Mr Webb King was an Air Raid Warden during World War 2. These badges were found when his workshop was being cleared out, and so were donated to our society. The badges in our possession do not have the word WARDEN printed on them, like the image of the badge shown on the Darebin Heritage 'Air Raid Protection Services (ARP)' publication, or the image of a badge offered for sale on ebay. At this stage we are uncertain of why this is so. If anybody knows the answer then please leave a message on this site. During World War 2 Australian municipalities were expected to take precautions against air raids, with the Government campaigning to recruit men over 45 to be volunteer Air Raid Wardens. It was also common for women to become wardens. Wardens carried gas masks, helmets, and rattles or whistles. The wardens received 7 to 8 one hour sessions of training, and their chief duty was to advise people of precautions to take, and to ensure those precautions were taken. Air Raid Precautions included air raid drills, shelters (usually trenches), first aid, fire fighting, rescue of 'gassed' persons, evacuation drills, demolition and repair squads, monitoring of blackouts. Melbourne was deemed vulnerable to aerial attack because of its centralised port and industrial facilities and so Anti-aircraft guns were installed in Maribyrnong. By early 1942 more than 60,000 people voluntarily carried out Air Raid Precautions duties according to the Autobiography of Robert V. J. Padula OAM. As the threat diminished during 1943 and 1944 the need for air raid precautions was slowly reduced, and some shelters (trenches) were filled. The two photos showing Air Raid Wardens are out of copyright and have been sourced from the 'Argus Newspaper Collection of Photographs, State Library of Victoria.' The image showing one warden on Swanston Street Melbourne has been cropped to remove extras not connected with the photo. Other sources of information for this report are: (1) http://bpadula.tripod.com/autobiography/id100.html, (2) https://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/underattack/mobilise/precautions.asp, (3) http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/57. The ARP badges are a historic reminder of the precautions that were taken in Victoria during the early years of World War 2. The precautions were an effort to minimise the harmful effects of a theoretical air raid. The war started to turn and so an air raid never came, however many people received valuable training in what precautions needed to be taken.Pressed metal round badges with pins. Main feature of badges is the large whitish lettering ARP on a red background. A black outlined crown and the word VICTORIA in red on whitish background is also on the badges. At the bottom of the badges in black are the letters DC plus the numbers of the badges.Serial Numbers of the badges are: DC 361, DC 362, DC 364, DC 368, DC 370, DC 374, DC 375, DC 376, DC 377, DC 379, DC 388, DC 389.arp. arp badge, air raid precautions, air raid precautions warden, warden, badges

Artist Georg Rosenkranz, crewman aboard the HSK Kormoran, painted this while at Graytown Prisoner of War Camp.Watercolour painting of a guardsman of Graytown with golf clubA guardsman of Graytown we called him "Heille Selassie" because he looked like a Sheikhgraytown pow camp, georg rosenkranz, illustrations, watercolour

This artwork is part of 69Fifteen, the book published in 2013 celebrating 69 Smith Street Gallery’s 15th year in operation as an artist-run space.Painted using acrylics, ink and charcoal on canvas. This abstract image features what looks like two figures merged into one against a red background with sprays of black paint. liza posar, 69 smith street gallery, artist-run initiative, artist-run space, melbourne art galleries, painting, graffiti

This 1918 diary belonged to Blacksmith Leslie Claude GEAPPEN 3029 - Born in Richmond, Victoria. Enlisted on 1/9/1915 aged 20 years and 10months. Served with the 5th Field Engineers during WW1. Embarked overseas on 23/11/1915. Accidently wounded on 2/7/1916. Returned to Australia on 5/7/1919 and discharged on 27/8/1919. Served 1457 days of which 1321 were overseas. Entry dated 13 July reads “Villers Bretonneux ..left camp soon after dinner & am now settled down in old dug out. Two our balloons brought down just now.” Entry dated 18 July reads…returned home at 3,30 after having a very rotten time……..?????put down very heavy barage about 8.30. We did likewise. I am to go out again tonight and don’t feel like it.” Tan colour leather look cardboard covered diary.ww1, 5th field engineers

Transcript: Athenaeum building celebrates 170 years Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 11/11/2009 Reporter: Lisa Whitehead Tomorrow marks the 170th birthday of one of the nation's historic cultural landmarks. Melbourne’s Athenaeum building has, in one form or other, provided education and entertainment for the Victorian colony as it became a city; and along the way, documented its growth. Transcript KERRY O’BRIEN, PRESENTER: Tomorrow marks the 170th birthday of one of the nation's historic cultural landmarks. Melbourne's Athenaeum building has, in one form or another, provided education and entertainment. For the Victorian colonies it became a city and along the way documented its growth. The building's original library and theatre still draw devotees and as Lisa Whitehead reports, a loyal band of volunteers. KEVIN QUIGLEY, ATHENAEUM PRESIDENT: There's nothing like us that has been here from day one, four years after the boat pushed ashore, here we are. It's a thread that runs through the life of Melbourne. LISA WHITEHEAD, REPORTER: In the heart of Melbourne's CBD, the Athenaeum is a celebrity in disguise, the oldest cultural icon in the city, but barely noticed. MARJORIE DALVEAN, VOLUNTEER HISTORIAN: People of Melbourne walk past this area and they have no idea what it is. RAY LAWLER, PLAYWRIGHT: It seemed to me to be a place that absolutely, or breathes Melbourne, I suppose, culture. LISA WHITEHEAD: Just four years after Melbourne was founded, the colony built a Mechanic's Institution, one of the first in the world, a place where the working class could meet and learn. KEVIN QUIGLEY: People think of it as Wild West sort of place where these hearty types drank and rushed about, but Melbourne was freely settled. It was a city of people who wanted to better themselves - entrepreneurs. And the Mechanic's Institution was that innovative idea that had grown up in Edinburgh and London about providing an opportunity for education for the working people. LISA WHITEHEAD: Mark Twain lectured there. Later, other buildings were added and a theatre to host classic plays. And it adopted its more bourgeois friendly title of the Athenaeum. Crucially from the start there was the library, the first to offer affordable lending to the working man. And it still attracts devotees. Former University lecturer Margaret Bowman, 89, comes in every Wednesday, along with her dog to join an enthusiastic band of volunteers sorting through the archives. MARGARET BOWMAN, FORMER UNIVERSITY LECTURER: Doing research is something that I find actually I enjoy more than anything. Every old lady needs to have a project and now I've got a project. MARJORIE DALVEAN: Margaret, Christine has just found out that Alfred Deakin was a member here from 1874 to 1877. This place is not flashy, we've never been flashy. But book lovers walk in here and they know this is the place for them. ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: Old times and old names. The Athenaeum theatre in Melbourne for more than 40 years has been one of the city's best known cinemas. LISA WHITEHEAD: In the 20th century, the theatre surrendered to the new craze of talking pictures, and one particular fan was famous Australian playwright Ray Lawler. At 13, he dropped out of school to work in a Footscray factory and two years later his first trip to the glamorous Athenaeum cinema hinted at the education he was missing. RAY LAWLER: It just had a style about it which I responded to, I think. I was looking for something and this seemed to be part of it. Ray Lawler went on to write "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll" and found literary fame overseas. About a century after it had started as an educational place for the working man, Ray Lawler had, in effect, become an Athenaeum graduate. RAL LAWLER: If they had been looking for the sort of person that they were hoping to encourage along the way, I suppose I would have been somebody that might have fitted the mould, you know. LISA WHITEHEAD: In time, the cinema was returned to its theatrical roots. FRANK THRING, 1977: It has a great resemblance to the Theatre Royal in Hobart which Larry Olivier has called the best theatre he's ever worked in. And it's almost identical. It is the true Victorian playhouse. The horseshoe shaped thing: stalls, dress circle and gallery. And you're close to the audience and they're close to you. Marvellous feeling. LISA WHITEHEAD: Today, it's still a theatre. But time has brought compromises. The once vaunted art gallery has now covered its windows and become a comedy club and performance space. TV and suburban life have eaten away at the library membership. It offers an online service now, and a recent federal government grant will pay for the upkeep of its gracious interior, including the 1930s elevator Ray Lawler used to ride. For him, it's money well spent on history quietly made and discreetly observed. RAY LAWLER: It's the lack of awareness, I think, that people don't know what they've got here. They've really got the whole history of Melbourne almost. KEVIN QUIGLEY: It was a similar organisation in Sydney but we are the only one that's got a continual lineage on the same spot. We started here and we're still here and we'll be here for another 100 years. KERRY O'BRIEN: Lisa Whitehead on a great Melbourne landmark. © 2010 ABC | Privacy Policy Beginning as the Melbourne Mechanics' Institution in 1839, the Melbourne Athenaeum has a long history that reflects the cultural and social development of Melbourne. It continues to be managed as a not-for-profit organisation by a volunteer board, with a subscription library (maintained since 1839) and a leased theatre.Video broadcast ABC 7:30 Report for 11/11/2009. "Tomorrow marks the 170th birthday of one of the nation's historic cultural landmarks. Melbourne’s Athenaeum building has, in one form or other, provided education and entertainment for the Victorian colony as it became a city; and along the way, documented its growth."athenaeum, australian broadcasting corporation, kerry o’brien, kevin quigley, lisa whitehead, marjorie dalvean, ray lawler, margaret bowman, frank thring.

This sculpture is a bronze cast of Karl Duldig’s 1956 terracotta sculpture titled 'Moses'. The terracotta sculpture won the 1956 Victorian Sculptor of the Year award, an honor given by the Victorian Society of Sculptors. The National Gallery of Victoria purchased the original terracotta sculpture for the Gallery’s collection in 1956. In 1979 the NGV allowed Karl to cast the original terracotta sculpture in bronze (to a limited edition of 5). The National Gallery of Victoria holds one of these casts and one is in Duldig Studio collection. The original terracotta sculpture was exhibited in 1956 at the Olympic Arts Exhibition in Wilson Hall at the University of Melbourne. Two other works by Karl were also exhibited, a sandstone titled 'Adam and Eve' and a work titled 'Fountain'. The catalogue for the Olympic exhibition, which promoted modernism across a variety of disciplines, noted that Australia’s post war immigration program had given ‘further momentum to the modernist cause’. The identification of émigré artists, such as Karl Duldig, with the acceptance of modernism in Australia became a major theme in any discussion of art and design in the post war period. Ann Carew 2016The subject Moses and the tablets of law is an important theme in the history of art. For example the National Gallery of Victoria collection includes paintings on this topic by the Australian Aboriginal artist, Queenie McKenzie (1991), prints by the Russian-French modernist artist, Marc Chagall (1956), and a painting by 19th century British academic painter, John Rogers Herbert (1870s). Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses is perhaps the most famous sculptural interpretation of the subject. In Karl’s hands we have a modern interpretation of the theme. His simplification and abstraction of form and attention to surface modeling is masterly. The figure has an emotional intensity and despite its relatively small scale, a ‘forceful monumentality’. The sculpture is aesthetically significant for its craftsmanship, expressive qualities and modernity. It is historically significant because of its associations with the 1956 Olympic Arts Festival. The Duldig Studio’s bronze cast of the sculpture was exhibited in the exhibition '1956: Melbourne, modernity and the XVI Olympiad, Museum of Modern Art at Heide.' Apart from the formal qualities of a work like Moses, its relevance as a motif in Judaism and Christian faiths ensures its place as a work of spiritual significance. Ann Carew 2016Bronze cast from terracotta sculpture. Depicts Moses as in Exodus 32 when he returns from Sinai with the tablets of the law to find his people worshipping the golden calf, in his fury he holds the tablets aloft above his head before crashing them down on the ground.

A small scale concrete work that can be imagined as an ancient monolithic fortress or religious edifice. It suggests ideas like perpetuity, worship, preservation and history. Untitled Spiral is made up of three spirals, the first is constructed as a closed form, the second is open and the third is the space created within the second. The sense of enclosure is powerful but this is offset by the ledge which traces the top edge of the spiral shapes. This pathway leads from a precarious position to the highest point of sanctuary, or to what Stoner refers to as Nirvana. The structure is built of masonry-like units which "suggest a material presence and earthiness". Stoner is absorbed by how we define landscape and what is meant by natural. He is interested in the notion that ancient man-made structures such as stone walls, which are intrinsic to many landscapes, can now be accepted as being natural, organic forms.

The (logging) truck carries a representation of John Glover’s painted landscapes, which Cox has painted on a solid block of wood. John Glover is one of Australia’s most celebrated colonial landscape painters. Born in England, he was a highly successful water-colourist and painter of landscapes in the tradition of French artist Claude Lorrain. Arriving in Australia in 1831, Glover adapted his picturesque style and luminous technique to his new surrounds, creating naturalistic and atmospheric paintings of Australian nature, settler life, and Aboriginal culture. Working out of doors, Glover developed an understanding of the unfamiliar Australian landscape, especially the twisting forms of native eucalyptus trees. His direct experience of nature, as both pioneer settler and painter, resulted in a new approach using a subtle palette of olive greens, ochres, misty greys and intense blues, and layered glazes of mauve, grey and gold, to portray Australian light and atmosphere. Dale Cox continues the ongoing preoccupation and tradition of landscape painting in the Nillumbik area and our impact on the environment in a contemporary way. The truck creates a playful nexus between painting (representational landscape) and sculpture, purposely bluring boundaries across these traditionally distinct disciplines. ‘Ghost’ seeks to convey the idea that when we remove something significant from a location, like the landscape itself, the remaining ‘place’ changes to become a new ‘place’. This may seem self-evident until we think more deeply about location and landscape. The white truck is a ghost, an ethereal, transient being that spirits away an entire place, forever removed from itself, and forever changed. Logging wild trees can never be like harvesting a ‘crop’. Logging removes a landscape, and changes a place forever. The ‘packaging’ of this painted landscape highlights the anomaly between commodity and our environment. Dale Cox was a local artist and this work was highly commended at the 2012 Nillumbik Prize. White plastic toy (logging) truck with a landscape painting on a wooden block. The landscape painting is reminiscent of paintings by colonial artist John Glover. N/Alandscape, truck, sculpture, environment, john glover, colonial, painting, ghost, nillumbik prize

This memorial designed by Peter Blizzard is dedicated to more than 36,000 Australian men and women were held captive as prisoners by the enemy during the Boer War, World War 1, World War 2 and the Korean War. This memorial honours and names them, the names are etched into the black granite wall adjacent to the pathway. Water springs from beneath the 'Lest We Forget' stone then flows down the wall into the narrow watercourse in front of the first group of names and into the reflective pool, then continues past the second group of names. Finally it disappears under the pathway, returning to its source under the 'Lest We Forget' stone to start the journey again. Water symbolizes the essential nature of man, sacrifice, suffering, spirituality, healing, cleansing, birth and re-birth. The memorial is created from natural materials and is designed to be in harmony with the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, and to create a sense of timeless, dignity and respect. The long pathway of the monument is designed to create a visual perspective of the large distances that Australians travelled to the various conflicts. The paving is shaped like railway sleepers in recognition of the role that railways and railway journeys were relevant to many prisoners of war. The Memorial was declared the first military memorial of national significance located outside Canberra in 2008. Dedication services are held at the memorial on the Sunday closest to 6th of February, ANZAC day and on Remembrance Day. The memorial is of historical and aesthetic importance to the people of BallaratMonument made from carved bluestone, water feature and flagsInscribed with the names of 36,000 Australian men and women were held captive as prisoners by the enemy during the Boer War, World War 1, World War 2 and the Korean War. The listing is by surname and initials and shown by war.prisoners of war, boer war, world war 1, world war 2, korean war, lest we forget, peter blizzard

The bronze statue of a horse commemorates poet and horseman Adam Lindsay Gordon and the horses and mules killed during WWI. The statue depicts a horse going into battle known as a 'charger' mounted on a base of Warrenheip granite. During World War II the artist, Raymond Ewers was made an official war artist with the rank of lieutenant. Funds were raised from visitors to the Adam Lindsay Gordon cottage for the artwork which was unveiled on the centenary of the poet's arrival in Ballarat. Adam Lindsay Gordon the English born Australian poet spent some time in Ballarat, at one stage owning and running Craig's Stables in the city. He was not a very good businessman and his ventures left him in financial ruin. However his ballads and poems were recognized around the world as strong lines that told the story of the Australian bush. He is the only Australian Poet to be memorialized in Westminster Abbey, UK. The Queen quoted his work in 1992 Queens message..."Kindness in another's trouble, courage in one's own.."The artwork is of historic and aesthetic significance to the people of BallaratBronze horse on granite plinthERECTED BY/ THE ADAM LINDSAY GORDON SOCIETY/ TO MARK THE CENTENARY OF/ THE POET'S LIVING IN BALLAARAT,/ ALSO AS A MEMORIAL TO THE 958,600 HORSES AND MULES/ KILLED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR/ INCLUDING 196,000/ THAT LEFT THESE SHORES NEVR TO RETURN./ "THE LAY OF THE LAST CHARGER"/ FORWARD, THE TRUMPETS WERE SOUNDING THE CHARGE./ THE ROLL OF THE KETTLEDRUM RAPIDLY RAN/ THAT MUSIC, LIKE WILDFIRE SPREADING AT LARGE/ MADDEN'D THE WAR HORSE AS WELL AS THE MAN./ WHERE ARE THEY? THE WAR-STEEDS WHO SHARED IN OUR GLORY/ THE "LANERCOST" COLT AND THE "ACROBAT" MARE,/ AND THE IRISH DIVISION "KATE KEARNEY" AND "RORY" AND RUSHING "ROSCOMMON" AND EAGER "KILDARE"./ WE TOO, SPRUNG FROM THE LOINS OF ISHMAELITE STALLIONS,/ THE RENDERING OF BLACKTHORNS AND RATTLE OF RAILS./ AND WHAT THEN? THE COLOURS REVERSED, THE DRUMS, MUFFLED/ THE BACK NODDING PLUMES, THE DEAD MARCH AND THE PALL/ THE STERN FACES, SOLDIER-LIKE SILENT UNRUFFLED,/ THE SLOW SACRED MUSIC THAT FLOATS OVER ALL/ BY A.L. GORDON/ UNVEILED BY/ HIS WORSHIP THE MAYOR OF BALLAARAT,/ CR. M.J.BROWN/ 1969/ PRESIDENT CR.W.E.ROOF C.B.E. SECRETARY P. ABSOY. ESQ.horse statue, adam lindsay gordon horse statue

It's encouraging to see my city using poetry in such a public way. The park itself is a humble one, which suits these little poems perfectly. If you're ever in town come and take a seat for a while. The poem 'Little Bridge' by Nathan Curnow was commissioned as part of a placemaking project in Little Bridge Street Pocket Park, Ballarat in 2018. The Park was redesigned to include more passive surveillance, and improved amenity to increase community safety in the area. The poem is engraved onto seating to provide a rest and point of interest space in the small park. Six seats featuring an engraved poemPut it all down and take a seat/ Pull out a snack from your shopping/ Listen to the trumpeter busking a tune/ With every visit this park is growing/ Killing time takes real devotion/ Stare at the flags and masts of your town/ And the buses come rolling down Bakery Hill/ It may be cold but we lean to the sun/ If you feel like a square of the Eureka flag/That’s hopelessly lost and tattered/ Remember you’re as precious as a corner-piece/ We search for you first to get started/ There is something big on Little Bridge/ Not a beanstalk that leads to a giant/ But another day in the life of Ballarat/ All of this gold at the surface poetry, little bridge street, ballarat

asdflkasdf a;lskdf ;alksdfasdf Initially Kent said this was a picture of an elephant but later on he changed his mind and said it was a or can asdfl;kasd f;lkasdf; l ja;sldkfasdf asdflkasj df;laskjdf;laskdjf;lasd All the time I we reword it Keep going it says Kent now is there a function here that can spell according to the way I speak Like when you bring up the Taxation Office they'll ask you to save something in Australia my voice identifies me you're familiar with that expression It's digitized my way of speaking but what you can ....hat you can save yourself quite a lotfred

Mike Brown is known for his bold use of colour and graffiti-like imagery. Charles Nodrum Gallery describe Brown as ‘a unique leader of alternative avant guard art in Australia, and a true bohemian eccentric. An artistic anarchist and polemicist, during his 30-year career he waged an unwavering war on art world conventions and sensibilities, critiquing mass culture, consumerism, sex, advertising, censorship, and embracing counterculture, alternative lifestyles and socialism.’ This tapestry was produced by the Victorian Tapestry Workshop Melbourne (now known as the Australian Tapestry Workshop) in South Melbourne, based on an original painting by Mike Brown. We have exhibited the weaving and painting together to provide a comparison of how artwork is translated into tapestry. The large area of dark blue at the centre top of the tapestry demonstrates how the weavers have used colour changes in the yarn to depict the painterly shading in the original painting. The Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) is an international leader in contemporary tapestry, collaborating with a diverse range of international and Australian artists to produce exceptional handwoven works of art. Established in 1976, ATW have created over 500 tapestries in creative collaborations for nearly 50 years, promoting innovation and excellence in tapestry weaving and textile art.

Mike Brown is known for his bold use of colour and graffiti-like imagery. Charles Nodrum Gallery describe Brown as ‘a unique leader of alternative avant guard art in Australia, and a true bohemian eccentric. An artistic anarchist and polemicist, during his 30-year career he waged an unwavering war on art world conventions and sensibilities, critiquing mass culture, consumerism, sex, advertising, censorship, and embracing counterculture, alternative lifestyles and socialism.’ This tapestry was produced by the Victorian Tapestry Workshop Melbourne (now known as the Australian Tapestry Workshop) in South Melbourne, based on an original painting by Mike Brown. We have exhibited the weaving and painting together to provide a comparison of how artwork is translated into tapestry. The large area of dark blue at the centre top of the tapestry demonstrates how the weavers have used colour changes in the yarn to depict the painterly shading in the original painting. The Australian Tapestry Workshop (ATW) is an international leader in contemporary tapestry, collaborating with a diverse range of international and Australian artists to produce exceptional handwoven works of art. Established in 1976, ATW have created over 500 tapestries in creative collaborations for nearly 50 years, promoting innovation and excellence in tapestry weaving and textile art.

Collection of thirty-nine postcards donated by Jillian Rigby which had been owned by her grandparents, George and Edith Weir, who from c.1917 lived at 84 Princess Street, Kew. The mostly 'mint' postcards were purchased in Victoria and while travelling overseas. The sole dated postcard is dated from 1929. The postcards are numbered sequentially from 2017.0058.01-39. The remainder of the collection donated by Jill Rigby which was once owned by the Weirs of Broken Hill and Kew consist of costumes, costume accessories, photographs, and documents.The postcards in the Weir collection, especially those purchased on a trip or trips to the mother country, i.e. United Kingdom, represent a representative sample of sites that were considered significant to those Australians undertaking a reverse grand tour by member of the erstwhile colonies. Those postcards which are early views of Melbourne must have been produced commercially for some decades from the early part of the 20th century.Novelty View Card, part of a series, representing different locations in the United Kingdom. The front of the card opens to reveal ten postcards, joined concertina-like. The postcard was purchased by George and Edith Weir on a trip to England and Scotland, circa 1928."22.5.1928"postcards, george and edith weir, isle of wight, weir collection, postcards - isle of wight

The photographic firm of Morrison & Co., were active at 81 Bourke Street East during the 1880s. Like numerous other photographers in Melbourne, their business must have been severely curtailed by the Depression of the 1890s. The sitter’s identity has been established as a Mrs. Merritt. While we know that she is not the Mrs Merritt who was to be the wife of the future Mayor of Kew, there were two Mrs Merritts who were shopkeepers in High Street, Kew. Mrs Lucy Merritt operated a bootmaker’s shop, and subsequently a “boot warehouse” from 1888 until the 1920s. Miss Laura Merritt established a dressmaker’s shop in High Street in 1910. Her business also lasted until the 1920s, albeit changed to that of a bookseller and stationer. Both portraits are of the same woman.Cabinet Card by Morrison & Co. Silver albumen studio portrait of a woman later identified as Mrs Merritt of Kew. The sitter wears a dark, figured silk two-piece outfit with matching bonnet and a fur muff. Mrs Merritt, Kewmrs merritt, morrison & co

Lou HUBBARD (1957 -) Born Brisbane, Queensland After a career in the film and television, Melbourne based artist Lou Hubbard completed a Master of Fine Art at RMIT University in 2001. She works primarily with video and installation, and has exhibited widely throughout Australia and internationally, Lou Hubbard is currently the Head of Photography at the Victorian College of the Arts. In announcing the award 2015 Guiguis New Art Award the judges applauded Lou Hubbard on her compelling installation, which comprised a deflated, disembowelled latex horse collapsed over a Coalbrookdale patio chair, table and bench seat situated over a skateboard and plastic dog. “Occupying a space between the traditions of equine, assemblage and unmonumental sculpture, Lou Hubbard’s Dead Still Standing confounds and compels viewers in its uncanny play of materials and movement,” senior curator, contemporary art, National Gallery of Victoria and judge Max Delany said. “In this elaborate yet concise work, Hubbard has created a form of surprising and unsettling effect that reflects our experience of a world in translation.” The win came as a surprise for Hubbard, who said she was overwhelmed at the talent of all 15 finalists. “I was so surprised, because I was in good company with the other artists, who were all quite extraordinary,” she said. “In the nature of the competition, I feel very lucky.” With multi-layer meanings to her piece, Hubbard said it was actually Ballarat’s rich history that inspired her work. She said it was the Ballarat goldfields and the idea of what horses might have gone through during those years that gave her a concept to work with. But that wasn’t the only source of ideals portrayed in the piece – Hubbard also explored the effect training had on horses. “The horse stands in a way that portrays (how) the human exhorts the way of training,” she said. “The horse is edging like it wants to move, which is impossible, and the furniture acts in lots of ways. The chair, for example, is like the horse’s ribs, which are being ripped out.” It was these multiple meanings that also had the curator of the Post Office Gallery, Shelley Hinton, impressed with the work. “The work challenges us ethically and culturally, in a way that pleads for analysis, as we do in our complex daily lives,” she said. Lou Hubbard's 'Dead Still Standing' won the was awarded the prestigious $20,000 Guirguis New Art Prize in 2015. The Federation University Guirguis New Art Prize was a national biennial and aquisitive contemporary art prize. The $20,000 biennial acquisitive prize was sponsored by Ballarat surgeon Mark Guirguis, administered by Federation University Australia and presented in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ballarat.The genesis of the prize was to raise the profile and encourage the Art School of what was then Ballarat University. lou hubbard, guirguis, guirguis new art prize, sculpture, horse, animal, installation artwork

Troy FIREBRACE (c1994-) Country/Language: Yorta Yorta Troy is a Shepparton born Yorta Yorta man, whose career is on the rise after winning the prestigious Federation University Acquisitive Award for Work by a Victorian Regional Artist at the 10th Victorian Indigenous Art Awards. He completed Year Twelve at Shepparton Secondary College in 2010, and in 2015 Troy was studying Creative Arts at La Trobe University, Bendigo where he has pursued his interest in his Aboriginal identity and art. He is largely influenced by the art of his Uncle Chris Firebrace and he enjoys the design aspects of creating a painting. Usually Troyʼs works contain a narrative, or at least hint of a meaning that he would like to convey to people. Influenced by the imagery of his Aboriginal cultural background he works at bringing together references of landscape, environmental processes and concerns, looking at the way in which we as humans relate to the natural world. Troy seeks to find and demonstrate a connection between humanity and the environment, exploring the idea of harmonious co-existence. Artist's statement: "‘Stories are being told and shared like particles in the universe, a constant swirl of words filled with emotions creating a pattern — explosions — smashing into each other creating a layering effect — creating worlds, planets — well nourished and suited to sustain life, and from this life new stories will emerge, to be told, to be shared — a continuous galaxy swirl. I like the idea that we are a part of something bigger — yes, the earth is massive, but we are just a speck of something far beyond the Milky Way itself.” The work was inspired by the work of abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock, science and space. This work won the 2015 Victorian Indigenous Art Awards Federation University Acquisitive Award for work by a Victorian regional artist. His canvas 'A Galaxy Swirl' was described by judges as ‘‘a vibrant and dynamic painting that, as the artist explains, epitomises a bringing together of modernism and Aboriginal arts’’.victorian indigenous art awards, troy firebrace, artwork, artist, indigenous, aboriginal, painting, indigenous artist

ROWING CLUB We are all delighted at having invited Brighton Grammar to use our Club's gear. So take heed, all-comers. you may yet see the Sommers As Head-of-the-River next year ! In common with many, we're short of a penny Our small nexus perplexes, we fear. But the Vic. State election has eased our dejections. And with more funds or new pair may appear. To increase the votes, all those our boats Canvassed Toorak - 'twas really a dash. A fifty pound cheque, the reward r our trek, Is now name our books "Petty Cash." At Vienna's Olde Inn, the Annual Club Din. On May two was a splendid assembly. Such fine fare and good fellows, their voices like bellows, You'd have thought it a final at Wembley.

Glencoe Restaurant on Lockhart's Gap Road, Tallandoon, Victoria was owned by the family of William McDonald and his wife Helen nee Beattie. They migrated from Scotland in the early 1860s and settled in the Wahgunyah and Rutherglen area where their children were born. C1876 they took up a selection at Tallandoon, Victoria which they named “Glencoe” after their home in Scotland. The house was made of mud brick and measured approximately 18 feet by 10 feet. The roof was later replaced with tin. To supplement their farming income the McDonalds operated as Glencoe Restaurant and their hospitality was known far and wide. Three times a week, Crawford & Co coaches travelled from Wodonga to Glencoe via Kiewa over Lockhart’s Gap, changed horses at Glencoe and then went on to Mitta Mitta. An Extract from “Leader of Melbourne, Saturday 14 May 1887” relates the story of a visit to Glencoe. THE TRAVELLER MY EASTER EXCURSION by GIRVAN “From the top of Lockhart's Gap we caught our first glimpse of the Mitta Mitta River, winding like a silver thread through the flats below. A descent of some 3 or 4 miles brought us to the first settlement on the eastern side of the Gap, and a board serving as a rustic sign announcing this to be the " Glencoe Restaurant”. We resolved to rest here for the night, and, entering the cottage of sun-dried we were made welcome and received every attention at the hands of the hostess. A hardy old Highlander, lineally descended from the old clan of the McDonalds of Glencoe, the proprietor, bidding good-bye to his native vale, had sought to woo Fortune in the Australian bush, and followed the avocation of a gold miner for many years with but indifferent success and at length, renouncing this precarious method of " gathering gear," took up a selection in this valley and named his farm Glencoe, in memory of his native place. May this peaceful valley, never witness such deeds of blood as did the original home of this worthy old man. Combining a little cultivation with grazing, and adding to his income by means of the restaurant as well as by affording accommodation to the Snowy Creek and Wodonga coach, which changes horses here, our host seems to be thriving apace, and need not fear that his old age will experience any of the vicissitudes of fortune which marked his younger and struggling days.” In July 1919, “Glencoe” was sold to Mr C. A. Franks but he died immediately after and so the property was sold again in September 1919, this time being purchased by the Peters family. It was sold again to Alan Beer in 1957. Helen McDonald died on 13th November 1914 and William died on 12th March 1920.A black and white image of the McDonald family at the front of their home at Tallandoon, Victoria. The family members in this image are William McDonald Senior standing with Williamina (Minnie) (18), Helen (William’s wife) seated, Margaret (Maggie) and Hannah standing beside Helen, Barbara (13) standing in front of the coach and William Junior reclining.On sign post - The GLENCOE RESTAURANT / Horse Feed Paddocksmcdonalds of tallandoon, pioneer families of the upper murray

The first Sony Walkman was launched on 22 June 1979 in Tokyo. It was designed under the leadership of Akio Morita and was a modification of an earlier recorder used by journalists called the “Pressman”. The first cassette Walkman TPS-L2 was to forever change the way consumers listen to music." According to Akio Morita "This is the product that will satisfy those young people who want to listen to music all day. They'll take it everywhere with them, and they won't care about record functions. If we put a playback-only headphone stereo like this on the market, it'll be a hit." Sony went on to sell approximately 220 million cassette-based Walkman units before ending production in 2010. This Sony Walkman model is a higher level portable cassette recorder and player featuring Mega Bass, auto-reverse, and an FM/AM radio. It was designed for recording from radio or microphone and was introduced to the market in 1988. This item is significant because the Walkman was widely used especially by young people from the 1980s onwards.A small portable combined radio and cassette player with recording facility. It includes ear buds and a portable plug in microphone. Black plastic cover and metal control buttons. Model name and control names are in a combimation of red, yellow, white and pale blue,SONY MEGA BASS RECORDING WALKMAN FM/AM plus labels on controlsmusical appliances, popular culture

The medallion pays respect to the sacrifices made by the units in Operation Bribie on 17th February 1967.The medallion takes its place amongst similar medallions and other commemorative items that revert to particular instances or event in Vietnam during the war.Two medallions showing front and reverse faces of a medallion issued at Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, 2014 National Congress, hosted by Macarthur Sub Branch. Front face shows an APC with text on upper edge: "Phouc Hai-South Vietnam" and text on bottom edge: "Lest We Forget"; the two text lines are joined by leaves. Text in the middle of the face: "In memory of the sacrifice made by 6RAR & A Sqn 3 Cav Regt Operation Bribie 17th Feb 1967. The reverse face has the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia logo in the middle, with the motto: "Honour the Dead but fight like hell for the living" underneath; two sprigs of leaf cradle the logo and motto.Front face shows an APC with text on upper edge: "Phouc Hai-South Vietnam" and text on bottom edge: "Lest We Forget"; the two text lines are joined by leaves. Text in the middle of the face: "In memory of the sacrifice made by 6RAR & A Sqn 3 Cav Regt Operation Bribie 17th Feb 1967. The reverse face has the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia logo in the middle, with the motto: "Honour the Dead but fight like hell for the living" underneath; two sprigs of leaf cradle the logo and motto.vietnam, vietnam war, diamond valley vietnam veterans sub branch

Eldest daughter of Edna and Bon Barrie, born on 03 November 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria, Memoirs of Wendy Barrie, recalling the early formative years of life in Melton: In 1949 I started school at Melton State School no 430 and was driven the 2½ miles to there by my parents at first. Later we walked home in the afternoons or were picked up by car as we made our way home along the Western Highway. In 1956 I went to Bacchus Marsh High School. There were 4 students in grade 6 and 3 of us went to the High School. The students from Melton, Melton South and Toolern Vale State Schools went by bus to Bacchus Marsh High School as far a fifth form. My parents drove me to the pick up point and during the five years of travel to High School. The bus travelled via Toolern Vale and later went through Exford and through Parwan. On the return journey in the afternoon the bus went in the reverse direction. The bridge at Exford was an old narrow wooden one, and the students had to get off the bus and walk across, with the driver crossing in the empty bus for safety reasons. There was a travelling allowance paid to parents and it was estimated from the distance the crow flies, a straight line. We lived a Ferris Lane, just where the Harness Racing entrance is now situated about 2 ½ miles by road to school too close to qualify for the subsidy. While at State School Melton we would walk home in a group with the Nixon and Gillespie children, along the main road over the bridge near the Shire Offices and down a hill. I was being dinked on Joyce Gillespie’s bike while holding onto the seat, toppled off the bike striking my chin and teeth on the bitumen and cracking my jaw. I was about 9 years old and stayed a couple of days in the Quamby Hospital in Bacchus Marsh, it seemed like and eternity at the time and quite traumatic being separated from my family. I can remember contemplating how I could get out of the window and run away but realised it was too far to walk home. Often we would cut across the Common on our way home from school picking up stray golf balls and collecting them from the creek when it dried out. We were warned about not accepting lifts from strangers passing along the Melbourne/ Ballarat Road. The only danger we faced was being swooped by the magpies particularly on the open ground on the Common. We were also fairly cautious when the Gypsies camped on the Common in the area just about opposite the small reservoir. “Mum” grandma Myers loved to have us call in on our way home, and usually would cut a slice of Jongebloed’s bread and spread it with home made butter. Sometimes we waited there until we were collected by car, usually driven by our mother. Margaret Nixon and Joyce Gillespie were a few grades ahead of me and Barbara Nixon was born just two months earlier than me. Our mothers were great friends for over 6o years, born in the same month three years apart. They lived within a few days of the same age as each other at the time their deaths. Dad and George Nixon attended Melton school at the same time. Sarah nee Hornbuckle Nixon and my grandfather Frederick Myers Snr were at school together at the same in the 1880s. The Nixon family lived in Keilor Road just past the Toolern Creek near the turnoff. Tom and Ann Collins lived on the southern side of the Western highway and Keilor road intersection. Jim and Ruby Gillespie’s house was further long Keilor road on the right. They backed onto the Myers who lived on the north side of Western Highway east of Myers Gully (Ryans Creek). The Bridge over the Toolern Creek as very narrow and as truck traffic increased there were accidents. One truck took out the side railing and plunged upside down into the bank and into the shallow water. Another fatal accident happened between a car and a truck right in front of the Myers house. Grandfather Fred had been a bike rider all his life, as far as the Riverina in his younger years, wryly made the comment about the drivers the speeding along the Ballarat Road were setting out to kill themselves. The road was busy particularly after the Races at Ballarat when the crowds were hurrying home to Melbourne. Train travel had changed very little from the time my mothers generation to mine. The timetable meant the usual rush to Melton South by bike in her case and if she was running late the train pulled up on the crossing. I was driven to the Station from home past Keith and Mary Gillespie’s house near the Ferris Road rail crossing to Bridge road to Melton South for the 7.32 train. While attending Sunshine High School in 1961 I would meet up with three other students, two of whom I knew from Bacchus Marsh High School days. We usually got into the same compartment on the train, it was a typical country train with a corridor along the side and compartments with a door, roof racks and sometimes heated metal containers for the feet in the winter. Some of the trains came through from Horsham and Ballarat, and the Overland from Adelaide passed through in the evening, we could hear it in the distance from the Ferris Lane home. The carriages had 1st and economy class compartments showing photographs of county scenes and holiday destinations. The engine was the large A class diesel. They are still running to Bacchus Marsh 50 years later, due to the need for the greatly increased number of commuters travelling to work in the city. Sometimes the carriages were pull by a Steam engine, these were a problem in the summer time because the sparks caused fires along the train lines and then quickly spread into the dry grass, crops and stubble. The Motor Train left Spencer Street at 4.23 pm and was the best train for me to catch. Ferris Road was a designated stop and train pulled up on the road crossing. It had steps at the door and rungs to hold while alighting to the ground. The ballast along the tracks was rough and uneven and awkward to land on. The train was painted blue and yellow with the letters VR pained on the front. This saved may parents the afternoon trip to collect me from the Station. On the walk home on the gravel road I would pass Uncle Tom and Aunty May’s house before reaching home. Melva Gillespie was studying at Sunshine Technical School and we sometimes both got off the train at the same time. On other occasions the Motor Train was replaced with a diesel engine with carriages, it was also required to stop and the driver had to be notified in advance. This meant getting into the guards van a Rockbank. It was more difficult alighting from the carriage as the gap was greater and more precarious to swing out and land on the ground. A few times in my last year of study at Melbourne Teachers College in Grattan Street Carlton. I managed to catch the 2.30 pm train to Serviceton, it was express to Melton and was very quick trip. The last train, was the 5.25 pm diesel to Ballarat and I usually caught this train to Melton South Station. On one occasion after being held up on the tram in Bourke street I had to make a mad dash to the platform chasing the train as it was just moving off and yelling to the guard, fortunately I was noticed and the train ground to halt. I scrambled into the end door and took most of the journey home to recover. After the last year at High School I continued to travel on the train, 2 years to Prahran Technical School changing at North Melbourne. There were a lot school children travelling to private schools and some at the primary level and mainly from Bacchus Marsh. Rockbank children also travelled by train from the beginning of their high school years, quite a few went to Sunshine High School. During my third year of teacher training I travelled to Flinders Street to RMIT for ceramics classes and Grattan St Teachers College located in the grounds of Melbourne University. There were many teachers being trained at the Secondary Teachers College due to the baby bulge creating a great shortage of teachers. Sunshine High School was very well represented amongst the different courses in Primary, Secondary and Art and Crafts. I attended Melbourne University lectures, studying a Fine Art subject. Bernard Smith was the most notable of the lecturers. he replaced Professor Joseph Bourke who had taken leave for the years. In 1962 he published the art book “Australian Painting”. The secondary art and craft student teachers from the College were in the majority, taking this subject and were well regarded due to their practical art and craft methods and their teaching round experience. In December 1964 I graduated as a Trained Secondary Teacher – Art and Crafts. The graduating ceremony was held at Wilson Hall. I received my appointment to work at Maryborough High School. Uncle Max and Aunty Rosemary Myers arranged my accommodation. Uncle Max was a teacher at the Maryborough Technical School fat the time. The appointment was suddenly changed when just before the school year was about to start when I received notification that I was now required to move to Warracknabeal High School. I was subject to a bond for the three years of training and three years of teaching and was under an obligation to comply with the directive of the Education Department. My father stood as guarantor when I was accepted as student at the Melbourne Teachers’ College, thus enabling me to receive my teacher training, and a 5 pounds a week allowance for expenses. After teaching for two years at Warracknabeal High School I was fortunate enough the gain a transfer to Sunshine West High School, returning to live at home in Melton and travelling by car to work with a fellow colleague, Jock Smith who lived at Station road Melton. I completed bond obligation and resigned at the end of the year. The employment regulations at that time did not allow the option of leave of absence for, indefinite overseas travel. I returned to Australia in October 1969. Visiting Arthur Hart the Principal of Sunshine High School he arranged with the Education Department for my re-employment at Sunshine High School until the end of the year. In 1970 I was transferred, and returned to Sunshine West High School where I worked for the next three years. In January 1968 I sailed on the “Oriana” to South Hampton with two teaching friends from Warracknabeal High School on a travelling and working holiday. Doreen Kiely, a former Bacchus Marsh High student and fellow train traveller from Bacchus Marsh, was already working in London, had arranged our accommodation at the London Travellers Club Hotel, Braham Gardens, Earls Court SW5. We based our stay at this address in London and travelled around Scotland, Ireland and England. In the summer we took a four month trip around the Continent and the Mediterranean. I registered with The Royal Borough Of Kingston Upon Thames as a Supply teacher, and worked at Chessington School form autumn to spring the following year and living with Mrs Rose Gillies at Kinross Avenue, Worcester Park, Surrey. In the spring of 1969 visiting Norway, Sweden and Finland joining an organised camping group to the Artic Circle, entered Russia at Leningrad (St Petersburg) Moscow, Minsk, to Poland and Czechoslovakia. In August returning to Worcester Park for the flight to Montreal to stay with cousin Lynette and husband Jurgen. A side trip was taken to Toronto, Niagara Falls and New York. The flight home from Montreal to Melbourne took 52 hours. A ½ day break in Vancouver before boarding the Qantas boeing 707 via San Francisco, Honolulu, Fiji, Sydney to Melbourne. Around the world in 21 months. Photographs of Wendy local identities

Post Card: Melton Railway Station 1909 Mattie to Fred My Dear Fred I received your letter and the L2 10/- I was very pleased to hear that I could write again. You say you will come home after the last shead. I should think so. I had a letter from E Jenkins so I am going down to see her next week we call the baby Fernie now I hope you will agree. Dear Fern has got the whooping cough. Written on the side: I suppose you will be away four weeks yet. Love from Mattie will write on Sunday. This letter appears to be connected with the post card Barwonleigh Saturday October 1908 handwriting My Dear Mattie I received your letter and was sorry to hear of our dear little babys misfortune how did it happen do you know what was the cause of it Mrs Watts must be a blind old fool not to have known what it was when you took him to her the first time poor dear you must be worried to death with all this trouble tell me what the doctor thinks of the rupture. I do hope dear he will get over this all right you must be nearly dead going without sleep for so long I had a bit of misfortune myself on Thursday the machine locked and jumped out of my hand and stuck in my bone I kept on working but it was very painful as all the holding is done with the..next page ..knee the boss also has been chipping a good deal this week he says the next time he has occasion to speak to me I will have to go he is very particular. I would like to go through if possible even if I do a lot less. I have about sixteen hundred done up to now and would get another nine hundred if I was let alone but I suppose we will live lovie even if I go do you know if they are full handed at Eynesbury if I thought I could get a week there I would cut myself out here quick. Well dear lovie I am sending you a couple of pounds as I suppose you will want it to get a truss. I don’t think they are very expensive and hope things will find this better with you. Well my dear love I must close with fond love for you and baby from your loving Husband Fred Post Card: 16 Aug 1909 - Mathoura The card depicts a small sailing boat laden with blue flowers. Well Dear Wife you see I have kept my promise. I rode all the way up here and also carried all my luggage with me it came in handy as I had to camp on the road last night between Rochester and Echuca surrounded by water. I had to walk all the way pretty well from Rochester to Echuca. I am now waiting for the train to Deniliquin. Love to you and my little son Fred. From you loving Husband Fred Written along the top and side of the card. what do you think if the card comes in all right as I have been wading through water all day yesterday and this might be …? will write when I get to the Station, don’t forget to look after the little Freddie and remember me to mother. Post Card: 1909 - view across the Flat from the Creek looking to the Presbyterian Church in the distance with some small dwellings in the foreground. To Mr Fred Myers Wandook Stn Denniliquin NSW Dear Fred, received your letter I am sorry to hear you are having such wet weather I will write a letter tomorrow baby is better With Love from M Post Card: 1910 Postmark Stamp 1d Aug 12 1910 Moama NSW Melton postmark stamped Aug 25? Hare Street, looking south Echuca Mrs F Myers, Melton P O Vic Dear Mattie, Just a line to let you know I got here all right I go to Pericotta tonight and to Cobran to morrow best love to all from yours Fred Letter Cobran Stn Via Deniliquin N.S.W. Sunday 21st Aug extract I am having a good time here, a good cook and the best of everything no fires to light or kettles to boil just get up and wire in… plenty hard work the sheep are pretty tough but much better than Wandook. I am well among them here we had a little rain on Friday but not enough to stop us so we have got one full week in .. the weather is lovely. I have been basking in the sunshine mainly in the morning and feel strong and fit a as fiddle, they are a grand lot of men here I only knew one out of the lots but know them all pretty well now, we have a bit of a concert here every nights almost there are a few good singers here and we also had a phonograph up from the station with all the latest records we have two dancers among ourselves very boisterous affairs indeed thy do make the dust fly. I have not ventured to take part in it and don’t think I will either. I get enough dancing all day long and besides I have to furnish the music you ought to see them going when I rattle up the concertina. Letter Cobran Stn via Deniliquin Thursday Sept 1st 1910 [abbreviated] My Dear Mattie, I received your welcome letter today. I though I was never going to get one as it was Sunday fortnight when I wrote to you but we only the mail here twice a week so it takes a long time to write and get an answer. I also got a reply from Eynesbury and a favourable reply it starts on the 13th Oct. …. I have 800 sheep shorn up to date and am fifth among about 30 men. I am sending two more [Ls] this time which I drew on Saturday. I don’t like sending too much more this time as there is a chance of it going astray and it is not very easily earned…. Things must be humming in Melton with all them babies coming and people getting married… I suppose we will be having new neighbours soon. If Mr Watts is selling out he was getting more property then he could keep. I hope you will soon have rain…. you will have to watch our little boy the dear little rascal he must be getting very cute opening the gates he will be tumbling into the tank …. I love to think of the happy times we have had together and hope that we will love one another to the end .. the mail will not leave here until Monday Love to you dear wife and baby Fred Post Card: – I Cling to you like Ivy Cobran September 18th 1910 Fred awaits a letter from Mattie I still have three weeks here yet.. I am sending L2 tell if you got the other 1L 1911 Letters Fred to Mattie October Spring Plains Oct 1911 Mia Mia Post Office I had a great job to catch the train at Diggers Rest as after I turned off the Keilor Rd it was very way and muddy and I had to walk a lot of the way and got there just in time. I came right into Redesdale by the train and stopped there last night… they had heavy rain on thursday up here and a tremendous fall of hail which covered the ground over a foot deep. There are only 4 shearers here yet.. I saw some of the sheep they look very rough and big so there will be no big tallies done, the men are saying he is giving 2s per hundred extra, so that will help a little. We are going to start Cobran via Deniliquin. Post Card: three scenes of Mathoura 10/9/1914 EB on a photo copy 10/9/12 ? Mathoura Thursday Dear Mattie, Just a line to let you know I got up here all right. I rode the seat out of my trousers. I have done 100 miles on the bike. I met none of the old hands this time so will go out on my own… Your loving husband Fred, did Marjie miss me at all. Post Card: Cobran 15th Sept 1912 Hearts and intertwined flowers and little envelope he has written Marjorie …just a line to let you know I will cut out here Friday next in find, we have had two falls of rain since I wrote and it has bean blowing a hurricane for couple of days and may blow up again however if we are delayed I will send you a card Wednesday I am longing to see you and the two little kiddies again…. Fred Copy only Golf Hill Sep 26th Cut out 31 Oct Total 2332 1913 Post Card: Scene View Street, Bendigo August 1913 Mathoura Tuesday My Dear Mattie Just a line to let you know I got up here all right. Teddy Ginger and another couple of chaps on the way ……. Letter Cobran Sunday Aug 7th 1913 My Dear Mattie Just a line to let you know that weather permitting we will cut out here about Thursday morning….I have not got any more shearing here. I have not heard from the other place…. Expect me about Friday …. I suppose Freddie and Marjie will be glad to see me, Marjie will climb all over me. I will be glad to se you all again you will have a fortnight before Golf Hill starts. I see in the Express you sent that Annie McPherson of (Dunvegan) is engaged to Len Farrell, she appears to be going to take no risks with him she wont let him slip through her hands like the banker did…… Fred Post Card: 1914 Garland of roses Warrambeen Stn Shelford PO October 14th 1914 Birthday wishes. Post Card: Love’s Golden Chain Golf Hill Tuesday Oct 17 1914 Birthday wishes [ this one might be a different year] Letter Cobran Wed 2nd Sept 1914 My Dear Mattie, I received your welcome letter today and also the papers which were very acceptable as we don’t get many papers here we only get see one at odd times as we get none for the hut this year.. I have not seen a bit of butter since I left home as it is too dear for us for sinners here. Poor Marjie had a cold.. so the little kid wants to go to the war, she must think it is good like a picnic. We had light rain on Monday as usual only half a day’s shearing in the shed so that is all we done this week, we took a vote 9 to 6 no shearing so nothing till to morrow morning Thursday so there is still a good fortnights shearing to do, will do nothing Saturday polling day as we have to go 13 miles is near Services where I was last year so we will want the full day 50 men to vote and some will probably have to walk to get there, all solid for Labour. I have just had an interval for lunch, pudding, yeast buns and rock cakes… We are doing nothing but eating and sleeping this week. Fred I am sending L1 in this which will do you till I come back if I keep drawing up I will have none when I finish so make the most of it. Post Card: Two doves with violets 1915 Cobran Wed 18th Sept [could be 1912] Sorry to tell you we are delayed with rain so will not be home till next week… only 3 days of shearing to do…. expect me about the middle of next week….I wish I was with you now and the dear little ones Fred Post Card: Iris Flowers Barwonleigh Stn Tuesday Oct 14th 1918 Happy birthday greetings from Fred Post Card: Irrigation channel Swan Hill 5 Year not shown Swan Hill Tuesday night Just a few lines to let you know I got this far all right. I had to walk nearly all the way to Gisborne and got there last night and took the train here today. It has been raining all the way between Gisborne and here. Moulamein tomorrow. I think it will be another case of walking as it is wet here no metal roads all mud. best love to yourself and the little ones and also mother. will write Sunday Post Card: The White Man’s Burden.The writing on the back rubbed out Mattie has written, I was weighed and I am 8 stone 10 pounds. 14 Post Cards, some have the original dates, others have the date added later by Martha. Two envelopes, one with addressed to Melton postmark Moule, stamp torn off, the other Cards from my dear Fred. The letters and the notebooks can be cross checked according the their contents. Italics show the dates added by Mattie local identities

Letters sent to Martha (Mattie) dated from 1907 to 1920. Each letter is an edited version of the original pertaining to aspects of Fred Myers life as a shearer. Cobran Stn via Deniliquin Thursday Sept 1st 1910 …I got a reply from Eynesbury and a favourable reply, it starts on the 13th Oct so I will have plenty of time to get there, in fact far to much as we will finish here in a month full time so that will leave a fortnight to spare. We got rain here at last and it has put us back considerably as we only worked Monday. I have been idle ever since. We will probably start again Saturday. The weather has taken up nice and fine again…. I hope it will keep up to the cut out now I have 800 sheep shorn up to date and am fifth among thirty men so I’m doing well I think. Did you get the pound I sent? I’m sending two more this time, which I drew on Saturday. I don’t like sending too much as there is a chance of it going astray. Postcard Cobran Sept 18 1910 Just a note to let you know I am all right. I was disappointed not getting a letter yesterday, Saturday…I won’t get it now till next Saturday. We have three weeks here yet. I am sending 2 and tell me if you got the other 1. Cobran Stn via Deniliquin NSW Sunday 21st August (1911) ..I’m having a good time here, a good cook and the best of everything, no fires to lights or kettles to boil just get up and wire in but plenty of hard work. The sheep here a pretty rough but much better than Wandook. I am well among them here we had a little rain on Friday but not enough to stop us so we have got one full week in and the weather is now lovely I have been basking in the sunshine all morning and feel strong and fit as a fiddle. They are all a grand lot of men here I only knew one out of the lot but now them all pretty well now. We have a bit of a concert here every night almost. There are a few good singers here and we also had a phonograph up from the station with all the latest records. We have has two dances amongst ourselves, very boisterous affairs indeed they do make the dust fly. I have not ventured to take part in them yet and don’ think I will either. I get enough dancing all day long and besides I have to furnish the music. You ought to see them going when I rattle up the concertina they do make the dust fly. Sample of letters written by Fred Myers to his wife Mattie Myerslocal identities

Mary Tolhurst M&DHS - March 29th Dunvegan Willows Park Melton 1992 Ladies Oral History Day Graham Minns President Ray Radford MC Sound recording transfer to CD 2011 by Tom Wood Edited typescript by Wendy Barrie 2013 I was born in Rockbank, and when I was five years old moved to Toolern Vale and started and finished school there. Toolern Vale only consisted of the Store, Post Office and shop, where you could buy your fodder, and pollard supplies, the Hall, the little Church and the bluestone School. The School changed shape three times from the 1800s[1869] til the time I went there. There was four generations of my family that went there and it was destroyed by fire in 1965. Marjorie nee Myers Butler. Yes, I remember along with it your lovely Ronisch piano. Mary, quite true! Marj what you say about the Ronisch piano. When I came the age to learn music my mum and dad couldn’t really afford it, but still what parents do for their children. They had Marj go along with them and pick this lovely Ronisch piano. It was known round the district. Everyone commented about the loss that lovely piano. After leaving school it was war time, 1939, then it was work, When I was 7 year old I was put out into the cow yard. In 1940 when the soldiers were going away our milk was confiscated it had to go to Bacchus Marsh. It used to go the Sunbury to be brine cooled and then go to Melbourne. Then they took it then to the Lifeguard Milk Factory at Bacchus Marsh. It had to go as condensed milk to the soldiers. This year is 50 years of the Land Army. I was an unofficial Land Army but they still kept check on me. I went onto married life and I followed the cows right through [howls of laughter] and we went on until the 1965 fire. That’s when we got out of the cows. Marjorie asks, was Granny Watts your grandmother or great grandmother? Mary: She was my great grandmother, the midwife of Melton. The 1965 fire started ¾ of a mile above our place, Frank Ryan’s sheds were burnt and his house was saved, then it wiped the School out, the Hall, the Church the Post Office and Store and little house that was Charlie Charlton’s in the early days. Mrs Wilson’s place was saved by the Fire Brigade by pulling boards off the side, and from there it went over the hill and it was stopped at the Rockbank Railway Station. If it had of got over the railway they said it would have gone into Werribee. A lot was burnt out in that strip. Mary nee Nixon Collins: 18 houses burnt that day. Audience question, did Melton get burnt that day? Ray: No. It came down through the Toolern Vale road and cut across about a mile and a half from the cross roads at Toolern Vale from north westerly to the south east and cut through over the Keilor road. Mary: It came in across the creek at Funstons in Toolern, then through Jim Minns. Dorothy was it your place then [nee Knox Beaty] to Ken Beatty’s and from there it went through to Doug McIntosh’s and to Cockbills and the wind changed and it came across to the railway line, and that is where they stopped it. [the cause of the fire was controversial, they had been burning off the night before and there was some talk of someone starting it. It was very hot and very strong wind, it was a terrible day] Ray: When the fire went through McIntosh’s they had a haystack on the north side of their house and the haystack got caught and the fire burnt a hole through the side of the house and the boys pyjamas on the bed. The house was saved. It came through like and express train roaring at you, I was at McIntosh’s when it went roaring past. You couldn’t see, dust and ash and tremendous heat. The fire started about 12 o’clock Jack [husband] said to me, fire, I said where, where? Just up the road, what have I got to do? and he went out and he had gone to the fire and left me. I tried to get the animals and I put out buckets of water, putting the buckets of water out saved my life. Chas Jones and another friend of his came in and they picked up the buckets of water, I thought I had better get out because the fire was on the haystack up the paddock and when I went to go out through the north side of the house and couldn’t get out, I’ll go through the front gate so I went around the other side of the house. I got caught there and Chassy Jones and his friend came round carrying the bucket of water and I panicked. He threw the bucket of water over me. Well that is what saved my life because I was damp, whenever we tried to leave the ball of fire came over me and over my shoulder and my hair was scorched. Chassy Jones lost his truck and Keith Watt his big truck because he had the water tank on it and they couldn’t get out of the yard. Granny Watt’s house, the first private hospital had condemned and Jack and I pulled it down and had it moved up to Toolern and had it in the yard a fortnight and it was all burnt and we didn’t get the shed we wanted. Every 13 years right up until Ash Wednesday fires, there has always been fire close at hand. The 1952 fire went down the back of the house, the 1965 fire took the house, and the house that I live in now, it is the third house that has been on that spot. When the Hunters owned it, Mrs Hunter was nearly burnt in her bed. They had a 13 roomed house. In 1924 the house burnt down, and there was another house was built there and that was the one that burnt down. Edna: So Mary built a brick veneer house. Marjorie: like the three little pigs [laughter] Collins - Mary M &DHS - March 29th 1992 Ladies oral history day at Dunvegan, Willows Park Melton. Graham Minns President Ray Radford MC Sound recording transferred to CD 2011 Edited typescript by Wendy Barrie 2013 Mary Collins nee Nixon born in Terang 1907 down in the Western District and we shifted to Melton when I was 5 and a half then I started school here in Melton, and spent all my school life at Melton State School, next to the Church of England, it’s called the Primary School now. I got my Qualifying and Merit Certificate then I left School because there wasn’t a High School. When I was 16 I got and job in the Melton Post Office and I worked there, I was the first girl in Melton to deliver the mail, and worked on the telephone and the Bank business. Mrs Ross and myself behind the counter, there were about 500 – 600 people in the Shire at that time and now when I go into the new Post Office there is 36,000 here there’s still 2 people behind the counter [laughter from the audience] and wait in a queue right out to the door. Times haven’t changed much have they! There was a manual telephone and you had to ring the handle, and there were eight subscribers when I went there and when I left there were 46 I had coaxed that number to join the telephone, even the police station didn’t have the phone on. The two Hotels and the two Chaff mills and Mr Ernie Barrie, Parkers the butcher, the Shire Office was No 8, and the Police house was next to the Courthouse on the corner. They were number 9. I can remember a lot of the numbers still. The Post Office was the Agency for the Commonwealth Bank [comment from audience member] I used to do the Bank business too, I left after four years there, mother wasn’t very well. The Inspector who used to come up to the Post Office asked me if I would take up casual Post Mistress and to go around the different districts but I refused and when Mrs Ross’s holidays were due I was the replacement. I wasn’t 21. I loved my work meeting everybody and most people had horse and jinkers and when the elderly would come in there would be Mr Tom Morrow, he only had one arm and Mrs Dunn came from Bulman’s road in their horse and jinker. They were elderly I would see them pull up out the front and quickly get their mail and run out to them because they didn’t have to get out of the jinker to tie up their horse. If someone had a baby in arms I would tear out and hold the baby while they got down. Mrs Ross was very very strict. I had to sweep the Post Office, she had a couple of mats and there would be a threepence or a sixpence under the mats show she knew whether I lifted the mat, I was whether I was honest or not. Graham: How much were your wages? I got 27/7 pence a week for a 52 hour week. I had to work every holiday except Good Friday and Christmas Day and even when it was Monday holiday I always had to go to work from 9am - !0 am, the Post Office was always open. In the winter I had to wait until twenty past six in case there were any telegrams to deliver. I delivered them on a push bike. One time Tom Barrie told me this years afterwards. I used to go home for lunch. We lived on the Keilor road and I used to ride my bike home. On the hot days the boys used to go and swim in the swimming pool down near a turn in the creek there was a hole where the boys would swim in the nude, they didn’t have any bathers and they didn’t have any watches in those days. Tom Barrie said they always used to watched for me as I was always about 3 minutes past 1, my lunch hour was from 1-2. One particular day they missed seeing me and swam on, and of course they were all late for school when they got back and were all kept in a night. I did get a fortnight holiday. I loved my work and I knew everyone in the district right from Toolern Vale to the Marsh and everybody at Melton South. Did you listen into conversations on the Switchboard? Oh no. [laughter] Melton did not have electricity then. I had to fill the lamps everyday with kerosene. The Staughton Memorial was outside the Post Office. It had four posts with the chain looped around it, and that’s where the people used to tie up their horses. Marjorie nee Myers Butler comments about sitting and swinging on the chains. Mr Fred Coburn lit the acetylene gas light in the Memorial. It was the only streetlight in Melton. There was no electricity until 1939. Ray Radford comments about another gas street light which was on the corner of Station road. [later] Mary passes around her school photos. Mary mentions the names of those who have passed away, Maisie McDonald, ,Marian Wraith, Hilda McCreey, and Valda McDonald. I have written the names on the back. Marjorie comments about Marie Jongebloed and Greta are the only two girls left out of big family of ten I think there were [hesitates] 4 or 5 girls and the rest were boys. Mary. Flora Woodley, Dorrie Flynn and Margaret McDonald are still alive. They are my age we were all born about 1907. Marjorie points out herself in a later photo [1921 and 1922 School ] Mary mentions the name Walsh and identyfies following names, the Parker boys, Ken Beaty, Malc and Linda Cameron, Maisie Mc Donald, Ted Radford, George Nixon, Norman Minns, he was later the Shire Secretary of Werribee. One of the Woodley girls. [Maisie Arthur] Marjorie: Rosie Shearwood, June Whiting Mary. Lily Mc Donald, she has passed away. Isabel Harrison nee Tinkler, she lives at Werribee, Doreen Rogers, Marjorie Walker, Jess McIntosh, Mary Gillespie. Mr Malone was the Junior teacher Mr Roe and Miss Cooke. Fred Myers, my sister [Elizabeth] and the year was 1921. Myers (Barrie) School Photo Collection. Many of the names were identified at the 1970 Centenary of Melton State School No. 430. Edna Barrie organised, compiled and typed the lists to accompany these photos for the year 1921. The 1922 photo shows the higher grades. Ladies Oral History Day event held by Melton and District Historical Society, article featured in the Telegraphlocal identities, local special interest groups

Bill Cahill in conversation at Victoria Hall Melton South July 1974 Chaff Mills Melton’s hey day, as I call it in the days when more hay was grown in Melton and Rockbank than, I’d say in any where in Victoria. We had two chaff mills. If I can remember rightly I’m sure of this, that in one month the amount of hay and chaff that went from Melton to Melbourne was about 1800 tons, that’s hay and chaff. There was a lot of hay went from the Melton Railway Station. I have often seen whole train load going down the Schutt and Barrie, that’s Bonnie’s father’s mill at West Footscray. The mills in those days employed up to from 18- 20 men in each, that was before electricity when the mills were run on steam then, there was no power. At times those chaff mills they got a lot of shipping orders, to the Philipines and other Asian countries. They’d work shifts at night on the second shift at night time they would have an old hurricane lamp hanging above from the ceiling just over the chaff cutter, you could hardly see yourself, or see the anything. Well they worked through the whole night they might have an order come in for perhaps 100tons up 500 tons of chaff to go a boat would be in and be waiting to be loaded in Melbourne and they’d have to go and work two shifts. Then they brought in casual labour to help them through and get the order cut and get it down by rail to ship board to send it away. Talking about the hay I’ve seen wagons of hay in the farmers carting to both mills and also hay going down to West Footscray. There would be a quarter of a mile without exaggeration wagons and teams would be waiting to get into the mill, they would come down at the weighbridge at about 3-4- o’clock, 2 o’clock waiting for the bridge to open to weigh their loads, the ones that would be running late would be there at the weighbridge about half past 7 - 8 o’clock. They would be lucky to get away by night before getting their load off. A funny episode I remember well was a farmer from up, Alan Hurley you would remember him, Sam McCorkell he would put on his load in the afternoon or evening leave it up the yard, and would leave Toolern Vale about 12 or 1 o’clock in the morning and he would get down to the weighbridge and when it was breaking day he would bring half of his fowl yard down with him. The fowls would hop up on top of the load and have a ride down and when it came daylight they’d hop off and away they’d go, and I suppose everybody had some of McCorkells poultry. [laughter from the audience] That always tickled my fancy and everybody would be laughing about the fowls getting off his load of hay. I reckon that was about one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard of. The Victoria Hall, where we are tonight was originally known as the Exford Hall. I believe Bonnie’s father was the original builder and owner of the chaff mills here round the corner which is known as Wards today. Later on I understand that his father had a chaff mill here were this hall is, then Dixon Bros were just a bit on the other side. I believe Bonnie’s father sold it to Dixon Bros, and they shifted this part of the mill here and took it over and joined it up. That’s the history of the early chaff mills. Is that right Bonnie? You might like to correct, I’m about right am I? Bonnie answers yes. The original audio tape was recorded on the reel to reel tape recorder by Bon Barrie using his own tape recorder. Transferred to CD by Tom Wood using computer technology capable of adjusting the recording to a legible speed for reproduction to compact disk. Bill Cahill article featured in the The Mail Expresslocal identities

3 pages. First page has an image of a bouquet of flowers and the words 'in loving memory' , the second page depicts the crossed Australian and New Zealand flags C. F. Willcox's death date and his age, as well as a poem. The third page includes three quotes.IN LOVING MEMORY OF C. F. WILLCOX WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THE EMPIRE IN FRANCE. JULY 28, 1916, AGED 21 YEARS He gave his life for his Country, For honor, faith and right: With us his memory ever lives, He fought a noble fight. 'Midst the roaring of the battle. And the rain of shot and shell, Fighting for Home and Country He like a hero fell. "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die"