Ordsall, renamed Southesk in the 20th century was built for John Halfey in or before 1865. The house was rebuilt in the 1870s to designs by architect Michael Hennessy. In 1882 the house was redecorated by the firm of Culls Hill & Co., who hired the artists 'Mr Vandenbrandt' and 'Signor Rizzi" to paint the ceilings of the ballroom and the drawingroom. The artistic triumph was described in detail in The Argus, 30 October, 1882. In 1947, Southesk was purchased by the Kew City Council. For 23 years it was used as a meeting place for community groups. The house was then demolished in 1970 to make way for a new Town Hall.The interiors of the two main reception rooms at Ordsall included some of the most outstanding domestic frescos painted in Australia in the late Victorian period. These frescos were executed by artists hired by the firm of Cullis Hill & Co. While a number of photographs were taken of the interiors prior to the house's demolition in 1970, this small fragment of the fresco is one of only three extant. The fresco allows conservators to examine and evaluate fresco techniques of the period.One of only two fragments of the painted domed ceiling of the ballroom of Ordsall (later renamed Southesk) which once stood at the corner of Cotham Road and Charles Street, Kew. This roughly square piece of the plasterwork shows a woman's head. Given the size of the face, it is believed that this section of the fresco represents one of the four 'geographic depictions of the earth including the seasons, night and morning'.Label: 'This is from the Southesk Ballroom 14-7-70'cullis hill & co., fresco, ordsall, southesk

Ordsall, renamed Southesk in the 20th century was built for John Halfey in or before 1865. The house was rebuilt in the 1870s to designs by architect Michael Hennessy. In 1882 the house was redecorated by the firm of Cullis Hill & Co., who hired the artists 'Mr Vandenbrandt' and 'Signor Rizzi" to paint the ceilings of the ballroom and the drawingroom. The artistic triumph was described in detail in The Argus, 30 October, 1882. In 1947, Southesk was purchased by the Kew City Council. For 23 years it was used as a meeting place for community groups. The house was then demolished in 1970 to make way for a new Town Hall.The interiors of the two main reception rooms at Ordsall included some of the most outstanding domestic frescos painted in Australia in the late Victorian period. These frescos were executed by artists hired by the firm of Cullis Hill & Co. While a number of photographs were taken of the interiors prior to the house's demolition in 1970, this small fragment of the fresco is one of only three extant. The fresco allows conservators to examine and evaluate fresco techniques of the period.A fragment of the painted domed ceiling of the drawingroom of Ordsall (later renamed Southesk) which once stood at the corner of Cotham Road and Charles Street, Kew. This rectangular fragment of painted plaster is a small section of the rectangular frieze of neo-gothic scenes that were a feature of the drawingroom ceiling. The fragment differs from those remaining from the ballroom in that it includes a section of gold leaf.Label: 'This is from "Southesk" drawing room'ordsall, southesk, cullis hill & co., halfey, john

The Municipality of Kew (1860-1863), the Borough of Kew (1863-1910), the Town of Kew (1910-1921) and the City of Kew (1921-1994) were local government instrumentalities in the State of Victoria. In 1994, the City of Kew was amalgamated, together with the former Cities of Camberwell and Hawthorn, into the new City of Boroondara (1994- ). Like other local government entities of the period, Kew was administered by town clerks. The two notable town clerks in Kew's history were H. H. (Henry Hirst) Harrison (1868-1955) and W. D. (William Dickie) Birrell (1899-1974). Harrison was appointed to the position in 1901 and retired in 1938 after 37 years. Birrell, appointed Acting Town Clerk in 1921, became Town Clerk in 1938, following Harrison's retirement. He continued in this role until his retirement in 1966.This card is part of an historically significant civic collection, containing hundreds of separate invitations, documents, greeting cards, programmes and tickets issued and/or collected by successive town clerks. Items in the collection illuminate the political, social and cultural history of the district. As a continuous record, ranging across most decades of the Twentieth Century, they reveal changing tastes in design, values and relationships in the history of local government in Victoria.THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA / MONTHLY MEETING / PAPER BY CAPTAIN J E JENKINS / ON / EARLY ARARAT / IN THE TOWN HALL MELBOURNE / THURSDAY OCTOBER 30TH 1919 / AT 8 P.M. / ADMIT BEARER AND FRIENDScivic invitations -- kew (vic), the historical society of victoria -- meetings 1919, captain je jenkins -- early ararat

The two-storey red brick with concrete detailing hall building, according to Vaughan (1960) was the 'meeting place for very many lodges in the various degrees of Freemasonry. The first lodge to be established was the Pentalpha Lodge, No. 90'Rare colour photo of a significant hall in Kew, now demolished and replaced with a carpark.35mm colour transparency (slide) of the former Masonic Hall in Walpole Street, Kew. The two-storey red brick with concrete detailing hall building, according to Vaughan (1960). In from of the building is an A-frame sign advertising the Kew Historical Society which at that time (c.1980) shared the building with other organisations under the banner of 'The Copy Shop'. freemasonry -- kew (vic.), masonic hall -- kew (vic.), walpole street -- kew (vic.)

In 1940 The Surrey Hills Church of Christ team played in A Grade of the Eastern Suburbs Protestant Churches Football Association. Other clubs competing that season were: Spring Road Methodist, Glendearg Grove Methodist, Burwood Protestant, St.Marys Church of England, Balwyn United, Box Hill Adelphian and Box Hill United. Alan Sneddon played in the team. The inauguration of the Association took place at a meeting held at Camberwell Methodist School Office on the 19 March 1923. The following churches were represented at this meeting: Auburn Presbyterian, Kew Presbyterian, Hawthorn Presbyterian, Camberwell Methodist, Canterbury Methodist and St Marks Church of England, Burke Road and Holy Trinity Church of England, Surrey Hills. From 1923 to 1992 there were at least 160 clubs / teams that competed through the various grades with many of these combining & /or changing names, as well as those that competed irregularly. Black and white photo of the 1940 Surrey Hills Church of Christ football team with the Eastern Suburbs Football Association premiers flag in the background. The team includes 18 players, an umpire and 3 club officials, the later are centrally seated and one holds the premiership cup.Black and white photo measuring L 20.4 cm x H 15.4 cm mounted on its original presentation folder, which is mounted on card. The photographer's details are beneath the photo on the original mount, partially obscured by the descriptive label. The script is indecipherable.On back of card in Jocelyn Hall's writing: "Have 5 of these studio photos. / One is marked 'ORIGINAL' / ( - safekeeping) / This is Centre copy".churches, espcfa, surrey hills church of christ, football, football clubs, sporting clubs, eastern suburbs protestant churches football association, alan sneddon