Sports Clubs in Kew in the final decades of the 19th century and in the early 20th century were often umbrella organisations with facilities for a number of sports. Typically in Kew, this included teams in lawn bowls, tennis and croquet. The Kew Bowling Club was formed in 1880 while the privately owned Auburn Heights Recreation Club was opened in 1904. By 1998, the two Clubs decided to amalgamate at the Auburn Heights site in Barkers Road, forming the Kew Heights Sports Club. The combined club was itself taken over by the Melbourne Cricket Club in 2012 becoming MCC Kew Sports Club. In 2017 MCC Kew closed and its landholding was subsequently sold to Carey Baptist Grammar School. Both the Kew and Auburn Heights Clubs assembled important collections. These historically significant and large collections were donated to the Society in 2020. The collections include manuscripts, pictures, trophies, plans, honour boards etc. The combined collections of the four sporting clubs making up the collection number hundreds of items that are historically significant locally. They are also significant to the sporting history of the greater Melbourne area and to the sports of lawn bowls and tennis in Australia in the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection illuminates two of the Victorian historic themes - 'Building community life' through forming community organisations and 'Shaping cultural and creative life' by participating in sport and recreation.Wooden trophy affixed with plaques naming the team members of the winning teams from Kew Heights in the Metropolitan Pennant Competition in C Division for 2000-2001VICTORIAN LADIES' BOWLING ASSOCIATION INC / METROPOLITAN PENNANT COMPETITION C DIVISION KEW HEIGHTS SPORTS CLUB / WINNER SEASON 2000-2001 / J BUCHANAN, P TAN, H TEMBY, K SLOCOMBE, D NORMAN, D HOLAH, J MCCARTHY, M ROURKE EMERG D KEATING kew heights sports club - 397 barkers road - kew (vic), kew heights sports club - trophies

The Kew Bowling Club was formed in 1880 while the privately owned Auburn Heights Recreation Club was opened in 1904. By 1998, the two Clubs decided to amalgamate at the Auburn Heights site in Barkers Road, forming the Kew Heights Sports Club. The combined club was itself taken over by the Melbourne Cricket Club in 2012 becoming MCC Kew Sports Club. In 2017 MCC Kew closed and its landholding was subsequently sold to Carey Baptist Grammar School. The combined collections of the four sporting clubs making up the collection number hundreds of items that are historically and socially significant to the development of Kew. They are also significant to the sporting history of the greater Melbourne area and to the sports of lawn bowls and tennis in Australia in the 19th and 20th centuries. The collections illuminate two of the Victorian Historic Themes - 'Building community life' through forming community organisations and 'Shaping cultural and creative life' by participating in sport and recreation'.Kew Bowling Club : Skippers Average Trophy presented by S. R. PritchardKew Bowling Club presented by S. R. Pritchard / Skippers Average won by: 1931–2 G.H. Cole; 1932–3 W. Stronach; 1933–4 D.S.M. Norris; 1934–5 F.H. Rigg; 1935–6 A.E.H. Phillipps; 1936–7 P. Vance; 1937–8 D.B. Ross; 1938–9 C.G. Wood; 1939–40 W.H. Tregear; 1940–1 H. Coleman.kew bowling club, bowling clubs -- melbourne (vic.), sports awards, trophies

Pru Sanderson, in her groundbreaking ‘City of Kew Urban Conservation Study : Volume 2 - Development History’ (1988), summarised the periods of urban development and subdivisions of land in Kew. The periods that she identified included 1845-1880, 1880-1893, 1893-1921, 1921-1933, 1933-1943, and Post-War Development. These periods were selected as they represented periods of rapid growth or decline in urban development. An obvious starting point for Sanderson’s groupings involved population growth and the associated economic cycles. These cycles also highlighted urban expansion onto land that was predominantly rural, although in other cases it represented the decline and breakup of large estates. A number of the plans in the Kew Historical Society’s collection can also be found in other collections, such as those of the State Library of Victoria and the Boroondara Library Service. A number are however unique to the collection.The Kew Historical Society collection includes almost 100 subdivision plans pertaining to suburbs of the City of Melbourne. Most of these are of Kew, Kew East or Studley Park, although a smaller number are plans of Camberwell, Deepdene, Balwyn and Hawthorn. It is believed that the majority of the plans were gifted to the Society by persons connected with the real estate firm - J. R. Mathers and McMillan, 136 Cotham Road, Kew. The Plans in the collection are rarely in pristine form, being working plans on which the agent would write notes and record lots sold and the prices of these. The subdivision plans are historically significant examples of the growth of urban Melbourne from the beginning of the 20th Century up until the 1980s. A number of the plans are double-sided and often include a photograph on the reverse. A number of the latter are by noted photographers such as J.E. Barnes.The Altyre Estate was advertised for sale by auction in 1920. A colour lithograph in the State Library of Victoria, in contrast to this monochrome version, notes the proximity of the subdivision to the Auburn Heights Bowling Club and to a range of transport options. The subdivision included fifty-one allotments as well as the original house ‘Altyre’ in Barkers Road. This version includes the amounts paid as deposit on a number of lots.subdivision plans - kew, altyre estate – kew (vic), barkers road – kew (vic), walsh street – kew (vic), ross street – kew (vic), loxton street – kew (vic), mount street – kew (vic), auburn heights bowling club, altyre