Charlie Robertson Jnr. Charlie Robertson, a Boort district farmer and trainer-driver, won his first race driving a horse called Black Spot in 1912 when he was 16. He drove many winners in the 1920s and 1930s, some of them trained by his father Charles Snr who had raced horses from the 1890s. He had a top trotter in Fair Admiral, who won the 1929 Victoria Trotters Derby among other races. As his career flourished, Charlie Jnr won with such horses as Lee Voyage, Royal Bronte, Johnnie Bronte, Betty Direct, Bonnie Heather and Leading Style. He was given the Globe Derby stallion New Derby to train by owner Jack King of Quambatook. He travelled to Tasmania and Western Australia with New Derby. In Tasmania in 1935, New Derby won the Hobart and Launceston Cups and in WA in 1936 won two heats of the inaugural Inter Dominion. Among New Derby’s wins were the 1932 and 1933 Ascot £500. He left 147 winners when standing at stud at Quambatook. During World War II one of the few venues for harness racing was Wayville in Adelaide. During this period Charlie made many trips across the border to race. On the commencement of night trotting, Robertson won many at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds with Something New, Village Derby and Midnight News, New Gold, Canargo and Tennessee Derby. A bad race smash on Tennessee Derby nearly ended Charlie’s life, but he recovered. In the 1960s Charlie stood the stallion Convivial, who provided him with many winners. He retired from race driving aged 68 and died aged 87 after more than 60 years in trotting.Yellow with cream starscharlie robertson, c robertson, charlie robertson jnr, c robertson jnr

This cable tram Gripman’s badge, or driver’s badge, was part of a tram driver’s uniform. The inscriptions on the front of the badge identify it as belonging to Gripman number 14, at the South Melbourne Car House depot of the Tramways Board. The Gripman Badge would be re-issued whenever another Gripman takes over the position. Cable trams were invented in America in 1873. In Melbourne, cable trams were in use from 1885 until 1940, with a network of up to 1200 cable cars or 'dummies' and trailers travelling at around 9.5 miles (15km) per hour along 46 miles (74km) of double tracks. The Gripman drove the dummy car, operating the heavy levers to connect the gripping gears to the cable installed in a slot in the road. To turn at intersections he would skilfully disconnect, freewheel around the corner and carefully reconnect to the continuously operating steel cable. Large winding gears in an Engine House along the line pulled the cable along, powered by steam engines and later electric engines. The gripping gears were in the centre of the car's floor with seating all around the sides, a dangerous place for curious children. , whose worried parents would guide them into the tram that was towed behind the dummy car. The Melbourne Tramways Board operated the cable trams between July 1916 and November 1919 after taking over from the privately operated Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company. In 1919, the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) took over the Tramways Board. Stokes & Sons: - The maker of the badge, Thomas Stokes, migrated to Melbourne from Birmingham in 1854 and set up business in Mincer Lane as a die-sinker, producing medals, tokens, buttons and silverware, and an engraving service. He moved to Flinders Lane in 1856. After a time, in 1894, the business became Stokes & Sons Pty: Ltd, electroplates and badge makers at Post Office Place in Melbourne. The maker's mark 'Stokes & Sons' was made on badges until 1962. LOCAL CONNECTION: -t was common practice to recycle the used cables from the tramway. For example, the Wollaston Bridge in Warrnambool, Victoria, is suspended by recycled cable tram Melbourne. (Other recycled cables were used for fencing wire.) -Portland's cable tram is an example of the cable trams used in Melbourne from 1885 to 1940.This badge was used to identify a Gripman who operated a cable car tram's dummy car for the Tramways Board in Melbourne between 1916 and 1919. It represents the need for people to be able to identify workers in the service industry, a need still addressed today by staff ID badges and digital identification. The badge also represents the period in Melbourne's history when cable cars were used for public transport for over four decades, gradually changing from steam to electric power. Trams still have an important role in Melbourne's public transport. Badge, round hollow metal dome with two open metal guides on the back. A cable tram Gripman (driver) badge with embossed inscriptions on the front and stamped on the back. There is a logo of entwined letters T and B on the front. It identifies Gripman number 14, South Melbourne, Tramway Board. It was made by Stokes & Sons of Melbourne. Impressed into the front: "S / 14 / M" "GRIPMAN" Logo intertwined "T" and "B" Embossed on reverse "STOKES &o SONS"flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, badge, gripman, stokes & sons, numesmatics, tramway, tram, tram driver, uniform, cable tram, identification, cable car driver, tramway board, south melbourne, melbourne tramways board, tb, mtb, mmtb, melbourne and metropolitan tramways board, tramway button, gripman button, id, identification badg, staff badge, name badge, employee, grip car, dummy car

A plaster replica of the 377 ozs gold nugget that was discovered in March 1861 in Robinson Crusoe valley at a depth of 5 feet by Mr John Knott and his son. It was the largest nugget found on the field. Value in 2016 $595,463. An article by the Bendigo Advertiser on Saturday 16 March 1861 describes the discovery "One of the largest pieces of gold that have been turned out of the ground on Bendigo, was yesterday brought to light in a small gully called Dead Bullock Gully, on the Kangaroo Flat side of Robinson Crusoe. The fortunate discoverers of the treasure are in this instance, as is generally the case, "fossickers," and where the nugget was found is in some old ground that has no doubt been turned over times innumerable within a few feet of the spot where the prize was lying hid. The exact weight of the nugget is 377 oz 6¾ dwts of as pure gold as ever came out of the ground. The finders are Mr John Knott and his son; the latter,a lad, being the party who actually found it, which he did under rather peculiar circumstances. He was down below in the old hole, putting a drive into an old pillar that had been left, when he drove his pick into the mass of gold, and partially discovered it. Under the excitement of the moment he cried out loudly, and his father, who was on top, immediately jumped down the hole, under the impression that his son had met with an accident, but fortunately found that he only required assistance in extracting the welcome stranger. The following is a description of the nugget. Length, twelve inches; width, six; while in some places it is of about two inches in thickness, in others it is only about half an inch. It has that peculiarity of form which from the days of the early finders of nuggets has enabled one to discover a resemblance to something either common or uncommon. We have had nuggets resembling frying pans, legs of mutton, dampers, and other articles in use in the rosy days of the diggings. In the present instance several parties who have seen the nugget assert that both in shape and size it is very much like an Australian Platypus, one of the ends of the nugget being exactly in formation like the snout of the animal. It will be exhibited today in the gold office of Mr Bannerman, and will, no doubt,attract the gaze of a crowd. Mr Knott states that at breakfast, before going to work in the morning, the boy mentioned to his mother that he had dreamt on the previous night that he would find a large nugget. May the similar dreams of every alluvial miner come as true as this realization of a prize worth between fourteen and fifteen hundred pounds in value."It has a sticker on it that says 'The Platypus 112'mining, models, plaster model of victorian gold nugget, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87375584

Painted for the Shire of Eltham Historical Society by Audrey Cahn, a member of our Society for many years and Vice President till 1978. Audrey was the sister of the late Charis Palling, founding president of our Society. She had remained a member for many years although she had moved from her family home at Warrandyte to live with her daughter in New South Wales. Audrey had been blind for some years but maintained a local interest by having our Newsletter read to her. Audrey's associations with Warrandyte started because her father Professor Osbourne had bought 60 acres in 1904. " Gold mining was beginning to die out and Warrandyte was a decaying area. Land was cheap because of the lack of transport and the soil was poor for farming” Audrey said. Audrey first attended school in the city at the Church of England Girls Grammar School and was always a bit rebellious. “If I felt some restrictions were unfair or some judgement unjust, I resented it”. Audrey got into Agricultural Science at Melbourne University and in 1928 was the second women to get such a degree. Audrey married in 1926, and later divorced Leslie Cahn an architect. They had twin daughters whom she left with her parents in Warrandyte while she studied dietetics during the depression. She found employment as a microbiologist at the Kraft/Walker Milk and Cheese Factory in Drouin - she drove home at weekends to see her daughters who were then at boarding school. During the war Audrey was in charge of catering at the Heidelberg Military Hospital – again the appointment of a women caused some unrest. She was in the army for more than 4 years and achieved the rank of General which-made her the most highly-ranked-woman at the hospital. After the war she became a senior lecturer in Dietetics at Melbourne University, again being aware of the limitations her gender brought to promotion possibilities. During her time at the university, she undertook a series of studies in nutritional biochemistry. Of especial note is the analysis of common dietary foods so that the composition and calorific value, the data that was needed for inclusion in Food tables - that professional sports people and weight-watchers so avidly follow today! She was an early proponent of the need to reduce fat intake and to substitute saturated fats with polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the 1950's Audrey and fellow workers established norms for the growth of Australian children to be compared with British and American children. Over 17 years they concluded that Australian children were overweight and inactive - what is new! She bought a cottage in Warrandyte as her home. In 1968 she retired to further develop her other interests as a potter and painter. Audrey was a foundation member of the group of potters that set up Potters Cottage. Audrey died in 2008 aged 102. (Ref:Newsletter No. 185 March 2009)art, artwork, audrey cahn, eltham, old bakery, york street

ELTHAM HERITAGE TOUR The Society excursion on 24th May 1992 was arranged by David Bick, leader of the team carrying out the Shire's heritage study. David selected a number of sites or buildings identified in the study, some of them lesser known components of the Shire's heritage. The tour commenced at the Eltham Shire Office at 10.00 am. Travel was by private car and mini-bus with stops at about twelve locations for commentary by David.It included a short walk in Hurstbridge and lunch at Kinglake. Highlights of the tour included: - 10 am Leave from Shire Offices - 3 Important Trees - A Physical Link to Eltham's First Settlers - Toorak Mansion Gates - A Surviving Farm House - An Intact Circa 1900 Main Street - First Settlers - Gold Miners, and Timber-getters - An Early Hotel - A Pioneering Homestead - Changing Eltham Shire - 20th Century - 4 pm Afternoon Tea and Finish Tour Extract from ELTHAM CULTURAL HERITAGE TOUR (Newsletter No. 85, July 1992, by Bettina Woodburn) "Now we drove through stands of pines to the Kangaroo Ground Lookout Tower, a most unusual War Memorial, World War I. The tower and a shed/residence (it had a chimney) were built from local sandstone. Below to the south and east of Melbourne spread 'suburbia'. Close by the landscape seemed so contrived - English fields and hedgerows! Although only about twenty inches deep, the soil of this ancient volcano, its crater lost under subsequent weathering, was rich, deserving the name of "Garden Hill". Now native trees are taking over again. In Kangaroo Ground itself stand the inevitable Store, School and Church - and two Norfolk pines and a monkey puzzle tree." On November 11th 1926 the Shire of Eltham War Memorial Tower at Kangaroo Ground was opened. It is regarded as one of Melbourne’s most outstanding lookout towers. It commands a magnificent 360 degree panorama from Kinglake across the Diamond Valley to Macedon and the You Yangs. It is built on a peak which was once a volcano, 237 metres above sea level. After World War one a memorial cairn was erected on the site, and in 1925 a committee of public-minded citizens began to plan for a tower. Many generous donations of material and money were forthcoming so that in 1926 the Governor General Lord Stonehaven was able to unveil the plaque before a crowd of 500 people. There was some concern in the 1960s when the Forests Commission wanted to build a firespotters cabin on the top. At first R.S.L. branches opposed the idea, but it was realised that this use could combine with its use as a tourist attraction, and would ensure its maintenance for the future, Today the Kangaroo Ground tower provides one of the best views around Melbourne and is a fitting memorial to those who died in two world wars. From: Historic items for Diamond Valley Community Radio September 1990 (EDHS collection) Record of the Society's history and activities and highlighting various aspects of the Heritage Study undertaken by David Bick used to create the future heritage overlay for the Shire of Eltham and later Nillumbik Shire.Roll of 35mm colour negative film, 4 stripsKodak Gold 100 5095culture, events, garden hill, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial, memorial park, shire of eltham war memorial tower, war memorials

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Three colour photographsactivities, murchison gap, murchison valley

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, broadford, hume and hovell, monument

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Two colour photographsactivities, hume and hovell, monument

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, broadford, hume and hovell, monument

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, monument, hume and hovell, murchison valley, strath creek

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell, murchison valley, murchison gap, strath creek

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell, murchison valley, murchison gap, strath creek

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell, murchison valley, murchison gap, strath creek

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell, murchison valley, murchison gap, strath creek

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell, allandale road, strath creek

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 109, July 1996:] ON THE TRAIL OF HUME AND HOVELL - REPORT ON THE AUTUMN EXCURSION - On a green and fresh morning (Sunday 26th May 1996) the Cobb and Co coach (driven by the most obliging Peter Tampion) set off in a north easterly direction from Eltham to connect with Hume and Hovell's route on their 1824 explorations of central Victoria. The Society would follow a series of monuments erected for the 1924 centenary of the expedition from King Parrot Creek (Tuesday 7th December 1824), through Strath Creek, over Sunday Creek (Sunday 12th December 1824) at Broadford, Tullamarine, St Albans, Deer Park, through Werribee, skirting east of the You Yangs to Lara and Avalon Beach. Because their distance-measuring wheel had broken and a one degree mistake was made in calculations, the two leaders of the original group of six convict-companions arrived at Corio Bay, instead of the expected Western Port, discovered earlier by Flinders. From below Mt. Disappointment (Hume and Hovell's difficulties in "scrambling over brush and rock", "leeches in forest, as well as no water", "cutting grass 4-5 ft. high", dreadful scrub", "devil flies") we took an easier route, saw the Strath Creek memorial in ground fog and a wonderful "field of dreams", the Hume-Hovell privately owned cricket ground with its white picket boundary fence. Now, after a steep climb, in sunshine under gums we stretched and viewed magnificent rolling hills and fog-filled valleys - not "smoke from Aborigines' bush fires". After morning tea at Broadford we followed the Sunday Creek valley beside the Hume Freeway, passed the Wallan Wallan Rest Area (more appropriately Hume and Hovell Rest Area) to tum right at Beveridge. In Gellibrand Hill Park, near the headwaters of the Moonee Ponds Creek, we experienced the landscape the first European settlers saw - huge river red gums and rolling pastures. The gardens and sheltered courtyard of the 1840s, timber, brought from .....[?] prefabricated Woodlands Homestead, provided a pleasant lunch stop. We enjoyed a private tour, panoramic views over Melbourne and surroundings and the excitement of arriving and departing aircraft. Our next river crossing was at Werribee, "in a vast treeless plain", then we drove on by-ways no coach had previously travelled, to find "an immense sheet of water" salty Corio Bay, off-course to the west. In late afternoon of a super, calm, late autumn day we headed homewards. Back at Eltham we were rather surprised to find that we had travelled a total of 347 km. Thanks again to Russell Yeoman for his research and organization. What a wonderful day! Colour photographactivities, hume and hovell

Longmore set aside his life as a farm-hand in Geelong, Victoria, when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at age 21. Private (Pte) Roy Longmore, 3rd Reinforcements, 21st Battalion, of Bannockburn, Victoria enlisted on 13 July 1915; and he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Anchises on 26 August 1915.[2] After training in Egypt, was sent to the Battle of Gallipoli where he was a tunnel digger with the 2nd Division, burrowing underneath the Turkish positions and laying mines. After evacuation from Turkey, he fought at Pozières, Armentières, and Villers-Bretonneux.[1] He was wounded three times in France and was momentarily given up for dead when he was shot as the Armistice in November 1918, approached. He later recalled, "We were patrolling in a gully when suddenly half a dozen Germans appeared over a hill armed with machine guns and opened fire. Jerry riddled me, knocking me flat on my back, and the last I heard was 'Longy's had it, they got him.'" Fortunately, his fellow soldiers saw him move and rescued him.[3] Lance Sergeant (LSgt) and returned to Australia on 16 March 1919 as a member of the 2nd Pioneer Battalion.[2] Civilian life[edit] After returning to Australia in 1919, his injuries made returning to farm work impossible, so he drove a taxi in Melbourne. Another change caused by the war was more telling. Before, he had hunted rabbits; but he later explained that when he returned home, he no longer had an appetite for firing at anything alive.[3] Longmore married and had one son, Eric.[1] The one-time LSgt Longmore died peacefully in his sleep at a Burwood Nursing Home aged 107 on 21 June 2001. He was the second last Anzac to die.[2] At his death, Australia honored him one final time with a state funeral.[3] Australian "legend"[edit] In 2000, Longmore was recognized as one of the "Australian Legends." His name and photograph were honored as part of an annual series of commemorative postage stamps issued by Australia Post since 1997. The stamps commemorate living Australians "who have made lifetime contributions to the development of Australia's national identity and character".[4] Longmore lived to fully enjoy this honor.[3] Longmore's 45-cent Legend stamp displays the soldier's portrait as a young man, photographed just prior to his departure for Gallipoli. Formal photographs of the other two ANZAC centenarians complete this stamp set. In addition, a fourth stamp features the 1914-15 star medal which was presented to all those who fought in campaigns during those war years.[5] These stamps, designed by Cathleen Cram of the Australia Post Design Studio, commemorate the story of events and people shaping contemporary Australia.[6] The Longmore stamp honors him as an individual and as a representative of all 68,000 soldiers at Gallipoli whose actions affected Australia's evolving self-image.[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_LongmoreFramed painting of Roy Longmore wooden frame glass fronted

ELTHAM HERITAGE TOUR The Society excursion on 24th May 1992 was arranged by David Bick, leader of the team carrying out the Shire's heritage study. David selected a number of sites or buildings identified in the study, some of them lesser known components of the Shire's heritage. The tour commenced at the Eltham Shire Office at 10.00 am. Travel was by private car and mini-bus with stops at about twelve locations for commentary by David.It included a short walk in Hurstbridge and lunch at Kinglake. Highlights of the tour included: - 10 am Leave from Shire Offices - 3 Important Trees - A Physical Link to Eltham's First Settlers - Toorak Mansion Gates - A Surviving Farm House - An Intact Circa 1900 Main Street - First Settlers - Gold Miners, and Timber-getters - An Early Hotel - A Pioneering Homestead - Changing Eltham Shire - 20th Century - 4 pm Afternoon Tea and Finish Tour Extract from ELTHAM CULTURAL HERITAGE TOUR (Newsletter No. 85, July 1992, by Bettina Woodburn) "On the Arthurs Creek Road is a bridge designed by Monash, which we admired before walking across the little park with a mud-brick and timber shelter, to the Hurst family graveyard. There are two marked graves, one, Henry who was shot by Burke the bushranger and a cairn has a plaque listing others buried here from 1866 onwards. Burke was captured and tied to the wheel of a dray under the eucalypt near the waterhose/standpipe. Close by the kindergarten, at this place are three trees on the National Trust Register, a Canary Island pine, a Canadian cedar and probably a spruce. Radiata pines and a thick bolled peppercorn surround the little cemetery. Continuing along Main Street we notice elm trees planted as a war memorial, then on the left a 1930 timber house, a 1910 store and residence, resplendent with wrought iron trim, a double fronted Hardware Store and cypresses on the back alignment of a new vacant block. On the right side of the street is a less interesting attempt at an 'in character' shop. Further on are more early homes, one tucked away at the rear with two tall palms by the front steps. Another curiosity is a rounded veranda corner and there are more galvanised iron sheds or garages, before a mud-brick Dentist's Surgery. Beyond the round-a-about is St Peters Church, of mud-brick construction shared by Catholic and Anglican parishioners, overlooking the river flood plain. Leaving Hurstbridge on the Kinglake Road, we ate our picnic lunch beside the communication tower and enjoyed views of Melbourne, Yan Yean Reservoir and the distant Dandenongs beyond the spreading suburbs. Next we drove to the North West boundary of the Shire at Masons Falls Road towards Whittlesea. On the way to the North East Boundary we passed St Peters, a yellow wooden Church with a Tudor Archway; built in the early 1920's in the style of the 1860's. From the Healesville-Kinglake road the rolling hills had European aspects, the hedged fields and chestnut trees. Then it was back down the Hurstbridge Road through 'Aussie' bush of towering gums, with bracken and scrubby understorey, the Kinglake National Park, before more open country with deciduous trees planted in line, and a creek lined with willows."Record of the Society's history and activities and highlighting various aspects of the Heritage Study undertaken by David Bick used to create the future heritage overlay for the Shire of Eltham and later Nillumbik Shire.Roll of 35mm colour negative film, 4 stripsKodak Gold 100 5095shire of eltham historical society, activities, heritage tour, hurstbridge, monash bridge, arthurs creek road

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 97, July 1994:] THE WARRANDYTE MYSTERY TOUR MAY 29TH 1994 - Members of the Eltham Historical Society met at the Old Post Office, now converted into the Warrandyte Historical Museum, for a picnic lunch on the sunny back verandah overlooking the shimmering Yarra River. Interesting photographs and artefacts filled various rooms outlining the history of this area, and told tales of Aboriginal and more recent neighbours of the Eltham Shire. The weather was calm, cloudy mostly with only occasional sunny patches, but it wasn't cold, although the autumnal leaf colours had changed to wintry brown. "All Aboard" and we set off in the Warrandyte Community Bus (with the School Bus sign displayed at the rear) to learn about local places of "Pride and Joy” from Bruce our guide and Tom the driver. Almost directly opposite we entered Whipstick Gully to explore the first of the district's hidden treasures - the Victory, one of the largest of the six or so major mines, past the old quarry now used for abseiling practice. By torchlight we entered the rocky hillside and saw the seams of quartz the miners had followed in their search for gold. Stamping batteries, and there was one in this gully, converted discarded rock into 'road metal'. Warrandyte is proud to be the first declared Goldfield in 1851, and one of the longest surviving, into the 1920s. A pleasant drive across the Bridge and along Bradley's Lane to Norman's Reserve brought us to see another Tunnel at Pound Bend through which the Yarra was diverted to allow about three miles of river-bed to be used for prospecting for alluvial gold. Still on this side of the river we visited the Old Slab Hut in Castles Road. This remnant of miners' housing is preserved because it had been incorporated into a weatherboard house, and saved from the bulldozers - a last minute reprieve, for preservation, by the National Trust. Devastating bush fires have destroyed other old cottages built of wattle and daub, with bark roofs and stone fire-places. The Cairn commemorating the disclosure of Gold Discovery at Warrandyte on June 30th 1851 beside Anderson's Creek Road was our next point of historical interest. We drove on to South Warrandyte and circled back to above the ford on Anderson's Creek to the entrance of the 4th Hill Mine. Again we crept along with our torches, careful of the low roof-rock, and side shafts. At a junction in a large cavity we were able to stand, look up a long air-vent which some 'cavers' climb down, and marvel at, and experience an aspect of a miner's life. Outside we heard the same bird songs, the trills and bell-pealing, saw the same straggly eucalypts, and a silver leafed wattle in flower, native grasses and ferns, and the neat present day houses, often of Warrandyte stone, perhaps veneered only. The day ended pleasantly, seeing more of the Yarra from Everard Drive, and the water rushing out of the Tunnel at Pound Bend, before returning to afternoon tea or coffee at the Museum. A great day for all concerned - many thanks to the Organisers.Colour photographslab hut, warrandyte, "warrandyte miner's cottage"

[article by Bettina Woodburn in EDHS Newsletter No. 97, July 1994:] THE WARRANDYTE MYSTERY TOUR MAY 29TH 1994 - Members of the Eltham Historical Society met at the Old Post Office, now converted into the Warrandyte Historical Museum, for a picnic lunch on the sunny back verandah overlooking the shimmering Yarra River. Interesting photographs and artefacts filled various rooms outlining the history of this area, and told tales of Aboriginal and more recent neighbours of the Eltham Shire. The weather was calm, cloudy mostly with only occasional sunny patches, but it wasn't cold, although the autumnal leaf colours had changed to wintry brown. "All Aboard" and we set off in the Warrandyte Community Bus (with the School Bus sign displayed at the rear) to learn about local places of "Pride and Joy” from Bruce our guide and Tom the driver. Almost directly opposite we entered Whipstick Gully to explore the first of the district's hidden treasures - the Victory, one of the largest of the six or so major mines, past the old quarry now used for abseiling practice. By torchlight we entered the rocky hillside and saw the seams of quartz the miners had followed in their search for gold. Stamping batteries, and there was one in this gully, converted discarded rock into 'road metal'. Warrandyte is proud to be the first declared Goldfield in 1851, and one of the longest surviving, into the 1920s. A pleasant drive across the Bridge and along Bradley's Lane to Norman's Reserve brought us to see another Tunnel at Pound Bend through which the Yarra was diverted to allow about three miles of river-bed to be used for prospecting for alluvial gold. Still on this side of the river we visited the Old Slab Hut in Castles Road. This remnant of miners' housing is preserved because it had been incorporated into a weatherboard house, and saved from the bulldozers - a last minute reprieve, for preservation, by the National Trust. Devastating bush fires have destroyed other old cottages built of wattle and daub, with bark roofs and stone fire-places. The Cairn commemorating the disclosure of Gold Discovery at Warrandyte on June 30th 1851 beside Anderson's Creek Road was our next point of historical interest. We drove on to South Warrandyte and circled back to above the ford on Anderson's Creek to the entrance of the 4th Hill Mine. Again we crept along with our torches, careful of the low roof-rock, and side shafts. At a junction in a large cavity we were able to stand, look up a long air-vent which some 'cavers' climb down, and marvel at, and experience an aspect of a miner's life. Outside we heard the same bird songs, the trills and bell-pealing, saw the same straggly eucalypts, and a silver leafed wattle in flower, native grasses and ferns, and the neat present day houses, often of Warrandyte stone, perhaps veneered only. The day ended pleasantly, seeing more of the Yarra from Everard Drive, and the water rushing out of the Tunnel at Pound Bend, before returning to afternoon tea or coffee at the Museum. A great day for all concerned - many thanks to the Organisers.Two colour photographswarrandyte, activities, pound bend

These photographs are from the Snowy River Mail newspaper, September 9, 1987. Ron Hayward's family ran a shop in Rupert Street, Orbost.This item is associated with the history of the Orbost-Bairnsdale railway line and therefore reflects the role that the rail line played in the social and economic history of Orbost. The closure of the line was a significant event in Orbost's history.Five black / white photographs related to closure of the Orbost - Bairnsdale Railway Line.3104.1 - on back - "A view from Grandview, Newmerella, of the last train to leave Orbost on Friday August 21, 1987. As the afternoon sun lengthens the shadows on the Snowy River flats, the sun also sets on an era in Far East Gippsland transport as the last train crosses the viaduct." 3104,2 - 0n back - "Ron Hayward passes over the staff during the last crew changeover for the last train to run on the Orbost line. Ron Haywood (L) who 39 years and 6 months ago drove the first diesel loco to Orbost (T366T) presents the last staff to the driver, Bill Buckley, who took the last diesel out." 3104.3 - on back -" as above - 2nd paragraph only 3104.4 - on back - " Ron Hayward who took the first diesel engine from Bairnsdale to Orbost on February 21. 1957 when he was stationed at Orbosst. Last Friday he rode on the last diesel to Orbost after obtaining a special pass from V Line , he also handed over the staff for the last change at Orbost. The last driver was Bill Buckley." 3104.5 - on back - "LAST TRAIN ROLLS INTO ORBOST B/A Friday August 28 1987 For Ron Hayward the last train journey on the Orbost rail line was a sad occasion. Mr Hayward took the first diesel engine from Bairnsdale to Orbost on February 21, 1957, whe he was stationed at Orbost. Last Friday he rode on the last diesel too Orbost after obtaining a special pass from V-Line. He also handed over the staff for the last change at Orbost. The last driver was Bill Buckley. Mr Hayward was an engine driver with nhe railways and transferred to Orbost when steam engines used the line. He left the railways in in 1957 but took up a job with them again in 1968. He said also it was a privilege to have been able to ride on the last train, the occasion was a sad one,"east-gippsland-railway railway-closure hayward-ron buckley-bill orbost-bairnsdale-railway

Allwood - built in 1894 by Henry Hurst’s relatives, stands near the site of his house, which was demolisherd in the 1940s. Until 1924 Hurstbridge was known as Allwood. The building, one of the district's oldest is situated back from the corner of Arthurs Creek Road and Main Road. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p17 Hurst, who was a surveyor, came to Melbourne in 1852 by default, as on the way to Sydney he contracted typhoid and was off-loaded in Melbourne. Deciding to settle near Melbourne, he selected some land near the present Eltham railway station and was one of the first to grow crops there.2 But disaster struck again, when his shack was looted and burned, while he was carting goods for sale to nearby goldfields. It was then that Hurstbridge’s first settler, Cornelius Haley, asked Hurst to manage his 160 acres (65ha) grazing property and 9000 acres (3443ha) of leased land where the present Hurstbridge stands. Hurst proved equal to the tough conditions and he and his brother, Fred, cut a track with a bullock team from the property to Romsey, where Haley had selected some land. Hurst also put up a bridge across the creek near his house, after which Hurstbridge was named. He ran the property helped by two ticket-of-leave men and others, several of whom were sailors who had abandoned ship in search of gold, and were working there temporarily. In 1866, only 14 years after coming to Australia, Hurst met an early tragic death. One day a bushranger named Burke came to the house and demanded a horse. Hurst thought the bushranger might be an officer in search of runaway sailors3 and anyway, did not like the look of him, so he refused. A tussle followed and apparently Hurst shot first.4 He was shot and died five hours later from loss of blood. Later, troopers found Burke, who was subsequently hanged. The event is recorded in the Old Melbourne Gaol. The government offered the family £500 but the family refused it as ‘blood money’. Hurst’s father, Robert, even signed a petition against the bushranger’s death, claiming one life did not replace another. Hurst’s family continued to live in the district and saw a rise in their fortunes. They bought Haley’s cattle station and built the present Allwood House, using the original home as an orchard packing shed. The present Victorian style timber house had several outbuildings including a blacksmith’s shop. The property passed on to William Gray, an orchardist and nurseryman, who married Hurst’s grandniece, Frances. The business boomed from the early 1900s when it supplied most of the orchards in the area. Gray was Eltham Shire’s President for two terms and was asked to stand for parliament, but his wife’s illness and other family commitments prevented him from doing so. Then several calamities drove the family to bankruptcy. During World War One, Gray lost more than one million pounds on trees shipped overseas, which the Lloyd’s company had refused to insure. Other factors, including the Great Depression, ruined the family’s fortunes. The land was reduced from more than 640 acres (256ha) to 50 acres (20ha) and the older members married and left. After Mr Gray died, the house was leased, until his daughter Sheila Ferguson and her husband Gordon settled there in 1951, after buying it from other family members. However in 1975 the Shire designated the property as a passive recreation reserve. The Ferguson family sold most of the land, leaving the house on 0.6 hectares.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, hurstbridge, henry hurst, allwood house

This tiny picturesque building near the corner of John Street has served the community since 1878. At that time it served as an agency of the Heidelberg branch of the Commonwelath Bank of Australia. It has a small space inside measuring about 3.6 metres by 4.5 metres. It was built by George Stebbing who was also responsible for other heritage buildings nearby in Eltham. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p93 The tiny picturesque building on Main Road, Eltham, near the corner of John Street, has served the community since 1878. At that time the building, which inside measures only about 3.6m by 4.5m served as an agency of the Heidelberg branch of the Commercial Bank of Australia. The yellow and orange Victorian brick structure was built by Mr George Stebbing.1 Mr Stebbing, who also built the Anglican and former Methodist churches and the Shillinglaw Cottage, had come from England and lived in Pitt Street. The bank is a fine example of a once common but now rare building style – the single room bank. It compares with another in the municipality, also a former Commercial Bank of Australia branch, the timber Little Bank Building in Hurstbridge, built around the early 1900s.2 The Eltham bank, which was said to store gold from the Eltham - Research mining areas, has had exciting moments. A bullet hole still visible in a cedar bench testifies to the drama in 1949 when a youth held up the bank. After the 19-year-old opened an account as John Henderson, he walked to the door and then turned pointing a pistol. But it was shots fired by the clerk, Lindsay Spear, that saved the day, frightening the youth, who drove off empty-handed in a grey sports car. He was later apprehended and given a two-year sentence. Soon afterwards the agency was upgraded to a branch. However by 1954 the bank no longer needed the branch and the adjoining Methodist Church bought the building. It proved useful for the Church’s young people who furnished it and used it for their meetings. A youth club developed, led by young adult member, Ross Gangell. The building was also used as a Sunday School, which with junior membership numbered 27.3 Around 1960, Mrs Alma Bell, of the Methodist Church Women’s Guild, suggested using the building as an opportunity shop to raise funds for a chaplain at the Eltham High School. The women later asked the nearby St Margaret’s Anglican Church to help them in the shop. In 1960 the Eltham Combined Churches Opportunity Shop was established and staffed by Methodist and Anglican parishioners, notably Methodist Mrs Gwen Miller. The shop originally opened on Child Endowment Days to help the needy, but later for years, it opened twice a week. In 1962 it donated clothing and shoes to the Eltham Bushfire Appeal. By 1963 the chaplaincy scheme ceased. So the £450 raised was then donated to the Council for Christian Education and to the participating churches. Funds were also donated to local charities including the Eltham and Research Fire Brigades, the Austin Hospital Auxiliary, the Benevolent Society, the Red Cross and the Diamond Valley Hospital.4 In 2008 the Opportunity Shop volunteers continue to work together to help the local community. Although crammed with second-hand goods, the simple, almost stark interior, is still evident and is relieved only by a front rectangular window and an unused fireplace. Outside, the chimney, the corrugated iron peaked roof, and the surrounding varied plants, add to the charm of this sound building which continues to serve the community well.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, cba bank

Mary Ena married Keith John Robinson son of Isaac and Henrietta nee Raleigh of Creighton Melton. Mary and her father are photographed beside the Darlingsford house prior to her wedding in February 1930. Mary their first child was born in 1907. In circa 1980 she wrote about her parents and her early life. Page 1 of part of the original hand written script - Mother and father were married at the Methodist Church Melton by the Rev B E Williams on Aug 23rd 1906 and lived in the house beside the chaff mill for some years. [The family left Melton South in 1910. In 1911 they moved to the farm “Darlingsford” near the town of Melton home for their nine children born between 1907 - 1922 They had three daughters and six sons, the second boy died of diphtheria 1916 aged 5 years.] Page 2 Mary writes… Each winter Father would send a 20 ton truck to the Collingwood Central Methodist Mission to be distributed to the needy people in the area. Sr. Faith who was at the mission for many years became a very much loved friend of my parents and the family. I remember her as a prolific writer of childrens stories in the Methodist paper the “Spectator”. I still treasure a book sister Faith gave me for my birthday. Father and Mother gave the first donation of 10 pounds to open the fund to start “Yooralla” for crippled children all because a small boy asked for a bag of sweets for his brother who was crippled and not able to attend kindergarten. Sister Faith who was a small fragile woman with a tremendous spirit was a frequent visitor at our home where she loved the warmth, good food and the loving companionship of the family for many years. Later she ran the Chaucer Library in Collins just below Georges near the Athenaeum Theatre. Mother was an avid reader and many of the books she read came from this library. Page 4 – Mary writes….. Dad was always involved in district affairs ever ready to help someone in need, especially as a J. P. helping young people who may have been in trouble. He was always involved in the care of his [eight] brothers who were in need at times. He was an elder at the Scots Church Melton and Sunday School Superintendant when the Sunday School thrived. The anniversary became a special event with good singing supplemented by good music by Dad’s friends from Footscray saxophone and violin. The church would be packed both Sundays. The family home was open to all and sundry from the little Salvation Army lass from Bacchus Marsh driving a horse and jinker (without any experience) round the district. collecting, came looking for a bed for the night (and later crept into bed with me because she was terrified). The Methodist local preachers regularly spent several night and breakfast while visiting people in the Melton area. They were stationed at Bacchus Marsh and again drove a horse and jinker. One preacher I remember with gratitude was Mr Webster a retired school master and a fine man. Another was Pastor Tuttlebee again with no experience driving a horse and jinker. The first time he called Mother found him taking the winkers off the horse whilst it was still harnessed to the jinker. Another regular visitor was Mr Lister the federal member for Corio, he always stayed with us when he had meeting in this area. Another evening just as dusk another minister and his dear little wife were driving the horse and buggy to a new parish at Ballarat. They had asked at the Mac’s Hotel for accommodation, and their reply was we have no accommodation, go down to Mr and Mrs Barrie they will put you up for the night. They were most grateful to be taken in and cared for, somehow it seemed the most natural thing in the world that they would be welcome. A copy of Mary’s writing was given to her niece Wendy in 1990. Mary Ena Barrie's wedding daylocal identities

When the Schomberg was launched in 1855, she was considered the "Noblest” ship that ever floated on the water. Schomberg's owners, the Black Ball Line had commissioned the ship for their fleet of passenger liners. She was built by Alexander Hall of Aberdeen for £43,103 and constructed with 3 skins. One planked fore and aft and two diagonally planked, fastened together with screw-threaded trunnels (wooden rails). Her First Class accommodation was simply luxurious with velvet pile carpets, large mirrors, rosewood, birds-eye maple and mahogany timbers throughout, soft furnishings of satin damask, and oak-lined library with a piano. Overall she had accommodation for 1000 passengers. At the launch, the Schomberg's 34-year-old master, Captain 'Bully' Forbes, had promised to reach Melbourne in sixty days stating, "with or without the help of God." Captain James Nicol Forbes was born in Aberdeen in 1821 and rose to fame with his record-breaking voyages on the famous Black Ball Line ships; Marco Polo and Lightning. In 1852 in the Marco Polo, he made the record passage from London to Melbourne in 68 days. Unfortunately, there were 53 deaths on the voyage, but the great news was off the record passage by Captain Forbes. In 1854 he took the clipper “Lighting” to Melbourne in 76 days and back in 63 days, this record was never beaten by a sailing ship. He often drove his crew and ship to breaking point to beat his previous records. He cared little for the comfort of the passengers. On this, the Schomberg's maiden voyage, he was determined to break existing records. Schomberg departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 6th October 1855 flying a sign that read "Sixty Days to Melbourne". She departed with 430 passengers and 3000 tons cargo including iron rails and equipment intended to build the Melbourne to Geelong Railway and a bridge over the Yarra from Melbourne to Hawthorn. She also carried a cow for fresh milk, pens for fowls and pigs, 90,000 gallons of water for washing and drinking. She also carried 17,000 letters and 31,800 newspapers. The ship and cargo were insured for $300,000 a fortune for the time. The winds were poor as she sailed across the equator, slowing Schomberg's journey considerably. The land was first sighted on Christmas Day, at Cape Bridgewater near Portland, Captain Forbes followed the coastline towards Melbourne. Forbes was said to be playing cards when called by the third mate Henry Keen, who reported land about 3 miles off. Due in large part to the captain's regarding a card game as more important than his ship, it eventually ran aground on a sand spit near Curdie's Inlet (about 56 km west of Cape Otway) on 26th December 1855, 78 days after leaving Liverpool. The sand spit and the currents were not marked on Forbes's map. Overnight, the crew launched a lifeboat to find a safe place to land the ship’s passengers. The scouting party returned to Schomberg and advised Forbes that it was best to wait until morning because the rough seas could easily overturn the small lifeboats. The ship’s Chief Officer spotted the SS Queen at dawn and signalled the steamer. The master of the Queen approached the stranded vessel and all of Schomberg’s passengers and crew disembarked safely. The Black Ball Line's Melbourne agent sent a steamer to retrieve the passengers' baggage from the Schomberg. Other steamers helped unload her cargo until the weather changed and prevented the salvage teams from accessing the ship. Later one plunderer found a case of Wellington boots, but alas, all were for the left foot. Local merchants Manifold & Bostock bought the wreck and cargo but did not attempt to salvage the cargo still on board the ship. They eventually sold it on to a Melbourne businessman and two seafarers. In 1864 after two of the men drowned when they tried to reach Schomberg, salvage efforts were abandoned. In 1870, nearly 15 years after the wreck parts of the Schomberg had washed ashore on the south island of New Zealand. The wreck now lies in 825 metres of water and although the woodwork is mostly disintegrated the shape of the ship can still be determined due to the remaining railway irons, girders and the ship’s frame. A variety of goods and materials can be seen scattered about nearby. There have been many other artefacts salvaged from the wreck include ship fittings and equipment, personal effects, a lithograph, tickets and photographs from the Schomberg. This ceramic container was retrieved from the shipwreck site during early salvage efforts on the vessel. And was donated to the Flagstaff Hill collection of Schomberg shipwreck artefacts.The ceramic container is particularly significant in that along with other items from the wreck have helped in part to having legislation changed to protect shipwrecks, with far tighter controls being employed to oversee the salvaging of wreck sites. This item forms part of the Schomberg collection at Flagstaff Hill maritime museum. The collection as a whole is of historical and archaeological significance at a State level. Flagstaff Hill’s collection of artefacts from the Schomberg is also significant for its association with the Victorian Heritage Registered Schomberg shipwreck (VHR S 612). The collection is of additional significance because of the relationship between the objects salvaged, as together they help us to interpret the story of the Schomberg. The collection as a whole is historically significant for representing aspects of Victoria's maritime history and its potential to interpret social and historical themes from society at the time of the wreck.Stoneware Container with lid, white in colour,Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, container, shipwrecked-artefact, schomberg, clipper ship, black ball line, 1855 shipwreck, aberdeen clipper ship, captain forbes, peterborough shipwreck, ss queen

When the Schomberg was launched in 1855, she was considered the "Noblest” ship that ever floated on the water. Schomberg's owners, the Black Ball Line had commissioned the ship for their fleet of passenger liners. She was built by Alexander Hall of Aberdeen for £43,103 and constructed with 3 skins. One planked fore and aft and two diagonally planked, fastened together with screw-threaded trunnels (wooden rails). Her First Class accommodation was simply luxurious with velvet pile carpets, large mirrors, rosewood, birds-eye maple and mahogany timbers throughout, soft furnishings of satin damask, and oak-lined library with a piano. Overall she had accommodation for 1000 passengers. At the launch, the Schomberg's 34-year-old master, Captain 'Bully' Forbes, had promised to reach Melbourne in sixty days stating, "with or without the help of God." Captain James Nicol Forbes was born in Aberdeen in 1821 and rose to fame with his record-breaking voyages on the famous Black Ball Line ships; Marco Polo and Lightning. In 1852 in the Marco Polo, he made the record passage from London to Melbourne in 68 days. Unfortunately, there were 53 deaths on the voyage, but the great news was off the record passage by Captain Forbes. In 1854 he took the clipper “Lighting” to Melbourne in 76 days and back in 63 days, this record was never beaten by a sailing ship. He often drove his crew and ship to breaking point to beat his previous records. He cared little for the comfort of the passengers. On this, the Schomberg's maiden voyage, he was determined to break existing records. Schomberg departed Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 6th October 1855 flying a sign that read "Sixty Days to Melbourne". She departed with 430 passengers and 3000 tons cargo including iron rails and equipment intended to build the Melbourne to Geelong Railway and a bridge over the Yarra from Melbourne to Hawthorn. She also carried a cow for fresh milk, pens for fowls and pigs, 90,000 gallons of water for washing and drinking. She also carried 17,000 letters and 31,800 newspapers. The ship and cargo were insured for $300,000 a fortune for the time. The winds were poor as she sailed across the equator, slowing Schomberg's journey considerably. The land was first sighted on Christmas Day, at Cape Bridgewater near Portland, Captain Forbes followed the coastline towards Melbourne. Forbes was said to be playing cards when called by the third mate Henry Keen, who reported land about 3 miles off. Due in large part to the captain's regarding a card game as more important than his ship, it eventually ran aground on a sand spit near Curdie's Inlet (about 56 km west of Cape Otway) on 26th December 1855, 78 days after leaving Liverpool. The sand spit and the currents were not marked on Forbes's map. Overnight, the crew launched a lifeboat to find a safe place to land the ship’s passengers. The scouting party returned to Schomberg and advised Forbes that it was best to wait until morning because the rough seas could easily overturn the small lifeboats. The ship’s Chief Officer spotted the SS Queen at dawn and signalled the steamer. The master of the Queen approached the stranded vessel and all of Schomberg’s passengers and crew disembarked safely. The Black Ball Line's Melbourne agent sent a steamer to retrieve the passengers' baggage from the Schomberg. Other steamers helped unload her cargo until the weather changed and prevented the salvage teams from accessing the ship. Later one plunderer found a case of Wellington boots, but alas, all were for the left foot. Local merchants Manifold & Bostock bought the wreck and cargo but did not attempt to salvage the cargo still on board the ship. They eventually sold it on to a Melbourne businessman and two seafarers. In 1864 after two of the men drowned when they tried to reach Schomberg, salvage efforts were abandoned. In 1870, nearly 15 years after the wreck parts of the Schomberg had washed ashore on the south island of New Zealand. The wreck now lies in 825 metres of water and although the woodwork is mostly disintegrated the shape of the ship can still be determined due to the remaining railway irons, girders and the ship’s frame. A variety of goods and materials can be seen scattered about nearby. There have been many other artefacts salvaged from the wreck include ship fittings and equipment, personal effects, a lithograph, tickets and photographs from the Schomberg. This item was retrieved from the shipwreck site during early salvage efforts on the vessel. And was donated to the Flagstaff Hill collection of Schomberg shipwreck artefacts.This artifact is particularly significant in that along with other items salvaged from the wreck have helped in part to having legislation changed to protect shipwrecks, with far tighter controls being employed to oversee the salvaging of wreck sites. This item forms part of the Schomberg collection at Flagstaff Hill maritime museum. The collection as a whole is of historical and archaeological significance at a State level. Flagstaff Hill’s collection of artefacts from the Schomberg is also significant for its association with the Victorian Heritage Registered Schomberg shipwreck (VHR S 612). The collection is of additional significance because of the relationship between the objects salvaged, as together they help us to interpret the story of the Schomberg. The collection as a whole is historically significant for representing aspects of Victoria's maritime history and its potential to interpret social and historical themes from society at the time of the wreck. Brass keg spigot valve/tap, Schomberg Artifact Reg No S/94.Nonewarrnambool, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, schomberg, shipwrecked-artefact, clipper ship, black ball line, 1855 shipwreck, aberdeen clipper ship, captain forbes, peterborough shipwreck, ss queen, keg tap, brass keg tap

[from EDHS Newsletter No. 75, November 1990:] WALTER WITHERS PLAQUE At long last we have unveiled our plaque in the Walter Withers Reserve. The function was attended by a number of members and friends of the Society and descendants of the Withers family. Following the unveiling, the group proceeded to the Eltham Shire Office for afternoon tea and a small exhibition of Withers' paintings arranged by Andrew Mackenzie. The unveiling was performed by Mary Owen, a grand-daughter of Walter Withers. Her speech provided an interesting personal perspective on Withers and is repeated in full here: I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the responsibility of paying tribute to the man you have all come to honour today. I have the feeling that most of you probably know more about him and his work than I do. Walter Withers died nearly seven years before I was born and so I never knew him. Sadly, although other members of his family inherited some of his talent, I was not among them and I know very little about art. This is doubly hard to bear because my husband had some ability to draw and my second daughter also has some talent in this direction. My children are all artistic - mostly in the field of music inherited partly from their father - a Welshman who sang like a Welshman - and partly from my grandmother, Fanny Withers who, I believe was no mean pianist. However all this talent gave me a miss and for many years I felt a complete ignoramus in the fields of the arts. It was not until I was nearly fifty years old that I walked into a gallery in Brisbane and, as I wandered around the room, suddenly one picture leapt at me and I knew instantly that it had been painted by my grandfather. I had never seen the picture before and it gave me quite a shock to find that I had recognized the style of painting. I realized then that I had absorbed more than I realized simply by living with pictures and with people who painted them and talked about their painting and the painting of others. When I was a child I sometimes spent school holidays with my Aunt Margery Withers and her husband, Richard McCann. Aunt Marge painted me several times but I'm afraid I was a restless subject and used to sit reading a book and look up grudgingly when she wanted to paint my eyes. During the September holidays my aunt and uncle were busy preparing paintings far the annual exhibition of the Melbourne Twenty Painters, to which they both belonged. I remember how important I used to feel when they took me along to the Athenaeum Gallery on the Friday night before the opening to help hang their pictures. There were many artists there but the two I remember are perhaps surprisingly both women: Miss Bale and Miss Tweddle. I remember how cold it used to be up in that gallery at night. They used to heat water on a gas ring to make tea and Aunt Marge used to bring sandwiches and fruit for our evening meal. Everyone seemed to be poor in those days and no-one dreamed of going out for a meal. It was a case of make-do - even to cutting down frames to fit pictures or cutting pictures to fit the frames. They had to use the same frames from year to year if the pictures didn't sell. The opening was an exciting event for me. I felt I was privileged to meet important people - people who knew a lot more than I - and Uncle Dick would get quite merry after a couple of the tiny sweet sherries which were always distributed. I realise now that quite a lot of "art talk" rubbed off on me during my visits to the Athenaeum and during my stays with my aunt and uncle. I suspect that much of our most useful learning comes this way and those of us who have had the privilege of associating with artists, writers, philosophers and other thinkers have a richness in our lives of which we may be unaware. Walter Withers was a prolific painter and, although he painted for love of it, I suspect that the need to provide for his family drove him, like Mozart, to greater efforts than he might otherwise have achieved. Reading old letters and articles about the Heidelberg artists, I have come to realize something of the constant strain placed on many of them - particularly Withers and McCubbin - by poverty and the need to make ends meet. Withers was ever conscious of the need to provide for his wife and his five children and there are touching letters to his wife, regretting that he was not able to earn more for them. In addition to his painting, he worked hard at teaching and illustrating and, as he grew older, the strain began to tell and his health deteriorated. He seems never to have had a very strong constitution and suffered from rheumatism, which must have made painting quite painful at times. His eldest daughter, Gladys, was eventually confined to a wheelchair with rheumatoid arthritis and I have a tendency to arthritis myself, so I am particularly aware of what this could have meant to him. Recently I found a short letter written by my mother to her mother, Fanny Withers on the anniversary of her father's birthday in 1919, in which she said: "Poor old Dad, I often think now what a lot he must have suffered. His life was too hard and too strenuous for him. He had too many chick-a-biddies, I think. He wasn't equal to so much town life and train journeys with so many delicacies as he had. Since I have been ill, I have realised what he must have felt like.” He certainly drove himself to produce. He travelled all over Victoria by train, buggy, bicycle and on foot and for a time he travelled from Eltham to Melbourne every day by train, although later he lived in Melbourne during the week and only returned to Eltham for the weekends. My mother died seven years after her father's death, when my twin sisters were 10 days old and I was 16 months. So I never knew my mother or my grandfather. But my two aunts, Gladys and Margery, sometimes took me to stay with Gan Withers at Southernwood in Bolton Street . No cars in those days and it seemed a very long hot and dusty walk from the Station. Three memories remain with me of Southernwood. One is the well at the back which I found quite terrifying; the second is Gan killing a snake - even more terrifying. She was a formidable woman, my grandmother and a great ally and support to her husband. I think she was the business end of the partnership. The third memory of Southernwood is my grandfather's studio – down what seemed like a toy staircase inside the room. This and the big walk-in fireplace stayed in my mind from the age of about six until I saw them again about forty years later when the house was being used as a Sunday School. I just wish that money could be found to purchase this old house for the City of Eltham so that a permanent museum could be established in memory of a man who did so much to put Eltham on the map of art history. Recently I have become interested in family history and spent some time in England, Ireland and Wales looking for traces of my ancestors. I realized then how important it is to have records of people who have contributed to our society. We forget so soon and it is amazing how often, within two generations, names, dates and many details are forgotten. We are fortunate that so many of Walter Withers' works have been bought by galleries and that people like Andrew Mackenzie have taken the trouble to search out people who knew him and to write about him and his work. And I am very grateful to the Historical Society of Eltham for recognizing the importance of having a permanent tribute in Eltham to the contribution made by Walter Withers, who loved Eltham so much and who has assured this lovely district a place in the annals of history. I am indebted to Kathleen Mangan; the daughter of another famous Australian painter , Fred McCubbin, - featured in The Age this morning (thanks again to Andrew Mackenzie) for the most apt tribute to Walter Withers. Kathleen is not well and she rang me a couple of days ago, regretting that she could not be present today “to pay tribute” as she said, “to Walter Withers for I always think Walter Withers is the spirit of Eltham.” Thank you, Kathleen. And now I have much pleasure in unveiling the plaque commissioned by the Eltham Historical Society from Bob McLellan of Charmac Industries to commemorate the life and work of Walter Withers, the spirit of Eltham. Mary Owen, 13 October 1990.Three colour photographswalter withers rock, walter withers reserve, mary owen