Olivine is mostly found on the Earth's surface in igneous rocks that are dark-coloured. It is common at divergent plate boundaries and at warm spots, such as volcanic areas. It crystalises and forms during the cooling of magma. Olivine is used in refractory sand, bricks, and gemstones. Olivine has been found on a number of meteorites, which might have originated from large asteroids or the mantle of a now-destroyed planet. This olivine crystal is thought to originate from Mount Noorat, with speculation that it could have originated from Mount Shadwell. Mount Noorat is a dormant volcano cone located in the Newer Volcanics Province of Victoria. Mount Noorat belongs to the Kirrae Wuurong people, who used the Mount as a place for meetings and gatherings prior to European settlement. Contact was first made between European settlers and the Indigenous people in 1841. The Mount has mostly been used for cattle and sheep grazing. Mount Shadwell is a well-known source of olivine and is the highest of a gathering of volcanic cones. The New Volcanic Province is located in South East Australia and covers 15000 square kilometres. It contains 400 explosive vents and small shield volcanoes. The last eruption is thought to have occurred 5000 years ago at Mount Gambier and Mount Schank. This olivine crystal has been identified as a volcanic bomb, which is a molten rock which was pushed out and ejected into the air when a volcano reupts. A rock needs to be larger than 65 mm in diameter to be classified as a volcanic bomb. This olivine volcanic bomb and its locality is historically and socially significant. The olivine was found in the Newer Volcanic Province, an area which contains over 400 dormant volcanoes. This olivine is one part of a volcanic bomb, which would have ejected when magma erupted out of a volcano. This specimen is part of a larger collection of geological and mineral specimens collected from around Australia (and some parts of the world) and donated to the Burke Museum between 1868-1880. A large percentage of these specimens were collected in Victoria as part of the Geological Survey of Victoria that begun in 1852 (in response to the Gold Rush) to study and map the geology of Victoria. Collecting geological specimens was an important part of mapping and understanding the scientific makeup of the earth. Many of these specimens were sent to research and collecting organisations across Australia, including the Burke Museum, to educate and encourage further study.A solid iron-magnesium silicate mineral with shades of green and brownburke museum, beechworth, geological, geological specimen, olivine, igneous rock, volcanic, gemstones, volcanic bomb, meteorites, asteroids, plantes, mount noorat, mount shadwell, indigenous, kirrae wuurong people, newer volcanics province, victoria, european settlement, eruption

A fossil refers to any remains or traces of past life that are preserved in the rock. It could be remains of plants or animals. Fossil leaves are commonly found on different types of rocks. These fossils can go as far back as the Triassic Age just like the series of fossil plants collected at Denmark Hill, Ipswich in Queensland. Fossils leaves are formed when dead plants get buried by sediments like mud, sand, or volcanic ash. Often, it gets detached cleanly from stems along a special layer of weak cells, then twigs, and, less commonly, cones of conifers and fruits and seeds of flowering plants. Over time, the leaves or pieces of leaves get buried by more sediments and eventually gets 'lithified' or hardened into a rock. Erosions and mining can cause the rocks to break and reveal the fossils buried in it. Fossilisation frequently takes place at sites in the lowlands where deposits of clay, silt, sand are found. This is usually due to weathering and erosion of rocks. Fossil leaves can provide information about ancient Australia's way of living. It contributes to Victorian biodiversity records and its botanical collections. It also contributes information on the geographical profile of Victoria as fossilisation usually occur at estuaries and deltas of rivers, river flood plains, ponds and lakes. This specimen is part of a larger collection of geological and mineral specimens collected from around Australia (and some parts of the world) and donated to the Burke Museum between 1868-1880. A large percentage of these specimens were collected in Victoria as part of the Geological Survey of Victoria that begun in 1852 (in response to the Gold Rush) to study and map the geology of Victoria. Collecting geological specimens was an important part of mapping and understanding the scientific makeup of the earth. Many of these specimens were sent to research and collecting organisations across Australia, including the Burke Museum, to educate and encourage further study.Piece of light brown rock with fossilised leaves in shades of golden yellow and brown.Existing label: Fossil Leaves / Locality unknown / might be worth checking if this is Glossopteris, a Permian age plant. / C. William 16/4/21 geological specimen, geology, geology collection, burke museum, beechworth, fossil leaves, fossilization, 1868 geological survey of victoria, lithified, rocks, fossilised leaf, rock, fossils, leaves

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. 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.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. 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. 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

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. 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. 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. 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. 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

Plant Research Laboratory/Institute: showing glasshouse beside it and garden beds in front. On reverse, "Plant Research Laby. Oct 1941. (AW Jessep) Glasshouse & rock border."plant research laboratory, glasshouse, garden beds, a.w. jessep, plant research institute

Three page hand written carbon copy of Sign numbers at Victoria Hill. No 1 North Old Chum Shaft, No 2 Ballerstedt's First Open - Cut. Special Sign Post, No 2 C Rock Formations Pitching North, No 2 B Rich shallow shafts, No 2 A Quartz veins, No 4 A Concrete Dams, No 3 Engine Beds - Lansell's 'Big 180' Mine, No 3 B Lansell's 'Big 180' Shaft, No 4 Twenty Stampers Crushing Battery, No 3 C Foundations - 'Cleopatra Needle' type Chimney for Lansell's 'big 180' Mine, No 5 Victoria Quartz Mine, No 5 A Fou;ndations Victoria Quartz Poppet Legs, No 5 C Foundations Victoria Quartz Winding Plant, No 5 B Victoria Quartz Dams, No 6 Rae's Open - Cut, No 9 Quartz Once Roasted Here, No 12 Anticlinal Arch, No 15 primitive Tunnels, No 14 Beautifully Coloured Rock Formations, No 16 Adit, Graded Bedding, Oblique Fault, Spurry Quartz Veins, No 17 Prospecting Tunnels, No 18 Floyd's Small Crushing Battery, No 19 Gt Central Victoria (Midway) Shaft, No 20 Great Central Victoria (Midway) Engine Bed, No 21 ballerstedt's Small 24 Yard Claim, No 22 Humboldt Shaft, No 23 Wittscheibe's 'Jeweller's Shop', No 24 The 'Adventure' ground, Large Open - Cut, No 26 Luffsman and Sterry's Ground, NO 27 A Round Shaft, Notes prepared by Albert Richardson.mine, gold, victoria hill, victoria hill, victoria hill key to sign posts on area map, north old chum shaft, ballerstedt's first open cut, lansell's big 180 shaft, 'cleopatra needle' type chimney, victoria quartz mine, rae's open cut, prospecting tunnels, floyd's small crushing battery, gt central victoria (midway) shaft, ballerstedt's small 245 yard claim, humboldt shaft, wittscheibe's 'jeweller's shop', adventure, luffsman and sterry's ground, david sterry, sterry's 'gold mines' hotel, round shaft

trees planted in Evatt Park to commemorate the birth of Prince William enclosed by treated pine tree guards, fire brigade running track glimpsed through trees Lakes Entrance Victoria. 1982. Also a colour photograph of commemorative plaque on sandstone rock near trees 04296.1 size 10 x 15 cmColour photograph of trees planted in Evatt Park to commemorate the birth of Prince William enclosed by treated pine tree guards, fire brigade running track glimpsed through trees Lakes Entrance Victoria 1982 township, parks, gardens

21 envelopes marked Department of Agriculture (Vic), 1 empty. Black and white photographs and most negatives. All labelled, mainly flowers and plants. (1) Neg. only, 'Lupinus'.' (2) 'Iris fulva B/G 23/10/61.' (3) 'Iris pseudacorus.' (4) 'Muscari plumosum B/G 23/10/61.' (5) 2 copies 'Erythrinum.' (6) 'Iris sibirica B.G. 23/10/61.' (7) 3 Neg. and 4 photographs 'Green, Variegated Agave.' 'Ref to Mr. Littlejohn.' (8) 'Pebble Mulch,' 'Rock Mulching Rock from Apollo Bay Mentone 23/10/61 ₤22.' (9) 'Gazania B.G. 23/10/61.' (10) Neg. only 'Grevillea hookeriana.' (11) Photograph only 'Hibiscus.' (12) 'Euphorbia Crown of Thorns BG 23/10/61.' 'Euphorbia splendens.' (13) 2 copies 'Greyia sutherlandii 23/10/61.' (14) 3 copies 'Aeonium Grouped with other succulents including Bryophyllum, Dickia, Echevera' 'Jan Jul '62 Photo E.G. Littlejohn.' (15) 'Agave Agave-variegated in tub.' (16) 'Lathyrus odoratus' '(Sweet Pea) on support B.G. 23/10/61.' (17) 'Pelargonium' B/G 23.10.61.' (18) 'Pelargonium.' (19) 'Callistemon coccineus.' 'Return to Mr. Littlejohn Burnley Gardens.' (20) 3 copies 'Aloe.' 'Return to Mr. Littlejohn Aloe.'flowers, plants, lupins, iris, agave, pebble mulch, rock mulch, grevillea, hibiscu, euphorbia, succulents, bryophyllum, dickia, echevera, e.g. littlejohn, pelargonium, burnley gardens, aloe

Black and white photograph of plaque set in rock outside Library.Plaque reads: IN THIS YEAR, 1974, WHEN AUSTRALIA IS CELEBRATING THE BI-CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF THAT GREAT NAVIGATOR AND CARTOGRAPHER, MATTHEW FLINDERS, IT IS FITTING THAT WE ALSO COMMEMORATE THE LABOUR OF RINGWOOD'S FIRST SETTLERS WHO FOLLOWED THE DISCOVERERS, EXPLORERS & SURVEYORS, CLEARED THE FORESTED HILLS AND PLOUGHED THE HARD GROUND BEFORE PLANTING THEIR ORCHARDS. ERECTED BY THE RINGWOOD HISTORICAL RESEARCH GROUP, 26TH OCTOBER, 1974 ON THE OCCASION OF THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF RINGWOOD'S SEVERANCE FROM LILYDALE SHIRE Typed below photograph: "1974 - Plaque Ringwood Library." Written on rear of backing sheet: "Before the plaque was finally fitted in I had a new 1974 ten cent piece slipped in behind it. R. Pullin, Archivist, RHR Group."