At the beginning of the 1890s, the Kew businessman and Town Councillor, Henry Kellett, commissioned J.F.C. Farquhar to photograph scenes of Kew. These scenes included panoramas as well as pastoral scenes. The resulting set of twelve photographs was assembled in an album, Kew Where We Live, from which customers could select images for purchase.The preamble to the album describes that the photographs used the ‘argentic bromide’ process, now more commonly known as the gelatine silver process. This form of dry plate photography allowed for the negatives to be kept for weeks before processing, hence its value in landscape photography. The resulting images were considered to be finely grained and everlasting. Evidence of the success of Henry Kellett’s venture can be seen today, in that some of the photographs are held in national collections.It is believed that the Kew Historical Society’s copy of the Kellett album is unique and that the photographs in the book were the first copies taken from the original plates. It is the first and most important series of images produced about Kew. The individual images have proved essential in identifying buildings and places of heritage value in the district.In 1891, High Street was the centre of commercial activity in the Borough of Kew. It was unpaved and edged with deep bluestone gutters, which were designed to channel the significant flow of storm water down the hill to and beyond the Junction. On either side of the entrance to the shopping strip are two cast iron gas lamps that provided the only public street lighting before the Post Office was reached. Most shops, including the Nicholas Brothers’ Junction Store featured cast iron verandas. Further up the hill, Dougherty’s Greyhound Hotel was by this stage a local institution. Apart from the horse-drawn tram, the main form of personal and commercial transport in this period remained the horse, horse and cart, or buggy.The panoramic view predates the widening of High Street in the 20th century, and thus includes the original alignment of buildings on the south side. These included Henry Kellett’s shop.High Street, Kewkew illustrated, kew where we live, photographic books, henry kellett, high street - kew (vic)

To help raise funds for the RVIB, Lucky Envelope Instant Bingo dispensers were placed into pubs and hotels. The donor would place 20 cents into the machine and be given one of these cards, which they would open via the perforations in the middle of the card, to reveal a set of numbers. Payment would be according to the colour, and the odds of these are listed on the back of the card.35 Instant Bingo cards with colour print on both sidesInstant Bingo 20c B-I-N-G-O In Any Rotation Open Here Serial 76843 C. Morrison & Bailey (rear) R.V.I.B. P/N 1129 Vic. Bingo on RED $25.00 4 Winners Bingo on GREY $10.00 4 Winners Bingo on BLUE $5.00 4 Winners Bingo on GOLD $2.00 10 Winners Bingo on GREEN $1.00 60 Winnersroyal victorian institute for the blind, fundraising

Glass used at Blackburn Hotel, Whitehorse Road Blackburn Vic.10 ounce clear beer glass with "Blackburn Hotel" and "10" etched on glassBlackburn Hotel 10blackburn hotel

The Council Family Hotel was the fifth of the eight hotels to be licensed in Kew during the 19th Century. They were licensed in the following date order: The Woodman Inn (1854), The Harp of Erin (1854), O’Shaughnessy’s Kew Hotel (1855), the Prospect Hill Hotel (1858), the Council Family Hotel (1861), the Princess Hotel (1864), the Clifton Hotel (1868) and the Greyhound Hotel (1873).Rare photograph of a landmark Kew HotelExterior - Council Family Hotel, Cotham Road, Kew, circa 1888.Mr Pat Ryan in doorwayhotels - kew, council family hotel - kew (vic)

The Council Family Hotel was the fifth of the eight hotels to be licensed in Kew during the 19th Century. They were licensed in the following date order: The Woodman Inn (1854), The Harp of Erin (1854), O’Shaughnessy’s Kew Hotel (1855), the Prospect Hill Hotel (1858), the Council Family Hotel (1861), the Princess Hotel (1864), the Clifton Hotel (1868) and the Greyhound Hotel (1873).Rare photograph of a landmark Kew hotelExterior - Council Family Hotel in Cotham Road, Kew (Vic) with Mrs Ryan, wife of the licensee at frontMrs Ryanhotels - kew, council family hotel - kew (vic), licenees - ryan family

One of three scrapbooks created by Eva Grant, a past member of the Kew Historical Society which were donated by her niece, Julie Thomson, in 2013. The scrapbook includes photographs and descriptions of the following sites. (Many of these are now demolished and so the photographs and descriptions may be rare records of a site.) Sites include: Abbotsford (Vic) - Abbotsford Convent, Mayfield (c.1962), prefabricated house - Church street Armadale (Vic) - church (c.1959) - Thomson & Wattletree Roads Arthur’s Seat (Vic) - McCrae homestead Ballarat (Vic) - Memorial plaque on site of Bentley’s Hotel, Memorial on site of Eureka Stockade, Early municipal buildings - East Ballarat, Adam Lindsay Gordon’s cottage - Botanical Gardens, View from Sovereign Hill, Shell house Broken Hill (NSW) - panorama (1963), Flying Doctor’s base (?1963) Eltham (Vic) - Hassell’s outdoor art gallery Essendon (Vic) - Niddrie Homestead and stables (1963) Geelong (Vic) - first Bishopscourt Hawthorn (Vic) - Convent (1930), The Hawthorns, Keilor plains (Vic) - pioneer homes, pioneer cemetery Kew (Vic) - Roseneath (1951), Tarring - Ruyton, Turinville, house - Foley street (c.1960). Malvern (Vic) - church Mount Ridley (Vic) - Summerhill Melbourne (Vic) - Old Brewery - Custom’s House Lane (1960), Customs House, Scott’s Hotel (1962), Western market (c.1960) Phillip Island (Vic) - Grave Toorak (Vic) - Mandeville Hall, Merna (sic) - Arthur Streeton’s house, Toorak House Wentworth (NSW) - Harvey’s Hotel, Sturt Memorial, Sturt’s Tree, Wentworth Gaol Williamstown (Vic) - Williamstown Dairy Yan Yean (Vic) - Bear’s Castle (c.1947) Beveridge/Big Hill (Vic) - Kelly’s cottageImportant photograph record (and notes) about historic buildings in Victoria.38-page scrapbook with additional text created by Eva Grant, a past member of the Kew Historical Society. In addition to the 68 photographs, there are two postcards and a number of publications/handouts.collected by Eva on her trips to heritage sites in Victoria and New South Wales. The pages of the album can be viewed in the image carousel above. Most of the photographs of heritage buildings were taken in the early 1960s.See imagesheritage sites - victoria - australia, eva grant, scrapbooks - 20th century

Taken in January 1982; very similar to SHP0635. Surrey Family Hotel (McNeill's Family Hotel) was built in 1888 by Alexander McNeill. It closed as a hotel after the Local Option vote in 1920. Vic Dartnell joined his cousin Percy Cathcart in a pharmacy on the opposite corner in 1936 and moved it to this corner in 1940. His son John followed as the pharmacist and then his daughter Amanda. After the Dartnell family sold the business, the pharmacy continued in a similar manner as a compounding pharmacy and retained 'Dartnell' in its name. Black and white photo of Union Road at the intersection of Canterbury Road. On the left the edge of the Surrey Gardens can be seen and on the right the Dartnell's Pharmacy building on the SE corner and McNeill's Family Hotel building (pre-renovation) on the NE corner. Distinguishable advertising signs include V A Dartnell, Vozzo's Supa Valu Licenced Supermarket on the NW corner and the ANZ Bank on the west side of Union Road beyond the intersection.businesses, shops, union road shops, dartnell's pharmacy, mcneill's family hotel, surrey family hotel, vozzo's licenced supa valu supermarket, anz bank, surrey gardens, vic dartnell, john dartnell, amanda dartnell

Ref: Mr & Mrs J Davies, Greensborough - Alfred Davies took over this store in 1904. He lived with his wife, Lucretia and 5 children above the store. His son Cyril recalled sleeping on the corner balcony on hot nights. Alfred Davies was a strong Temperance man and gave up the store when clients pressured him to collect their beer from the hotel opposite and deliver it with their grocery orders. The pharmacy moved across the road to this corner in 1936 when acquired by Dartnells. The corner shop in Woodheads building was a store and other businesses over the years. The "Druggist" on right, in Hansen's Exchange building, was established in 1889. From 1910 Percy Cathcart conducted the pharmacy there until 1936 when he was joined by Vic Dartnell, his cousin. In 1940, Vic transferred the business to Woodheads corner. His son John followed as a pharmacist until his daughter Amanda became the pharmacist. After the Dartnell family sold the business, the pharmacy continued in a similar manner as a compounding pharmacy and retained 'Dartnell' in its name.This documents the importance given to celebration of the British Empire in the Surrey Hills area in the first half of the 20th century. It also documents the earliest centre of business activity in the area with 2 major sets of dual occupancy residential and retail terraces - the Woodhead buildings and Hansen's Exchange, the later set of terraces having been demolished c1971.Sepia photo of the corner of Canterbury and Union Roads in 1906 or 1909 festooned with flags and lanterns for Empire Day celebrations. On the SE corner is Alfred Davies grocery store with advertising signs for Rosella jams and Southern Seas soap. There are people standing on a balcony above the Rosella advertising sign. Other adults and children stand in the street and there is a cab outside the draper's further east in Canterbury Road. On the opposite corner to Alfred Davies is a druggist and on the north-west corner is McNeil's Family Hotel.mcneil's family hotel, empire day, festivals and celebrations, grocers, pharmacists, alfred davies, businesses, woodhead's buildings, john woodhead, percy cathcart, hansen's exchange, hansen's folly

Image copied from older postcard (c.1890-1900) showing horse drawn vehicles and a horse tram. Since then, the southern side of the street has been widened. Businesses identified in the photograph include the Ryan's Council Family Hotel, the Greyhound Hotel, the Clifton Hotel, the ES&A Bank and Jellis' Bakery. Black & white photograph of a postcard showing Main [High] Street, Kew looking south west showing horse drawn tram centre.Reverse - "High St Kew looking down from Post Office to Kew Junction"horse tram kew, clifton hotel - kew junction, ryan's council family hotel kew, horse tram - kew (vic), kew junction

Many of the Henty's of the Western District of Victoria also owned houses in Kew, Victoria. Stephen Henty, referred to on the reverse of the postcard, lived while a member of the Vitoria Parliament at 'Findon' in Kew. Kew Historical Society also holds a nationally significant collection of costumes belonging to three generations of Henty women.Monochrome, blue tinted 'real photo' postcard of Housen's Richmond Hotel, Portland. Two women stand on the steps of the hotel at left, with the rose garden in front of them. Behind them is a church spire. The hotel and its significance is outlined in two columns of blue coloured text on the reverse.Printed reverse: "THE RICHMOND is the most historical building in the State. On the site of today's building Edward Henty, the founder of permanent settlement in Victoria, commenced his first house February 19, 1835, finishing the work in two months. He had landed in Portland on Nov. 19th, 1834, and turned the first plough furrows in Victoria where the Hotel now stands on the 26th of the following month. It was also here that Major Mitchell ended his explorations from Sydney, meeting the Hentys on August 29th, 1836. In December of the same year Mrs S. G. Henty joined her husband, their son Richmond, the first male white child in Portland, being born in the Henty cottage. The present Richmond Hotel was built in 1840, and became the home of Stephen Henty until his departure from Portland in 1869. Though Edward Henty's first house was demolished in 1840, to make room for the new surveyed town streets, part of his wool store remains in the Hotel grounds, and is used as a wood shed. This is about the oldest building in the State : in it was held the first christening service in Portland on September 26th, 1841. On the site of the Richmond Hotel all the early visiting celebrities were entertained - Mitchell, Wedge, La Trobe, Fyans, Sir John Franklin, Capt. Stokes, etc. No other hostelry in Victoria can give you the historical atmosphere of the RICHMOND. / THE ORIGINAL HOME OF THE HENTYS."henty family, richmond hotel -- portland (vic.), stephen henty, edward henty, richmond henty, henty houses -- victoria, portland, postcards

Ron Setford and his wife Grace Setford lived in Tanner Avenue, East Kew, from c.1946 to c.1995. A keen photographer, he recorded the changing face of Kew over a 20 year period. Apart from 30 photographs of built structures and places in Kew dating from 1960 and 1961, 145 of his 35mm colour slides chronicle the development of the Eastern Freeway through the Yarra Valley over a five year period from c.1972 to c.1977. This important collection was donated to the Society by his granddaughter in 2025.This collection of 175 35mm slides is of local and statewide significance, owing to its subject matter, particularly the major development of road transport infrastructure during the 1970s with the construction of the Eastern Freeway. The photographer also took care to annotate and date most of his slides which enable the researcher to pinpoint temporal and spatial locations.Opened in 1960, the California Motel at 138 Barkers Road, Hawthorn, was located opposite the entrance to Xavier College and built on the site of the former Barker railway station of the closed Kew branch line. The motel was advertised as “away from the hustle and bustle of the city and offering affordable accommodation for the business or leisure traveller”. Special amenities included air-conditioning, a business centre, and swimming pool. The motel had 82 suites. A possibly forgotten, but perhaps essential feature of the motel, was the Caltex Service Station at its entrance. The building was closed in April 2008, extensively vandalised and finally demolished in 2013.Nilron setford, photographs -- kew (vic.) -- 1960s, california hotel -- barkers road -- hawthorn (vic.), california motel -- barkers road

Rose Series Postcard number 3677Copy of Rose Series postcard #3677 showing Mount Dandenong Hotel c1935mount dandenong, rose series, mount dandenong hotel

Rose Series Postcard number 4971Copy of Rose Series postcard #4971 showing the car park c1950. Pre war and early post war cars. Note the Service Car to the right. You booked a seat and travelled door to door to the city in comfort.mount dandenong hotel, mount dandenong, service car

Rose Series Postcard number 2783Copy of Rose Series postcard #2783 showing view from Point Clear. This is taken from Ridge Road. The following indicators have been marked on the photograph L-R Dulce Domun Hotel, White's, Rev. Davies, Dr. Cox, Olinda Creek, Dickens Road, Church of England, Buggy Wheels Corner, Monash Ave. Corner.mount dandenong, ridge road, rose series, point clear

Hepburn Springs in a tourist town with natural mineral water springsA colour tourist booklet with 8 black and white images of scenes in Hepburn Springs. hepburn springs, blowhole, suspension bridge, mineral sptings hotel

This item is part of a larger collection donated to the Kew Historical Society by Anna French. The collection includes personal items from the donor's family, as well as items given to the donor and her mother by a family friend, Lucy Merritt (Jean) Hornby. The item is from that part of the collection inherited or assembled by Jean Hornby. The collection is significant given Jean Hornby's mother's descent from Robert Hornby (1854-1935) and Eva Merritt (1865-1959); her mother the chid of a family who settled in Kew in the 1850s, this providing a chain of provenance for items dating to the mid-nineteenth century, when her maternal forebears arrived in Melbourne. Other items represent Jean Hornby's contribution to her local and wider community.This 19th century photograph includes significant architectural details of an important hotel in Sunbury, Victoria. Additionally, it was taken by a local photographer - CHR Christianson - who operated the Sunbury [photographic] Studio. Silver albumen print, mounted on board, of the original Royal Hotel on the corner of Brook and Evans Streets, Sunbury, Victoria.The single-storey, rendered brick building with a corrugated galvanised iron roof includes a number of pieces of information that may assist in dating the photograph. The licensee's name above the door appears to be M.A. Williams. To the left of the door on the external wall is a painted sign: 'BILLIARDS". Another painted sign on the front of the building reads "ROYAL HOTEL [illegible] BILLIARDS." An attached building at right may be the residence of the licensee. Specific architectural features of the building include a corner doorway with a lamp above, three sash windows and a larger square lead-light window to the right of the doorway. The latter identifies the space behind as the "BAR". On the footpath in front of this building is a grill set into the footpath to enable deliveries to a cellar. At least four figures can be identified in the photograph: a woman in the doorway, a man to her right, leaning against the wall, and two other men at the right hand side of the building. Beyond the boundary of the building is a sloping footpath to a bluestone edged gutter. An elm [sic] within a protective, picketed surround is in front of the building. C.H.R. Christianson is identified on the reverse as the photographer. Reverse in pencil: Royal Hotel Billards Sunbury / CHR Christianson photographerroyal hotel -- sunbury (vic.), chr christianson -- photographer, hotels -- sunbury (vic.), recreation -- billiards