E.J. Dower was born and raised in Olinda. He later moved with his parents to Surrey Hills. He worked as an adult as a clerk in the city office of the Metropolitan Gas Company, and in his role as a 'collector', was able to photograph scenes including the construction of tram and train lines and associated buildings in Kew, Hawthorn, Camberwell and Surrey Hills. Later he established a real estate agency with his brother - the E.J. Dower Real Estate Agency, Dandenong Office.The album and its photographs are an historically significant record of the development of transport infrastructure which was used to connect Victorians in the first two decades of the twentieth century. This development resulted from increases in population and the consequent extension of Melbourne's suburbs. The photographs in the album, as well as Dower's single photos mounted on card, detail the labour of workers and the tools and machinery used to create and extend Melbourne's tram and train networks in the years preceding and during World War 1.Album of six annotated photos of construction of the St Kilda to Kew electric tram line, taken in Cotham Road, Kew, by the amateur photographer, Edgar James Dower, in 1913. The album contains images detailing the preparation for the laying of the tracks plus work on laying the line. The album, together with other phots by E.J. Dower has been made available by the owners for the Kew Historical Society to digitise and publish online and in print.Annotations by the photographer, often added over time, on the reverse of each photo in the album.theme -- connecting victorians by transport and communications, theme -- travelling by tram, photographers -- edgar james dower, cotham road -- kew (vic.)

Contains 9 items: 1/Typed statements from Keith Stodden, dated 03/09/2004, contributing his list of tram routes in Glen Eira from 1920-1970 and 1970-2004. 2/’Trams in Glen Eira (Caulfield) – A Time Line History’, by Keith Stodden, dated 03/09/2004, listing opening and conversion dates and a detailed time-line from 1888 through 1995, of tram lines in Glen Eira (7 typed pages). Included is Mr Stodden’s handwritten draft of this time-line (13+2 pages). 3/’Trams in Glen Eira, notes prepared by Keith Stodden’, dated 27/05/2004, briefly describing tram routes in Glen Eira (2 pages). 4/Page from unnamed Melbourne newspaper (dated December 1895 in pen) with advertisement for tendering for lease of property for Caulfield Tramway. 5/’Our Tramways’, photocopy of cutting from unnamed newspaper, hand dated 1913, about recent developments on Melbourne tramways. 6/’Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board, location of cars at end of 28 day period, 16 June 1928’, listing by tram depot (2 pages); ‘Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board, location of cars at end of 28 day period, 9 June 1934’, listing by tram depot (2 pages); ‘Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board, location of cards at end of financial year, 30 June 1938’, listing by depot (2 pages). 7/’Glenhuntly Road’, cutting from Southern Cross newspaper, dated 14/05 but without the year (perhaps 1980), with brief history of Glenhuntly Road and photograph of first electric tram there, April 1913. 8/Flyer (2 pages) for ‘The Tramway Society of Victoria Ltd’, about the history of the Society (undated). 9/’Caulfield Conservation Study-Tramways Reservation-Dandenong Road’, photocopied description (5 pages) of reservations in the centre of Dandenong Road, with photographs. Assessment and one photograph dated March 1994.tram services, tram depots, trams, glen eira, caulfield, transport, glen huntly road, leslie street, elsternwick, hawthorn road, grange road, dandenong road, derby road, carnegie, balaclava road, stodden keith, glen huntly depot, caulfield tramway, elsternwick, watts thomas, elstercreek, architectural features, flannagan leonard j., ward andrew, tram companies, land transport, tram shelter