agents, Tippetts, Ike Richards shop, Procters, Nulty's Pictures, Dene's Gagarge, furniture storeBlack & white postcard of High St Charlton taken from the west end. Shows part of War Memorial, one car travelling toward photographer and a dark truck travelling away from photographer. Cars parked along both sides of the street.cbc bank, trenchards, tippetts, ike richards, procters, nulty's pictures, denes garage, charlton, high street

Date made August 2005Colour photograph showing Central Hotel, taken from Mechanic Street. Covered seating area and outside furniture in Sports Bar, and glimpsed on right hand side driveway for the drive-in bottle shop. Taken from outside of highway showing all lanes. Lakes Entrance Victoriahotels, architecture

Bolton Bros. Pty Ltd. History tells us that Benjamin Bolton and his two eldest sons, William and Arthur, began a printing business known as Bolton & Sons on March 25, 1885. Since its commencement in 1885, Bolton Office National has been locally owned and operated and is committed to being the leader in the provision of service and procurement solutions. Located in Bendigo, Bolton’s Office National is Central Victoria’s premier service provider of office products & solutions, providing procurement solutions for Stationery & Office Supplies, Office Furniture & Equipment, Business Technology Equipment, Printing Services, Industrial & Corporate Workwear, Photocopiers & Multi-Function Device Support. The location of the original printing business was in High Street but later moved to Williamson Street where the business underwent a name change to Bolton Bros and expanded into manufacturing paper bags and other stationery lines. In 1902, Bolton Bros moved to 43 Mitchell Street, which housed the retail stationery department and the main office, while the printing factory was on the second and third floors. Next door at 47 Mitchell Street, the wholesale division and machine service department operated. William and Arthur Bolton and their sons travelled throughout central and northern Victoria selling their own products and representing other companies. They are credited with being the innovators of the loose-leaf ledger. Today, of course, the business is back in Williamson Street with an even greater presence but the same entrepreneurial flair that has seen it survive and flourish through everything history has thrown at it. Having gone through five generations of family ownership, current company director-David Bolton, is proud of his company’s history and contribution to the local economy. https://www.officenational.com.au/shop/en/boltons/about-us10934.25a Bolton Bros. Pty. Ltd. 30 April 1948 Invoice for 1000 ledger cards purchased by A. Stubley, Morton's Stores, Barham 10934.25b Monthly settlement AC Morton & Co. Little slips April 1938 10934.25c Invoice to AC Morton & Co. binders 9 October 1942 10934.25d Invoice to Mr Stubley 1 Jan 1946 10934.25e Bolton bros. Pty Ltd. letter/telegram 5th September 1945 From Bolton Bro's to Morton's Stores 10934.25f Follow up letter to Morton's Stores 10 Sep 1945 10934.25g Invoice 27 Aug 1940 10934.25h Invoice to Morton & Co. 20 Dec 1939bolton bros pty ltd., bendigo, morton's stores

Black and white photograph of cottage of Alf Fish in Roadknight Street on fire showing three men with furniture and belongings in yard Lakes Entrance Victoria. Also three similiar black and white photograph of house on fire fires, disasters, fish family

Miss Olive Codling was a Foundation Member and a Life Member of the Wodonga Historical Society. Many of her prize-winning photos are held in the Society Collection. She also held a range of roles and committee positions in a wide range of Wodonga community organisations. WODONGA'S SECOND COURTHOUSE The Court House was situated in the Customs or Bond Store building alongside the Wodonga Police Station in 93 High Street. This was on the west side of High Street at its intersection with Bond Street. The building was converted to the courthouse in 1920. In early 1964, the courthouse building was burnt beyond repair and furniture and other property destroyed. The cause of the fire was never found. The Police Station was lucky to survive but only because of the efforts of the local Fire Brigade. After the fire, the court was held first at the old Fire Station premises near where the present Wodonga Post Office, then it moved to a vacant building in Mitchell Street which was later turned into a Child Care Centre. Foundations for the new courthouse in Elgin Street were laid in October 1965.This photo collection is significant as it documents how the businesses and buildings in Wodonga have evolved and contributed to community throughout the 20th century.2 black and white photos of the Court House, formerly used as a Bond Store for collection of customs.high st wodonga, wodonga court house

Murray Views No. 5. Main Street Stawell Vic. post card of street scene. The scene is looking west with the Geo Mitchell shop and Macrows furniture shop on the right. The street is full of parked cars c 1940's.Murray Views Postcard and also one enlargement of the street scene in Stawell looking west c 1940's.Murray View No. 5 Main Street, Stawell, Vic. (on the front) Real photograph produced in Australia by Murray View, Gympie, Q. (on the back). stawell business streetscape

Stathi Raftopoulos was an avid collector of different objects, including artwork and film memorabilia which he stored and displayed in a basement room below his home in North Balwyn . The room became known as 'Stathi's katoi'. 'Katoi' is an Ithacan term for the storage area or room under the main house.A coloured photograph of a long narrow room with many framed pictures, posters and paintings hanging on the walls. Items of furniture are used to display a variety of objects. A pull-down screen is hanging from the end wall and a man is seated on a chair in front of it. The floor is covered with an off-white carpet length.Written on the back in black biro: 520/24/7

The photograph was taken at an Ithacan Philanthropic Society annual picnic sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Races were always a feature at the annual picnic. In those early most families travelled to the picnic ground in hired furniture vans. The annual picnic is still held today in February of each year. Pictured standing L-R: ? Kasamias; unknown; Nick Kandiliotis; Andreas Razos; unknown; unknown; unknown; Spiros Digaletos; Paizis?; Dimitri Megalogenis; unknown; Paris Gabriel; Kallinikos ?; unknown; unknown; Gerasimos Papadopoulos (Tsinis); Stratos Paizis; Cominos (Bourazanis)?; Kneeling: Nikos Stratos; Platon Varvarigos. The annual picnic gave Ithacans the chance to relax and mingle away from their work on Sunday. It was and still is an important social event in the society's calendar.A scanned black and white photograph seventeen men standing in a line and two others crouched down in the front. They are either preparing to have a race or they have completed one as four of them are wearing shorts and singlets while some of the others have rolled up their trouser legs and a lot of them are wearing running shoes. The group are standing in a picnic ground in a valley which is surrounded by trees.

1950s Annual Ithacan picnic at Bacchus Marsh. Standing Nicholas Stratos, foreground L- R seated Zacharoula Mavrokefalos, Anna Stratos and Royal Stratos; back l-r: Nicholas Stratos, Mary Mavrokefalos, Stathoula (surname unknown), Denis Black, Gery Rigos, Agapi (Connie) Rigos. The annual Ithacan picnic is one of the oldest and most enduring social events for Melbourne's Ithacan community. First, second, even up to fifth generation Australian Ithacans reunite at this event. In the early days people travelled to the picnic grounds in furniture vans. A black and white photograph with a thin white border of a family group sitting on the ground around a picnic meal spread out in front of them. A partial view of a sedan car is visible on the LHS of the photograph. The names of the people in the photograph have been written on the back.varvarigos, rigos, varvaregos

The dowry agreement was between Costas Raftopoulos and Joyia Karanze, who were married on 12 October 1924. In the agreement Costa Raftopoulos was to give Joyia items of furniture when they were married. Dowry agreements were an important aspect of an impending marriage between engaged couples.A photograph of a letter written in English outlining a dowry Agreement.

Also Black and white photograph of Furniture Centrepoint, Church St Lakes Entrance taken 13.11.1991Black and white photograph of staff and proprietors Mike and Louise Anketell of Furniture Centrepoint 52 to 54 Church Street Lakes Entrance Victoriabusinesses, commerce

This type of large, brass tap is typical of the plumbing fittings manufactured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The tap has encrustations and concretion inside, showing that it had been in the sea for quite some time. The pipe leading to the spout is squashed, nicked and appears to have been sawn or broken off. It could have once been part of the plumbing from a ship, perhaps from one of the boilers used in the kitchen, for bathing or for laundry or cleaning. The name “BEST” on the tap signifies that it could have been made by Robert Best who began his Birmingham brass foundry c. 1840, and even though The information from the donor is that tap was given to her father (1906-1982) who lived in the Warrnambool district. It was likely given by a cray fisherman or diver, who said that the tap came from the Loch Ard shipwreck, wrecked on Mutton Bird Island, east of Port Campbell, Victoria, on 1st June 1878. This could easily be the case but there is no provenance for it. ROBERT BEST, BRASS FOUNDRY Circa 1840 Robert Best founded his brass foundry business and was referred to as a Brass Chandelier of Birmingham”. In 1864 an advertisement in the Journal of Gas Lighting, Water Supply, & Sanitary Improvement announces Best and Hobson, late Robert Best, 100 Charlotte Street Birmingham, manufacturers of Chandeliers, Brass and iron fittings, Steam and Water-cocks etc. gas apparatus of every description, Plumber's brass foundry, with works at Birmingham and Great Bridge, Staffordshire. In 1867 Best & Lloyd was formed, after Best and Hobson went into liquidation, manufacturing at the Cambray Works of Wattville Road, Handsworth. It was a light industrial engineering works and one of the owners was Robert Dudley Best’s father. Robert Dudley Best (1892-1984) later took over the business of Best & Lloyd. The company is still in business at Downing Street, Smethwick, Birmingham. In 1878, brass ship furniture and bell fittings stamped “BEST” was made by William Udal & Co., who advertised as manufacturers of BEST cast and stamped brass foundry goods. This large brass tap is typical of industrial tapware of the mid-late 19th and 20th centuries. The location of the tap, when found, is associated with the Warrnambool district and could have easily been from a shipwreck due to the encrustation found inside the tap. Due to its design and manufacturer, the tap is associated with the mid-late 19th and early 20th-century manufacture of plumbing fittings. Tap, brass, heavy-duty, with butterfly handle. The design and style are typical of the plumbing of the late 1800s. Inscription pressed into the handle, within rectangular border "BEST". Encrustation and concretion are inside the tap spout. “BEST” on one side of the tap handle (Also, a label from the donor attached to the tap “from the wreckage of the LOCH ARD")flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, robert best brass foundry, best and hobson, best & llyod, birmingham brass foundry, brass tap, best brand tap, heavy duty brass tap, industrial brass tap, boiler tap, 19th century plumbing, 19th century tapware, 19th century plumbing fitting, tap with butterfly handle, tap salvaged from shipwreck, brass fittings, steam engine fittings, water-cock fitting