Sports Clubs in Kew in the final decades of the 19th century and in the early 20th century were often umbrella organisations with facilities for a number of sports. Typically in Kew, this included teams in lawn bowls, tennis and croquet. The Kew Bowling Club was formed in 1880 while the privately owned Auburn Heights Recreation Club was opened in 1904. The croquet courts at the Kew Recreation Club were opened in 1906, two years after the Club's formation. By 1998, the two Clubs decided to amalgamate at the Auburn Heights site in Barkers Road, forming the Kew Heights Sports Club. The combined club was itself taken over by the Melbourne Cricket Club in 2012 becoming MCC Kew Sports Club. In 2017 MCC Kew closed and its landholding was subsequently sold to Carey Baptist Grammar School. Both the Kew and Auburn Heights Clubs assembled important collections. These historically significant and large collections were donated to the Society in 2020. The collections include manuscripts, pictures, trophies, plans, honour boards etc. References Barnard FGA 1910, 'Sports and Pastimes' in Jubilee History of Kew Victoria: Its origin & progress 1803-1910. Chapman J & C 1999, The history of the Auburn Heights Recreation Club, 1904 to 1908. Reeve S 2012, City of Boroondara: Thematic Environmental History, p.216.The combined collections of the four sporting clubs making up the collection number hundreds of items that are historically significant locally. They are also significant to the sporting history of the greater Melbourne area and to the sports of lawn bowls and tennis in Australia in the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection illuminates two of the Victorian historic themes - 'Building community life' through forming community organisations and 'Shaping cultural and creative life' by participating in sport and recreation.Croquet mallet, Shaft made of a number of separate rectangular sections of pale wood, mostly wrapped with cotton cord and strips of leather. The rectangular head is made of a darker heavier wood and it is banded with a strip of lighter wood.croquet -- mallets, croquet -- equipment, auburn heights croquet club, auburn heights recreation club

Padded fabric and leather collar for working or farming horses.No visible markingsrural industry, agriculture, farming, harness, collar, horse equipment

Pitchfork with hickory (?) handle and carbon steel prongs, ferrule made of mild steel sheet. Bound section of handle near end for ease of use.H. K Bros' embossed on handlerural industry, agriculture, pitchfork, farming equipment

Used by Jessie the Clydesdale on Ziebell's farmHandmade leather bridle with steel rings and reign attachment.rural industry, agriculture, bridle, horse, leather, harness

Leather horse blinkers with tooled leather blinkers. Seven buckles and straps attached to blinkers.No visible markingsrural industry, agriculture, horse, blinkers, saddle, jessie, leather.

Long thick leather strap with two triangular steel fasteners on each end and one steel D-ring.No visible markingsrural industry, agriculture, horse, blinkers, saddle, jessie, leather.

Riding crops favoured by Officers in First World War and between wars. Attraction declined with loss of horses and mechanization.Limited display valueTwo platted leather riding crops - one having two .303 rounds arrange as handle, however end flap is missing.saddlery, riding crops, leathercraft, horse riding equipment, bullet casings, wwi, 1914-1918, world war one, first world war, mounted soldiers

In the early 1990s a number of upgrades and improvements were made to the buildings and the playground at the Bulla Primary School. The climbing frame which these children are using was one of the items installed in the school's playground.A coloured pre-digital photograph of four children playing on a climbing frame in a playground. There are trees growing behind the boundary cyclone fence.playground equipment, bulla primary school, climbing frame

To use this foundation mould, melted beeswax was poured , the lid was placed on top, and the wax allowed to cool. The mould was then separated, and the beeswax foundation sheet taken out. Once placed in a hive, bees used the honeycomb impression created by the mould to draw out honey comb cells to store honey and polen. This mould was used by Bill Voigt, a beekeeping friend of the Robinson family. It was donated by Wilma, Val and Richard Voigt.This is antique equipment used by known beekeepers. Rectangular box with base and no lid. Constructed from wood, joined with metal nails in the corners. Inside box is a metal mould base with hexagonal imprint and metal mould lid with hexagonal imprint.antique, old, wax, foundation, mould, beechworth honey, voigt, robinson

24 pages, illustratedpublication, catalogue, bee-keeping, equipment, guilfoyle, 1970, beechworth honey

The Armstrong Cannons were originally placed at Fort Gellibrand, located at the southernmost tip of the Williamstown peninsula. The Fort was developed during the 1850s as part of a defensive system for the city and port of Melbourne. The importance of the Fort batteries declined from the 1890s, when they were effectively replaced by new facilities at Queenscliff and Point Nepean, but they were still used for gunnery practice. Local residents, through the Williamstown Town Council, complained to the Acting Minister for Defence that the concussion from the guns damaged windows, walls and foundations of buildings. The Armstrong Cannons were moved from Fort Gellibrand to the Gardens in 1906. A primary source of evidence of the cannons being in the Gardens. The cannons are remembered fondly as play equipment for the local children. Many tales have been told of climbing over them and pretending to be shot out of them A collection of seven black and white photographs documenting the removal of the cannons from the Gardens Photo 1 (a) Black and white landscape image. View is looking through the main gates looking at the front of the truck, which has the name Walter Wright across the front bumper, the crane and canon. The gates and fence are painted a light colour, probably white. Photo 2 (b) Black and white landscape image. Back of loader with cannon on it. Man standing on top of the cannon bending over either tying or untying ropes. Trunk of a palm tree is on the left side of the photo with a top of a palm tree in the background. Photo 3 (c) Black and portrait white image. A cannon being loaded by the crane on to trailer. Palm tree is in the background and fronds from a palm tree can be seen in the right top corner. Photo 4 (d) Black and white landscape image. Side on view of a cannon on the truck parked outside the grounds of the Gardens. The logo of the name of the trucking company is on the door of the truck above the words ‘WALTER H WRIGHT / TRANSPORT PTY LTD / S SCHULZ ST WEST MELB’. A second cannon can be seen in the background. A bus is in the background on the middle right side of the image. Photo 5 (e) Black and white landscape image. Truck with cannon on the back leaving the ground of the Gardens. Tree on the right side of the image and power pole is behind the truck. The logo of the name of the trucking company is on the door of the truck above the words ‘WALTER H WRIGHT / TRANSPORT PTY LTD / S SCHULZ ST WEST MELB’. ‘WALTER WRIGHT’ is on the front bumper Photo 6 (f) Black and white landscape image. Cannon tied down on the back of the truck as it is being driven across the street. Three houses in the background and two cars, one is a Volkswagen Photo 7 (g) Black and white landscape image. Cannon on the back of the truck which is parked over the street from the Gardens. Three houses are in the background. Two trees bare of leaves. The front of a car in in the foreground – it has a sun visor and the steering wheel is a light colour.armstrong cannons, williamstown botanic gardens, hobsons bay city council, 1970, walter h wright / transport pty ltd

127 pages, illustrated.

Glass square walled bottle of black ink used for replenishing stamp pads. Labelled, black metal screw top. In white on a black paper label, "Superior / Rubber Stamp Pad / Ink".domestic items, writing equipment, glass technology, bottles

8 boys and girls playing with rope on the grass outside a timber building with an outdoor chair with wooden slats and wrought iron arms and legs. Mature trees are hanging over the fence in the background. A boy is wearing a cotton reel necklace. There is a toy truck on the left hand side of the photo.children, furniture, norfolk road, surrey hills, pre schools, ropes, cast iron work, outdoor furniture, construction materials, wyclif church congregation, jacobs, win (miss), yarnold, win (mrs), craft and craft equipment

Dye is forced through perforations, thus evenly dyeing the yarn. Three cylindrical metal dyeing spools, each with circular perforations. dyeing, yarn, manufaturing, textile, design, colouring, wool

The Taylor Slate was developed by Rev. William Taylor in England in the mid 19th century it was in common use until the early 1970's and enabled blind or vision impaired students to do maths calculations by arranging metal pegs in the slate. The main part of the slate is a metal sheet with 432, 8 sided holes which small metal pegs are inserted. The pegs have different shapes on their ends. These are used to represent different numbers and symbols depending on the way the pegs are placed in the slate and which combinations of pegs are used.39 sliver rectangular cubed pegs braille equipment, education

This coin holder has five holes for holding coins, and was designed to assist vision impaired people to store and find coins.1 black pentagonal shaped coin holderPop Coinassistive devices, equipment

The Fitover sunglasses are designed to be worn directly over your prescription glasses. This wrap-around style blocks light from above and both sides which can benefit, alleviate and prevent many symptoms of common eye diseases by providing 100% UVA/UBA protection from harmful UV rays. 1 pair of black fitover glassesassistive devices, equipment

This small Braille teaching cube attached to a keyring can be used to make the shapes of Braille characters. The surface of cube is studded with large black rivets and when the three main parts of it are rotated, the shapes of a single braille character can be seen and felt. The cube features raised dots in 3 independently revolving sections. These can be turned to form different Braille letters for teaching purposes. 1 bright yellow Braille keyring cube with black dots on itbraille equipment, education aids and devices

This mat making needle was used by visually impaired workers in the mat making workshop at the Royal Victorian for the Blind Institute during the binding of mats in conjunction with a leather sewing palm to protect their palms. 1 long, curved, thick metal needle'Made in England'assistive devices, employment

The C2 Talking Compass is a miniature hand-held battery-operated eight-point compass with digitized voice output. At the top of the compass there is the speaker and the activation button. A three-position slide switch on the side is used to switch the compass off (central position) and select one of the two in-built languages or voices. The compass pronounces the eight compass points in clear digitised speech. It represents an excellent mobility tool for an active blind or vision-impaired person. Unobtrusive, light-weight and reliable, it augments it's user's orientation sense, and contributes to his or her safety and self-confidence. The compass relies on 2 x 12V batteries. Weight: 61 grams.1 semi-transparent light-blue oval shape compass with blue nylon, plaited wrist strapassistive devices, orientation and mobility

Black plastic rectangular watch with digital display and grey button on front, with the word "Talking" on front. On the back are three small buttons labelled "Mode", "Hr." "Min". The watch is attached to a metal key-ring on chain. 1 black rectangle with grey button and LCD display"Talking" on front of watchassistive devices, audio equipment

The Liquid 2 Level Sensor is an aid for people with vision impairment to fill cups and glasses with 2 levels of liquid. The unit simply hangs over the side of a cup or glass with the probes on the inside. Ideal for making a cup of tea or coffee with milk. Simply pour in your hot water stopping when a pulsating tone is heard. Pour in milk stopping when a continuous tone is heard. Your cup is now filled to approximately 15mm from the top and ready to drink. Can also be used as a single level sensor such as for non-mixed drinks. Handy magnets on the back of the unit allow for easy storage on fridge or other metal object.Yellow plastic round container with blue base and four yellow wiresassistive devices, equipment

A gold bronze plastic case with zip containing 3 braille set squares with 3 pins and perforator. Set squares made from yellow plastic. Marked: Chinese inscriptions on the set squares. 3 orange set square with Braille, 3 red tipped pins and an orange perforatorassistive devices, association for the blind

Leatherwork was offered to clients at the Ballarat office of Vision Australia, involving the use of jigs to help align punch marks. This jig was donated by "G.A. Arnold P/L 98-106 Moray St, South Melbourne" and its users were advised to "Clean and oil weekly" according to the 2 metal plates attached to the base plate that the jig was affixed to. A small metal bar runs across the middle of the base plate, to assist in correct alignment, with a black ball handle situated above a metal rod to allow users to push downwards on to a secondary rod (held in place by a cylinder) at the end of which is a punch. The cylinder that holds the punch in place is attached to a broader black metal attachment that is screwed into the base plate. The punch remains at the centre, however this image was taken before the centre's refurbishment.Metal sheet with ridges to align items above a punch activated by a lever pushed downwardsG.A. Arnold P/L 98-106 Moray St, South Melbournerecreation equipment, vision australia