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Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Instrument - Apothecary Set of Weights, 1903 – 1917
This apothecary weights set was supplied by the company 'H B Silberberg & Company, Melbourne.' The company used this name in Melbourne from 1903-1917, then changed their name to “H.B. Selby & Company”. The firm specialised in the manufacture, import and supply of scientific instruments, laboratory apparatus, chemicals and industrial equipment. It was founded in Melbourne around 1889 by Carl de Beer and traded under the name of his brother Ernest de Beer and Company. Herbert B Silberberg joined the de Beer partnership in 1903 and, later in the same year, bought the de Beers’ shares in the business. Silberberg carried on as de Beer, Silberberg & Company for four months, after which he changed the name to H B Silberberg & Company. (Australian National University Archives; H B Selby and Company Proprietary Limited) This apothecary weights set was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church in that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr L Middleton was House Surgeon to the Nhill Hospital 1926-1933, when he resigned. [Dr Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr Edward saw patients at his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2 bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1884-1902 . He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan work as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. Dr Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10am, 2-4pm, 7-8pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June, 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Apothecary or pharmacy weights set, metric, in fitted wooden box with metal hook latch. Part of the W.R. Angus Collection. Round brass weights (50g, 20g, 20g, 10g, 5g, 2g, 2g, 1g) and small silver sheet weights under glass (500mg, 200mg, 200mg, 50mg, 10mg, 5mg, & 5 other smaller ones), plus brass tweezers. Lid of the box has maker's plate "MADE SPECIALLY / FOR / H B SILBERBERG & CO. / MELBOURNE"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, nhill base hospital, warrnambool base hospital, mira hospital, apothecary weights set, pharmacist weights, weights and measures, chemist weights -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Functional object - Paper Fastener, 1919-1923
The Ideal Clipless Paper Fastener is what is known as a stapleless stapler. It uses the Bump fastening method which was patented in the U.S. in 1911. The Ideal measures 4.75″ H x 3.125″ W x 1.875″ L and weighs 6.5 ounces. It was manufactured and sold in Japan but also exported to England. The case is made of stained wood with the fastening mechanism made of polished steel. From unsubstantiated sources I understand the wood is Japanese Boxwood, but I cannot verify that at this time. The markings on the front and reverse are done in black paint. The two patents listed on the reverse side of the fastener are Japanese patents. They were granted in March and September 1918 respectively. The patents were granted to two different men. The letters CK on the reverse of the fastener seem to be the initials of the two patent holders. If the design of a C superimposed over the K is a trademark as indicated, it would imply that the two patent holders went into business together to manufacture the Ideal Fastener. I’ve been unable to determine fully the names of the patent holders, but the K seems to refer to a Mr. Kuroda who was the author of the later patent. The Ideal fastener was sold alongside the Clipless Stand Machine (available 1911-1923) and Bump Fasteners in Japan. The latest patent number on the Ideal is from September 1918. Furthermore, there was also an all-steel model of the Ideal Clipless Paper Fastener being sold in 1922. While the available evidence is both sparse and largely circumstantial, I believe the Ideal Clipless Paper Fastener would have been sold from 1919 until about 1923. Furthermore, with the availability of an all-steel model in 1922, it is likely that this newer model would have been introduced as the replacement for the wooden-cased version giving me further reason to believe that this would not have been sold after 1923. The fastener was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. Dr. Angus was in England in the 1920’s and could very well have purchased the Ideal Clipless Paper Fastener during his study time there. It was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” and includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) According to Berry, her mother Gladys made a lot of their clothes. She was very talented and did some lovely embroidery including lingerie for her trousseau and beautifully handmade baby clothes. Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . Its first station was in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital (a 2 bed ward at the Nelson Street Practice) from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what previously once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr Tom and his brother had worked as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He had been House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan had gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. When Dr Angus took up practice in the Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan’s old premises he obtained their extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926. A large part of this collection is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. and an ALDI sore is on the land that was once their tennis court). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served with the Australian Department of Defence as a Surgeon Captain during WWII 1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. He had an interest in people and the community They were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. [References; Ideal Clipless Paper Fastener, Antique Outings http://antiqueoutings.com/ideal-clipless-paper-fastener/ ; Australian College of Ophthalmologists, Vol 11, 1970.; Medical Directory of Australia listing, alphabetical says 1929, Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh says 1928; Documents re Dr Angus from daughter Berry McDade, received at Flagstaff Hill Maritime; Portland Examiner, June 13, 1969; The Advertiser (Adelaide) 14th Nov, 1910 - Blind restored to sight – Dr Edward Ryan, Melbourne; The Hamilton Spectator, Wed 15th April 1914 – Ararat man with eye affliction attended to by Drs E & T Ryan; The Nhill Hospital, first 100 years, 1885-1985, by Jan Doust; The Horsham Times, Tuesday 6th January 1885 – Dr Edward Ryan appointed to Nhill Hospital; People who passed this way – Warrnambool and District Historical Society; Warrnambool Base Hospital Report 1969-1970 The Standard, 22/6/1990; The Argus, 1970; Letter to Mrs G Angus from John Lindsay, Flagstaff Hill, 8/5/1973; ] This Ideal Clipless Paper Fastener is significant as a rare example of a clipless paper fastener used as office stationery of the 1920’s. This Ideal Clipless Paper Fastener is significant for its association with the W.R. Angus Collection, which is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Paper fastener, clipless or stapleless. Part of the W.R. Angus Collection. Branded Ideal Clipless Paper Fastener, made in Japan. Push down action on wooden handle, metal cutting mechanism cuts and folds the cut flap to join two pieces of paper. Stained wood base, sides and handle, floral fabric under base. Inscriptions on sides and base are in black paint print. Early to mid 1900’sPrinted on sides “IDEAL CLIPLESS PAPER FASTENER” and “TRADE MARK (K with a C through it) PATENT NO. 45105 46743” and stamped into base "MADE IN JAPAN"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, surgical instrument, t.s.s. largs bay, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, mira hospital, flying doctor, ideal stapleless stapler, ideal clipless paper fastener, ideal paper fastener made in japan, paper fastener, office stationery, patent 45105 46743, ideal clipless paper fastener ck, logo ck c over k -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Forceps, 20th century
Surgical forceps have been used in various forms from ancient times and have evolved into a indispensable instrument for modern surgeries. Forceps are surgical instruments for the practice of medicine which are used for grasping, holding, and manipulating tissues and objects during surgical procedures. Ancient Origins Surgical instruments, including forceps, have been use since man first started working with tools. Ancient civilizations, like Egypt, Greece, and Rome, had physicians who used rudimentary forceps made of bronze or iron. The forceps of the ancient world were often simple in design, with two arms that could be squeezed together to grasp objects. They were primarily used for tasks like extracting foreign bodies or handling tissues. Middle Ages and Renaissance During the Middle Ages, medical knowledge and surgical techniques experienced a decline in Europe. While the Roman empire enjoyed remarkably advanced medical care and practices, its collapse left a vacuum that led to a loss of a centralized medical knowledge and a disruption of education and trade. At the same time, religious superstitions suppressed medical inquiry. With many of the medical texts of Hippocrates and Galen and others lost, the medical practice experienced a decline. However, surgical forceps continued to be used in various forms, albeit with limited advancements. With the Renaissance period came a revival in medical knowledge and innovation. Ambroise Paré, a French surgeon of the 16th century, is credited with introducing improvements to the forceps design, making them more versatile and effective. 18th and 19th Centuries Innovators The 18th and 19th centuries marked a significant period of advancement in surgical instruments, including forceps. The famous French Surgeon Jean-Louis Petit introduced forceps with curved tips, making them more suitable for specific procedures. John Hunter, a Scottish surgeon, designed forceps with fine tips, allowing for more delicate and precise manipulation during surgeries. Joseph Lister, a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, emphasized the importance of cleanliness and sterile instruments during surgical procedures. This led to advancements in forceps sterilization techniques, which greatly improved patient outcomes. Modern Era The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the development of a wide variety of specialized forceps for different surgical procedures. Advances in metallurgy and manufacturing techniques allowed for more intricate and delicate designs. As surgery became more specialized, forceps were tailored to suit specific procedures, such as neurosurgery, ophthalmology, and gynecology. Contemporary Advances In recent decades, surgical technology evolves continuously. Many surgical procedures are now performed using minimally invasive techniques, which require specialized instruments. Modern surgical forceps are typically made of high-quality stainless steel, stainless steel alloy, or titanium. They come in various shapes, sizes, and designs, each suited to specific surgical tasks. Some forceps have serrated jaws for a better grip, while others have delicate tips for fine tissue manipulation. Modern Forceps The history of surgical forceps is a story of innovation, adaptation, and continuous refinement. From ancient origins to the modern era, these instruments have evolved alongside medical knowledge and surgical techniques, playing a crucial role in improving patient outcomes and advancing the field of surgery. https://www.wpiinc.com/blog/post/history-evolution-of-forceps These forceps were donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill According to Berry, her mother Gladys made a lot of their clothes. She was very talented and did some lovely embroidery including lingerie for her trousseau and beautifully handmade baby clothes. Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928. Its first station was in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital (a 2 bed ward at the Nelson Street Practice) from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what previously once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr Tom and his brother had worked as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He had been House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan had gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. When Dr Angus took up practice in the Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan’s old premises he obtained their extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926. A large part of this collection is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station and an ALDI sore is on the land that was once their tennis court). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served with the Australian Department of Defence as a Surgeon Captain during WWII 1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. He had an interest in people and the community. They were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine, administration, household equipment and clothing from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Forceps from W.R. Angus Collection. Stainless steel, elbow shape in middle, hollow claw shape ends, one handle is open circle, handles clip together. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, surgical instrument, t.s.s. largs bay, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, mira hospital, flying doctor, department of defence australia, australian army, army uniform, medical treatment, medical history, medical education, forceps, surgery -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Catheter, 20th century
The word “catheter” comes from Greek, meaning “to let or send down.” Catheters were used as early as 3,000 B.C. to relieve painful urinary retention. In those times, many materials were used to form a hollow catheter shape, including straw, rolled up palm leaves, hollow tops of onions, as well as, gold, silver, copper, brass, and lead. Malleable catheters were developed in the 11th century. In time, silver was used as the basis of catheters as it could be bent to any desired shape and was felt to have an antiseptic function. Benjamin Franklin, the inventor and colonial statesman, fashioned silver catheters for use by his older brother John. John suffered from kidney stones and needed to undergo a daily ritual of placing a bulky metal catheter into his bladder. To make these daily requirements on his brother less painful, Franklin worked with his local silversmith on his design for a flexible catheter. "It is as flexible as would be expected in a thing of the kind, and I imagine will readily comply with the turns of the passage," he wrote to John. Holes were bored into the sides of the catheter to allow for drainage. Coudé tip catheters were developed in the 18th and 19th centuries to facilitate male catheterization and continue to be used for this purpose in current medical practice. Catheters made from rubber were developed in the 18th century but were weak at body temperature, leaving debris in the bladder. The advent of rubber vulcanization, by Goodyear in 1844, improved the firmness and durability of the catheter, and allowed for mass production. Latex rubber became available in the 1930s. Dr. Frederic E.B. Foley (a St. Paul urologist) introduced the latex balloon catheter at a urologic meeting in 1935. Though he lost a legal battle with Davol for the patent, this catheter has since been known as the “Foley.” The earliest self-retaining catheters had wing tips (called Malecot) or flexible shoulders (called Pezzer), and were tied to the male penis or sutured to the female labia. Charriere’s French scale was used to describe the external diameter of a catheter. Thus the term “French (Fr)” size was coined. Joseph-Frederic-Benoit Charriere was a 19th century Parisian maker of surgical instruments. A 12 French catheter is approximately 4 mm in external diameter (0.33 mm = 1 French [Fr]). In French-speaking countries, these catheters may be referred to as the Charriere or abbreviated Ch. Catheterization of the bladder was felt to be fairly safe because of the antiseptic principles of Lister (1867). But many physicians continued to be concerned about catheter-related infections as patients were still developing “catheter fever” (systemic infection) despite antiseptic principles. After World War II, Sir Ludwig Guttman introduced the concept of sterile intermittent catheterization in patients with spinal cord injury. For many years, sterile technique was used for catheterization. In 1971, Dr. Jack Lapides of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor introduced the clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) technique. Dr. Lapides’ theory was that bacteria weren’t the only cause of infection. He believed that chronic stagnant urine residuals and overstretching of the bladder were also responsible. But the fact that CIC was not performed in totally sterile conditions, Dr. Lapides still felt it was superior to indwelling catheters. Initially, Lapides was scorned in the urology world. Three decades after this debate, clean intermittent catheterization remains the preferred method to treat chronic urine retention and neurogenic bladder. Recent regulatory changes have recommended against the reuse of catheters for CIC in an attempt to further reduce the risk of catheter-associated urinary tract infections. https://www.urotoday.com/urinary-catheters-home/history-of-urinary-catheters.html This catheter was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill According to Berry, her mother Gladys made a lot of their clothes. She was very talented and did some lovely embroidery including lingerie for her trousseau and beautifully handmade baby clothes. Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928. Its first station was in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital (a 2 bed ward at the Nelson Street Practice) from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what previously once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr Tom and his brother had worked as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He had been House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan had gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. When Dr Angus took up practice in the Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan’s old premises he obtained their extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926. A large part of this collection is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station and an ALDI sore is on the land that was once their tennis court). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served with the Australian Department of Defence as a Surgeon Captain during WWII 1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. He had an interest in people and the community. They were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine, administration, household equipment and clothing from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Stainless steel catheter with hollow tip from W.R. Angus Collection. Top and end of this instrument screw together. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, surgical instrument, t.s.s. largs bay, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, mira hospital, flying doctor, department of defence australia, australian army, army uniform, medical treatment, medical history, medical education, catheter -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Box and glass tube, about 1912
Wellcome & Burroughs pharmaceutical company was founded in London in 1880 by American pharmacists. The first overseas branch opened in Sydney, Australia, in 1898 and by 1912 another 7 branches had opened. The box lists all of the 9 branches on it. Vichy Effervescent Salts are an antacid mixture in a tablet form. Wellcome & Burroughs company invented the name “Tabloid” to describe the process of compacting powders in measured doses to form a tablet. The label attached around the glass tube lists the same information as on the box, and also gives directions “One powdered and dissolved in wineglassful (about two ounces) of water represents an equal quantity of Vichy Water (Grand Grille Spring) in all its essential constituents and may be taken when required, as ordered by the physician.” “KEEP WELL CORKED AND IN A COOL DRY PLACE” The mineral spring waters from Vichy, France, have been used through the ages as a natural therapy, including aiding the digestive system. The Vichy tablets are made from chemicals that have similar properties. This box once containing Vichy Effervescent Salts was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church in that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr L Middleton was House Surgeon to the Nhill Hospital 1926-1933, when he resigned. [Dr Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr Edward saw patients at his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2 bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1884-1902 . He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan work as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. Dr Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10am, 2-4pm, 7-8pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June, 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. A rectangular box of Tabloid brand 'Vichy Salt (Artificial Effervescent), medication from Dr T.F. Ryan's medical practice. Inside is a glass tube with rounded base and a cork stopper. The tube contains a cotton wool swab. Around the tube is a paper label listing the same information as per box label. Box is lined with white corrugated cardboard. (part of the W.R. Angus Collection)On label of box “Vichy Salt (Artificial) Effervescent”, 25 compressed tablets, made by Burroughs, Wellcome & Co. Australia Ltd, Sydney, NSW. “ ” “KEEP WELL CORKED AND IN A COOL DRY PLACE”flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, wellcome & burroughs, vichy, tabloid, wellcome & burroughs, dr w r angus, dr t f ryan, nhill hospital, nhill, medical treatment, dental treatment, flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, wellcome & burroughs, vichy, tabloid, wellcome & burroughs, dr w r angus, dr t f ryan, nhill hospital, nhill, medical treatment, dental treatment -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Syringe, Late 19th - early 20th century
How to safely syringe ear wax Irrigation, or ear syringing, should be performed only after taking a full history, doing an ear examination and explaining the potential complications to the patient. It is also important to ensure appropriate assembly and use of equipment. Gentle irrigation of the ear canal can be performed with a large syringe (20 mL) and warm water. The use of sterile water or saline as opposed to tap water or bacteriostatic agent (eg dilute hydrogen peroxide) can decrease the risk of infection. Direct visualisation of the ear canal is not necessary for safe and effective syringing. The tip of the syringe should not pass the outer one-third of the ear canal (approximately 8 mm) – the use of a rounded nozzle may assist with this. The jet of water should be aimed towards the edge of the cerumen to enable the debris to flow out of the ear canal. Cease immediately if the patient experiences pain or if bleeding occurs. Mechanical jet irrigators are available and some allow better control of water pressure and direction of spray. After syringing, examine the external canal and tympanic membrane. Document the patient’s consent, procedure, and pre- and post-examination findings. https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2015/october/ear-wax-management This ear syringe was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church in that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr L Middleton was House Surgeon to the Nhill Hospital 1926-1933, when he resigned. [Dr Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr Edward saw patients at his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2 bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1884-1902 . He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan work as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. Dr Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10am, 2-4pm, 7-8pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June, 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. Ear wax is an ongoing problem for many people, and its safe and easy removal is important. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Ear syringe from the W.R. Angus Collection with barrel, plunger and tip. Inscription on oval shaped plaque on barrel. Inscription on oval shaped plaque on barrel "10th / UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL" & "MAYER & MELTZER / MAKERS, LONDON" & " TO THE / HOSPITAL OF DESEASES (SIC) OF THE THROAT"" & "TO THE / HOSPITAL / FOR WOMEN" & "TO THE / MIDDLESEX / HOSPITAL" plus "R" inscribed on each side of the handlewarrnambool, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, flagstaff hill maritime village, maritime museum, dr angus, w.r. angus, dr t f ryan, medical instrument, surgical equipment, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, mira hospital, flying doctor, medical treatment, syringe, ear syringe, ear wax -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Mouth Gag, Early 20th Century
For inhalation anesthesia, a gag may be used to keep a patient’s mouth open. In 1910, Edward C. Sewall, M.D. (1875-1957), published a description of a mouth gag which he designed, stating that it was a modification of the earlier Hartman gag. Dr. Sewall’s gag caught the eye of anesthesiologist S. Griffith Davis, M.D.(1867-1934), who modified it further for use in tonsillectomies. In 1912, a description of Dr. Davis’ gag was published by the prominent surgeon, Harvey W. Cushing, M.D. (1869-1939.) During a visit to the United States in 1921, the English anesthesiologist Henry E. G. Boyle (1875-1941) was impressed by the Davis gag, and bought one. He published two descriptions of it the following year, and again in the 1923 edition of his influential textbook. It became better known as the Boyle, or Boyle-Davis, gag. Today the gag popularized by Boyle continues to be made by many equipment manufacturers. It consists of a frame that incorporates a handle, together with a selection of tongue depressors, called blades, in various sizes. The paddle of depressor would hold the patient’s tongue and lower jaw, while the two, rubber-lined extensions at the top of the frame supported the patient’s upper teeth. From the 1920s through the 1990s, there have been at least 20 further modifications of the Davis gag. https://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org/museum/davis-gag/ This mouth gag was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church in that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr L Middleton was House Surgeon to the Nhill Hospital 1926-1933, when he resigned. [Dr Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr Edward saw patients at his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2 bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1884-1902 . He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan work as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. Dr Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10am, 2-4pm, 7-8pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June, 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Stainless Steel, Boyle Davis, mouth gag to prevent the mouth from closing during operative procedures of the mouth or throat. (W.R. Angus Collection). flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, medical equipment, surgical instrument, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, mira hospital, flying doctor, medical treatment, mouth gag, boyle davis, oral surgery, tonsillectomy -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Retractor
Surgical retractors help surgeons and operating room professionals hold an incision or wound open during surgical procedures. They aid in holding back underlying organs or tissues, allowing doctors/nurses better visibility and access to the exposed area. The right retractor and medical device lighting will bring comfort and light directly into the surgical cavity where it is needed. Retractors play a crucial role in surgery. Today they come in different sizes, shapes and designs. Surgical retractor lighting could allow surgeons to better navigate in deep or minimally-open cavities. Better visibility during and at the end of surgery is beneficial to both the surgical team and patient. Surgical retractors are not all created equal and choosing the right one is important. There are two broad categories of retractors: 1. Hand Retractors - (Manual) must be held by an assistant, a robot or the surgeon during a procedure. 2. Self Retaining Retractors - (Stay open on their own) have a screw, ratchet or some type of clamp to hold the tissue by itself. These allow the surgeon with two free hands. Retractors fall under the "Retracting and Exposing" instruments used in the operating room. The various types of retractors are usually named after the organ which they are used in conjunction with. For example, retractors which are used to retract an abdomen, are called abdominal retractors or self retaining abdominal retractors. If it's your skin being handled, there are specific skin retractors. Retracting instruments, retract and expose, for exposure to a surgical site. The main goal is to not necessarily reduce the number of assistants in the operating room but to provide better exposure and safety for the patient. This retractor was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church in that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr L Middleton was House Surgeon to the Nhill Hospital 1926-1933, when he resigned. [Dr Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr Edward saw patients at his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2 bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1884-1902 . He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan work as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. Dr Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10am, 2-4pm, 7-8pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June, 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The abdominal retractor is very much an essential tool in surgery today. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Retractor from the W.R. Angus Collection. Stainless Steel, Richard-Begouin's abdominal retractor. Swivel pieces at end of arms are detatchable. Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, medical equipment, surgical instrument, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, mira hospital, flying doctor, medical history, retractors, richard begouin, abdominal surgery -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Surgical Retractor, Late 19th century
Surgical retractors help surgeons and operating room professionals hold an incision or wound open during surgical procedures. They aid in holding back underlying organs or tissues, allowing doctors/nurses better visibility and access to the exposed area. The right retractor and medical device lighting will bring comfort and light directly into the surgical cavity where it is needed. Retractors play a crucial role in surgery. Today they come in different sizes, shapes and designs. Surgical retractor lighting could allow surgeons to better navigate in deep or minimally-open cavities. Better visibility during and at the end of surgery is beneficial to both the surgical team and patient. Surgical retractors are not all created equal and choosing the right one is important. There are two broad categories of retractors: 1. Hand Retractors - (Manual) must be held by an assistant, a robot or the surgeon during a procedure. 2. Self Retaining Retractors - (Stay open on their own) have a screw, ratchet or some type of clamp to hold the tissue by itself. These allow the surgeon with two free hands. Retractors fall under the "Retracting and Exposing" instruments used in the operating room. The various types of retractors are usually named after the organ which they are used in conjunction with. For example, retractors which are used to retract an abdomen, are called abdominal retractors or self retaining abdominal retractors. If it's your skin being handled, there are specific skin retractors. Retracting instruments, retract and expose, for exposure to a surgical site. The main goal is to not necessarily reduce the number of assistants in the operating room but to provide better exposure and safety for the patient. This surgical retractor attachment was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church in that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr L Middleton was House Surgeon to the Nhill Hospital 1926-1933, when he resigned. [Dr Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr Edward saw patients at his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2 bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1884-1902 . He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan work as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. Dr Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10am, 2-4pm, 7-8pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June, 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The surgical retractor is very much an essential tool in surgery today. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Surgical retractor attachment, from the W.R. Angus Collection, for abdominal use. Long handle, U shaped ends. Inscribed "R" on each side. Inscribed "R" on each side. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, surgical instrument, t.s.s. largs bay, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, mira hospital, medical treatment, surgery, surgical retractor -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Splint, c. 1910-1920
This is a pair of vintage DePuy wire mesh splints made to support a broken leg while the bone mended. The design was in use before and during WWI. It replaced the wooden splints previously used to reset bones in the late nineteenth to early 20th century. This new splint was invented by a traveling pharmaceutical salesman, Revra DePuy. He began manufacturing in his Warsaw, Indiana in 1895; the first commercial manufacture of orthopaedic equipment in the world . The company eventually became Johnson & Johnson. This pair of splints was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. These splints would have belonged to Dr Tom Ryan before being passed onto Dr. W.R. Angus. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s T.S.S. Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church in that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr L Middleton was House Surgeon to the Nhill Hospital 1926-1933, when he resigned. [Dr Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr Edward saw patients at his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2 bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1884-1902 . He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan work as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. Dr Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10am, 2-4pm, 7-8pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June, 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The pair of splints was made by the world’s oldest orthopedic company, founded in 1895. The splint was a part of Dr. Tom Ryan’s equipment that was passed onto Dr W.R. Angus. It is part of the collection of historical medical equipment used in Western Victoria in the late 19th and early 20th century. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Splint, (pair of 2) from the W.R. Angus Collection. Stiff wire mesh with a hard metal border around the edges, shaped as a food and half leg, with printed paper labels attached to the top. Labels show manufacturer and instructions. Made for supporting Tibia and Fibula bones. Label attached to one split reads "DePuy Adjustable Wire / PATENTED / Tibia and Fibula Splint / No. 32 Medium Posterior / DePuy Manufacturing Co. / Warsaw, Indiana""DePuy Adjustable Wire / PATENTED / Tibia and Fibula Splint / No. 32 Medium Posterior / DePuy Manufacturing Co. / Warsaw, Indiana"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, dr w r angus, dr ryan, surgical instrument, t.s.s. largs bay, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, mira hospital, flying doctor, medical treatment, medical history, medical education, medical text book, wire mesh splint, wire mesh cast, orthopaedic medical equipment, bone setting equipment, 1910’s medical equipment, medical artefact -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Dec. 1945
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :5 Project : MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN AREA PROJECT Run : 36 Frame : 60546 Date : 12/1945 Film Type : B/W Camera : EAG4 Flying Height : 10200 Scale : 6000 Film Number : 195 GDA2020 : 37°42'47"S, 145°09'56"E MGA2020 : 338306, 5824438 (55) Melways : 22 C4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Nov. 1931
Centred over present day Reynolds Road and Mount Pleasant Road, Eltham (including Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd) Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1931 Project : MALDON PRISON Run : 21 Frame : 3160 Date : 11/1931 Film Type : B/W Camera : F8 Flying Height : 11000 Scale : 18860 Film Number : 60 GDA2020 : 37°43'31"S, 145°10'20"E MGA2020 : 338912, 5823086 (55) Melways : 22 E8 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Jan. 1951
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :65 Project : MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN PROJECT NO. 2 Run : 8 Frame : 71 Date : 01/1951 Film Type : B/W Camera : EAG9 Flying Height : 12200 Scale : 12000 Film Number : 1419 GDA2020 : 37°43'14"S, 145°09'46"E MGA2020 : 338081, 5823608 (55) Melways : 22 C6 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Feb. 1956
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :250 Project : MELBOURNE OUTER SUBURBS PROJECT Run : 18 Frame : 94 Date : 02/1956 Film Type : B/W Camera : EAG9 Flying Height : 10000 Scale : 12000 Film Number : 1176 GDA2020 : 37°42'30"S, 145°09'44"E MGA2020 : 338008, 5824963 (55) Melways : 22 C3 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Jan. 1962
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :539 Project : MELBOURNE-GEELONG PROJECT Run : 5 Frame : 14 Date : 01/1962 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC5 Flying Height : 6000 Scale : 15840 Film Number : 1524 GDA2020 : 37°42'42"S, 145°09'51"E MGA2020 : 338177, 5824603 (55) Melways : 22 C4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Apr, 1963
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :486 Project : MELBOURNE (1963) PROJECT Run : 6 Frame : 122 Date : 04/1963 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5100 Scale : 9600 Film Number : 1805 GDA2020 : 37°43'12"S, 145°09'32"E MGA2020 : 337723, 5823642 (55) Melways : 22 B6 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Oct. 1968
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :656 Project : MELBOURNE 1968 PROJECT Run : 13A Frame : 64 Date : 10/1968 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5100 Scale : 9600 Film Number : 2172 GDA2020 : 37°42'46"S, 145°10'01"E MGA2020 : 338430, 5824467 (55) Melways : 22 D4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Oct. 1970
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1148 Project : MELBOURNE 1970 PROJECT Run : 27 Frame : 192 Date : 10/1970 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5100 Scale : 9600 Film Number : 2366 GDA2020 : 37°42'45"S, 145°10'05"E MGA2020 : 338533, 5824496 (55) Melways : 22 D4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Apr. 1972
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :985 Project : MELBOURNE 1972 Run : 27 Frame : 45 Date : 04/1972 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC10 Flying Height : 5700 Scale : 9600 Film Number : 2636 GDA2020 : 37°42'53"S, 145°10'19"E MGA2020 : 338884, 5824261 (55) Melways : 22 E5 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Mar. 1975
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1148 Project : MELBOURNE 1974 Run : 27 Frame : 152 Date : 03/1975 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5200 Scale : 10000 Film Number : 2935 GDA2020 : 37°42'52"S, 145°10'06"E MGA2020 : 338553, 5824293 (55) Melways : 22 D5 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Nov. 1975
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1243 Project : (ALSO A.P. 1227) Run : 23 Frame : 86 Date : 11/1975 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5000 Scale : 10000 Film Number : 3058 GDA2020 : 37°42'46"S, 145°10'06"E MGA2020 : 338546, 5824486 (55) Melways : 22 D4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Apr. 1978
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1368 Project : DIAMOND CREEK Run : 5 Frame : 71 Date : 03/1975 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 2200 Scale : 4000 Film Number : 3279 GDA2020 : 37°42'50"S, 145°09'36"E MGA2020 : 337821, 5824325 (55) Melways : 22 B5 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Feb. 1979
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1716 Project : WESTERN PORT FORESHORES Run : 15 Frame : 91 Date : 02/1979 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5500 Scale : 10000 Film Number : 3286 GDA2020 : 37°42'47"S, 145°09'57"E MGA2020 : 338339, 5824447 (55) Melways : 22 C4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Jan. 1984
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1716 Project : WESTERN PORT FORESHORES Run : 15 Frame : 70 Date : 01/1984 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC8 Flying Height : 5300 Scale : 10000 Film Number : 3833 GDA2020 : 37°42'38"S, 145°10'09"E MGA2020 : 338612, 5824719 (55) Melways : 22 D4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Mar. 1987
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :1716 Project : WESTERN PORT FORESHORES Run : 15 Frame : 108 Date : 03/1987 Film Type : B/W Camera : RC10 Flying Height : 5600 Scale : 10000 Film Number : 4102 GDA2020 : 37°43'00"S, 145°10'13"E MGA2020 : 338725, 5824036 (55) Melways : 22 D5 (ed. 42)719 (55) Melways : 22 D4 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Photograph - Aerial Photograph, Landata, Eltham; Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (Stokes Orchard Estate), Sep. 1991
Centred on present day Diosma Rd, Stokes Pl, Nyora Rd and Eucalyptus Rd Historic Aerial Imagery Source: Landata.vic.gov.au Aerial Photo Details: Project No :2072 Project : MELBOURNE PROJECT Run : 13 Frame : 119 Date : 09/1991 Film Type : COL Camera : RC10 Flying Height : 8300 Scale : 15000 Film Number : 4419 GDA2020 : 37°43'07"S, 145°09'35"E MGA2020 : 337812, 5823811 (55) Melways : 22 B6 (ed. 42) A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 aerial photo, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, peter & elizabeth pidgeon collection, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes -
Eltham District Historical Society Inc
Document - Certificate of Title, Landata, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900, Crown Portion 15 Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik, County of Evelyn, 1925
(Cancelled) Certificate of Title originally issued for Crown Portion 15, Section 5 to Robert David Taylor, of Eltham, County of Evelyn, Farmer, 13 March 1925. It is with this title that the land allotment was subdivided into 48 lots. The title shows the issuance to Robert David Taylor with encumbrance placed upon it by immediate former owner, Hugh Patrick Keogh, a former member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent. Following Taylor's death in 1934 the title passes to his Executors, sons Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Eltham and William McLelland Vance Taylor of Northcote. The property is then sold to Frank Stokes who develops the Stokes Orchard. Compulsory acquisitions by the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works and State Electricity Commission show provisions of easemenst for town water supply and high voltage power transmission lines. Subsequent lots are then sold off with the development of the Stokes Orchard Estate residential development in the mid to late 1970s. A History of the Development of Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik – Stokes Orchard Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) is a square allotment of 158 acres or approximately a quarter of a square mile. It lies just beyond the eastern end of Pitt Street, south of Nyora Road to the northern end of Eucalyptus Road and extends east from Eucalyptus Road to Reynolds Road. The topography of CA15 is generally steep, sloping up to a hill near the centre of the land, the ridgeline passing through the properties along the southern side of Diosma Road. Eucalyptus Road is a straight north-south road with its northern end at the north west corner of CA15. Until the end of the 1970s this road was an un-named Government Road and was largely not open to traffic. With residential development in the 1970s the road was constructed, and the council allocated the name obviously in recognition of the predominant species of the local bushland. CA15 was purchased from the Crown by George D’Arley Boursiquot, a prominent Melbourne printer, on 28th October 1852. On November 23, 1922, former Member for Gippsland and Melbourne Real Estate Agent, Hubert Patrick Keogh purchased the allotment then sold it March 13, 1925, to local farmer, Robert David Taylor, a former Shire of Eltham Councillor (1911-1920) and Shire President (1919). Taylor had extensive land holdings stretching west towards Bible Street and Main Road. The Taylor home was situated at the top of the hill in Bible Street at present day 82 Bible Street. At the time of Taylor’s purchase in 1925, CA15 was subdivided into 48 lots that could be described as small rural properties or large residential lots. A typical lot size was one hectare or 2.5 acres. The subdivision created two roads, Nyora Road, and Diosma Road, each following an irregular alignment between Eucalyptus and Reynolds Roads. However, the lots were not sold off separately nor were the roads constructed. The land effectively remained as one parcel for many further years. Robert David Taylor died November 30, 1934, and probate was granted to his son of the same name, Robert David Taylor of Bible Street, Salesman and William McLelland Vance Taylor of 73 Emmeline Street, Northcote, Clerk, with the transfer of the land into their names on July 8, 1935. Frank Stokes worked as a qualified accountant at Kennons leather factory in Burnley, while living at 1 Thomas Street, Mitcham. He suffered from migraines and wanted to return to working the land (he had previously worked on farms and orchards since coming to Australia from England in 1926, both in WA and Vic.). He first travelled to the district by train in July 1942 to find land with the intention to establish an orchard. By chance he met Arthur Bird of Bird Orchard (bounded by Pitt Street, Eucalyptus Road, and Wattle Grove) and they got talking over their common interest. Arthur put Frank up for the night and pointed out the land, 158 acres- part of the Taylor Estate- £900, Crown Allotment 15, Section 5, Parish of Nillumbik (CA15) somewhat diagonally opposite Bird Orchard. Stokes applied through the Riverina Agency to purchase the land who in turn applied for permission from Canberra to sell as there was a new government regulation introduced during the Second World War banning land sales except for immediate production. Stokes obtained a loan on his Mitcham house of £600 @ 5% and paid £450 deposit with quarterly payments of £15 spread over 5 years. Stokes was assisted and advised by Arthur Bird who farmed the neighbouring orchard. In early 1943 Stokes took possession and would catch the train out to Eltham on Fridays after work and began building a hut on the corner of Nyora Road and the Government Road (Eucalyptus Road) for shelter and to lock up tools. He established an orchard on the central western part of the land through the centre of which ran a natural waterway (part of the present-day linear park) and was able to pay a neighbour (Hawkins) to help with clearing and fencing 25 acres, and with a horse and single furrowed plough, planted approximately 2,500 fruit trees - cherries, peaches, plums, almonds, pears, apricots and lemons as well as a few apples and oranges; a massive task. Aerial photographs from the 1940s through to the 1990s clearly show the orchard with most of the larger CA15 site remaining as natural bushland. A huge problem was hares and rabbits eating all the new buds off the tiny trees. As well as laying poison he painted the trees with a mixture of cow manure and lime, often working by moonlight. Procurement of wire and wire netting was difficult because of the war but after much effort he obtained a permit from the Agricultural Department for supplies in March 1944. In February 1945 Stokes applied for a permit to build a “packing shed” as no house building was allowed. It was to be 33 feet x 21 feet and cost £312. It was constructed mostly from second-hand materials, which were hard to obtain, especially iron for roofing. Stokes finished work at Kennons on October 31, 1945, and in March 1946 he sold the family home at Mitcham for £1,230 plus £170 for furniture. On May 15, 1946, title to the CA15 property was issued to Frank Howard Alfred Stokes, Orchardist and Gladys Ethel Stokes, Married Woman, both of Pitt Street, Eltham. The family of five then moved into the very unfinished “packing shed” at Eltham, which was a struggle to weatherproof. Eventually rooms were divided off and lined with hessian bags and whitewashed. Their income was firewood (cut and sold), selling rockery stones and cut Sweet Bursaria. (It was discovered during the 1940s that Sweet Bursaria contained the sunscreen compound Aesculin. The RAAF utilised this compound from Sweet Bursaria during WW2 for pilots and gunners.) The orchard’s first fruit sale was a half-case of Le Vanq peaches in December 1947 for the price of 8 shillings. In 1956 plans for house were drawn and Glen Iris bricks purchased (1956 Olympic Rings variant). The building of the house commenced in 1957 - 12 feet of original packing shed was removed – and was completed in 1959. Water was connected from newly built pressure storage on the property at the end of 1959 and the electricity connection for the first time at 3pm on April 29, 1960. The house remains to present day (somewhat modified) at 1 Nyora Road, home to Nyora Studio Gallery. On occasions, spare remnants of the 1956 bricks have been known to be unearthed in gardens on the estate as they were utilised by Frank Stokes to fill in rabbit holes. On May 26, 1950, a parcel of land was compulsorily acquired by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works on the hilltop to establish an easement for a high-level service reservoir to augment Eltham’s water supply. The project also included pipe tracks for the necessary water mains. The reservoir has now been superseded by higher level water tanks east of Reynolds Road and its former site is now a public reserve. On November 27, 1964, the State Electricity Commission served notice to compulsorily acquire a further parcel through the eastern part of the land for a major electricity transmission line that augmented supply from the La Trobe Valley to Melbourne. The easement was registered February 11, 1966. The easement was widened July 18, 1969 for a second transmission line to be constructed. In 1971 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme amendments adopted Nyora Road as the boundary between a residential zone to the north and a rural zone to the south. This determined the future development of the land. In the mid-1970s the Shire of Eltham divided the orchard into numerous rate-able parcel lots, the 48 lots having been established in 1925 and the subsequent rates assessment proved unsustainable for Stokes. He commenced selling lots outside the boundary of the orchard, north of Diosma and South of Nyora. However shortly later the land between Nyora and Diosma Roads and west of the electricity easement was sold and subdivided into residential lots, a housing development by Macquarie Builders and marketed as the Stokes Orchard Estate. New streets were created, and most were named after trees, although one, Stokes Place, commemorates the former owners. The development was undertaken in two stages; Stage 1 (1975) encompassing Scarlet Ash Court, Ironbark Close and Peppermint Grove bounded by Nyora and Eucalyptus roads and Stage 2 (1978) encompassing Stokes Place, Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout bound by Nyora and Diosma roads. The developer, Macquarie Builders went bankrupt shortly after the release of Stage 2 leaving many purchasers to fend for themselves and arrange for their own independent builders. There were also difficulties with sewerage for the land immediately south of Diosma Road and so the conventional residential lots were abandoned in favour of larger lots. The development of Orchard Way, The Crest and The Lookout did not proceed as planned and the proposed lots were incorporated into five-acre parcels instead. These included a low-density group housing development by the Graves family and the award winning Choong House (1983) with Gordon Ford developed garden immediately next door situated on the ridge of the hill nestled amongst the original bush, Eucalypt trees and Sweet Bursaria. In 1994, Nillumbik Shire Council applied Significant Environment and Significant Landscape overlays upon the properties on the south side of Diosma Road to ensure protection of this natural bush garden environment. With the arrival of the sewer along Diosma Road in the 1990s, most of these five-acre parcels have since been subdivided multiple times. The Choong house presently sits on a 2.7-acre property, which in 2022 Nillumbik Council nominated for Cultural Significance Heritage protection and is considered potentially significant at State level. The Stokes family were also associated with the Eltham Christian Church. In the 1970s this church had met in temporary premises in Eltham. Lots of the original 1925 subdivision remained south of Nyora Road and a number of these lots were utilized for the Eltham Christian School, which was established by the Eltham Christian Church in 1981. The school operated on this site until 2000. The premises are now used by The Vine Baptist Church. By the mid-1980s the whole of CA15 had been developed for residential and school purposes, except for the sections north of Diosma Road and between the transmission lines and Reynolds Road. Sewerage issues had been resolved for the section north of Diosma Road and in 1987 it was in the process of being subdivided into residential lots. The development coincided with the discovery of colonies of the rare and endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly on the site. This resulted in a community and political campaign to save the butterfly habitat. With the co-operation of the land developer the subdivision was altered to create two bushland reserves in the critical butterfly habitat areas. In the late 1980s the State Government was investigating options for establishing a metropolitan ring road link between Diamond Creek and Ringwood. The chosen route was adjacent to Reynolds Road and so this created a freeze on development of CA15 between Reynolds Road and the electricity easement. The ring road proposal was eventually abandoned, and this part of the land was subdivided into low density residential lots. Diosma Road has been discontinued at the electricity easement and the eastern part incorporated into View Mount Court with access from Reynolds Road. The whole of CA15 has now been developed for residential or associated purposes, ranging from conventional density to quite low density south of Nyora Road. Some remnants of the orchard remain, a few cherry trees on the Graves property and a lone apple tree in Stokes Place. The butterfly reserves comprise significant areas of remnant bushland. Linear reserves through the estate link with central Eltham via the Woodridge linear reserve and with Research along the electricity easement. CA15 as it exists today has a complicated history of rural use, Government acquisition, urban development, and community action. References: • “Stokes Orchard, an incomplete history”; Russell Yeoman with Doug Orford • Correspondence, Beryl Bradbury (nee Stokes) • Aerial Photographs, 1931-1991, Landata (landata.vic.gov.au) • Certificate of Title, Vol. 4930 Fol. 985900 • Plan Number LP 10859 neil webster collection, diosma road, eltham copper butterfly, eucalyptus road, ironbark close, nyora road, peppermint grove, power transmission lines, reynolds road, scarlet ash court, stokes orchard estate, stokes place, woodridge estate, frank stokes, certificate of title -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Surgical silks and sutures, Teleflex (manufacturers of Deknatel), Early 1900s
Through many millennia, various suture materials were used or proposed. Needles were made of bone or metals such as silver, copper, and aluminium bronze wire. Sutures were made of plant materials (flax, hemp and cotton) or animal material (hair, tendons, arteries, muscle strips and nerves, silk, and catgut).[citation needed] The earliest reports of surgical suture date to 3000 BC in ancient Egypt, and the oldest known suture is in a mummy from 1100 BC. A detailed description of a wound suture and the suture materials used in it is by the Indian sage and physician Sushruta, written in 500 BC. The Greek father of medicine, Hippocrates, described suture techniques, as did the later Roman Aulus Cornelius Celsus. The 2nd-century Roman physician Galen described sutures made of surgical gut or catgut. In the 10th century, the catgut suture along with the surgery needle were used in operations by Abulcasis. The gut suture was similar to that of strings for violins, guitars, and tennis racquets and it involved harvesting sheep or cow intestines. Catgut sometimes led to infection due to a lack of disinfection and sterilization of the material. Joseph Lister endorsed the routine sterilization of all suture threads. He first attempted sterilization with the 1860s "carbolic catgut," and chromic catgut followed two decades later. Sterile catgut was finally achieved in 1906 with iodine treatment. The next great leap came in the twentieth century. The chemical industry drove production of the first synthetic thread in the early 1930s, which exploded into production of numerous absorbable and non-absorbable synthetics. The first synthetic absorbable was based on polyvinyl alcohol in 1931. Polyesters were developed in the 1950s, and later the process of radiation sterilization was established for catgut and polyester. Polyglycolic acid was discovered in the 1960s and implemented in the 1970s. Today, most sutures are made of synthetic polymer fibers. Silk and, rarely, gut sutures are the only materials still in use from ancient times. In fact, gut sutures have been banned in Europe and Japan owing to concerns regarding bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Silk suture is still used today, mainly to secure surgical drains. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_suture#:~:text=Sutures%20were%20made%20of%20plant,a%20mummy%20from%201100%20BC. This tin contains a variety of surgical threads and accessories that were used by Dr W.R.Angus. It was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments and material once belonging to Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was physician, surgeon and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as new Medical Assistant to Dr Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s SS Largs Bay. Dr Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928 . The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church in that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr L Middleton was House Surgeon to the Nhill Hospital 1926-1933, when he resigned. [Dr Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr Edward saw patients at his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2 bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1884-1902 . He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr Edward and Dr Tom Ryan work as surgeons included eye surgery. Dr Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital 1902-1926. Dr Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr Ryan. Dr Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10am, 2-4pm, 7-8pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr Edward Ryan and Dr Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr Angus had his own silk worm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June, 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering in artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist to Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr Angus was elected member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life Dr Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eye witness from the late 1880’s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The repair of open wounds is essential to prevent infection and death. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Black tin with hinged lid, containing reels and packets of surgical silk, gut and metal suture threads, scalpel blades, chamois and metal blade holder with tensioned chamois piece across top. (W.R. Angus Collection)‘MEDRAFIL, Dr MULLER- MEERNACH, Nr O, MADE IN GERMANY.’ printed on one of the paper bags in the box containing a suture bobbin. 'PEARSALL'S LONDON' printed on some bobbins. 'J A DEKNATEL & SON INC, QUEENS VILLAGE, LONG ISLAND NEW YORK' printed on others.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, surgical silks and sutures, dr w r angus, medical equipment, surgical instrument, dr ryan, ophthalmology, s.s. largs bay, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, flying doctor, medical history, medical treatment, mira hospital, medical education, medical text book, sutures, surgical silk -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Functional object - Thermometer, Late 19th - early 20th century
The Thermoscope The thermometer dates back to the early 1600s, with Galileo’s invention of the “thermoscope.” Galileo’s device could determine whether temperature was rising or falling, but was not able to detect the actual scale of the temperature. In 1612, Italian inventor and physician Sanctorius was the first to put a numerical scale on the thermoscope. His product was also designed for taking temperature from a patient’s mouth. However, neither Galileo’s nor Sanctorius’ thermoscopes were very accurate. Standardized Scales In 1709, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invented his first thermometer using alcohol. He later introduced the mercury thermometer in 1714, which was more accurate and predictable. The Fahrenheit temperature scale was standardized in 1724 with a freezing point of 32 degrees and a boiling point of 212 degrees. Fahrenheit’s mercury thermometer is recognized as the first modern thermometer with a standardized scale. The Celsius scale was invented in 1742 by Anders Celsius, with a freezing point of 0 degrees and a boiling point of 100 degrees. This scale was accepted into the international conference on weights and measurements in 1948. The Kelvin Scale, measuring extreme temperatures, was developed by Lord Kelvin in 1848. Registering Thermometers Early versions of the thermometer were not able to hold the temperature after they were moved. You can imagine how this made it hard for doctors to correctly read a patient’s temperature. The first thermometer that could register and hold onto temperature was built by James Six in 1782. Today, it is known as Six’s thermometer. Since then, the mercury thermometer was adapted to read a patients temperature after leaving the body. Registering thermometers are still used today and are reset by shaking down the mercury to the bottom of the tube. The Modern Devices Modern Day Thermometers This brings us to the first practical clinical thermometer, which was invented in 1867 by Sir Thomas Allbutt. The device was portable, about 6 inches long and was capable of recording a patient’s temperature in 5 minutes. Now, there are a few options for clinical and home use. Liquid filled thermometers have been adapted based on the designs of inventors like Fahrenheight and Six are still used today. Digital thermometers, like the Omron Compact Digital Thermometer, are capable of finding a temperature and producing an electronic number within a minute of use. Digital ear thermometers also produce a quick and accurate temperature. Dr. Jacob Fraden invented an infared thermometer called the Thermoscan Human Ear Thermometer in 1984. These thermometers use an infared light to scan the heat radiation in a patient’s ear or forehead. The thermometer, like many medical devices, has made strides in efficiency and accuracy. As medical technology continues to advance, businesses in the medical device industry must be prepared to move with it. This thermometer was donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village by the family of Doctor William Roy Angus, Surgeon and Oculist. It is part of the “W.R. Angus Collection” that includes historical medical equipment, surgical instruments, and material once belonging to Dr. Edward Ryan and Dr. Thomas Francis Ryan, (both of Nhill, Victoria) as well as Dr. Angus’ own belongings. The Collection’s history spans the medical practices of the two Doctors Ryan, from 1885-1926 plus that of Dr. Angus, up until 1969. ABOUT THE “W.R.ANGUS COLLECTION” Doctor William Roy Angus M.B., B.S., Adel., 1923, F.R.C.S. Edin.,1928 (also known as Dr. Roy Angus) was born in Murrumbeena, Victoria in 1901 and lived until 1970. He qualified as a doctor in 1923 at the University of Adelaide, was Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1924 and for a period was house surgeon to Sir (then Mr.) Henry Simpson Newland. Dr. Angus was briefly an Assistant to Dr. Riddell of Kapunda, then commenced private practice at Curramulka, Yorke Peninsula, SA, where he was a physician, surgeon, and chemist. In 1926, he was appointed as a new Medical Assistant to Dr. Thomas Francis Ryan (T.F. Ryan, or Tom), in Nhill, Victoria, where his experiences included radiology and pharmacy. In 1927 he was Acting House Surgeon in Dr. Tom Ryan’s absence. Dr. Angus had become engaged to Gladys Forsyth and they decided he would take time to further his studies overseas in the UK in 1927. He studied at London University College Hospital and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and in 1928, was awarded FRCS (Fellow from the Royal College of Surgeons), Edinburgh. He worked his passage back to Australia as a Ship’s Surgeon on the Australian Commonwealth Line’s SS Largs Bay. Dr. Angus married Gladys in 1929, in Ballarat. (They went on to have one son (Graham 1932, born in SA) and two daughters (Helen (died 12/07/1996) and Berenice (Berry), both born at Mira, Nhill ) Dr. Angus was a ‘flying doctor’ for the A.I.M. (Australian Inland Ministry) Aerial Medical Service in 1928. The organisation began in South Australia through the Presbyterian Church that year, with its first station being in the remote town of Oodnadatta, where Dr. Angus was stationed. He was locum tenens there on North-South Railway at 21 Mile Camp. He took up this ‘flying doctor’ position in response to a call from Dr. John Flynn; the organisation was later known as the Flying Doctor Service, then the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A lot of his work during this time involved dental surgery also. Between 1928-1932 he was a surgeon at the Curramulka Hospital, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. In 1933 Dr. Angus returned to Nhill where he’d previously worked as Medical Assistant and purchased a share of the Nelson Street practice and Mira hospital from Dr. Les Middleton one of the Middleton Brothers, the current owners of what was once Dr. Tom Ryan’s practice. Dr. L Middleton was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital from 1926-1933 when he resigned. [Dr. Tom Ryan’s practice had originally belonged to his older brother Dr. Edward Ryan, who came to Nhill in 1885. Dr. Edward saw patients in his rooms, firstly in Victoria Street and in 1886 in Nelson Street, until 1901. The Nelson Street practice also had a 2-bed ward, called Mira Private Hospital ). Dr. Edward Ryan was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital from 1884-1902. He also had occasions where he successfully performed veterinary surgery for the local farmers too. Dr. Tom Ryan then purchased the practice from his brother in 1901. Both Dr. Edward and Dr. Tom Ryan work as surgeons including in eye surgery. Dr. Tom Ryan performed many of his operations in the Mira private hospital on his premises. He too was House Surgeon at the Nhill Hospital from 1902-1926. Dr. Tom Ryan had one of the only two pieces of radiology equipment in Victoria during his practicing years – The Royal Melbourne Hospital had the other one. Over the years Dr. Tom Ryan gradually set up what was effectively a training school for country general-practitioner-surgeons. Each patient was carefully examined, including using the X-ray machine, and any surgery was discussed and planned with Dr. Ryan’s assistants several days in advance. Dr. Angus gained experience in using the X-ray machine there during his time as assistant to Dr. Ryan. Dr. Tom Ryan moved from Nhill in 1926. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927, soon after its formation, a rare accolade for a doctor outside any of the major cities. He remained a bachelor and died suddenly on 7th Dec 1955, aged 91, at his home in Ararat. Scholarships and prizes are still awarded to medical students in the honour of Dr. T.F. Ryan and his father, Dr. Michael Ryan, and brother, John Patrick Ryan. ] When Dr. Angus bought into the Nelson Street premises in Nhill he was also appointed as the Nhill Hospital’s Honorary House Surgeon from 1933-1938. His practitioner’s plate from his Nhill surgery states “HOURS Daily, except Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturday afternoons, 9-10 am, 2-4 pm, 7-8 pm. Sundays by appointment”. This plate is now mounted on the doorway to the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool. Dr. Edward Ryan and Dr. Tom Ryan had an extensive collection of historical medical equipment and materials spanning 1884-1926 and when Dr. Angus took up practice in their old premises he obtained this collection, a large part of which is now on display at the Port Medical Office at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. During his time in Nhill Dr. Angus was involved in the merging of the Mira Hospital and Nhill Public Hospital into one public hospital and the property titles were passed on to Nhill Hospital in 1939. In 1939 Dr Angus and his family moved to Warrnambool where he purchased “Birchwood,” the 1852 home and medical practice of Dr. John Hunter Henderson, at 214 Koroit Street. (This property was sold in1965 to the State Government and is now the site of the Warrnambool Police Station. ). The Angus family was able to afford gardeners, cooks, and maids; their home was a popular place for visiting dignitaries to stay whilst visiting Warrnambool. Dr. Angus had his own silkworm farm at home in a Mulberry tree. His young daughter used his centrifuge for spinning the silk. Dr. Angus was appointed on a part-time basis as Port Medical Officer (Health Officer) in Warrnambool and held this position until the 1940’s when the government no longer required the service of a Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool; he was thus Warrnambool’s last serving Port Medical Officer. (The duties of a Port Medical Officer were outlined by the Colonial Secretary on 21st June 1839 under the terms of the Quarantine Act. Masters of immigrant ships arriving in port reported incidents of diseases, illness, and death and the Port Medical Officer made a decision on whether the ship required Quarantine and for how long, in this way preventing contagious illness from spreading from new immigrants to the residents already in the colony.) Dr. Angus was a member of the Australian Medical Association, for 35 years and a surgeon at the Warrnambool Base Hospital from 1939-1942, He served as a Surgeon Captain during WWII1942-45, in Ballarat, Victoria, and in Bonegilla, N.S.W., completing his service just before the end of the war due to suffering from a heart attack. During his convalescence, he carved an intricate and ‘most artistic’ chess set from the material that dentures were made from. He then studied ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Eye and Ear Hospital and created cosmetically superior artificial eyes by pioneering using the intrascleral cartilage. Angus received accolades from the Ophthalmological Society of Australasia for this work. He returned to Warrnambool to commence practice as an ophthalmologist, pioneering artificial eye improvements. He was Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at Warrnambool Base Hospital for 31 years. He made monthly visits to Portland as a visiting surgeon, to perform eye surgery. He represented the Victorian South-West subdivision of the Australian Medical Association as its secretary between 1949 and 1956 and as chairman from 1956 to 1958. In 1968 Dr. Angus was elected a member of Spain’s Barraquer Institute of Barcelona after his research work in Intrasclearal cartilage grafting, becoming one of the few Australian ophthalmologists to receive this honour, and in the following year presented his final paper on Living Intrasclearal Cartilage Implants at the Inaugural Meeting of the Australian College of Ophthalmologists in Melbourne In his personal life, Dr. Angus was a Presbyterian and treated Sunday as a Sabbath, a day of rest. He would visit 3 or 4 country patients on a Sunday, taking his children along ‘for the ride’ and to visit with him. Sunday evenings he would play the pianola and sing Scottish songs to his family. One of Dr. Angus’ patients was Margaret MacKenzie, author of a book on local shipwrecks that she’d seen as an eyewitness from the late 1880s in Peterborough, Victoria. In the early 1950’s Dr. Angus, painted a picture of a shipwreck for the cover jacket of Margaret’s book, Shipwrecks, and More Shipwrecks. She was blind in later life and her daughter wrote the actual book for her. Dr. Angus and his wife Gladys were very involved in Warrnambool’s society with a strong interest in civic affairs. Their interests included organisations such as the Red Cross, Rostrum, Warrnambool and District Historical Society (founding members), Wine and Food Society, Steering Committee for Tertiary Education in Warrnambool, Local National Trust, Good Neighbour Council, Housing Commission Advisory Board, United Services Institute, Legion of Ex-Servicemen, Olympic Pool Committee, Food for Britain Organisation, Warrnambool Hospital, Anti-Cancer Council, Boys’ Club, Charitable Council, National Fitness Council, and Air Raid Precautions Group. He was also a member of the Steam Preservation Society and derived much pleasure from a steam traction engine on his farm. He had an interest in people and the community He and his wife Gladys were both involved in the creation of Flagstaff Hill, including the layout of the gardens. After his death (28th March 1970) his family requested his practitioner’s plate, medical instruments, and some personal belongings be displayed in the Port Medical Office surgery at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, and be called the “W. R. Angus Collection”. The W.R. Angus Collection is significant for still being located at the site it is connected with, Doctor Angus being the last Port Medical Officer in Warrnambool. The collection of medical instruments and other equipment is culturally significant, being an historical example of medicine from late 19th to mid-20th century. Dr Angus assisted Dr Tom Ryan, a pioneer in the use of X-rays and in ocular surgery. Long cylindrical glass thermometer with mercury bulb, inside a light weight wooden cylinder with top, (W.R. Angus Collection) Temperature scale in fahrenheit. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, thermometer, dr w r angus, medical equipment, surgical instrument, dr ryan, ophthalmology, s.s. largs bay, warrnambool base hospital, nhill base hospital, flying doctor, medical history, medical treatment, mira hospital, medical education, medical text book -
Mission to Seafarers Victoria
Flyer, Annual Meeting, 1886
The Annual Meeting presenting the Annual Report was held on the 21st of September 1886 at the Melbourne Athenaeum. In the Standard (Port Melbourne, Vic. : 1884 - 1914), Saturday 25 September 1886, page 2 VICTORIAN SEAMEN'S MISSION. This institution held its annual meeting in the Melbourne Athenæum on Tuesday evening under the most favourable auspices. The hall was filled in every part, a very large pro portion of the audience being seamen. The half hour previous to the com mencement of the meeting was very pleasantly occupied bv listening to the capital playing of the band of the Naval Brigade, and precisely at eight o'clock the musicians heralded the entrance of the vice-regal party by playing ' The National Anthem.' Sir Henry and Lady Loch were received by the Mayor of Melbourne (Mr. Stewart), the Hon. F. T. Derham, Captain Pasco, Mr. H. R. Reid (hon. secretary), and Lieutenant - Colonel Templeton, and His Excellency imme diately took the chair. The venerable ex-chaplain, the Rev. Kerr Johnson, was present, but as he did not feel equal to taking part in the proceedings, the Rev. E. T. Miles opened the meeting with prayer. Nothing could have been more cal culated to give a distinctive character to the meeting than the singing of the Sailors' Hymn by the 300 odd seamen present. The rugged yet tuneful voices of the men blending with those of the ladies present, who heartily joined in, gave a most spirit-stirring effect to the beautiful words of the refrain : — Rocks and streams I'll fear no more, When on that eternal shore; Drop the anchor ! furl the sail ! I am safe within the vail. Next followed His Excellency's address as chairman. The Governor threw himself heartily into the pro ceedings, and his remarks, expressive of the utmost sympathy with the sea men of the empire, were applauded to the echo. In fact from the start all the speakers struck the right key-note. The institution was not held up as a charity on which Jack was more or less dependent. According to the gentlemen who one and all welcomed him as a friend, and a right useful friend too, the thing was all the other way. To the sailor it was, they de clared, that they owed all that the colony possessed, and more — the great ness and prosperity of the Empire, He was the sort of man who never turned his back on a fellow creature, or refused to give a hand to a comrade in distress. Therefore it was deter mined that Jack should not come to these shores and think there were none to care for the comfort of his body or the welfare of his soul, and with the object of greeting the sailor on his arrival, of grasping his hand as a friend, beguiling his hours on shore, and saving him from the scores of dangers and temptations which beset a sea-faring man's stay in port, the institution had in '57 been started. Its claims on the Victorian public, not as a charity, but as a means of show ing some recognition of the services of the brave men who man our mercan tile marine, were ably put before the meeting. The Rev. G. D. Buchanan de clared that if the Melbourne merchants contributed to the mission a tithe of the amount they spent in insurance, they would find their goods better looked after by the seamen than by the insurance companies. Captain McCallum, the treasurer, read the following report of the com mittees of the Port Melbourne and Williamstown Rests : — In no part of the Queen's dominions have there been more changes during the last thirty years than in the colony bearing her gracious name ; and it is therefore all the more pleasant to report that the Victorian Mission to seamen, which started so long ago as 1857, still pursues an active career of usefulness, holding out a helping hand to mariners of all nations, without distinction of colour, race or creed. Eight years ago, some of the supporters of the Mission, feeling the want of a Temperance Club, where the crews of the various ships might recreate themselves and enjoy the three ' C's' — Coffee — Comfort — Company, appealed to the public for assistance, resulting in sufficient funds being obtained to justify the establishment of Sailors' Rests at Sandridge and Williamstown. Both these institutions were opened by a distinguished gentleman who has always taken a practical interest in sea men, and who, but for illness, would have been present at this meeting — Sir W. F. Stawell — and the result jof several years' experience fully justifies the statement that these institutions have supplied a felt want — the attendance of visitors reaching now about 30,000 per annum ; whilst so economically are they managed, that the annual cost to the public is less than L150 The thanks of the committee are specially due to those ladies and gentlemen who so kindly made a special and successful effort to supply both of the Bests with new piano fortes, to the great enjoyment of ' Jack ashore.' The instrument which was pre sented to the Port Melbourne institution by Mr. J. M. Bruce, on behalf of the sub scribers, the funds having been collected by his daughter yet in her teens, being espec ially one of great value. Concerts free to all seamen, given by amateur singers, are held weekly on both sides of the bay, and are largely attended and much appreciated. The building at Port Melbourne, which, being of wood, is merely of a temporary character, is free from debt ; but there is a mortgage of L500 on the Williamstown institution, which cripples its usefulness. The committee have regretfully to report that during the year under review they have lost, through the weakness of increas ing years, tbe loving services of the Rev. Kerr Johnston, their venerable friend and chaplain, whose life is, indeed, the history of the Mission, for he has been connected with it from the commencement of the work. Mr. Johnston has proved himself a true disciple of his Divine Master, and the com mittee trust that in the evening of his days he may enjoy that peace and rest which he lias so well earned. The com mittee presented Mr. Johnston, on retiring, with an honorarium of L100. Mr. E. James has been appointed iu Mr. JohuBton'u room, and the committee believe that their choice lias been a fortunate one. The Mission aud Sailors' Bests have been kept afloat by the unwearied and self -deny-ing exertions of the Ladies1 Committee, who have personally collected nearly the whole of the income ; but it may fairly be asked whether, in this great seaport, where last year there entered in at Her Majesty's Customs 1711 ships, manned by 61,256 men, the mercantile community of Melbourne should net take a more active interest in the welfare of the thousands of brave men who, for a few weeks, temporary sojourners on our shores, away from friends and relatives, have a special claim on our sympathy and help. We are of the old land, ' that gem sunk in the silver sea and we can re-echo Mr. Gladstone's recent words to the crew of the yacht Sunbeam, ' The calling which you follow is a noble one, and is calculated to bring forth the highest qualities of our common nature ; ana if it is possible for any occupation to make a man, in the highest and wideBt sense of the word, it is ' the occupation to which your lives are given. How closely it is connected with the the prosperity and fame of tbi» great nation ; how closely, indeed, it is connected with advancement of civilisation, and tiie general welfare of the world, it needs no words of mine to tell yon, for in your work and life you know it well, and feel it truly.' Look ing at what we Victorians owe to the British sailor, the committee earnestly trust that, with the blessings of the Almighty God, increased success will attend the work of the Mission and Rests. Mr. James read the chaplain's re port: — Since my appointment as chaplain to tbe Seamens' Mission, I have met with greater success than I anticipated. I have visited all the ships that have come into port, also many of the vessels on the Yarra, and am pleased with the civil and courteous manner in which I have been received by captains, officers and men, and in most cases my invitations to them to attend our meetings have been most heartily responded to. . The attendance at the services in the Bethel has much improved — on some occasions scarcely sitting room is to be found. The services have proved a great blessing to many Christian seamen ; whilst several who have come into port caring for nothing of a religious nature, have left praying. God fearing men, with the request that those left behind would remember them in their supplications, that they should be kept through all the trials and temptations to which seamen are exposed. The weekly Tuesday evening concerts got up bj the ladies of the committee and others, have proved a great benefit to the Mission, and a source of great enjoyment to the seamen in port. The programmes are excellent; and are spoken of by the sailors as the best they have heard in any port. The Sailors* Rest is provided with a library, the daily papers, and illustrated literature, with games of chess, draughts, dominoes, quoits, and other amusements, which are much taken advantage of during the evenings. Seamen ' are alio provided with writing materials, free, bo that everyone may have any opportunity of writing to their friends; for many an anxious parent is counting the days and hoping for .the time to come when they shall get a line from their sons in the far distant land, and many a son is reminded of his obligation by the opportunity thus afforded. I am much pleased at this time to acknowledge the kindness of the committee, and the great help I have received from them, also from Mr. Douglas, the manager of the Best. I do not think I could have been blest with a better co-worker. I have no hesitation in recommending the seamen to go to the Best, and telling them that they will receive a most hearty welcome, to which they can all testify ; my thanks are due to the voluntary workers, who have given every assistance ft their power, especially to Miss Lloyd, who is an invaluable help, attending in all weathers, and playing the organ at every service. The Sunday School is progressing, and we aie now about to make another addition to the library, of good readable books. The work at Williamstown is also pro gressing well, the Wednesday night concerts being well attended, and the singing and reciting supplied by local talent really good; the sailors contributing largely to the programmes. Captain McCallum is the backbone of the work at Williamstown, well supported by many warm friends of the sailors. The services held every Sunday night are productive of mnch good. The work here, too, is very encouraging, having much improved of late. I am thank ful to God that He has so blessed the efforts of His people, and hope they may be long spared to carry on the work. The Rev. G. D. Buchanan in an eloquent speech proposed the first re solution : — ' That the Reports now read be adopted, and that the following ladies and gentlemen be the Committee for the ensuing year : — SEAMEN'S MISSION. Ladies Committee. — Mesdames Templeton, Campbell, Chamberlin, Elworthy, Lormer, Gourlay, Gowan, B. Johnston, Webb, Young, Plummer, Misses Elwortny, Webb, Gowan, and M. Hastie. Gentlemen's Committee. — Captains Pasco, R. N., Adams, McCallum, J.P., Dalgarno, Garside, Messrs. Courtis, A. J. Smith, Macpherson, H. R. Reid, J.P., Henry Berry, J.P., Revs. Kerr Johnston, and A. R. Edgar.' Captain Pasco seconded, and in formed the audience that Baron Von Mueller had written regretting his inability to attend, but had sent a substantial cheque. (Applause.) A collection was then taken up and liberally responded to, the band mean-time playing airs suitable to the occa sion, such as ' The Death of Nelson' and ' Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.' The hon. F. T. Derham next pro posed the second resolution : — ' That the success which has attended the working of the Port Melbourne Sailors' Rest justifies this meeting in taking imme diate steps to raise the funds necessary to erect a Seamen's Institute worthy of the in creasing trade and commerce of Victoria.' This was seconded by the Rev. A. R. Edgar, and both were carried by ac clamation. The Mayor of Melbourne moved a vote of thanks to His Excellency, and Sir Henry in the course of his reply said his sympathies were not only with sailors because he had been much brought into contact with them, but because he had been a sailor himself and had had the honour and privilege of serving in Her Majesty's navy. At this the men sprang to their feet and gave three deafening cheers for the Governor and another for Lady Loch, who bowed her acknowledgment and appeared very pleased at the hearty reception accorded to her. During the evening Mrs. Pearce, and Messrs. Walsh, Woods, and Robinson, members of the Liedertafel, contributed songs. The lady, who has sung at the Tuesday evening concerts, sang ' When the Tide comes in' so charmingly that an encore, although against the rule of the evening, was insisted upon, which was responded to by a beautiful rendering of the old ballad ' Robin Adair,' Altogether the meeting was a com plete success, and will doubtless afford the committee fresh encouragement in their well-directed efforts. Printed programme for the 1886 annual meeting taking place in the Melbourne AthenaeumWritten in black ink at the back by WHC Darvall: annual meeting, melbourne athenaeum, 1886, baron ferdinand von mueller, sailors' rest, hugh ronald reid, captain fullarton, captain mccallum, henry loch, captain pasco, reverend kerr johnston