In 1857, tanner John Pearson purchased three and a half acres of land in Little Eltham, at the western end of Pitt Street, with a 70-foot frontage to Maria Street (Main Road) and stretching down to the Diamond Creek for £100. He contracted Benjamin Oliver Wallis to build house for him. Wallis, a mason by trade who originated from the Cornish village of Newlyn, migrated to Melbourne in 1853 and was shortly engaged by Richard Warren to build the Eltham Hotel, which opened in 1854. When Warren fell into financial difficulty in 1858, Wallis purchased the hotel. That same year, Pearson constructed a tannery below the house with access to the water in the Diamond Creek. When Pearson became bankrupt in 1867, Wallis similarly acquired the house from Pearson’s creditors in 1868 and lived there until his death in 1896. For some of this time the house was in the name of Wallis’s son Richard but following his death in 1888, ownership reverted to his father. It was purchased by retired teacher Richard Gilsenen in 1899. Gilsenen was made acting head teacher at the Eltham State School in 1906 following the sudden death of head teacher John Brown. In the 1950s the house was bought by retired engineer Dr Alfred Fitzpatrick and his wife Claire who made various modifications to house goats and poultry as well as structural modifications to the house. In the early 1970s, Eltham Shire Councillors Frank Maas and Don Maling proposed an extended communities’ activities program be set up and the Commonwealth Grants Commission was approached for financial assistance. In 1974 a $50,000 Commonwealth Grant was received by the Shire Council to acquire the Fitzpatrick property as part of the planning to establish an extended communities’ activities program. The Fitzpatricks moved next door and Claire taught at the new Living and Learning Centre, which began in 1975, one of the first community education centres in Victoria. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p59 It’s a centre for sharing knowledge and friendship and it stands on the former hub of Eltham’s original township near Pitt Street. The Eltham Living and Learning Centre, with around 2000 participants a year, began in 1975 as one of the first Community Education Centres in Victoria. Classes ranging from macramé to wine making to environmental living have enriched the lives of thousands of people through the generosity of tutors sharing their skills free of charge. The centre’s heart is the brick cottage, built in 1858 by tanner John Pearson. He bought the three and a half acre (1.4ha) allotment fronting Maria Street (now Main Road) and stretching down to the Diamond Creek. The allotment formed part of a 316 acre (127.8ha) subdivision, owned by Josiah Holloway, called Little Eltham, north of the original Eltham Reserve.1 The allotment then passed through the hands of several speculators before it was sold to Pearson for £100 in 1857. Mr Pearson’s children attended the Eltham Primary School from 1864 to 1867. But creditors took possession of the property when his tannery folded in 1867. It was then sold to publican Benjamin Wallis, who owned the Eltham Hotel at the corner of Pitt Street and Main Road. In 1899 the property was bought by Richard Gilsenan, who became acting head teacher of the Eltham Primary State School in 1906. In the 1950s, retired engineer Dr Alfred Fitzpatrick and his wife Claire bought the property, and made structural changes. Claire, a journalist and community campaigner, modified and built pens for goats and poultry, a stable, a garage and planted fruit trees and a vegetable garden. In the early 1970s a young woman called Carina Hack approached Gwen Wesson at the Diamond Valley Learning Centre (Victoria’s first Community Education Centre) about starting a community centre. Following Wesson’s suggestion, Hack spoke to Shire President Alistair Knox ‘one bleak rainy afternoon, sipping hot drinks and discussing life’.2 Eltham Shire Councillors Frank Maas and Don Maling proposed a community activities program and the council received a $50,000 Commonwealth Government Grant for this venture.3 The Fitzpatricks sold their property to the council and moved next door and Claire taught at the new centre, which Hack named. Eltham obviously wanted such a centre as Hack recalls. ‘During the next two months we had about 50 volunteers working day, night and weekends, scrubbing down, plastering and painting walls, replacing floors, repairing fences, recycling furniture, sewing curtains and cushions, donating furniture, toys, equipment, clean-ing and gardening…’4 The first enrolment day saw a queue stretching up the driveway nearly to the gate and the first sessions attracted 270 people a week. Soon the outbuildings were converted into pottery studios and a large workshop. From 1979 the Eltham Art and Craft Market was held in the centre’s grounds and the Friends of the Centre ran it from 1980. A former program coordinator, Margaret Johnson, remembers enrolment day in the late 1970s and 1980s, when hundreds of people would queue – and some even camped overnight! Overnighters were greeted in the morning with fresh tea and toast. Another tradition was The Enrolment Day Cake with Recipe, given to volunteers. ‘One happy Enrolment Day fell on February 14 and let’s just say that St Valentine found some willing participants, paying $2 for a kiss.’5 Meanwhile the participants’ children could play at the Council Eltham Lower Park house in Hohnes Road, later in Susan Street. But the centre has had difficulties too. In 1990 a fire destroyed the stable and the police suspected arson. However the pavilion was built in its place.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, benjamin oliver wallis, claire fitzpatrick, don maling, dr alfred fitzpatrick, eltham living and learning centre, frank maas, john pearson, richard gilsenen, tannery

The children were learning to do some folk dances as part of the school's colonial day celebrations, which were part of their history studies.A coloured photograph of children in colonial dress with their teachers learning to do a folk dance in the school yard. bulla primary school, colonial days, history studies

A collection of short stories, poetry and other writing by students (local women) at the Diamond Valley Living and Learning Centre Greensborough.A publication of writing by local women.40 pages, black and white illus. Blue cover with line drawing of DVLC.On front cover in pen: "Diamond Valley Living and Learning Centre. Donated by Rosie Bray"diamond valley living and learning centre, dvlc, diamond valley learning centre, writing, centricity

Wendy Blackburn was in charge of T.A..F.E. Orbost and the photographs were taken in her office. Also in the photographs are Tracey Barnett, Peter Cook and Dan Osborne. The Orbost Education Centre is a community based not-for-profit local organisation. It has been in operation since 1976. The programs respond to the needs of the community and short courses are delivered throughout the year for people of all ages and backgrounds. The basis is promoting learning, connectedness and belonging. It is supported by funding from the community, state government and non-government organisations. TAFE offered adult education to those new out of school and mothers coming out of motherhood as well as others. These photographs are pictorial records associated with adult education in Orbost.Five black / white photographs related to adult learning in Orbost. education-adult-orbost t.a.f.e.-orbost

1978, advanced morris folk dancing, another way, astrology, basic car mechanics, basic carpentry, basketry, carpentry, contract bridge. macrame, copper work, cottage crafts, craftwork, crochet, dressmaking, dyeing co-op, eltham living and learning centre, fitness, folk dancing, french cookery, gardening, haircutting, homemade christmas gifts, homestead cookery, international cookery, lead light, life drawing, organic vegetable gardening, patchwork, pottery, pottery wheelwork, primitive weaving, program, reflexology, rug weaving, shire of eltham, spinning, tapestry weaving, two and four shaft weaving, typing, vegetarian cookery, wine making and tasting, woodwork, yoga

Black and white photographic printInscribed on rear 'Photography in the 'Stables' late 1970s to early 1980s'classes, eltham living and learning centre, photography class

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Renovations to existing building and installation of partly pre-fabricated building extensionRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 strips Fuji 100living and learning centre, panton hill, panton hill tennis court

Article about Goodstart Childcare centre being built in WatsoniaClipping from newsletter, text and colour image."Formally (sic) the Methodist / Uniting Church Watsonia"labour government, watsonia, childcare centre

La Trobe University - Once a sparse farmland and filled with more kangaroos than classmates, Bundoora is on its way to become an educational and industrial powerhouse.News article 1 page, black text and colour image .latrobe university, bundoora

The document details the experiences of Rosie Bray as an adult student at Watsonia High School.Rosie Bray is a member of Greensborough Historical Society. Watsonia High School is a former school in the district, now amalgamated to form Greensborough College.A 5 page document with a number of coloured photographs.Nilwatsonia high school, rosie bray, aduilt learning, greensborough college

Black and white photograph (from proof sheet of 35mm contact prints)eltham living and learning centre, activities

Black and white photograph (from proof sheet of 35mm contact prints)eltham living and learning centre, activities, music