Memories of Melton State School 430education

"The outbreak of World War I in August 1914 had an immediate impact on communities across Australia, and it was no different in Melton. Young men began enlisting immediately, and Australia’s initial offer of 20,000 troops was soon exceeded by Victorian enlistments alone. Over the four years of the war, approximately 114,000 Victorians enlisted and around 91,000 servicemen and women were sent overseas. They came not just from Melbourne, but from all over the state; from farms, small towns and suburban areas. They included locals, newly arrived migrants and Indigenous people. The Australian home front was a hive of activity throughout the war, and the Melton community played its part. Following the announcement that Australia was joining the war with Great Britain and its allies on 5 August 1914, the Melton community lost no time in launching into action. A meeting ‘to assist the Red Cross fund’ was held in the Melton Mechanics’ Institute hall on 18 August – just days after the outbreak of the war. Collectors were appointed for each corner of the shire and individual donations were made. A Melton branch of the Australian Red Cross Society was formed in June 1915 and focused its energies on raising funds to purchase material that was used to make clothes for sick and wounded soldiers. A depot was established in Melton to collect clothing and other ‘comfort’ items for the soldiers – including reading material, tobacco, linen, canned foods and soap – and to coordinate the branch’s work and activities. Local cab driver Percival Stubbs volunteered to transport all the packages to the Melton railway station, until he enlisted and departed for the front in 1916. Such were the numbers of people getting involved that branches were also established in Toolern Vale and Rockbank. Regular community events were held to farewell soldiers who were leaving on active service and to welcome those who returned home. Gunner Robert (Bob) Wynne, whose uncle’s family ran the general store in Toolern Vale, was presented with a pair of field glasses (binoculars), a gold watch, inscribed locket and autographed letter by the Toolern Vale community before he set sail for the front in 1916. His mother noted that he ‘sailed away in good spirits with a smile till out of sight’. From June 1915 to June 1919, the Melton Red Cross branch donated 2,156 pairs of socks, 1,357 shirts, 425 kit bags, 251 pillowslips, 224 towels and 121 pairs of pajamas. Countless fundraising events were held, including jumble fairs, concerts and gift evenings. Local schools also encouraged students to contribute through fund-raising and making and collecting comforts for the soldiers. People across the country engaged in similar activities, but Victoria’s rural communities found unique ways of contributing. In Melton, people were encouraged to send rabbits and hares ‘in good condition’ to an exporter in Spencer Street, for export to Belgium ‘for the relief of those suffering". Special Anzac Memorial article featured in the Star Weeklylocal identities, war

"On 17th May 1858 a State subsidised, combined Denominational School was opened by HT Stokes, with an attendance of about 30 children. This school was conducted in the wooden Melton Combined Protestant Church, situated on ‘a creek flat’ thought to be on the north side of Sherwin Street between Pyke and Byran Streets. It is likely that the Church had been established by 1855 and that the first minister was the Rev. Hampshire, who lived in Cambridge House on the Exford Estate. Ministers of the Protestant denominations were invited to hold services there. As there was only one resident Minister in the town (Presbyterian Mr J Lambie), laymen of the various denominations often spoke on Sundays. In 1863 this building was declared a Common School with the number 430. One of its first and most prominent headmasters was John Corr, who served from 1860 to 1864. Most of Mr Corr’s children also became teachers, including Joseph Corr, at the Rockbank school, and J Reford Corr and WS Corr, headmasters and teachers at numerous prestigious private secondary schools around Australia. John Corr purchased land alongside the school and elsewhere in and near Melton, became secretary and treasurer of the new Cemetery Trust, and by July 1861 was deputy registrar of births, deaths and marriages. He walked three miles every Sunday to teach at the Weslyan Sunday School he had established. Despite good reports from the Education Department Inspector, and burgeoning enrolments, the local school committee recommended the dismissal of, firstly, his wife (from the work mistress position), and then him from the headmaster position. Corr saw his dismissal as an attempt to redirect state aid for education from the Combined Protestant school to the support of the Free Presbyterian Minister Rev James Lambie (by one account the owner of the land on which the Common School was erected), whose son-in-law James Scott subsequently assumed responsibility for the school. Rev Lambie failed in his efforts to keep the existing school, which the Education Department Inspector and the majority of Melton citizens regarded as badly situated and badly built. Following a conditional promise of state aid, local contributors in 1868-69 raised ₤72.10.6 towards the cost of an iron-roofed bluestone rubble building 43 ft x 12 ft. This was erected on a new site of 1.5 acres (the present site). The State contributed ₤120 to the new school, which opened in 1870. A very early (c.1874) photograph of the school shows its headmaster and work mistress / assistant teacher (probably James Scott and his wife Jessie) and its (very young) scholars. Similar photos show pupils in front of the school in c.1903, and 1933. In 1877 a second bluestone room costing ₤297 was added and further land acquired from the Agricultural Society (who only needed it two days a year) to enlarge the schoolground to 3 acres. In the early 1880s an underground tank augmented the school water supply and in 1919 a five-roomed wooden residence was added. During this period the school correspondents often compained that the walls of the bluestone buildings were damp, affecting the plaster. In 1923 a brick room 26 ft 6 in by 24 ft with a fireplace and four rooms facing south, was added, and a corridor built to link the three buildings. This served adequately for the next 40 years. The school bell probably dates to 1883. The school also has a memorial gate (1951) to World War One ex-students, and an honour board to the 64 ex-students who served in the First World War. The school roll fell to 42 in the early post war-years, but was boosted by an influx of migrants, mainly from the UK, from the late 1960s. This presaged the boom in Melton’s development, and the corresponding growth of the school, with timber and temporary classrooms added to the previous masonry ones. An endowment pine plantation established in 1930 augmented the school’s fundraising activities when it was harvested in 1968. Part of the site was planted with eucalyptus trees in 1959. Famous ex-students of the early twentieth century included Hector Fraser (internationally successful shooter) and cyclist Sir Hubert Opperman". Photo of Edna and Margaret Barrie with Miles Baunders taken for the Telegrapheducation, local identities

A display folder for a set of 20 cent coins issued in 2015 to commemorate 100 years of Anzac and the First World War. Based on photos chosen from the Australian War Memorial archive, the ANZAC Official Coin Collection includes fourteen coins that have been designed and produced by the Royal Australian Mint to mark significant aspects that occurred in the First World War. Our set contains 13 coins. The First World War themes featured in this collection include the war years, mateship, Light Horsemen, the home front, the Royal Australian Navy, Remembrance Day, Nurses, wartime animals, The Last Post, War Correspondents, Australian Flying Corps, Australian Imperial Force, the Unknown Soldier, and the Gallipoli Landing. Project was issed by the Royal Mint and supported by the Australian War Memorial, Newscorp, Westpac and Legacy. The set, including coins was used as a prize in the JPESA speaking contest that Melbourne Legacy ran for many years until 2022.A type of prize given at a Legacy speaking competition that commemorates World War 1.Cardboard folder for a coin collection to be inserted in. Folds out into 6 sections. Red cord to tie the folder closed.coins, world war one

A set of thirteen 20 cent coins issued in 2015 to commemorate 100 years of Anzac and the First World War. Based on photos chosen from the Australian War Memorial archive, the ANZAC Official Coin Collection includes fourteen coins that have been designed and produced by the Royal Australian Mint to mark significant aspects that occurred in the First World War. Our set contains 13 coins - missing the Australian Flying Corps. There is also a folder to store the set in. The First World War themes featured in this collection include the war years, mateship, Light Horsemen, the home front, the Royal Australian Navy, Remembrance Day, Nurses, wartime animals, The Last Post, War Correspondents, Australian Flying Corps, Australian Imperial Force, the Unknown Soldier, and the Gallipoli Landing. Project was issed by the Royal Mint and supported by the Australian War Memorial, Newscorp, Westpac and Legacy. The set, including coins was used as a prize in the JPESA speaking contest that Melbourne Legacy ran for many years until 2022.A type of prize given at a Legacy speaking competition that commemorates World War 1.Thirteen uncirculated 20 cent coins in cardboard mount, each commemorating an aspect of World War 1. coins, world war one

Commemorative Seats x 3, Ballarat Botanical Gardens. They are the "Rats of Tobruk", "Lucas Employees World War 2" and "Victor Catherall" seats.The three seats commemorate citizens of Ballarat who made valuable contributions during their lifetimes and who were to be remembered. Two sheets of pale green paper; one and a quarter sheets of print. p.1 top right hand corner, Eureka flag logo, "City of Ballarat".john garner collection, garner, dr, commemorative seats, seats, tobruk, lucas, catherall, ballarat botanical gardens, ballarat, gardens, victor moreton catherall, rats of tobruk, lucas employees, world war 2, location of seats, reg middleton, irene lillingstone nee catherall.

Book containing black and white and colour photographs, published in City of Boroondara 2015camberwell, boroondara

Hardcover book

Legacy 69th Annual Anzac booklet

Printed book

Hard cover book

non-fiction A history of the area of Leneva in Wodonga, Victoria. Memories of a changing farming community within the Rural City of Wodonga in North-East Victoria.leneva wodonga, leneva history

non-fictionBetween 1947 and 1971 about 309,000 people arrived in Australia through the Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre in Northeast Victoria. Bonegilla was the largest and longest serving migration reception centre. It usually accommodated about 3,000 people but did hold up to 7,000 at one stage. It was a young person's place. Few of the adults were aged over 35 years old. This study analyses how Australia tried to meet the challenges involved in supporting young adults, teenagers and children. It also examines how those who were young remember their experiences at Bonegilla.bonegilla, immigrant experiences, young immigrants postwar

non-fictionThis article is about local engagement with a post-war immigration reception centre. The author explains the community perceptions of and interactions with Bonegilla, its residents and ex-residents while the centre was operating. He then traces the way locals, working with ex-residents, created and championed Block 19 Bonegilla as a memory place and heritage asset. The roles played by locals and local government are explored and analysed.bonegilla, immigration reception centre, block 19 bonegilla

non-fictionA history of the township of Tallangatta, Victoria which was moved in the 1950s due to the expansion of the Hume Damold tallangatta, tallangatta, hume dam, "the town that moved"

The book is about how the Shrine was built. It relates to the proposal, design competition and how the shrine was almost not built. It details the fight by Legacy for the plan to go ahead. Also the ray of light and Legatee Frank Doolan's work as surveyor. It was written by WB Russell who also wrote a biography about Legatee Stan Savige. A record of the building of the Shrine of Remembrance including Legacy's important role. Softcover book x 100 pages about the building of the Shrine.memorial, shrine of remembrance, w b russell

This little milk jug was in use when Mount Martha House was a hotel. It was offered to the Historical Collection by Rosemary Murray who found it in a box of items which her grandfather has purchased at an auction. This is the only item which has returned to the Historical Collection, it was verified by a local resident, Jean Male, who was a waitress during 1947 - 1950, who said she remembers spending her weekend cleaning the silverware. This was typical hotel ware of the era. A small silver plated milk jug with lid and handle attached. Engraved with Mount Martha House on one side. Mount Martha House (diagonal and in cursive script).hotel, silverware, tableware, milkjug, midcentury, 1940's, 1950's

non-fiction"A new periodical to celebrate the present and remember the past" - The Road, Summer 1995

This book is dedicated to the 135 Photographers of different nations who are known to have died or to have disappeared while covering the wars in Indochina, Vietnam, Cambodia and Loas. Their lives are remembered through their work here assembled.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - pictorial works, war photographers, indochina, laos, cambodia