In 1852 Stephen Charman purchased 160 acres bounded by Charman Rd and Balcombe Road in an area called Spring Grove , later Cheltenham. A spring ran through the land providing a good source of water. Stephen aged 21 years had arrived in Melbourne 1842 as one of Henry Dendy’s emigrants . His Ship passage was paid by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission and in return he was required to work on the land of the Henry Dendy Special Survey Brighton 1841. However Henry Dendy could not provide enough work for all the emigrants that arrived and Stephen had to obtain other work. Then sadly his young wife Harriett and their infant died. 1850 Stephen married widow Mary Gettens, a Publican in Little Collins Street, with 5 children. Stephen & Mary built a wattle and daub hut and established a market garden producing marigolds for Martin & Pleasance Pharmacists, Melbourne. They had 7 more children and built a weatherboard cottage that was used for early Methodist Church services. Stephen donated 1 acre to the Methodist Church in 1855 for Chapel , School and Cemetery. This is the weatherboard cottage in the photocopy showing the building extension, The road between Cheltenham and Mentone bears their name. Mary died in 1870 and Stephen remarried 1878 and died in Gippsland 1906. The original Photograph is endorsed by Francis Marie Ward , formerly Hopkins nee Charman who was the grandmother of Mr A.L Jones A photocopy of a black and white photograph of ‘Spring Grove’ , that was the first house in Charman Road , Cheltenham c1852 , showing later extensions. spring grove cottage 1852, schumer l, cheltenham, charman stephen, early settlers, jones a l, gettens mary, rees mary, charman mary, moorabbin, brighton, henry dendy special survey 1841, ward frances marie, charman frances marie

The photographs for the slides are believed to have been taken by the inaugural Editor for the Caulfield Contact - the official newspaper of the former City of Caulfield from 1976-1994. The Editor was also Council's Community Liaison Officer and she (and her successor) took many photographs of official events and Council-related services and locations in connection with both these official roles. The City of Caulfield was the Municipal Council for an area of the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including Brighton East, Carnegie, Caulfield, Elsternwick, Gardenvale, Glen Huntly, McKinnon, Murrumbeena, Ormond and St Kilda East. Credit: Glen Eira Historical Society - This item was digitised and made available through the Glen Eira Heritage Digitisation Strategy 2019-2023. Glen Eira Historical Society acknowledges the support of Glen Eira City Council. Page 13 of slide album D to F, in a polypropylene slide sleeve containing 12 x 35mm colour slides. A sample of 2 images from this page is included. glen eira city council, local government, caulfield city council, caulfield council, city of caulfield, caulfield contact, elsternwick, caulfield municipality photo slide collection, roads and streets, parking, shops, downshire road, glenhuntly road, trams, hopetoun gardens, parks and reserves, cannons