Built by noted artist Theodore Penleigh Boyd, father of architect Robin Boyd. Covered under National Estate, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Local Significance and Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p111 The Robins at Warrandyte,* was once home to a member of a famous family and is also one of the first reinforced concrete houses in Victoria. The builder, Theodore Penleigh Boyd, born in 1890, was a talented painter1 noted for his works of the Warrandyte bush. He was the father of architect Robin Boyd, author of the Australian Ugliness and the uncle of painter, Arthur Boyd. Penleigh Boyd’s great grandfather was Sir William A’Beckett, Victoria’s first Chief Justice. Penleigh Boyd is considered by some to be an ‘unsung hero’ overshadowed by more famous members of his family. Mornington Gallery Director Andrea May said many believed Boyd ‘had never received the national acclaim that he deserved’.2 Classified by the National Trust3 and part of the Australian National Heritage,4 The Robins is set well back near the end of Kangaroo Ground – Warrandyte Road, unobserved by passers-by. Built in 1913, The Robins has some Art Nouveau influences and is a descendant of the Queen Anne style. It is covered in stucco and has a prominent attic, which Boyd used as a studio. Some parts of the house are up to 33 centimetres thick and built in part with pisé (rammed earth) and in part with reinforced concrete. Amazingly, Boyd built The Robins without an accessible driveway, and only a narrow track along which he had to cart building materials. The journey was uphill and Boyd terraced the land with Warrandyte rock5 without the aid of machinery. At only 33 years, Boyd was killed in a car accident in 1923. He was buried in Brighton near the home of his parents. Several people have since owned the house, including political journalist, Owen Webster. Boyd was born at Penleigh House, Wiltshire, and studied at Haileybury College, Melbourne and The Hutchins School, Hobart. He attended the Melbourne National Gallery School and in his final year exhibited at the Victorian Artists’ Society. He arrived in London in 1911 and his painting Springtime was hung at the Royal Academy. He painted in several studios in England and then worked in Paris.6 There he met painter Phillips Fox through whom he met artists of the French modern school and also his wife-to-be, Edith Anderson, whom he married in Paris in 1912. After touring France and Italy, the couple returned to Melbourne. In 1913 Boyd held an exhibition and won second prize in the Federal Capital site competition, then the Wynne Prize for landscape in 1914. In 1915 Boyd joined the Australian Imperial Force, and became a sergeant in the Electrical and Mechanical Mining Company. However he was severely gassed at Ypres and invalided to England. In 1918 in London Boyd published Salvage, writing the text and illustrating it with 20 black-and-white ink-sketches of army scenes. Later that year he returned to Melbourne, and, despite suffering from the effects of gas, he held several successful one-man shows, quickly selling his water-colour and oil paintings. In his short career Penleigh Boyd was recognized as one of Australia’s finest landscape painters. He loved colour, having been influenced early by Turner and McCubbin. His works are in all Australian state galleries, the National Collection in Canberra as well as in regional galleries.7 His wife Edith was also an artist having studied at the Slade School, London, and in Paris with Phillips Fox. After her marriage she continued to paint and excelled in drawing. In later years she wrote several dramas, staged by repertory companies, and radio plays for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, in which she took part. She was the model for the beautiful red-haired woman in several of Phillips Fox’s paintings and the family hold three of his portraits of her. *Possibly named after the Aboriginal words warran, meaning ‘object’ and dyte, meaning ‘thrown at’.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, kangaroo ground-warrandyte road, north warrandyte, the robins

A habitat corridor and it strengthens the community. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p185 Barak Bushlands lie west of the Diamond Creek on the corner of Falkiner Street and busy, noisy Main Road. They form part of an important habitat corridor linking the Yarra River to the Kinglake National Park.1 Manna Gums, tawny frogmouths and platypuses are some of the indigenous plants and animals that have made their home there. The bushlands are the result of more than nine years of hard work by the local community with the Nillumbik Council, to transform a degraded flood plain into this refuge of natural beauty. In 1997, shortly after moving into the new Riverside Estate on Falkiner Street, Eltham, several residents noticed the sorry state of the Diamond Creek and surrounding area. Part of it was used as a cow paddock and although small patches of vegetation survived, the area was infested with weeds, rabbits, rubbish and drainage from the housing estate. At various times the 4.4 hectares had been used as a market garden and for shire stock piles. The residents began to restore the area by revegetating land along the Diamond Creek. In 1998 they established the Friends of the Diamond Creek Falkiner Street Reserve2 and 35 families joined from the 90-house Estate. Carolyn Mellor, as the Friends’ Land Manager, undertook a four-year horticulture course to guide this massive project for a volunteer organisation. Since 1999, she has been the Friends’ President. In 1999 the Friends urged the Nillumbik Council to undertake a feasibility study into establishing a wetland system and urban forest. Work began in 2002 with Nillumbik Council funding the project, supplemented by government grants. The Friends also received grants from Melbourne Water and Parks Victoria.3 Aided by the Friends and other community members, the Council created the Barak Bushlands consisting of a forest, a wetland, a bridge, a path and open space. The beautiful wetland treats most of the estate’s stormwater runoff. Storm water is filtered through plants in the wetland ponds then is released slowly into the billabong, before flowing into the Diamond Creek. The wetland also helps to minimise flooding and the improved water quality provides a flora and fauna habitat. The Friends and other volunteers planted more than 27,000 plants, more than one third of which they grew from seeds they collected at Lower Eltham and Wingrove Parks. Eltham High School students planted thousands of these through a Year Eight program introduced for this purpose. Other groups who assisted were: Green Corps, local Scouts and Guides – 2nd Montmorency, 1st Diamond Creek and 1st Eltham Cub Packs, Eltham College students, Eltham East Primary School, Landcare members, Eltham Lions Club and the Eltham Baptist Church. To maintain enthusiasm for the mammoth task, the Friends and other volunteers ‘adopted’ trees to water and wrote their names on the stakes. In 2004, to recognise the area’s original occupiers, the reserve was named Barak Bushlands. William Barak, who lived from 1824 to 1903, was the last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe of the Wurundjeri-willam people.4 Traces of these original inhabitants remain in scar trees (bark sections removed to make a shield or canoe). That same year the Friends’ group was a finalist in the prestigious Federal Government, Banksia Environmental Awards. The Friends have also participated in Clean Up Australia, removing tonnes of rubbish and regularly testing the billabong, wetland and creek, for pollutants. For years the Friends, together with the Australian Platypus Conservancy, have tagged, measured and checked the health of platypuses from the Diamond and Mullum Mullum Creeks. With Latrobe University the Friends have conducted night walks to view owls, possums, bats and sugar gliders.5 Challenges for the council and the Friends continue with a large rabbit population, some vandalism, weed eradication and maintenance. However, thanks to this community effort, locals can now escape confined urban living on small blocks of land and enjoy the beauty of indigenous plants and animals. Working together has also strengthened the local community,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, barak bushlands, diamond creek (creek), eltham

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.1 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 1841.2 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.3 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.4 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

One of seven sites in Eltham and Greensborough where the butterfly survives. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p181 The rare Eltham Copper Butterfly, Paralucia pyro-discus, was saved from near extinction by a community campaign in the late 1980s. Thanks to that effort, the butterfly, a form of the Fiery Copper Butterfly, with a wing span of only 2.5cm, can be seen in parts of Eltham and Greensborough from late November to April. As late as 1987 the butterfly was thought to be near extinction. But that year, entomologist, Michael Braby, found several colonies, including two major ones in natural bushland on Diosma Road, Eltham. However these were threatened with destruction, as their habitat was to be destroyed by a development of 71 houses. The colonies were on a 14 hectare subdivision owned by Esanda Finance, an ANZ Bank subsidiary. It would cost around $5 million, to reimburse the bank for the land.1 The butterfly, which depends on woodland, a stunted form of the Sweet Bursaria bush, and the Notoncus ant, was considered too fragile to relocate. Braby’s discovery led to a sometimes fiery two-year campaign, which even became an election issue. It involved the local community, local and state governments and the developer, before a compromise was reached. The larvae have an intricate relationship with the small black ant, Notoncus. During the day, the larvae shelter in nests made by the ants around the base of the trunk and roots of the Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa). The ants are thought to protect the larvae from predators and parasites, as they attend them from the nests to feed on the Bursaria leaves at night. In return, the larvae excrete a sugar solution, which the ants love to eat. The butterfly was first recorded in Victoria in 1893, and first collected scientifically from Eltham in 1931. But it was only officially named in 1951, by Victoria’s then top butterfly expert, David Crosby.2 However, from 1970, rapid housing development in Eltham destroyed much of the butterfly’s habitat. The discovery of several major colonies in 1987 met with great excitement, and 250 people attended the first local public meeting. The State Government commissioned Crosby to investigate how to protect the butterfly, and the council froze development for three weeks. Then Esanda agreed to suspend development for several months, until a compromise was reached. Crosby recommended that 62 of the 71 lots be kept to ensure the butterflys’ survival. However this would cost $1 million to $1.5million in compensation to Esanda.3 Greensborough MP Pauline Toner, launched a $1million fundraising campaign and many artists donated their works to the appeal. Toner offered Clifton Pugh’s painting Eltham Copper Country to millionaire Alan Bond for $1 million, after having heard that he had offered $6 million for the Van Gough painting Sunflowers. However Bond did not accept. The butterfly was considered a ‘hot’ election issue during the by-election, following Pauline Toner’s resignation. Liberal party candidate, Margaret Brown, was accused of falsely saying she had been involved in the butterfly campaign so as to win votes. Sadly, the $1million appeal fell short at $426,000, so a compromise was reached. The State Government donated the Education Department site on Eucalyptus Road, but only nine lots of the Diosma site were bought, and the rest of the development went ahead. On March 3, 1989, Ms Toner died of cancer, and the Eucalyptus Road site was named in her honour. Around 2000 the butterfly was further threatened by proposed developments on Pitt Street, facing the Pauline Toner Reserve and between Diosma and Nyora Roads. Fortunately the Friends of the ECB, with the Shire of Nillumbik, ensured that more habitat was made available.4 The butterfly now survives in seven sites in Eltham and Greensborough, including the main sites at the Pauline Toner Reserve on Eucalyptus Road, the Western and Eastern colonies on Diosma Road, and the Yandell Reserve in Greensborough.5 The butterfly survives also in Castlemaine and in the Kiata and Salisbury areas. However, it remains endangered.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, eltham copper butterfly, pauline toner butterfly reserve

Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p181 The rare Eltham Copper Butterfly, Paralucia pyro-discus, was saved from near extinction by a community campaign in the late 1980s. Thanks to that effort, the butterfly, a form of the Fiery Copper Butterfly, with a wing span of only 2.5cm, can be seen in parts of Eltham and Greensborough from late November to April. As late as 1987 the butterfly was thought to be near extinction. But that year, entomologist, Michael Braby, found several colonies, including two major ones in natural bushland on Diosma Road, Eltham. However these were threatened with destruction, as their habitat was to be destroyed by a development of 71 houses. The colonies were on a 14 hectare subdivision owned by Esanda Finance, an ANZ Bank subsidiary. It would cost around $5 million, to reimburse the bank for the land.1 The butterfly, which depends on woodland, a stunted form of the Sweet Bursaria bush, and the Notoncus ant, was considered too fragile to relocate. Braby’s discovery led to a sometimes fiery two-year campaign, which even became an election issue. It involved the local community, local and state governments and the developer, before a compromise was reached. The larvae have an intricate relationship with the small black ant, Notoncus. During the day, the larvae shelter in nests made by the ants around the base of the trunk and roots of the Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa). The ants are thought to protect the larvae from predators and parasites, as they attend them from the nests to feed on the Bursaria leaves at night. In return, the larvae excrete a sugar solution, which the ants love to eat. The butterfly was first recorded in Victoria in 1893, and first collected scientifically from Eltham in 1931. But it was only officially named in 1951, by Victoria’s then top butterfly expert, David Crosby.2 However, from 1970, rapid housing development in Eltham destroyed much of the butterfly’s habitat. The discovery of several major colonies in 1987 met with great excitement, and 250 people attended the first local public meeting. The State Government commissioned Crosby to investigate how to protect the butterfly, and the council froze development for three weeks. Then Esanda agreed to suspend development for several months, until a compromise was reached. Crosby recommended that 62 of the 71 lots be kept to ensure the butterflys’ survival. However this would cost $1 million to $1.5million in compensation to Esanda.3 Greensborough MP Pauline Toner, launched a $1million fundraising campaign and many artists donated their works to the appeal. Toner offered Clifton Pugh’s painting Eltham Copper Country to millionaire Alan Bond for $1 million, after having heard that he had offered $6 million for the Van Gough painting Sunflowers. However Bond did not accept. The butterfly was considered a ‘hot’ election issue during the by-election, following Pauline Toner’s resignation. Liberal party candidate, Margaret Brown, was accused of falsely saying she had been involved in the butterfly campaign so as to win votes. Sadly, the $1million appeal fell short at $426,000, so a compromise was reached. The State Government donated the Education Department site on Eucalyptus Road, but only nine lots of the Diosma site were bought, and the rest of the development went ahead. On March 3, 1989, Ms Toner died of cancer, and the Eucalyptus Road site was named in her honour. Around 2000 the butterfly was further threatened by proposed developments on Pitt Street, facing the Pauline Toner Reserve and between Diosma and Nyora Roads. Fortunately the Friends of the ECB, with the Shire of Nillumbik, ensured that more habitat was made available.4 The butterfly now survives in seven sites in Eltham and Greensborough, including the main sites at the Pauline Toner Reserve on Eucalyptus Road, the Western and Eastern colonies on Diosma Road, and the Yandell Reserve in Greensborough.5 The butterfly survives also in Castlemaine and in the Kiata and Salisbury areas. However, it remains endangered.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, eltham copper butterfly, sweet bursaria

Today’s Panton Hill Hotel was built around 1920. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p61 Panton Hill was originally known as Kingstown, and consisted of only one hotel when the Orams Reef was discovered in 1859. Kingstown was a quartz mining centre and many old mine shafts remain in the area.1 Orams Reef was one of the first reefs with a rich find of gold in the area. The Hotel Francais, which had been operating in 1861, was well situated on the way to Queenstown (later St Andrews). So was Herr Hirt’s Hotel and store at Smiths Gully. The Kingstown hotel, known as the Frenchman’s and in 1864 as the Hotel de France, was run by a Monsieur Emile Hude and his wife Jeanne, and known for its good food. They hosted social events, business conventions and debates, attracting patrons from as far as Melbourne. The hotel’s name was changed to Panton Hill Hotel in 1905.2 In 1883 Charles Caudwell built another hotel nearby, possibly in Long Gully Road,3 which it is thought, was burnt down early last century. Today’s Panton Hill Hotel, built around 1920, is the only one of the cluster of buildings in the main road, not to date from around the turn of last century. It was severely damaged by fire in 2003, then underwent extensive alterations. It is the township’s only hotel and is an example of a modest hotel building exterior, constructed early last century. In its early days the hotel also housed the first post office, newsagency and store. Orams Reef yielded a total of £100,000, and fossikers also found alluvial gold in the creeks and gullies, but there is no record of the total value of their finds.4 Gold greatly increased the Panton Hill population, which peaked between 1865 and 1885. On holidays large sports meetings were held with wood chopping contests and foot races and the day would end with a ball. Miners came from various countries to seek their fortune, including many from China. The Chinese became unpopular however, and gradually left the district, although some stayed and grew and sold vegetables.5 Panton Hill was named after Joseph Panton, who in 1862 was appointed Police Magistrate for the Woods Point, Heidelberg and Yarra districts. Panton was an outstanding man, who in 1852, was Commissioner of Crown Lands and Assistant Commissioner of Goldfields at Bendigo. In 1874 he was promoted to Chief Magistrate for the Melbourne Police. Panton was also an artist, becoming president of the Victorian Arts Society in 1888, and in 1913, president of the Royal Geographical Society. Despite Panton Hill’s prosperity, it still lacked many services as poor roads made access to Melbourne difficult. A horse-drawn mail coach travelled to Melbourne until 1890, when the railway came to Heidelberg. The nearest doctor was at Yarra Glen or Heidelberg, and the Indian hawker Singh’s annual visit was very welcome. A miner’s shack opposite the school was used as a post office. Today’s general store and post office in the main road dates from early last century, and has changed considerably. While most people searched for gold, the more enterprising ones established farms to feed the diggers. Farmers grew wheat, barley and oats, and sent animal skins to the Eltham tannery, to make furs in Melbourne.6 As gold became scarce from around 1880, miners took up farming on 19 to 20 acre (8ha) allotments. The first settlers in Cherry Tree Road included Purcell, Smith, Owens, Hughes and Shillinglaw. By 1900 all the land had been taken up around Panton Hill and Hurstbridge. The orchards in Panton Hill and the wider district, particularly of apple and pear, were very successful, and made Panton Hill a cohesive and successful community. About 1914 the Moores built the first cool-store and refrigeration plant at their orchard in Cherry Tree Road. Many settlers planted vineyards and made high quality wine, but in 1922 the blight destroyed them.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, panton hill hotel

Walter Withers once lived at the corner of Bolton and Brougham Streets, Eltham. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p105 Walter Withers, one of Australia’s most famous artists, once lived in Southernwood, the weatherboard house at the corner of Bolton and Brougham Streets, Eltham. Withers, one of the first prominent artists to live in Eltham, was known for his lyrical paintings of the Australian bush and is associated with the Heidelberg School of artists.1 Withers was born in 1854 at Handsworth, Warwickshire, England, the grandson of an artist. He studied art at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. But in 1882 his father, opposing an artistic career for Withers, ordered him to go to Australia. However, after working as a jackaroo on several country properties for 18 months, Withers resumed painting in Melbourne, where he enrolled in evening art classes at the Melbourne National Gallery school of painting under G F Folingsby. Employed as a draughtsman by William Inglis & Co, then by Ferguson & Mitchell, lithographic printers, Withers produced portraits in black-and-white for several periodicals. His work was exhibited in the Old Academy, Melbourne. At this time he met and became life-long friends with artists Frederick McCubbin, Tom Roberts and Louis Abrahams.2 In 1887 Withers went to England and married Fanny Finn. They lived in Paris for awhile, where Withers studied at the Academie Julian. After his return to Melbourne in 1889, Withers lived at the artist camp at Eaglemont, then moved close to the Charterisville mansion, where he established a studio and sub-let cottages to other artists. Around 1892 Withers opened a Collins Street studio, had his first exhibition, and started giving painting classes. One of his pupils was Norman Lindsay,3 also to become a prominent artist. Withers had long been attracted to Eltham, but had to wait until 1903 to live there, after the railway line was extended to Eltham in 1902. He could then commute to the painting classes he gave in Melbourne.4 Withers lived on the two and a half acres (1.0ha) Bolton Street property with his wife and five children. They were joined for a short time by prominent painter Sir Hans Heyson who took lessons from Withers. Withers added a studio to the Queen Anne/Edwardian style seven-bedroom home, which had been built in 1891. Each bedroom included a fireplace and most rooms had 12 foot high (3.6m) ceilings. The house retains several fine leadlight windows. Withers painted his largest canvas The Return from the Harvest in 1905, at his Eltham studio. He is represented in national, state and regional galleries, and in many private collections in Australia and abroad. In 1904-05 Withers was president of the Victorian Artists’ Society. Withers at times stayed during the week at his studio in Oxford Chambers, Melbourne, and on weekends and holidays with his family at Eltham. Withers lived in Eltham until his death in 1914, aged 60 years. He had been plagued by rheumatism and in later life by heart and lung disease. It is said he died of a stroke peacefully in a rocking chair in front of the lounge-room fire. He is buried at St Helena in the St Katherine’s Anglican Church cemetery.5 In 1983, the auction of the house sparked fears that it would be pulled down, or substantially altered. Fortunately the new owners decided to retain the house. Some security was given to the house’s future when it was later included in the Heritage Overlay to the Nillumbik Planning Scheme. The property is also important because it is one of only a few left in the district, which were once owned by noted artists. These include three in Warrandyte: one formerly owned by Penleigh Boyd, another by Frank Crozier, and the other by Danila Vassilieff; and two in Eltham: Percy Leason’s in Lavender Park Road and Justus Jörgensen’s Montsalvat. A small park at the corner of Bible and Arthur Streets, Eltham is named in Walter Withers’ honour.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, bolton steet, brougham steet, eltham, southernwood, walter withers house

Fern gullies around Jehosaphat Gully Covered under National Estate. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p125 The magnificent Kinglake National Park, fringing Nillumbik’s north, is the largest national park close to Melbourne. Thanks to the vision and hard work of a band of local people, the park was created from what was rapidly becoming degraded land. Seeing a threat to Kinglake’s indigenous flora and fauna, several prominent local people campaigned for a national park, which was established in 1928.1 Since then, the park has grown through donations and acquisitions of land, from around 13,800 acres of land (5585ha) to 22,360 hectares. The Sugarloaf and Everard Blocks – of almost 8000 hectares – stand in Nillumbik and the park extends into Mitchell and Murrundindi Shires and the City of Whittlesea. Mt Everard commemorates William Hugh Everard, State member for Evelyn when the park was established. Before 1928, European settlers had degraded the Kinglake area, which was named after the celebrated English author and lawyer, Alexander William Kinglake. Remains of gold shafts and diggings in the park are reminders of Kinglake’s first settlers, who hoped to strike it rich at the gold diggings. But like other gold fields in this shire, they proved not very lucrative and soon timber cutting replaced mining in importance. However, before long, the accessible timber supply ran out, so in the 1920s agriculture took over – particularly potatoes and berry fruits – which involved large-scale clearing.2 The park’s instigator was retired Melbourne University Professor of Music, William Laver.3 As chair of the Kinglake Progress Association he began negotiations to have crown lands on the southern scarp of the Great Dividing Range reserved as a national park. Even before the park was proclaimed, from 1927, KPA members cut tracks to the major scenic points. Professor Laver was one of several people who gave land for the park, donating around 50 acres (20ha), including the Jehosaphat Gully.4 Laver chaired the park’s first Committee of Management, which raised money to employ a ranger and provide facilities, including tracks and roads for fire protection vehicles, toilets and shelters. The committee charged fees for firewood collection, some grazing of livestock, and visitor entrance, and obtained small State Government and Eltham Shire grants. In 1957 the State Government provided revenue for national parks. Then, in 1975, the State Government took over the management and the Committee of Management became an advisory committee, which disbanded in 1978. Originally, the park covered crown land in the Shires of Eltham and Whittlesea; then Wombelano Falls in Yea and other areas were added. In 1970 the park extended into the Shires of Eltham, Healesville, Whittlesea and Yea.5 Bush fires have been an ongoing problem. In 1939 hundreds of eucalypts and acacias had to be sown around the Jehosaphat Gully to rejuvenate the forest. To manage bushfires, the Committee of Management, then the State Government, worked closely with the Forestry Commission, shire councils and local fire brigades. Early national parks focussed on recreation. But by the 1980s, conservation, education and scientific research became more important, playing a vital role in preserving representative samples of the natural environment. Each year many thousands of people use the park’s extensive network of walking tracks amongst the protected plant and animal life as well as camping, cycling and horse riding. The park, along the slopes of the Great Dividing Range, has lookouts revealing magnificent views of the Melbourne skyline, Port Phillip Bay, the Yarra Valley and the You Yangs. Vegetation in the Masons Falls area includes messmate forest, Austral grass-trees, ferns and Hazel Pomaderris. In spring, orchids, lilies, everlasting daisies, correas, grevillea and heath appear. Around Jehosaphat Gully are wet and dry forest, fern gullies and banksia. Animal life includes wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, possums, gliders and bandicoots. Male lyrebirds can be heard mimicking in the Jehosaphat Gully, particularly in the Everard Block in winter.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, kinglake national park, jehosaphat gully

Vassilieff dynamited rock from his own property to build his house. Stonygrad is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p135 Stonygrad, the home built by Expressionist painter and sculptor Danila Vassilieff, is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Vassilieff, who amongst others influenced painter Sydney Nolan and Albert Tucker, was a member of the artists group the Angry Penguins.1 He was also a highly regarded art teacher at the nearby Koornong Experimental School and taught at Eltham High School. Art critic Robert Hughes described Vassilieff’s painting as ‘lyrical without social commentary’, and said Vassilieff was ‘the most oddly neglected artist in recent Australian History’.2 Vassilieff, who was born in 1897 in Russia, had an unusually adventurous life before he settled in Warrandyte. The 12th of 18 children, he lived on a farm in the Don Basin. Vassilieff trained with the Imperial Military Academy at St Petersburg and fought in World War One as an officer in the White Russian Army against the communists. In 1920 he was captured, then escaped from prison, stole a horse and rode bareback 150 miles to the Black Sea, helped at first by Tartar freebooters. He then travelled to India, Shanghai and arrived in Queensland as a refugee in 1923 where he began painting. He and his wife Anisia bought a sugar farm near Ingram,3 and later he constructed railway lines at Mataranka, in the Northern Territory.4 In 1929 Vassilieff went to Brazil for formal art training from former fellow-officer Dmitri Ismailovich, but he soon left to travel up the Amazon River. He then worked as a sidewalk artist in the West Indies and travelled for two years in England, France and Spain. In 1937 he arrived in Melbourne where he lived until his death in 1958. His first major Australian series was the Carlton streetscapes and from 1951 he sculpted in local hard limestone.5 Vassilieff rejected all dogma and regarded religious subjects as suitable only for decorative arts. In 1944 he helped defeat a communist attempt to take over the Contemporary Art Society. For a short time, from around 1955, Vassilieff taught at various Victorian schools.6 The Angry Penguins painted mainly between 1937 and 1947, and included Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Joy Hester. The group formed as they felt isolated from European thought and art (including Surrealism) from which their work was derived. They were also angry at what they considered to be the complacency and insularity of their society. They maintained Australians at first were scarcely aware of the threats of the Wall Street Crash and Hitler and were little interested in the Spanish Civil War. The Angry Penguins also objected to the White Australia Policy. Hughes said although most of the Melbourne Expressionists in the 1940s were unskilled and their work crude in style, they helped jolt Australian painting from its pastoral complacency. Their style influenced nearly every painting produced by significant figurative artists in Melbourne in the 1950s such as Charles Blackman. From 1939 Vassilieff built Stonygrad, mainly with local stone. The house stands at the end of a private road surrounded by trees with the quiet occasionally broken by the sounds of bellbirds. To build his house Vassilieff dynamited rock and cut trees from his own property. The original section of the three-level house is of irregular-shaped pieces of solid stone, exposed inside like the exterior. Vassilieff later built sections with timber and brick. Inside is rustic and cave-like, and several rooms are linked by arched openings with no doors. One undulating wall was carved out of rock from which two sculptured heads protrude. Several ceilings are of rough-hewn logs and the built-in table and bookcase are rough, as is a timber ladder leading to a bedroom. Not for the elderly or unsteady! Yet the general impression in the muted light is beautiful, with artistic originality.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, danila vassilieff, hamilton road, north warrandyte, stonygrad

Warrandyte artist, Clara Southern, features on the Artists Trail. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p189 Since early in the 20th century this district has attracted artists and other creative people. So much so, that Eltham has been compared to the Left Bank in Paris, New York’s Greenwich Village and London’s Bloomsbury.1 That is until the 1970s when Eltham rapidly expanded into a suburb. However many artists still flourish not only in Montsalvat, Dunmoochin and the Bend of Islands but elsewhere in Nillumbik. Some artists who have worked or lived in Nillumbik are well-known nationally and internationally. Artists are attracted to the hilly district’s subtle colours, unique light and the Yarra River and Diamond Creek. The railway’s extension to Eltham in 1902 brought artists to paint for the day or to camp. Then many settled in Eltham, perhaps also because the poor quality land, far from the city, was cheap. Following World War Two they found they could build houses and studios cheaply by making their own mud-bricks. The flexible material, with its warm tones blending into the bush, also satisfied their aesthetic sensibilities. As early as 1900, Will Longstaff, known for his painting The Ghosts of Menin Gate at the National War Memorial in Canberra, lived at Stanhope in Peter Street, Eltham, later to become the home of intellectuals Clem and Nina Christensen. Members of Australia’s first significant art movement, the Heidelberg School of Artists, painted in Eltham, Warrandyte and Diamond Creek.2 Walter Withers lived at the corner of Bolton and Brougham Street, Eltham and taught Sir Hans Heysen, who for a short while stayed with the Withers family. In Warrandyte were Clara Southern, whom Frederick McCubbin taught at the National Gallery School and Penleigh Boyd, who is represented in all Australian state galleries and the National Collection in Canberra. May Vale, daughter of politician William, lived in Diamond Creek.3 With Jane Price they feature on the Heidelberg School Artists Trail, part of which runs through Nillumbik. The trail includes signs each displaying a reproduction of a painting by an artist and located near where the artist lived or painted. In Nillumbik the trail includes parts of Warrandyte, Eltham in the Alistair Knox Park, Main Road shopping precinct and Wingrove Park, the Research walking track on Main Road and the Diamond Creek Reserve. In 1916 artist William ‘Jock’ Frater lived at the corner of Arthur and Bible Streets, Eltham. Before then, Frater, with other artists including Percy Leason (who moved to Eltham in the mid 1920s) painted in Eltham on weekends. They camped near Bible and Pitt Streets and along the Diamond Creek where the Eltham Retirement Centre now stands.4 In 1921, painter Peter Newbury (father to painter David Newbury, who was born in Eltham) moved to Cromwell Street, Eltham. Max Meldrum, the first Australian painter to formulate a consistent theory of art largely based on tone,5 taught local artists Alan Martin, Clarice Beckett, Peter Glass and Justus Jörgensen. Meldrum visited Eltham then rented a house there for 18 months opposite Wingrove Park. In 1934, artist and architect Justus Jörgensen and his doctor wife Lil and friends built Montsalvat, the artists’ colony. Montsalvat has played an important part in attracting artists to Eltham and its mud-brick, pisé, stone and recycled building materials has had a major influence on Eltham’s built environment. Jörgensen’s students who also helped him build Monstalvat included Arthur Munday, Lesley Sinclair, Helen Lempriere, Joe Hannan, Helen, Sonia and jeweller/sculptor, Matcham Skipper. Among artists who visited Montsalvat were Clifton Pugh and Angry Penguins’ artists Albert Tucker and Arthur Boyd. Some who painted after World War Two were Alan Martin of Eltham and Warrandyte artists Frank Crozier and Harry De Hartog6, one of Melbourne’s first painters influenced by Cubism.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, clara southern, heidelberg artists' trail, main road, research (vic)

The Grave of James Black (died 20/07/1904), Elizabeth Black (died 27/07/1904), Mary Yeaman (died 23/04/1903) and George Yeaman (died 07/08/1924) , St Helena CemeterySt Helena Cemetery was originally the burial place of the Beale family and friends. The first burials took place in the 1850s. There are now over 200 burials.Digital copy of colour photographst helena cemetery, james black, elizabeth black, mary yeaman, george yeaman

Galen Catholic College was named after Father George Devitt Galen, who was a parish priest based at St. Patrick's Church in Wangaratta from 1863 until his death in 1869. This is one of the few photographs of Father Galen.galen catholic college, galen college, father george devitt galen, parish, st. patricks, wangaratta

Alexander George Hill Mayor 1944 1945 1962 1970 His home and boot shop was in Sackville Street - first shop from the old Post office corner. Alex was very involved in the Port Fairy Football Club.Black & white portrait of Alexander Hill wearing mayoral robes and jabotmayor, government, shire, council, municipal, portrait, local government, football club

Great Hall at Montsalvat built 1938-52, designed by Justus Jorgensen Covered under National Estate, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) State Significance, Victorian Heritage and Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p129 At first glance, Montsalvat, the artists’ community at Hillcrest Avenue, Eltham, could belong to another time and place. The French provincial Gothic-style buildings blend picturesquely with the introduced and native trees and farm animals on the five hectare property. But Montsalvat belongs very much to today’s Eltham, having inspired much of its creative activity and style. The use of mud-brick and recycled building materials, for which Eltham is so well-known, was largely popularised by Montsalvat. Montsalvat – unique in Victoria and probably in Australia – is registered by the National Trust and National Estate.1 Montsalvat, named after the castle of the Knights of the Holy Grail, has attracted artists and intellectuals since it was founded in 1934. For years at weekends, artists, lawyers, philosophers, politicians and others, who shared a love for what Montsalvat stood for, gathered for a meal and stimulating discussion. The focus for this gathering of talent was Justus Jörgensen, an eccentric man with vision and charisma. It was Jörgensen’s foresight that saw the creation of Montsalvat, which in 1975 was formed into a trust to benefit the Victorian people. The property was then valued at about three million dollars. It is now visited by thousands of people annually. Born in 1894 and brought up a Catholic, Jörgensen had trained as an architect. He later studied painting at the National Gallery School under artist, Frederick McCubbin, then joined the studio of artist Max Meldrum. In 1924, Jörgensen married medical student Lillian Smith, and with artist friends they travelled to Europe to study the great masters. In London Jörgensen exhibited in several major galleries. One of his still life paintings was included in the book The Art of Still Life by Herbert Furst, which featured 100 of the greatest ever still life paintings.2 In 1929, Jörgensen returned to Melbourne where Lil, now qualified, worked as an anaesthetist at St Vincent’s Hospital. They bought a small house in Brighton and Jörgensen rented a large building in Queen Street for his studio until the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria bought it in 1955. While designing and overseeing the building of a studio for his friend the famous cartoonist Percy Leason, in Lavender Park Road, Jörgensen decided to buy land for a country retreat in Eltham. So the building of Montsalvat began. Jörgensen gathered around a dozen of his friends and students from his Queen Street studio. They set to work, first at weekends then some decided to live permanently on the site. Jörgensen had seen mud-brick buildings in Spain and recognised that Eltham’s clay soil was ideal for mud-bricks and although labour intensive, it was a very cheap way of building. Jörgensen’s students and friends worked under his direction with the help of local tradesmen, including carpenter, Len Jarrold and later stone mason, Horrie Judd. In return Jörgensen would give the students a painting lesson or two. It was the Great Depression when many were out of work. Jörgensen also inspired people to give generously of money and materials. With their help Jörgensen found second-hand materials for building. Friends donated slate for roofing, discarded firebricks were used for flooring and windows and doors and a cast-iron circular staircase came from a wrecker. The students’ day started at 7am with building and domestic chores, shared equally between the sexes. The first building was used by his friends at weekends and then became a home for his wife Lil. It consisted of three rooms and an attic under a high-pitched roof. Jörgensen then built a similar structure with the same high-pitched roof as a more permanent home for his students. The two buildings were joined together with a tower and a studio for Jörgensen. While excavating for the studio a reef of yellow mud-stone was found and then used in construction. The next building was the Great Hall, to be used for dining, exhibitions and meetings and completed in 1958, after a halt during the war. Whelan the Wrecker donated the stone-framed windows from the building that housed the Victorian Insurance Co. in Collins Street, which had been demolished in the 1930s. The swimming pool was donated and cubicles were built for the students with their initials marked in tiles on each doorstep.1 One of Jörgensen’s great abilities was to recognise how to use material which harmonised. He would comb through wreckers’ yards for what he needed. Regarding his buildings as sculptural pieces, his first consideration was for the aesthetic quality of a building and only then for its functionality.2 At Montsalvat, Jörgensen found he was able to put his ideas into practice without compromise and those who worked with him had to conform to his ideas. With the Jörgensens, the colony’s original nucleus consisted of the Skipper family – Mervyn and wife Lena, daughters Helen and Sonia and son Matcham,who was to become an eminent jeweller and sculptor represented in National Gallery collections throughout Australia and in European museums.3 Other members were Arthur Munday, Lesley Sinclair, Helen Lempriere, Ian Robertson, John Smith, George Chalmers, John Busst and Sue Van der Kellan; also Jörgensen’s three sons – Max, Sebastian and Sigmund – and Saskia, Sonia Skipper and Arthur Munday’s daughter. Montsalvat went through some hard times when local gossips spread rumours of sexual shenanigans at Montsalvat. However Montsalvat also had many local supporters – especially amongst the local tradespeople. The colony was certainly unconventional – with Jörgensen’s wife Lil (and son Max) and life-time partner Helen Skipper, (mother of Sebastian and Sigmund) living at Montsalvat. Sonia Skipper says in her biography that the group were ‘very conscious of their responsibilities to each other and a desire to make their relationships work’.4 By World War Two many buildings around the Great Hall were completed. Jörgensen was a pacifist, as were most of his students. Some of the Montsalvat community enlisted while others engaged in essential services like dairy farming and market gardening for the war effort. It was then that Jörgensen constructed farm buildings. After the war many well-known personalities such as Clifton Pugh, landscape gardener Gordon Ford, and builder Alistair Knox, were drawn to Montsalvat. They learnt that building was not a ‘sacred cow’ only for professionals, but that anyone who was willing to get their hands dirty could do it. The post-war shortage of materials also encouraged builders to follow Montsalvat’s lead in reusing materials. When Jörgensen died in 1975, his influence did not – thanks largely to the vigilance of his son, Sigmund, who became its administrator. The weekend dinners have gone, but in 2008 about 14 artists still work at Montsalvat – some living there – including a couple who have been there since its early days. Under Sigmund’s direction Montsalvat further expanded its activities which included festivals, art exhibitions, concerts and weddings. Sigmund completed the Chapel, then the Long Gallery next to the pool, After the barn burnt down, he replaced it in 1999 (the builder was Hamish Knox, Alistair’s son) with a new gallery and entrance and added a restaurant. Sigmund has been careful that any new building blends in with the character of Montsalvat. In 2006 Montsalvat was restructured for its continued financial viability and with the help of Arts Victoria a new executive officer was appointed. A representative board from the wider community was established, which includes members from the former Montsalvat Trust including Sigmund Jörgensen – who is now the heritage and arts adviser to the new company Montsalvat Ltd.5 Today, visiting Montsalvat one still sees artists, students and visitors enjoying the unique and beautiful surroundings.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, eltham, great hall, montsalvat

This is an 1886 certificate admitting George Mackay to practise as an attorney, solicitor and proctor in the courts of the colony of Victoria. George Sutherland Mackay (1850-1926) was born in Scotland and educated at the University of Glasgow. He came to Australia in 1884. In 1891 he came to Warrnambool and established a legal practice in Kepler Street. In 1893 he bought the practice of the late James Fletcher and the firm was then known as Fletcher and Mackay. It changed to Mackay and Taylor (later Mackay Taylor) when J.D. Taylor became his partner in the 1920s. In 1999 Tait Solicitors and Mackay Taylor amalgamated to form Tait Taylor and in 2010 the firm’s name became Tait Legal. This certificate is of considerable importance as a significant memento of George Mackay, a prominent lawyer in Warrnambool from the 1890s to 1926.This is a paper certificate pasted on board and set into a brown cardboard frame. The certificate has brown or gold handwriting with some calligraphy, three or four stamps (mostly obliterated), a green duty stamp and the remains of a signature. The frame is tattered at the edges and stained at the back.george sutherland mackay, warrnambool lawyer, j.d. taylor, tait solicitors and mackay taylor, history of warrnambool

Valentine Series postcard of the early 1930s of No. 27 inbound in Lydiard St Nth. Valentine series No. 1492, with the caption "Lydiard Street showing George Hotel, Ballarat". See page 59 of The Golden City and its Tramways and for the photo itself. Photo shows the wooden centre poles, street lighting, tram 27 in ESCo colour scheme, and buildings on the west side of Lydiard St North, including the George Hotel, A.M. Palmer & Co Chemist, Wm Hiscock Dentist and other buildings. A horse-drawn cart and two motor cars parked at the kerb. See 3893 for a digital image and reproduction photograph.Yields information about Lydiard St Nth in the 1930's, the centre poles, traffic and the appearance of the trams.Postcard black and white, divided back. Card No. 1492Has on the rear in pencil "KT" and "to be copied" tramways, trams, tram 27, lydiard st nth, george hotel, centre poles

George Edward Doery (was one of 3 children of William Henry Doery and wife Theodora M Bartholomew who were married in 1914 and resided from this time until c1963 at 16 Tower Street, Surrey Hills. The Doery family were stalwarts of the Canterbury Baptist Church. George graduated MBBS from the University of Melbourne in 1949. He married Mary Elizabeth Weller (1922-2004) in 1950. He joined the Mont Albert medical Group and practised there until his retirement, The photo was taken to mark his retirement and appeared in a local newspaper. He died 21/9/2011. A black and white photograph of a man sitting at a desk. He is wearing a shirt and tie and a pair of glasses.george doery (dr), george edward doery (dr), medical practitioners, doctors, mont albert medical group, mary doery (mrs), mary elizabeth doery (mrs), mary weller (miss), mary elizabeth weller (miss), canterbury baptist church

Built by William Ellis in 1865 of local uncut stone about 30cm thick, the cottage is now a museum and home to the Nillumbik Historical Society. Ellis Cottage is historically significant for its association with the Ellis family, who were pioneers of the Diamond Creek district and the benefactors of the notable Nillumbik Cemetery gateway. It illustrates the development of farming in the area. Ellis Cottage is historically and technically significant for its rare use of uncut local stone for building purposes. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. National Estate Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p79 Ellis Cottage, built by William Ellis, is a memorial to the courage of pioneers in the Diamond Valley area.1 Now a museum and home to the Nillumbik Historical Society, it is a fine example of an early settler’s house in Diamond Creek – and one of the few original buildings standing from the middle of the 19th century. It is a poor man’s cottage – typical of the dwellings of those who had to work hard to wrest a living in this district, because most of the land was not fertile enough for major forms of farming. The pretty stone cottage at 10 Nillumbik Square, built in 1865, is made of local uncut stone about one foot (30 cm) thick. It once stood near the centre of the 147 acres (59.4ha) Ellis bought in 1850. The property extended from Diamond Creek to Reynolds Road and from Perversi Avenue to the Wattle Glen School. It stood in the electoral parish of Nillumbik. The Nillumbik township (later called Diamond Creek) was not created until 1867. In 1912 the property was cut in half by the new railway to Hurstbridge. Ellis paid £147/10/- for the land - about three times what a Victorian farmer would usually earn in a year. Despite the poor quality soil Ellis became a very successful farmer with an orchard, vegetables and a dairy herd. Five years later, in 1855, Ellis bought 70 acres (28.3ha) from neighbour, Hugh Larimour. In 1857 Ellis bought 208 acres (84ha) at Yarra Glen. In 1877 he bought 122 acres (49.3ha) at Diamond Creek and later bought land at Greensborough and Woodstock. Ellis was born in 1815 at Blackawton, a small Devonshire village, and became a tenant farmer. It is not known why Ellis came out to Australia or settled in Diamond Creek. In 1847 he married Margaret Child at the Melbourne Presbyterian Church. Ellis and Child had no children and 18 years after the wedding, while probably living in Kangaroo Ground, Ellis built this small cottage. The simple cottage has a central hall and two rooms on each side. To maximise the small space the ceiling cavity was designed large enough to provide sleeping accommodation accessed via a ladder. Each room was heated by an open fireplace and the one in the kitchen was large enough to roast a sheep. A large cellar under the front room probably stored farm produce. Water came from a well as reticulated water did not arrive at Diamond Creek until 1914. In 1870 Ellis’ 22 year-old nephew Nathaniel joined him from England.2 Until 1890 they developed Ellis Park, praised in The Evelyn Observer, May 30,1890 as a model farm. Ellis had become wealthy, and on his death in 1896 his estate was valued at £9000. In his will he left £100 to construct memorial gates at the Nillumbik Cemetery where he was buried.3 Ellis left the farm to his second wife Louisa. As he had no children, upon her death the farm passed to Nathaniel, but he did not take it up. The farm was sold and leased several times until 1967, when engineer Phillip Lovitt bought the property and carried out major structural works. The Shire of Diamond Valley bought it in the 1980s and in 1989 restored it with the Nillumbik Historical Society. The stone walls of the cottage had been plastered with mud and straw mortar, which were removed as they were riddled with vermin. Doors, windows and a floor were replaced and the original roof of timber shingles had been replaced with slate. The well was too deeply cracked to be restored, so was used for a flower bed. Two mature Italian Cypresses at the entry are also heritage protected as they relate to similar trees planted at Shillinglaw Cottage and other early buildings in Nillumbik Shire.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, ellis cottage, diamond creek, nillumbik historical society, william ellis

Opened in 1891, the bridge formed part of the Maroondah Aqueduct carrying water from Watts River near Healesville to the reservoir at Preston where it joined Melbourne's metropolitan water system. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p99 Built to supply thirsty Melbourne in the late 19th century, the siphon bridge spanning the Plenty River off Leischa Court, Greensborough, was part of an engineering masterpiece. Opened in 1891, the bridge formed part of the Maroondah Aqueduct carrying water from the Watts River near Healesville to the reservoir at Preston where it joined the metropolitan distribution system. A major link in Melbourne’s water supply, it also had a huge impact on communities, which mushroomed along its route. Named after the Aboriginal word for the area around the Maroondah Reservoir, the Maroondah Aqueduct was fully operational until the 1970s. Since the 1980s the land along parts of the aqueduct have been used for walking and bicycle riding, shaded in places by Monterey Pine trees planted to stabilise the surrounding ground. From 1857 the Yan Yean Reservoir supplied Melbourne’s water but the growing city needed additional catchments.1 In 1886 work began on a weir on the Watts River to enable the aqueduct to carry most of the river water 41 miles (66km) to Melbourne. The aqueduct, built by the Board of Works, is the oldest remaining aqueduct near Melbourne and was probably the first built with concrete.2 Although the aqueduct is now only used between the Maroondah and Sugarloaf Reservoirs, it can still be traced across the Shire. It extends from the Maroondah Reservoir through Christmas Hills, Kangaroo Ground, Research, Eltham, St Helena and then previously wound west through Greensborough to Reservoir.3 Built by horse and manpower the aqueduct gravity fed 25 million gallons (113.6ML) of water a day to Melbourne along a gradient of one foot to the mile. It included 25 miles (41km) of open concrete and brick channel, six miles (10km) of tunnels, and nine miles (15km) of 14 inverted siphons of riveted wrought-iron across creeks. Bricks for the aqueduct were made from clay found near the sites and remains of several kilns can still be found between Kangaroo Ground and Christmas Hills. Building the aqueduct transformed local communities. An abattoir was established at Christmas Hills. Grog shanties and labourers’ camps sprang up and local courts dealt with cases of ‘petty pilfering and boisterous behaviour’.4 The Kangaroo Ground school population jumped to 91, crammed into a room with one teacher. Miners who built the tunnels camped just north of Churinga in Greensborough – then called Tunnel Hill Camp – and adjacent to the Evelyn Arms Hotel. The miners’ high spirits were sometimes quenched in horse troughs or by a ‘welt under the ear and kick on the behind’ as the local constable calmed them down rather than lock them up.5 But the growing city of Melbourne needed more water, so the O’Shannassy catchment, east of Warburton, was added to the system in 1914. In 1920 work began on the present concrete Maroondah Dam one mile (1.6km) from the weir on the Watts River. The aqueduct capacity was thus doubled to 50 million gallons (227ML) a day.6 Intense land development threatened to pollute the open water supply, so channel sections were replaced with large pipes. In the late 1960s a large water main was built from the tunnel outlet at Research and extended through St Helena and Greensborough, so this section of the aqueduct was taken out of use. Long sections of the unused open channels in Greensborough and Bundoora were destroyed, but the old channel in Research and Eltham North remained largely intact. In the 1970s, the Sugarloaf Reservoir was constructed, inundating 445 hectares of land in Christmas Hills. Sugarloaf was officially opened in 1980 and serves as a water storage and treatment plant supplying Melbourne. In the early 1980s pipes replaced the section from Sugarloaf Reservoir to the tunnel entrance at Kangaroo Ground. The Research-Kangaroo Ground tunnel operates as part of the pipeline system.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, maroondah aqueduct, pipe bridge, siphon bridge

Six year old Judith Furphy was the first person known to have been buried at Kangaroo Ground Cemetery in May 1851. The cemetery is situated on an ancient river bed with exposed Nillumbik sands. The rest of the district is formed from black volcanic soil which was hard to dig. According to local historian Mick Woiwod (deceased) the site may have been a burial ground for the local Wurundjeri people as the exposed softer sands were always their prefered camping sites. The Hon. Ewen Hugh Cameron who lived at Pigeon Bank and was the Member for Evelyn for 40 years (1874-1914) was buried here in 1915. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p39 The Wurundjeri people might have buried their dead on the site of the Kangaroo Ground Cemetery, according to local historian Mick Woiwod. Kangaroo Ground was a premier hunting ground, but camping on the black volcanic soil would have been uncomfortable. Unlike most of Kangaroo Ground, its cemetery, on an ancient river bed, comprises a rare exposure of Nillumbik sands – always the preferred campsite for Aboriginal people. The cemetery area is the only place where the soil was soft enough to dig a grave easily.1 Six-year-old Judith Furphy was the first person known to have been laid to rest at the Kangaroo Ground Cemetery. She died on May 17, 1851, from a chill caught by resting on wet grass. Local Andrew Ross wrote ‘..no public burying place existed nearer than Melbourne. The case being considered urgent, a general meeting of the settlers took place on the evening of the 17th……. The result was the selection of unoccupied crown land …….which was subsequently granted by Government for a public cemetery.’2 Judith was buried the next day on May 18. Her grave was marked by the trustees with a plaque, which unfortunately states nine years old, when she was probably only six. Judith came from an illustrious family. Her brother, Joseph, was the author of Such is Life and other works. Another brother, John, developed and manufactured the famous Furphy water cart, which distributed water to World War One soldiers along with the latest rumours. Hence the name Furphy entered the Australian idiom, as synonymous with ‘rumour’. Judith’s father Samuel helped build the first Kangaroo Ground church school. Inside, near the entrance of the cemetery, on Yarra Glen Road, stand a rotunda and a water tank. Occasional benches invite mourners to pause and remember. The gate with wrought iron and brick supports, bears the inscription ‘Erected by Sir Ewen and Lady Cameron in memory of their daughter, Flora Margaret’. These are only two of the famous people connected with this cemetery. The Hon. Ewen Hugh Cameron JP and MLA from 1874 to1914, who lived at Pigeon Bank, Warrandyte Road, was buried here in 1915. Unrelated, but with the same name, was Sir Ewen Cameron who had been Minister for Health and was laid to rest there in 1964. Sir Herbert Gepp, a leading industrialist and the former owner of Garden Hill, at Yarra Glen Road, was buried there in 1954.3 Many of the more imposing tombstones belong to the earlier graves. Unfortunately bushfires have cracked several. But this adds to the melancholy attractiveness of the cemetery, graced by some beautiful eucalypts, cypress and pines. Early pioneering families represented at the cemetery include Armstrong, Barr, Bell, Harkness, Jardine, Johnston, Rogerson, Stevenson, Thomson and Walters. Armstrong and Bell were among the first families to come to the district and Stevenson owned the district’s first sheep station. It took in much of present day Christmas Hills, which was the name he gave his sheep station. Harkness was the first to suggest a Kangaroo Ground school be built, and one of the first to suggest establishing the Eltham District Road Board. Many of these families leased pastoral land before the mid-century and bought land when it came on sale in 1849. In the cemetery’s early days sections were devoted to the major Christian denominations (mainly the Protestant) and one section was set aside for ‘other’ or ‘non-believers’. However in modern times burial plots have not been placed in areas according to religious beliefs.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, kangaroo ground, eltham-yarra glen road, agnes bell cameron, agnes cameron (nee bell), cameron family, edward aubrey haughton, eugene cameron, evelyn florence cameron, ewen hugh cameron, gravestones, jane armstrong, jane bell, jessie agnes haughton (nee cameron), jessie cameron, john donald cameron, kangaroo ground cemetery, neville cameron, simon armstrong, vera cameron, william bell armstrong, wurundjeri

Originally Wellers Hotel, it was constructed by Edward Weller in 1872. Following his death in 1883 it was taken over by his widow, Mary Weller. The hotel was delicensed in 1909 and converted to a private residence. Around 1920 William Pitman bought the property, succeeded by his son Vernon who coined the term Pittman's Corner. Vernon and Isabel Pitman owned the house form 1945-1973. Following Vernon's death, Isabel remained there till her death in 1983. The property was converted to a restaurant in 1984 by owners Robert and Kath Hendry who undertook extensive renovations in 1988. Shawn and Stephanie Wolfe purchased the property from the Hendrys in 2003 and introduced live entertainment with many famous bands and entertainers from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s performing there, including James Reyne, Daryl Barithwaite, Brian Cadd and Billy Thorpe. In 2014 the Wolfe's sold the property and the entire contents were sold at auction. New (local ) owners Gregory Anderson, Craig Jones and Steve Gist refurbished the property and relaunched it as Fondata 1872 in 2017. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p87 A low-lying brick building at a turn on the main road, on the way to Kangaroo Ground, was once a welcome resting place for travellers. In the late 19th century Weller’s Pub, as it was called then, provided a store and an overnight stopping place and changing post for Cobb & Co coaches. The coaches were bound for the Caledonia Goldfields, near Queenstown (now St Andrews) and the Woods Point gold mines.1 Builder Edward Weller constructed the hotel and store on three acres (1.2 ha) in 1872 and after he died in 1883, his widow, Mary, continued to run the hotel, which was delicensed in 1909. This was not the first enterprise Weller ran in the district. In about 1866, he came to Kangaroo Ground and rented a general store and nine acres (3.6 ha) of land. The store, opposite the present school, was on the site of the present store and Weller also acted as the postmaster there. Mrs Weller was born in Scotland in 1841 and came to Victoria with her parents in about 1852. After two years in Melbourne the family moved to the Caledonia Goldfields where they remained for several years during which time she married Weller. The couple subsequently had five sons and five daughters. Weller’s Pub was made of handmade bricks fired from clay dug on the property. The pub must have been a haven on hot days with its 40cm thick walls throughout. One quaint reminder of its early use is that every room except the dining room has an outside door. Inside, the pub was converted to a home with extra doors connecting the inside rooms. There is no trace of the original bar room in the present dining room, where the steps leading to the cellar were bricked in. An unusual feature is the pressed metal which lines the ceilings, yet with moulding and white paint, looks like plaster. The main road once passed the back of the building and wound up to the top of the hill through a cutting. This steep hill was known to the bullock drivers in the early days, as Salvation Hill, because they were always very glad to reach its peak. After the hotel was delicensed it was converted to a private residence and extensive renovations were made, changing much of its design from a Victorian to an Edwardian style.2 Between 1912 and 1915, Gordon Cameron, a Cobb & Co coach driver and his wife rented the former hotel. Mr Cameron was related to the parliamentarian Ewen Cameron of Pigeon Bank, Kangaroo Ground, and his wife was related to Albert Pepper who owned Pigeon Bank from 1916 to 1919, when Gordon Cameron bought it. About 1920 William Pitman bought the property, which in turn was owned by his son, Vernon, who coined the name Pitman’s Corner. He and his wife Isabel owned the house from 1945 to 1973. Then as a widow Isabel Pitman lived there until her death in 1983.3 In 1984 the property was converted to a restaurant by owners P A Tribe, a barrister, his wife Sharon, and Robert and Kath Hendry. Extensive renovations maximised the splendid views of the Dandenong Ranges and the Yarra Valley.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, eltham-yarra glen road, fondata 1872, kangaroo ground, wellers restaurant, billy thorpe, brian cadd, craig jones, daryl barithwaite, edward weller, gregory anderson, hotels, james reyne, kath hendry, mary weller, restaurants, robert hendry, shawn wolfe, stephanie wolfe, steve gist

Wycliffe translates the Bible for people around the world. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p171 The peace and beauty of Australia’s Wycliffe Centre reflects what it aims to bring to thousands of people around the world. Kangaroos calmly feed, accompanied by bird song, near the mud-brick buildings set amongst Kangaroo Ground’s rolling hills. On 11 hectares off Graham Road, the centre aims to transform people’s lives by giving groups around the world, with no written language, help with literacy and Bible translation into their own tongue. Associate Director, Harley Beck, says reading the Bible (probably history’s most influential collection of books),1 in one’s own language, provides a strong moral basis, helping people withstand exploitation and escape poverty. One of Wycliffe’s field partners, SIL (formerly Summer Institute of Linguistics) Papua New Guinea, has won two UNESCO awards, and SIL branches in many other countries have won international and national awards. The translators are modern heroes. They undertake hardships, forsaking for years, sometimes decades, a salary and the soft western lifestyle, to face loneliness and primitive conditions that most of us would not even contemplate. No staff is paid a salary. An example is the first Australian Director and former International President, David Cummings, who for 50 years has depended on donations from supporters and churches. Students of all ages at the EQUIP Training School on the site come from all walks of life. They train in linguistics and learn how to communicate in a way that is sensitive to other cultures. Spiritual resilience is encouraged, enabling people to persist until the job in the field is done, which takes on average ten to 15 years. Courses range from a few weeks to a year. The Wycliffe concept was born in the 1920s when American missionary, Cameron Townsend, found a Spanish Bible was inadequate to evangelise the Cakchiquel people of Guatemala. When a Cakchiquel man challenged: ‘If your God is so great, why doesn’t he speak my language?’ Townsend decided to translate the Bible into all languages! He founded a linguistics training school in 1934, naming it after 14th century theologian John Wycliffe, the first to translate the Bible into English.2 The first Wycliffe Bible was completed in 1951 in the Mexican San Miguel Mixtec language. In May 2007 after 30 years of work, Wycliffe Australia, with other organisations, completed the first Bible for indigenous people in the Kriol* language, for about 30,000 people in northern Australia.3 Wycliffe Australia began in 1954 in the Keswick Bookshop basement, Collins Street, Melbourne. As the organisation grew, its quarters became so cramped that Director Cummings at times interviewed potential recruits in his car! The development of the Kangaroo Ground property is a story of faith and generosity. In 1967 Cummings proposed moving to a larger property despite having no funds. Within a month Wycliffe received a $20,000 donation and a gift of land towards a national centre. An earlier owner of the Kangaroo Ground property, Mrs Elsie Graham, would have been delighted, as she had wanted her land to be used for ‘God’s service’. Mud-brick architect and Christian, Alistair Knox, offered to design the centre at no charge. Despite a drought, straw was donated to make bricks. Many volunteers helped with the building, including church youth groups who made mud-bricks.4 Volunteers planted thousands of native plants, watered by recycled water from the site’s dam. Building began in 1968 and in 1983 the South Pacific SIL School (now EQUIP Training) followed. Wycliffe, the world’s largest linguistic organisation, and other organisations, have translated the Scriptures into more than 2000 languages. But another 2000 languages still lack any portion of the Bible. However translations are now completed more quickly, because of new computer programs and as education spreads, more speakers of the local language can assist.5 Despite the growth of secularisation, Beck says support for Wycliffe Australia, which has offices in all states and the ACT, is stronger than ever. * Kriol is a Pidgin language, which has become a speech community’s prime language.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, graham road, kangaroo ground, wycliffe centre

Ferguson’s Paddock, Hurstbridge. A plaque on a boulder commemorates Peter Brock. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p167 On a rock in Ferguson’s Paddock, Hurstbridge, a plaque commemorates Peter Brock. It includes the words: ‘Boy from Hurstbridge without special privileges, grew to become champion of racetracks around the world but he never forgot his beginnings’. Brock came from a well-established local family. Born in Hurstbridge in 1945, he lived in Anzac Avenue as a child, attended the Hurstbridge Primary and Eltham High Schools and lived in the district most of his life. His father Geoff owned the Diamond Valley Speed Shop in Greensborough. Brock’s forbears were amongst the area’s earliest settlers. From Scotland, the Brocks arrived in Tasmania in 1830, to graze sheep. Family members moved to Sunbury, then Preston, grazing sheep in the Bundoora area. John Brock owned Janefield, possibly named after his wife. In 1855 he granted around two acres (0.8ha) of his estate for a school.1 In 1866 Lewis Brock bought 264 acres (107ha) in Nutfield, the first non-Aboriginal person to own that land. They planted an orchard, then from around 1935, Brock’s uncle Sandy and his grandfather Lewis, ran a dairy on the property. In the 1980s Brock and his then partner Bev, bought most of the property, which they sold after their separation in 2006.2 Brock’s father was a Hurstbridge Football Club President, but Brock’s uncle Sandy, of Brocks Road, Doreen, has been particularly active in local affairs. He was President of the Mernda Football Club (then Plenty Rovers), President of the Panton Hill Football League and he founded the Arthurs Creek and District Landcare Group. He also gave more than 50 years of service to the Whittlesea Agricultural Society, the Volunteers for Australian Football and the Doreen Rural Fire Brigade. Community service was important to Brock too. Brock, with his then partner Bev, established the Peter Brock Foundation in 1997, the year he retired from full-time V8 Supercar racing. The Foundation’s grants have included $100,000 towards the upgrade of a walking track in the Hurstbridge Parklands and other projects include a holiday house for the families of child cancer victims.3 Brother Lewis saw Brock as a spiritual person, who had a great affinity with people. He saw Brock as a role model of someone who could achieve their dreams. ‘The family didn’t have much money, yet that didn’t stop Peter realising his dreams. He was strong and didn’t let difficult times crush him.’4 Despite his later successes, Brock’s most treasured trophy was for running 100 yards (91.4m)at his primary school in 1955, and he appreciated his head master Ted Griffiths’ encouragement of his sporting endeavours. At high school Brock became captain of Everard House. In his first year he bought a 1928 Austin 7 for £5. He cut the car into a box shape with an axe and enjoyed driving it – despite it having no brakes - at his grandparents’ farm at Nutfield. The turning point in Brock’s life came at age 23, when he built an Austin A30 in an old henhouse in Wattle Glen, using a Holden engine. He was laughed at until it won the Australian Sports Sedan Championship in 1968. Brock’s career then took off and he became a professional driver. Brock won Australian motor sport’s best-known event, the Bathurst 1000, nine times. Brock endured a bitter split from Holden in 1986 over control of his Holden-backed vehicle modification business and a car performance-enhancing device he called the ‘energy polariser’– despite it having no scientific evidence to support its claims. But Brock returned to Holden in 1994.5 Then in 1997, aged 52, Brock retired from fulltime V8 Supercar racing. However he continued to race at motor sport events. Brock won several awards, including an Order of Australia Medal in 1980, the Australian Sports Medal in 2000, and the Centenary Medal.6 On September 8, 2006, Brock died; after his car hit a tree during the Targa West Rally in Western Australia.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, ferguson's paddock, hurstbridge, peter brock memorial, peter brock

George William Stock born at sea on way to Australia 1861 (RIP 23/2/1924). This photo has been cropped. Photographs from the collection of Peter Blackbourn, a descendant of the Chapman Stock family. Annotations to photos by Peter Blackbourn. Digital copy of black and white photograph, cropped.peter blackbourn, george willam stock

A short article about George Cornforth Snowdon and his service in World War 1. At the time of his enlistment he was living at Terowie, South Australia; his sister was given as next of kin - Christine Cameron of Hailes Street Greensborough.One page, text and colour images.world war 1 project, george cornforth snowdon

George Gray (born 1835) was a pioneer fruit grower at Cleir Hills, Queenstown. He married Elizabeth Jane Edwards and had six daughters and two sons. He died in 1903 aged 68 years. He is buried in the Queenstown Cemetery. This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book," Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital imagesepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, george gray, queenstown, pioneer