Joseph Butterworth COOMBS (1842-1901), was an accountant who founded a successful mercantile trading company. At the time of his marriage to Caroline Mary MICHEL in 1869, Coombs had already purchased ten acres of Studley Park. The acreage included land on the west of Fenwick Street that extended along lower Stawell Street to the corner of Yarra Street, all of it connected directly to the Yarra environs. A right of way to Studley Park Road was on the title, though Coombs went on to purchase more land, some of which faced Studley Park Road. In addition to owning the Studley Park acreage, Coombs later acquired 1,201 acres of land abutting the Acheron River. While retaining the Kew property he became a Taggerty Councillor and was Shire President for a time. J.B. Coombs died at Acheron Station in 1901 (aged 59 years). A few months after, tenders were called to repair the Kew dwelling, the Fenwick Street property now appearing in records with the name ‘Hope Mansell’. Caroline Coombs remained at Hope Mansell until she died in 1924, survived by three sons and five daughters. Not long after her death, advertisements appeared for the sale of the Studley Park land. The sale seems to have been a mechanism for distribution of the Estate, as the following year the original ten acre holding was transferred to members of the family. The eldest daughter Mabel married William Younger who, with his brother Alexander, developed Younger and Mackie Courts, both south of Studley Park Road. [Research: Kerry Fairbank]In 1961, the granddaughter of Joseph and Caroline Coombs, Mabel Isola (Younger) Grattan, donated ten 19th century dresses and parasols to the Kew Historical Society. The costumes, now known as the 'Coombs Collection', are the earliest recorded items of clothing to enter the Society's collection. Each of the items in the Coombs Collection, of which this item forms a part, is historically, aesthetically and socially significant. As a collection, the costumes includes outstanding examples of morning wear, day dresses, wedding dresses, and clothing accessories, providing evidence of outstanding dressmaker skills in Victoria during the mid to late Victorian period. Blue silk, floor length day dress comprised of a tightly fitted, long, waisted jacket joined by hooks and eyes at centre front. The bodice features large ornamental buttons from neck to waist, covered in a figured silk fabric of the same colour as the dress. The gown has extensive pin tucking on the sleeves, on the flounce of the skirt, and on the long train. The line of the outfit is emphasised by the flattened front, which is typical of the period. Its cut and lack of adornment emphasises the tailored effect.australian fashion, fashion & design, costumes, dresses, women's clothing, fashion - 1860s, fashion - 1870s

Clothes wringer used in the James Young owned house known as the Stone Villa, Bennett Street, Bacchus Marsh. Wringers, also called mangles were used to squeeze water from washed clothes.James Young was a prominent early resident of Bacchus Marsh from the 1850s until the 1870s. This object which was recovered from his house in Bennett Street is indicative of laundry equipment that many moderately affluent households would have owned in the 1860s.Clothes wringer or clothes mangle. Wood and metal components. Clothes Ace Wringer; Warranted 3 years for family use; Superior to Iron Clampsjames young, laundry equipment

The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine was issued monthly in the following years: 1852–1874; 1877; 1880–1890. Initially, it contained only nondescript black and white images. Aware of the growing interest in fashion, style and manners from the new middle classes, Samuel Beeton began to import tinted fashion plates directly from Jules David in Paris from 1860. Primary source for fashion design in the 1860sFramed fashion plate -'The Fashions … for the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine'. Framed print of two women in 1860 costume. Bordered in pale green coloured card. Wire attached to metal loops at back. Masking tape at back.fashion illustration, englishwoman's domestic magazine

The two storey building is the Royal Hotel which is sited on the corner of Brook and Evans Streets in Sunbury's main shopping strip.The photograph was taken sometime in 1939 after it was totally rebuilt. A fire had damaged the old single storey structure, which was built on the same site c1860 shortly after Sunbury had a rail service. The building still operates today on the same site.The Royal Hotel is one of four hotels that were built in Evans Street Sunbury between Brook and Station Streets ion the 1860s shortly after the rail service arrived in the town. They were They were the Railway Hotel (Olive Tree), White Horse Hotel, Royal Hotel and the Rupertswood Hotel, opposite the Royal Hotel. A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a two storey brick hotel building with light concrete trimming around the windows and entrances sited on a corner. A large black sedan car is parked near the corner. royal hotel, hotels

The purchases and services recorded indicate that the user was an ironmonger. Origin of ledger unknown. Early business in Sandhurst in 1860s.An account ledger used to record the purchases and services made for a business. Records date from 1860. The ledger is covered with brown leather with decorative edges. There are alphabetical tabs at the front of the book with lists of names. Individual customers are allocated a double page entry. Pages are ruled and numbered. The book is in very poor condition having obvious signs of water and insect damage. The writing in the first quarter of the book is barely legible, remaining pages can be read. Some names - Durant, Watson, Mollison, Harris, Neale, Cahley, Bannerman, Larritt, Cranshaw, Gripe, McLachlan, Burrell, O'Loughlin, Cameron Rogers, McLevey, Nicholas Eliad?, Crago, Hopsell, Grant, Bird, Cahill, Harker, Parker S McKinlay, Fletcher, Birch, Cruikshank, Municipal Council, Heffernan and Crawley, Buckley Bros, John Harney, Bywater and Brother, Goulding, Casey, Reynolds, English, McKenzie, Knight, David Mackay."LEDGER" on the spine. Label inside "Sands and Kenny. Account Book Manufacturers. Stationers and Printers Melbourne"bendigo businesses, ironmonger

This framed photograph is of the Victoria Challenge Shield which was presented in 1888 by the Warrnambool firm of Cramond and Dickson for competition among the Victoria Garrison Artillery members in Victoria. There were 8 garrison groups in Victoria at that time. The shield was 22 inches wide and two feet six inches high.The quality of the shield can be gauged by that fact that it was exhibited at the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1888 and was one of the items inspected by Queen Victoria. The stipulation by the donors was that the competition had to be held in Warrnambool. The Warrnambool artillery group won the trophy in 1898 and this is noted in one of the newspaper cuttings included with the photograph of the shield. The Cramond and Dickson general store in Warrnambool was founded in 1855 by John Cramond and James Dickson and was a prominent business in Warrnambool until it closed in 1973. This photograph is of considerable interest as it is a reminder of the Victoria Challenge Shield that was a competition prize for competing groups of the Victoria Garrison Artillery in the times when volunteer militia groups were strong in Victorian country towns ( from the 1860s to the beginning of the First World War). This is a framed oval photograph of the Victoria Challenge Shield. The photograph is of poor production and fading. The shield details include images of War and Peace, Coat of Arms, militia figures and guns and a rifle match (in the centre). There are two newspaper cuttings included in the frame and a handwritten date. The photograph has a beige background and is under glass in a wooden frameVictoria Challenge Shield inspected by Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen at the Glasgow International Exhibition 24th August 1888 presented by Messrs Cramond & Dickson Warrnambool cramond & dickson warrnambool, victoria challenge shield, garrison artillery groups in victoria