A group of members of the Old Colonists' Association, Ballarat during the annual bowls challenge against the Melbourne Old Colonists' Club. old colonists' association ballarat, bowls

[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

[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.Two colour photographswalter withers rock, walter withers reserve, mary owen

The 2/8th Armoured Regiment was raised in June 1941 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel W G Hopkins with officers and men selected from the wider AIF in Victoria. The regiment trained in newly arrived M3 General Grant tanks at Puckapunyal before moving north to Singleton, then the Wee Waa plains. The regiment sailed for New Guinea in April 1943 and carried out mobile defence to airfields at Port Moresby, Milne Bay, Dobadura and Popondetta. The regiment returned to Australia in February 1944 and disbanded as an armoured regiment and retrained as Nos 41, 42 and 43 Landing Craft Companies. They returned to the South West Pacific serving at Bougainville, Balikpapan, Lae and Wewak.Good study showing men of an armoured regiment from Victoria marching in Melbourne early in WWII (1939-45)Framed photograph of soldiers marching through Melbourne city street; crowds on both sides of street.Below photograph ""A Squadron 2/8th Armoured Regiment , Melbourne, 17th October 1941. Squadron Commander Major Jenkins. RSM Arch Martin"2/8th armoured regiment, melbourne

Karl Streker cut out the map of Australia using a razor blade with Private Tony Connor and Private Alf Gillespie on garrison duty.Cut out plywood subjects - two of our Garrison guards with guns, standing on cut out map of Australia. Borders and capital cities are marked. Guard tower and barracks are in the background. State borders and capital cities are marked on map.internee hand craft, karl streker, private tony connor, private alf gillespie

A large flag with the Legacy logo. It was made in the 1950s possibly for use at events like the annual demonstration. The symbol of Legacy is the Torch and Wreath of Laurel. The Torch signifies the undying flame of service and sacrifice of those who gave their lives for their country.An example of the Legacy logo being used on a flag in the 1950s.Cream coloured flag. Commercially made by Gairs Melbourne for Junior Legacy Club featuring the Legacy torch logo.legacy promotion, logo

Sales plan for land in the suburb of Cheltenham, bounded by Tulip Grove and Heather Grove.The developing urban area of Highett within the City of Kingston. This land sale pamphlet illustrates the subdivision of land within the municipality and the changing demographic of the district as new houses are constructed close to infrastructure.Colour pamphlet advertising auction of Heather Grove Estate, Cheltenham. Incorporates a map of the estate bordered by Wickham Road, Railway Parade, Highett Road and Point Nepean Road.Handwritten in grey pencil on subdivision 1: Sold / 20/- Handwritten in grey pencil on subdivision 2: 25/- Handwritten in grey pencil on subdivision 3: 30/- Handwritten in grey pencil on subdivision 4: 110 / 30/- Handwritten in grey pencil on subdivisions 1, 11, 10, 9 and 8: Sold Handwritten in grey pencil beneath 'Heather Grove': 20/- 20/- 20/- 20/- Handwritten in black ink on subdivison 12 and 7: £85 Handwritten in back ink on subdivision 5: £60 Handwritten in back ink on subdivision 6: £65 Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: 1-8-9-10-11 Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: [enclosed in a circle] 12- / £75 Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: [enclosed in a circle] 2 / £85 Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: [enclosed in a circle] 3 / £100 Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: [enclosed in a circle] 4 / £100 Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: [enclosed in a circle] 5 / £60 Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: [enclosed in a circle] 6 / £65 Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: [enclosed in a circle] 7 / £25- Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: [enclosed in a circle] £125 / [indecipherable] Handwritten in grey pencil above subdivision map: 37.00 / 18.10 / 56.80 / 3 / [horizontal line] / 59 8 Handwritten in grey pencil along railway line marking: 21/6 / 12/6 / 13/- / 19/-land sales, estate, cheltenham

Melbourne Glass Bottle Works Co Pty Ltd (1903 - 1915) Registered in Victoria in 1903 the company amalgamated with the Waterloo Glass Bottle Works Ltd in 1915 to form Australian Glass Manufacturers Company, Limited. Melbourne Glass Bottle Works Spotswood 1872- 1915 The Melbourne Glass Bottle Works (former), comprising a complex of buildings constructed between 1880 and 1940, at Booker Street, Douglas Parade, 2-38 Hudson Road, Raleigh Street and Simcock Avenue, Spotswood. The former glassworks was established in 1890 and originally made bottles for pharmacists Felton Grimwade before it was sold to the State Government by US multinational, OI glass manufacturers A small clear glass bottle with a piece of the cork stopper* pharmacy, medicines, asthma, respiratory diseases, early settlers, market gardeners, moorabbin, bentleigh, cheltenham, glass bottles, melbourne glass bottle works. felton grimwade, spotswood,

Single page advertisement for Executor's Auction of land in Ringwood East on Saturday, May 29, 1937 with locality map showing 26 building sites for auction highlighted in brown, and brief summary of local services available. Subdivision includes Old Lilydale Road, Joseph Street, Dynes Street, Albert Street (later Wyrunga Street), Carcoola Road, and Mount Dandeong Road. (Carcoola Road incorrectly shown as Oban Road on the subdivision plan). Auctioneer - C.E. Carter, (Phone Ringwood 24.

Catalogue card reads, 'Directory of Ringwood Township - 1905. From Sands and McDougall Directory.'

This subdivision of Greensborough shows the home of John Scotland (died 1888) and surrounding area bounded by Hailes, William, Lorimer, and Jessop Streets.Photocopy of plan, 2 pages.Part of plan (68G) of proposed subdivision of Greensborough, part of Crown Portion 18, Parish pf Keelbundora. Scale: 132 ft. to an inchjohn scotland, hailes street greensborough, william street greensborough, lorimer street greensborough, jessop street greensborough

This colour photograph, with 15 others are enlargements gifted to the Society by Mel Lawrence in 2016. They were taken at a commemorative event from the Kew Tram Depot. Laminated colour enlargement of W Class tram No.380 turning out of Barkers Road into High Street South, during a re-enactment in 1990.Annotation reverse: "Kew Depot 1990. W Class 380 turning out of Barkers Road into High Street South"kew tram depot, trams -- melbourne, a class trams

This photo is from a collection donated by Elaine Mann. Elaine Mann was married to David Mann, a successful Wodonga businessman and community leader who passed away in Wodonga in June 2012. David was a member of the Mann family who began their business in Wodonga in 1920. Elaine was a teacher in Wodonga for many years and an active member of the community. Sanyo was one of the international companies that set up business in Wodonga in the 1970s as part of the decentralisation of industry. The Sanyo Australia Pty. Ltd. factory in Wodonga was officially opened on 25 October 1974 with 35 staff and production peaked in 1976-1977 when it employed 360 people. In the first ten years, 350,000 televisions were assembled from Japanese parts. The official plaque was uncovered by Victorian Premier Rupert Hamer. In October 1977 there were 79 workers retrenched, followed by 30 in November and 45 in February 1978. In 1978 workers staged a sit-in which lasted over a week, to protest multiple mass retrenchments of staff. The factory stayed open for almost another decade. In 1982 the General Manager of Sanyo was quoted as saying the productivity in the Wodonga factory was 10% higher than in Japan. However by 1984 the number of staff had reduced to 112 and the factory closed in 1987. The premises were taken over by Parker Hannifin. The administration building is now the home of 3D Lanes Bowling Alley. The street in which it is located is now called Sanyo Drive.This photo collection is of significance as it documents how the businesses and buildings in Wodonga have evolved and contributed to community throughout the late 20th century.Sanyo Factory construction. A $1 million factory built in Wodonga to assemble 300,000 colour-television sets in readiness for the introduction of colour TV in Australia on March 1, 1975. The building is now occupied by Parker Hannifin and also Wodonga Ten Pin Bowls.wodonga businesses, high st wodonga, sanyo

35mm colour positive transparency blue Agfacolour Service plastic mount1972, footpaths and gutters, infrastructure, road construction, road drainage, roadworks, shire of eltham, unidentified

35mm colour positive transparency blue Agfacolour Service plastic mount1972, footpaths and gutters, infrastructure, road construction, road drainage, roadworks, shire of eltham, unidentified

35mm colour positive transparency blue Agfacolour Service plastic mount1972, footpaths and gutters, infrastructure, road construction, road drainage, roadworks, shire of eltham, unidentified, kangaroo ground

35mm colour positive transparency blue Agfacolour Service plastic mount1972, footpaths and gutters, infrastructure, road construction, road drainage, roadworks, shire of eltham, unidentified, kangaroo ground