AS/1993/232

Yields information about Stones Corner, associated building and its use by trams in the period before the closure of the SEC system. Black and White photograph of tram of No. 11 at Stones Corner turning from Bridge St into Main Road. Tram showing Special, has a Twin Lakes sign and a Briquettes roof advert. In the background is H. Whitefield, the State Savings Bank of Victoria, a directional sign for C. W. Pennant wall paper Rodda and the ANZ bank? Photo by Charles Craig - during 1971. trams, tramways, bridge st, stones corner, main road, tram 11

Black and White photograph contained with Reg. Item 1902 - Photo Album from Keith Kings to Les Denmead 1970. Photograph on AGFA paper of the ESCo foundation stone and SEC office plaques on the wall of the Wendouree Parade Offices of the SECV, 12/2/1966. Keith Kings No. N(o)(13) Scanning: i - image file, p - presentation file, b - back of photograph.Stamp in top left hand corner and handwritten number with "K.S. Kings No. N(o)(13), Copyright reserved". In blue ink "Ballarat (1) Foundation Stone for Power House and offices of the Electric Supply Co. of Vic. Ltd. (2) S.E.C. of Victoria plate. (3) E.S.D. plate of SEC Wendouree parade 12/2/66"trams, tramways, secv, foundation stone, plaques, power station, esco

Yields information about a historical wall at the Ballarat Power station and its relationship to a previous land owner.Newspaper clipping from The Courier, 26/8/1953 of a photograph and caption of the bluestone wall at Ballarat A power station, noting it was a remnant of Fry's flour mill. Also notes when the power station foundation stone was laid. Item was contained within Reg Item 5507 - Foolscap binder with green covers, black binding edge and metal clips - see btm5507-list.pdf for actual location. Hi Res scan added 16-12-2015.power station

Hilda Hill Collection. Black and White Photos Total of 7 in subset, 3 containing images of Victorian Coastline in particular Pt Lonsdale and Queenscliff in 1921. Another has a family group on a property owned in Kyneton Victoria known as 'Durvol' in October 1920. Ken wearing a grey suit and sitting on a large stone in the garden stargazing, to his left is a short section of a picket fence and ornate corner post, large trees in the background. Four ladies standing on the rock as the seaside, Doreen, Nora, Lila, and Rita, all dressed in white, the second and third are carrying darker coloured coats on their arms, Queenscliff 1921.Leonie dressed in white and holding a black hat with both hands, background shows trellis and weather boards, left foreground may be heap of cut wood. Frank is sitting on steps dressed in white shirt, dark waistcoat, and dark trousers, background is brick wall and handrail attached to the steps. Four ladies in four wheel tourist coach owned by J. L. Priddle, the two at the front are both wearing white, lady to the left also is wearing a dark coat and scarf, the ladies at the rear are both wearing dark tops and the lady on the outer is wearing a white dress. The background appears to be covered on shrubbery. Four ladies sitting on the rocks at Queenscliff February 1921, Three of the ladies are dressed in white, one in a darker colour, all are wearing hats of similar design either black or white. Pone man dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and black tie, the three ladies are all wearing white blouses and darker dresses, the child at the front is dressed entirely in white, Merry??? Durvol October 1920.Hilda Hill Persdonal Collectionaustralia, history, port londsdale & queenscliff, hilda hill ? realted to frank a hill, stock and station agent and hill family real estate. family owned property out at eppalock. could this be where 'the ranch' property was located?

On 23 July 1922, Brighton City Council adopted the recommendation from a sub-committee that the site for a war memorial be at Green Point, Brighton Beach. Brighton Council invited designs, limited to returned soldier architects and 18 designs were received. The first prize of £30 was awarded to the architecture firm Irwin and Stevenson and the designs were exhibited at the Brighton Town Hall in 1925. The bronze casting, using lost wax technique, was executed by sculptor Mr. Paul Montford, to the design of the architect and the central assemblage was believed to be the largest bronze casting in relief carried out in Australia at the time. The Brighton War Memorial was unveiled by His Excellency the Governor, the Right Honourable Arthur Herbert Tennyson Baron Somers, K.C.M.G., D.S.O., M.C., on Sunday 24th April 1927 in the presence of 4,000 people. The memorial was originally constructed to commemorate those from the City of Brighton who served in World War One but has since been augmented to commemorate those from the municipality of Bayside who have made the ultimate sacrifice during official periods of hostility.War memorial consisting of a sandstone cenotaph, granite base and sandstone terrace situated at Green Point, Brighton. The cenotaph is a truncated obelisk with classical decoration in stone and bronze. The cenotaph bears the Rising Sun badge in bronze relief near its top with bronze lettering running down the cenotaph reading "ERECTED IN HONOUR OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1919". A bronze relief assemblage of crossed weapons, a wreath, the lamp of valour and the Latin phrase "DUCIT AMOR PATRIA" (love of country leads me) sit above the base which is carved with the word "SERVICE". The terrace walls have bronze relief medallions with images of the head of an airman on the left and an infantryman on the right. The back of the cenotaph bears a torch in bronze relief near its top. On the sandstone wall behind the cenotaph are three large bronze plaques that lists the names of those from the City of Bayside who have served in the various conflicts in which Australia has been involved. At the back of the sandstone wall is carved lettering reading "HISTORY GAVE THEM A COMMON FAME. POSTERITY A COMMON MONUMENT" with 1914 carved on the left and 1919 on the right.brighton war memorial, memorial, cenotaph, green point, war memorial, brighton, service, paul montford, irwin and stevenson, rising sun, wreath, weapons, lamp of valour, great war, world war one, honour roll, honour board, roll of honour, ducit amor patriae, brighton beach, city of brighton, leighton major francis irwin, roy kenneth stevenson

Quarry in Grampians Stone used for Lake Fyans Wallstawell

Rose pink satin scroll with names of donors printed upon it rests inside a brown wooden box. A plastic cover protects the scroll, and printed upon this is an image of the stone archway (from the first building housing the Sydney Industrial Blind Institution) as well as the words 'The Presidents Club'. To view the scroll, turn the handles up or down. List of names represents people who donated to an appeal (date unknown). Box was designed to be mounted on a wall.Wooden box with satin scroll of printed namesThe Presidents Clubroyal blind society of nsw, fundraising

Samuel came to Belfast with his parents Benjamin and Maryanne on the ship 'Oithona' arriving at Portland on January 30th 1855 when he was 11 years old. In 1865 he marries Selina Ann Daughter of William and Mary Oaff who arrived in Australia on the 'Clara' on the same day as Samuel. They had 6 children. As a stonemason by trade It is probable that he helped his father build the wall around the Consolidated school in 1875. They lived in a stone cottage next door to the Port Fairy Hospital. It was demolished when the new wing was built in 1976. He joined the Manchester Order of Oddfellows in 1863 and was elected Grand Master in 1880. He died when he was 37 in 1881.Early settlerPosed portrait black & white photographpioneer, settler, portrait, people, family, bowyer, samuel, stonemason, clara, oithona, selina ann, william oaff, mary oaff

Used as an illustration in, "Green Grows Our Garden," A.P. Winzenried p 86. According to the text in the book, work was probably done in the early 1950's but cataloguer has put 1948 as date of photograph.Black and white photograph. Public Works maintenance staff, George Phillips and Jack Edwards working outside the College in Swan Street.george phillips, jack edwards, green grows our garden, a.p. winzenried, public works maintenance staff, swan street entrance, stone retaining wall

Wallace's Hut is the oldest surviving cattlemen's hut on the High Plains, built in 1889 by the three Wallace brothers - Arthur, William and Stewart. Their father David bought land at Kergunyah as well as grazing land on the banks of the Kiewa River, North East Victoria. Once the boys were old enough, the family followed the local squatters’ custom of taking their cattle up to the mountains for the spring and summer to fatten the mob, at the same time resting their home pastures. They decided to build a hut where they could shelter from the extreme mountain weather. The timber was cut from the forest about four hundred metres east of the hut, and the hearth stone was dragged in from Pretty Valley. The chimney had a base of rubble and above this iron sheeting on a timber frame. The slab walls were lined with hessian and later with tar-paper, and inside there was a bush table, sleeping platform and a rustic fire-side settle. The hut nestled among snow gums sheltered by a rocky outcrop. The names of the Wallace brothers were burnt into the tie-beams of the roof and at the back of the mantelpiece. The Wallace family’s lease expired in the late 1930s and the hut was bought by the State Electricity Commission to house staff on the High Plains and it became the first home of Toni and Skippy St. Elmo. The SEC covered the old shingles with iron, and later on the walls and chimney as well, and they added a lean-to. Wallace’s Hut is now owned by the Crown and maintained by Parks Victoria. It is on the Historic Buildings Register and is classified by the National Trust.This image is significant because it depicts an important heritage-listed structure and refuge for cattlemen and other travellers in Victoria's High Country.A black and white photograph of a skier outside of Wallace's Hut. Several sets of skis and poles are standing around and other skiers are in the background.wallace's hut, toni and skippy st. elmo, high country huts

Picture of Carlton's Premiership Team & Coach Ron Barassi. Back row: Gordon Casey, Barry Gill, Neil Chandler, Bill Bennett, Adrian Gallagher, Denis Munari. 2nd row: Ron Auchettl, Ian Robertson, Bryan Quirk, Peter Smith, Bob Edmond, Brian Kekovich, Brent Crosswell. 3rd Row: Gary Crane, Ron Stone, Vin Waite, Peter Jones, Robert Walls, Peter McLean, Alex Jesaulenko, Ian Nicoll. Seated: Ian Collins, John Goold, John Nicholls (captain), Ron Barassi (coach), Wes Lofts, Sergio Silvagni, Kevin Hall. Carlton FC's first premiership after 21 years, at the time the longest drought premiership in the club's history. The win was the culmination of recruiting Ron Barassi from Melbourne FC in 1965. Ron Barassi leaving Melbourne at the end of the 1964 season was one of the most sensational stories in VFL history. Carlton defeated Essendon 7.14 (56) to 8.5 (53) Att 115828. The game was marred by a blustery wind. Brian Kekovich kicked 4 goals for Carlton and Gary Crane was Carlton's best player.Postcard size Black & White photo

First laid in 1921 at the Camberwell RSL in Canterbury Road Camberwell. Relaided in 1978 on a wall of a unit at the Camberwell Council retirement home on the same site after the Camberwell RSL was demolished. Discovered in 2017 by Peter Fielding and removed for rededication at the Camberwell RSL on the 100 centenary in 2019.Very significant historical piece.Marble and Granite Foundation stoneThis stone was laid by His Excellency the Governor General Lord Forster PC. CCMG on the 3rd December 1921 AD

In architecture a corbel serves a decorative as well as structural function as a solid piece of stone, wood or metal that is built into a wall and juts out like a bracket to carry a weight. The smoothly shaped corbel was formerly built into the external wall of the lighthouse facing the sea. It consists of two cupped, rounded forms, one bigger than the other, which are attached to a damaged flat base. Made of cast concrete, it is the same fabric as the lighthouse and shows evidence of white paint on its surface. An early architectural drawing of the tower shows the corbel as a projecting, decorative moulding underpinning the balcony floor associated with the auxiliary light. It indicates the original corbel was a much larger architectural feature which started as a solid rectangular block and terminated with a smaller block and then two tapering, rounded forms. Prepared in mid-1888, the architectural drawings for the lighthouse by Victorian Public Works Department architect, Frederick Hynes, were amended in 1888-89 to provide for an auxiliary light, which comprised an arched opening and door in the tower wall below the lantern room and small balcony. In the late nineteenth century all of Victoria’s lightstations installed a red auxiliary light to serve as a danger warning to mariners sailing too close to shoare. Existing lightstations, like Cape Otway, built a pavilion below their lighthouse facing out to sea, but newly constructed towers like Point Hicks and Split Point incorporated them into their designs. The efficacy of auxiliary lights became a controversial issue and all were discontinued on 1 January 1913. The Point Hicks balcony was removed from the face of the tower in 1971 after it was found to be badly rusted. This resulted in the complete removal of the corbel, from which the rounded moulding and part of the base survives. The auxiliary light and door were subsequently removed in 1975 and glass blocks now fill the opening. Cape Schanck Lightstation retains four cast iron brackets from its auxiliary light balcony which are currently stored in the lighthouse on the ground floor. No other architectural fabric associated with the auxiliary light has been identified at Point Hicks Lightstation. The fragment of corbel has first level contributory significance for its historic and architectural values as a relic of the auxiliary light and as an original moulding from the fabric of Victoria’s first concrete lighthouse.A masonary corbel.

This set of photos is from a leather bound album bearing the inscription "HUME RESERVOIR AUSTRALIA" plus 'The Rt. Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, P. C., M .P.' all inscribed in gold. It was presented to The Rt. Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, P. C., M. P, Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs on the occasion of his visit to the Hume Reservoir on 2nd November 1927. This album is of local and national significance as it documents the planning and development of the Hume Reservoir up to 1927. It was the largest water reservoir in the British Empire. The album records the pioneering engineering work that went into its construction.2. Detail Plan and Section. Starting from the New South Wales and there will be an earthen embankment 430 feet 6 inches long which is retained by the North Wing Wall. Then come the sluice section 284 feet 3 inches long, the spillway 720 feet long and the South Wing Wall, making a total length of 1,042 feet 6 inches of concrete wall. Beyond the South Wing Wall is earth embankment again to a length of 3,827 feet. The Full Supply Level is R.L.626.00 and allowance has been made for a surcharge of 9 feet. A road will run along the top of the dam at R.L.642.00. The sluice section contains seven offlets, the three nearest the north wing wall being 13 feet in diameter for hydro-electric purposes and the other four 9 feet in diameter for regulation purposes only. There are to be stony sluice gates on the upstream ends of the outlets and needle valves on the downstream ends. The shock of the discharged water will be taken by a stilling pool. Trash racks will protect the intake ends of the outlets. Next comes the spillway section, which is curved on the downstream face, and carried up to within 15 feet of the full supply level. Above that will be a series of piers between which will be the flood gates and on top of which the roadway will be carried. The gates will be 20 feet wide and 15 feet high and will be 29 in number. They will slide down the face of the wall when opened for the escape of the water. The investigation of the control of this cascade of water was made by means of a model and as a result the form of “bucket” or energy dissipater shown on the section of the spillway was decided upon. The earth embankment in Victoria is being constructed by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria who are the Constructing Authority for that State under the River Murray Waters Agreement. The core of the embankment is of concrete 6 feet wide at the base tapering to 2 feet at the top end and is reinforced with steel rods from the level of the decomposed rock upwards. On the downstream side, at about natural surface level, is a tunnel for drainage and inspection purposes. Above the tunnel is a vertical layer of large stones to drain any seepage to the tunnel. Against the core wall is packed selected material of as impervious a character as can be got locally and beyond that the bank is carefully built up in horizontal layers by means of horses and wheel scoops. The upstream slope is 3-to-1 hardening to 2½-to-1 at the top and the downstream slope is 2½-to-1 hardening to 2.07-to-1 at the top. The thrust of the upstream toe is taken by a mass of granite blocks, and this face is protected by concrete laid in situ. The width of the bank at base is 650 feet and at top 32 feet.hume reservoir australia, river murray waters scheme, hume weir diagrams, hume plan details

The booklet shows important aspects of the Shrine, 'one of the greatest of the war memorials erected in various parts of the world'. 'The purpose of this imposing structure is set out in the simple words quoted on the eastern wall of the Shrine of Remembrance itself- "This memorial was erected by a grateful people to the honoured memory of the men and women of Victoria who served the Empire in the Great War of 1914-18." The booklet outlines parts of the Shrine including the Battle Honour Discs, the Porticos, the Stone of Remembrance, the Inner Shrine, the Crypt and the Ray of Light. The document was in a file with other documents concerning the Shrine and it's history (01181 - 01190).A record of the Shrine of Remembrance. There was an effort to record historical events for the "Archive Committee" which collected this and other documents relating to the Shrine together in a file (see items 01181 - 01190)A 16 page of booklet of buff paper in a dark grey brown cover describing the Shrine in photos and black print.memorial, shrine of remembrance

The booklet shows important aspects of the Shrine, 'one of the greatest of the war memorials erected in various parts of the world'. 'The purpose of this imposing structure is set out in the simple words quoted on the eastern wall of the Shrine of Remembrance itself- "This memorial was erected by a grateful people to the honoured memory of the men and women of Victoria who served the Empire in the Great War of 1914-18." The booklet outlines parts of the Shrine including the Battle Honour Discs, the Porticos, the Stone of Remembrance, the Inner Shrine, the Crypt and the Ray of Light. The document was in a file with other documents concerning the Shrine and it's history (01181 - 01191). Labelled with red pen S10 as part of an old archive numbering system.A record of the Shrine of Remembrance. There was an effort to record historical events for the "Archive Committee" which collected this and other documents relating to the Shrine together in a file (see items 01181 - 01191).A 16 page of booklet of buff paper in a cream cover describing the Shrine in photos and brown print.Stamped 'The Property of Legacy Melbourne' in purple ink. S10 in red penmemorial, shrine of remembrance

CEMA Art collectionThe painting depicts a stone building with red roof. The front of the building features a double staircase which leads from both sides of the building to a central door. On either side of the door is a window. The side of the building features four windows, three of which are covered. To the left of the building are various plants with the roof of a building in the background. To the right of the building is a fence and blue wall. The work has a plain wooden frame with a mount and glass.Front: Customs House Portland 1849 Ruth Denny 1967 (black, hand-written) Back: Sticker: DEAN'S MU 8269 FOR FRAMING 346 LT. COLLINS ST., MELB. No 20438 Yellow sticker: 3032portland customs house, female artist, female artists, bluestone, bluestone building

The Ballarat Prisoner of War Memorial was dedicated on 06 February 2004 t acknowledge the pain and suffering that all Prisoners of War endured during their time in captivity, to commemorate the thousands of mates left behind and to acknowledge the sacrifice of families during wartime. The memorial was designed by sculptor Peter Blizzard and is made of natural stone-basalt and granite. 55,000 names are etched onto the 130 metre long granite wall.Photograph of the Ballarat Prisoner of War Memorial ballarat prisoner of war memorial, peter blizzard, pow

BHS Collectionblack and white photo reprint. Rendered stone cottage, two double doors to front. Render partly worn away with stone visible. Corrulaged iron roof, sleepout on LH of verandah. Brick wall with ladder against. Remains of cast iron to verandah, cast iron table with plants. Aspidistras in garden beds with roses.buildings, residential, stone cottage

The Arthurs Creek Cemetery was originally the private cemetery of pioneers Agnes and Patrick Reid. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p11 The Hazel Glen property, at Middle Hut Road, Arthurs Creek, which includes one of Victoria’s earliest pioneer buildings, was the forerunner to the Arthurs Creek and Doreen townships. At one time the Doreen Post Office and school were called Hazel Glen. The Hazel Glen State School No 945, before it was moved to its present site, stood on land to the south of Chapel Lane, which had been donated by Hazel Glen owner, William Reid. In May 1895 the post office was renamed Doreen to avoid confusion with the Reid’s address. The Arthurs Creek Cemetery was originally the private cemetery of Hazel Glen pioneers Agnes and Patrick Reid. The Reids with their eight children, arrived in Melbourne in April 1839. In 1844 Patrick Reid took over the licence to the Stewart Ponds run of 5120 acres (2072ha). Reid renamed it Hazel Glen, after Hazelden, the name of the Reid estate at Mearns in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Reid built a small cottage from local stone and hand-made bricks, with walls one yard (91 cm) thick, a flagstone floor and a shingle roof. Today two rooms and a store room survive as part of a larger house. Agnes died in 1847 aged 49, and was buried on a hill overlooking Hazel Glen, where it is said she had asked to be buried as it had been a favourite picnic spot.2 In 1858 Patrick died aged 74, and was buried near her. Their son William was to become Whittlesea Shire’s first president. From 1868 he was a Whittlesea Roads Board member, then a shire councillor until shortly before his death in 1923 aged 88. In 1865 the Reid’s burial area was no longer on their property, so it was declared a cemetery site. In 1867 it became the Linton Public Cemetery, being in the Linton Parish. However, to avoid confusion with Linton near Ballarat, the cemetery was renamed the Arthurs Creek Public Cemetery in 1926. Arthurs Creek was named after Henry Arthur, a pastoralist and public servant, who ran 1000 sheep lower down the Creek, from 1836 to 1841. It is believed he built his home at the end of today’s Challenger Street in Diamond Creek.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. agnes reid, arthurs creek cemetery, nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, patrick reid, reid family

Vassilieff dynamited rock from his own property to build his house. Stonygrad is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p135 Stonygrad, the home built by Expressionist painter and sculptor Danila Vassilieff, is reminiscent of a grotto and in parts, of a sculpture. Vassilieff, who amongst others influenced painter Sydney Nolan and Albert Tucker, was a member of the artists group the Angry Penguins. He was also a highly regarded art teacher at the nearby Koornong Experimental School and taught at Eltham High School. Art critic Robert Hughes described Vassilieff’s painting as ‘lyrical without social commentary’, and said Vassilieff was ‘the most oddly neglected artist in recent Australian History’. Vassilieff, who was born in 1897 in Russia, had an unusually adventurous life before he settled in Warrandyte. The 12th of 18 children, he lived on a farm in the Don Basin. Vassilieff trained with the Imperial Military Academy at St Petersburg and fought in World War One as an officer in the White Russian Army against the communists. In 1920 he was captured, then escaped from prison, stole a horse and rode bareback 150 miles to the Black Sea, helped at first by Tartar freebooters. He then travelled to India, Shanghai and arrived in Queensland as a refugee in 1923 where he began painting. He and his wife Anisia bought a sugar farm near Ingram, and later he constructed railway lines at Mataranka, in the Northern Territory.4 In 1929 Vassilieff went to Brazil for formal art training from former fellow-officer Dmitri Ismailovich, but he soon left to travel up the Amazon River. He then worked as a sidewalk artist in the West Indies and travelled for two years in England, France and Spain. In 1937 he arrived in Melbourne where he lived until his death in 1958. His first major Australian series was the Carlton streetscapes and from 1951 he sculpted in local hard limestone. Vassilieff rejected all dogma and regarded religious subjects as suitable only for decorative arts. In 1944 he helped defeat a communist attempt to take over the Contemporary Art Society. For a short time, from around 1955, Vassilieff taught at various Victorian schools. The Angry Penguins painted mainly between 1937 and 1947, and included Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Joy Hester. The group formed as they felt isolated from European thought and art (including Surrealism) from which their work was derived. They were also angry at what they considered to be the complacency and insularity of their society. They maintained Australians at first were scarcely aware of the threats of the Wall Street Crash and Hitler and were little interested in the Spanish Civil War. The Angry Penguins also objected to the White Australia Policy. Hughes said although most of the Melbourne Expressionists in the 1940s were unskilled and their work crude in style, they helped jolt Australian painting from its pastoral complacency. Their style influenced nearly every painting produced by significant figurative artists in Melbourne in the 1950s such as Charles Blackman. From 1939 Vassilieff built Stonygrad, mainly with local stone. The house stands at the end of a private road surrounded by trees with the quiet occasionally broken by the sounds of bellbirds. To build his house Vassilieff dynamited rock and cut trees from his own property. The original section of the three-level house is of irregular-shaped pieces of solid stone, exposed inside like the exterior. Vassilieff later built sections with timber and brick. Inside is rustic and cave-like, and several rooms are linked by arched openings with no doors. One undulating wall was carved out of rock from which two sculptured heads protrude. Several ceilings are of rough-hewn logs and the built-in table and bookcase are rough, as is a timber ladder leading to a bedroom. Not for the elderly or unsteady! Yet the general impression in the muted light is beautiful, with artistic originality.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, danila vassilieff, hamilton road, north warrandyte, stonygrad

Situated at the eastern end of York Street, Eltham, 'Shinrone', the former home of Professor William (Mac) MacMahon Ball was one of the first in the Shire of Eltham to incorporate mud-brick. Professor MacMahon Ball, a political scientist, writer, broadcaster and diplomat and family moved to York Street, Eltham in 1945 into a timber cottage built around the 1890s and in poor repair. Mac asked Alistair Knox to renovate the home and he expanded the living area and added verandahs. In 1948 Montsalvat artist and sculptor Sonia Skipper supervised the building of most of the mud-brick studio. Neighbour Gordon Ford made the mud-bricks. Mac also asked John Harcourt, who had worked with him as a journalist in shortwave broadcasting, to build a pise (rammed earth) and stone addition to the largely timber house. Harcourt built two bedrooms - including an attic bedroom - a balcony with a shower and toilet, a nd a fireplace and chimney of local stone. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p141 At the eastern tip of York Street, Eltham, stands Shinrone, the former home of one of Australia’s intellectual leaders. Professor William Macmahon Ball, was one of the first to bring Asia as a foreign policy issue to the Australian public.1 He was a political scientist, writer, broadcaster and diplomat. The house was one of the first in Eltham Shire to incorporate mud-brick,2 because of the acute shortage of building materials after World War Two. Its novice builders later become leaders in Eltham’s built and garden design. Mac (as he was usually called), who was the son of a Church of England minister, was born in Casterton, Victoria in 1901 and died in 1986. In 1945 he helped establish the United Nations, as political consultant to the Australian Delegation at the San Francisco Conference.3 Then in 1946 Mac was appointed British Commonwealth Representative on the Allied Council for Japan, which is recorded in detail in his diary.4 In 1948 Mac led an Australian Government Goodwill Mission to South East Asia. However, Mac was perhaps most successful as an academic and public speaker.5 He was a commentator on the Australian Broadcasting Commission, from the early 1930s to the early 1960s. He was also Controller of the Short-Wave Broadcasting Unit during World War Two, which later became Radio Australia. From 1923 he taught at The University of Melbourne, then became foundation Professor of Political Science in 1949 and was Chair until his retirement in 1968.6 In 1942, as the government expected a Japanese invasion, Mac’s wife Katrine and their only child Jenny, moved from Kew to Eltham as temporary evacuees. However Mac and Katrine lived in Eltham for almost the rest of their lives. After staying with friends, they rented a house in Reynolds Road, where, as it was wartime, they needed to keep horses for transport and a cow and poultry for milk and eggs. In 1945 the family moved to the house at York Street, which was then a timber cottage, built around the 1890s and in poor repair. The underground well, cellar and part of the garden are all that remain of what stood on the original 18 acre (7.3ha) allotment. Thanks largely to Katrine’s hard work, the house was gradually renovated and extended. The long rambling house was partially built by several young neighbours, who were inspired by the cheap mud-brick and stone building style of Montsalvat, the Eltham artists’ colony. Mac asked Alistair Knox to renovate Shinrone, named after an Irish village near Katrine’s family home. Knox later popularised the mud-brick style of house construction, for which Eltham became known. He expanded the living area and added verandas. In 1948 Montsalvat artist and sculptor Sonia Skipper supervised the building of most of the mud-brick studio. Another neighbour, Gordon Ford, who was to have a major influence on the Australian garden style, made the mud-bricks. Mac also asked John Harcourt, who had worked with him as a journalist in short-wave broadcasting, to build a pisé (rammed earth) and stone addition to the largely timber house. Harcourt built two bedrooms – including an attic bedroom – a balcony with a shower and toilet, and a fireplace and chimney of local sandstone. With pioneering work naturally came mistakes, including one particularly dramatic incident when Harcourt was building walls with unsupported sections. Jenny Ellis, Mac’s daughter, remembers being awakened from sleep by a thundering shudder. The wall of her room had fallen down – fortunately away from her! In 1950 artist Peter Glass – another neighbour and later landscape designer – built Katrine a mud-brick pottery. As a result, the house features at one end Harcourt’s characteristic steep gable roof, while at the other the flatter construction characteristic of Knox. Mac referred to the home as the Eltham ‘experimental building site’.7 Surprisingly, the combination works, perhaps partly because it has the warm inviting feel of timber, mud-brick and stone.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, eltham, alistair knox, gordon ford, john harcourt, mudbrick construction, pise construction, professor macmahon ball, shinrone, sonia skipper, york street

Art Gallery with mural painted by Clifton Pugh (1924-1990) at his Artists' Colony, Dunmoochin, Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. Following military service in the second world war, Clifton Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie at the National Gallery School in Melbourne as well as Justus Jorgensen, founder of Montsalvat. For a while he lived on the dole but also worked packing eggs for the Belot family saving sufficient to purchase six acres (2.4 ha) of land at Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. He accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in a property of approximately 200 acres, stablishing it as one of the first artistic communes in Australia alongside Montsalvat in Eltham. It was around 1951 that Pugh felt he had '"done moochin' around" and so the name of the property evolved. He bought timber from Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminer's huts, it was a one room wattle-and-daub structure with dirt floor. Over the years it expanded with thick adobe walls made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors. All materials other than the local earth were sourced from second hand materials, most found at wreckers' yards. Artists from across the nation were drawn to Dunmoochin, with several setting up houses and shacks on the property, maintaining their independence but sharing their artistic zeal. Artists who worked or resided at Dunmoochin included Mirka Mora, John Perceval, Albert Tucker, Fred Williams, Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and John Olsen. In 2002, Pugh's house along with its treasure trove of art and a library of some 20,000 books was destroyed by fire. Traces of Pugh's home remain with the presence of the Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design, procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. In place of Pugh's house rose two double-storey mud-brick artists' studios topped with corrugated iron rooves curved like the wings of a bird with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings survived the fire. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p153 It’s not surprising that artist Clifton Pugh was drawn to Cottles Bridge to establish his artists’ colony Dunmoochin. Undisturbed by the clamour of modern life at Barreenong Road, Pugh was surrounded by the Australian bush he loved, and where his ashes were later scattered. The 200 acres (81ha) of bushland, broken by glimpses of rolling hills, has more than 50 species of orchids and Pugh shared his property with native animals including kangaroos, emus, phascogales, wombats, and diverse bird life. Pugh encouraged these creatures to join him in the bush by creating, with Monash University, a holding station where the animals were raised. Dunmoochin inspired Pugh for such paintings as in a book on orchids and the Death of a Wombat series.1 But his love for the bush was accompanied by the fear that Europeans were destroying it and much of his painting illustrated this fear and his plea for its conservation.2 However it was his house rather than the surrounding bush that was to be destroyed. Tragically in 2002 Pugh’s house, with its treasure of art and library of 20,000 art books, was destroyed by fire. Traces of the beauty of Pugh’s home still remain, however, in the magnificent Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. Now in place of Pugh’s house, are two double-storey mud-brick artists’ studios topped with corrugated roofs curved like birds’ wings, with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings remain.3 Pugh grew up on his parents’ hobby farm at Briar Hill and attended the Briar Hill Primary School, then Eltham High School and later Ivanhoe Grammar. At 15 he became a copy boy for the Radio Times newspaper, then worked as a junior in a drafting office. Pugh was to have three wives and two sons. After serving in World War Two in New Guinea and Japan, Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie, at the National Gallery School in Melbourne.4 Another of his teachers was Justus Jörgensen, founder of Montsalvat the Eltham Artists’ Colony. Pugh lived on the dole for a while and paid for his first six acres (2.4ha) at Barreenong Road by working as an egg packer for the Belot family. Pugh accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in the 200 acre property. They, too, purchased their land from the Belot family by working with their chickens. Around 1951 Pugh felt he had ‘Done moochin’ around’ and so the name of his property was born. Pugh bought some used timber from architect Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminers’ huts it was a one-room wattle-and-daub structure with a dirt floor. It was so small that the only room he could find for his telephone was on the fork of a tree nearby.5 Over the years the mud-brick house grew to 120 squares in the style now synonymous with Eltham. It had thick adobe walls (sun-dried bricks) made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors with the entire structure made of second-hand materials – most found at wreckers’ yards. Pugh’s first major show in Melbourne in 1957, established him as a distinctive new painter, breaking away from the European tradition ‘yet not closely allied to any particular school of Australian painting’.6 Pugh became internationally known and was awarded the Order of Australia. He won the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times, although he preferred painting the bush and native animals. In 1990 not long before he died, Pugh was named the Australian War Memorial’s official artist at the 75th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. Today one of Pugh’s legacies is the Dunmoochin Foundation, which gives seven individual artists or couples and environmental researchers the chance to work in beautiful and peaceful surroundings, usually for a year. By November 2007, more than 80 people had taken part, and the first disabled artist had been chosen to reside in a new studio with disabled access.1 In 1989, not long before Pugh died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 65, he established the Foundation with La Trobe University and the Victorian Conservation Trust now the Trust for Nature. Pugh’s gift to the Australian people – of around 14 hectares of bushland and buildings and about 550 art works – is run by a voluntary board of directors, headed by one of his sons, Shane Pugh. La Trobe University in Victoria stores and curates the art collection and organises its exhibition around Australia.2 The Foundation aims to protect and foster the natural environment and to provide residences, studios and community art facilities at a minimal cost for artists and environmental researchers. They reside at the non-profit organisation for a year at minimal cost. The buildings, some decorated with murals painted by Pugh and including a gallery, were constructed by Pugh, family and friends, with recycled as well as new materials and mud-bricks. The Foundation is inspired by the tradition begun by the Dunmoochin Artists’ Cooperative which formed in the late 1950s as one of the first artistic communes in Australia. Members bought the land collaboratively and built the seven dwellings so that none could overlook another. But, in the late 1960s, the land was split into private land holdings, which ended the cooperative. Dunmoochin attracted visits from the famous artists of the day including guitarists John Williams and Segovia; singer and comedian Rolf Harris; comedian Barry Humphries; and artists Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and Mirka Mora. A potters’ community, started by Peter and Helen Laycock with Alma Shanahan, held monthly exhibitions in the 1960s, attracting local, interstate and international visitors – with up to 500 attending at a time.3 Most artists sold their properties and moved away. But two of the original artists remained into the new millennium as did relative newcomer Heja Chong who built on Pugh’s property (now owned by the Dunmoochin Foundation). In 1984 Chong brought the 1000-year-old Japanese Bizan pottery method to Dunmoochin. She helped build (with potters from all over Australia) the distinctive Bizan-style kiln, which fires pottery from eight to 14 days in pine timber, to produce the Bizan unglazed and simple subdued style. The kiln, which is rare in Australia, is very large with adjoining interconnected ovens of different sizes, providing different temperatures and firing conditions. Frank Werther, who befriended Pugh as a fellow student at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne, built his house off Barreenong Road in 1954. Werther is a painter of the abstract and colourist style and taught art for about 30 years. Like so many in the post-war years in Eltham Shire, as it was called then, Werther built his home in stages using mud-brick and second-hand materials. The L-shaped house is single-storey but two-storey in parts with a corrugated-iron pitched roof. The waterhole used by the Werthers for their water supply is thought to be a former goldmining shaft.4 Alma Shanahan at Barreenong Road was the first to join Pugh around 1953. They also met at the National Gallery Art School and Shanahan at first visited each weekend to work, mainly making mud-bricks. She shared Pugh’s love for the bush, but when their love affair ended, she designed and built her own house a few hundred yards (metres) away. The mud-brick and timber residence, made in stages with local materials, is rectangular, single-storey with a corrugated-iron roof. As a potter, Shanahan did not originally qualify as an official Cooperative member.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, art gallery, clifton pugh, dunmoochin, cottlesbridge, cottles bridge, barreenong road

Following military service in the second world war, Clifton Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie at the National Gallery School in Melbourne as well as Justus Jorgensen, founder of Montsalvat. For a while he lived on the dole but also worked packing eggs for the Belot family saving sufficient to purchase six acres (2.4 ha) of land at Barreenong Road, Cottles Bridge. He accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in a property of approximately 200 acres, stablishing it as one of the first artistic communes in Australia alongside Montsalvat in Eltham. It was around 1951 that Pugh felt he had '"done moochin' around" and so the name of the property evolved. He bought timber from Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminer's huts, it was a one room wattle-and-daub structure with dirt floor. Over the years it expanded with thick adobe walls made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors. All materials other than the local earth were sourced from second hand materials, most found at wreckers' yards. Artists from across the nation were drawn to Dunmoochin, with several setting up houses and shacks on the property, maintaining their independence but sharing their artistic zeal. Artists who worked or resided at Dunmoochin included Mirka Mora, John Perceval, Albert Tucker, Fred Williams, Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and John Olsen. In 2002, Pugh's house along with its treasure trove of art and a library of some 20,000 books was destroyed by fire. Traces of Pugh's home remain with the presence of the Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design, procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. In place of Pugh's house rose two double-storey mud-brick artists' studios topped with corrugated iron rooves curved like the wings of a bird with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings survived the fire. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p155 It’s not surprising that artist Clifton Pugh was drawn to Cottles Bridge to establish his artists’ colony Dunmoochin. Undisturbed by the clamour of modern life at Barreenong Road, Pugh was surrounded by the Australian bush he loved, and where his ashes were later scattered. The 200 acres (81ha) of bushland, broken by glimpses of rolling hills, has more than 50 species of orchids and Pugh shared his property with native animals including kangaroos, emus, phascogales, wombats, and diverse bird life. Pugh encouraged these creatures to join him in the bush by creating, with Monash University, a holding station where the animals were raised. Dunmoochin inspired Pugh for such paintings as in a book on orchids and the Death of a Wombat series.1 But his love for the bush was accompanied by the fear that Europeans were destroying it and much of his painting illustrated this fear and his plea for its conservation.2 However it was his house rather than the surrounding bush that was to be destroyed. Tragically in 2002 Pugh’s house, with its treasure of art and library of 20,000 art books, was destroyed by fire. Traces of the beauty of Pugh’s home still remain, however, in the magnificent Victorian doorframe archway with leadlight of intricate design procured from a demolished Melbourne mansion; and two bronze life-sized female statues created by Pugh and cast by Matcham Skipper. Now in place of Pugh’s house, are two double-storey mud-brick artists’ studios topped with corrugated roofs curved like birds’ wings, with accommodation for seven. The original studios, gallery and other buildings remain.3 Pugh grew up on his parents’ hobby farm at Briar Hill and attended the Briar Hill Primary School, then Eltham High School and later Ivanhoe Grammar. At 15 he became a copy boy for the Radio Times newspaper, then worked as a junior in a drafting office. Pugh was to have three wives and two sons. After serving in World War Two in New Guinea and Japan, Pugh studied under artist Sir William Dargie, at the National Gallery School in Melbourne.4 Another of his teachers was Justus Jörgensen, founder of Montsalvat the Eltham Artists’ Colony. Pugh lived on the dole for a while and paid for his first six acres (2.4ha) at Barreenong Road by working as an egg packer for the Belot family. Pugh accumulated more land and persuaded several other artists and friends to buy land nearby, resulting in the 200 acre property. They, too, purchased their land from the Belot family by working with their chickens. Around 1951 Pugh felt he had ‘Done moochin’ around’ and so the name of his property was born. Pugh bought some used timber from architect Alistair Knox to build his house on the crest of a hill. Inspired by local goldminers’ huts it was a one-room wattle-and-daub structure with a dirt floor. It was so small that the only room he could find for his telephone was on the fork of a tree nearby.5 Over the years the mud-brick house grew to 120 squares in the style now synonymous with Eltham. It had thick adobe walls (sun-dried bricks) made from local clay, high ceilings and stone floors with the entire structure made of second-hand materials – most found at wreckers’ yards. Pugh’s first major show in Melbourne in 1957, established him as a distinctive new painter, breaking away from the European tradition ‘yet not closely allied to any particular school of Australian painting’.6 Pugh became internationally known and was awarded the Order of Australia. He won the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times, although he preferred painting the bush and native animals. In 1990 not long before he died, Pugh was named the Australian War Memorial’s official artist at the 75th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. Today one of Pugh’s legacies is the Dunmoochin Foundation, which gives seven individual artists or couples and environmental researchers the chance to work in beautiful and peaceful surroundings, usually for a year. By November 2007, more than 80 people had taken part, and the first disabled artist had been chosen to reside in a new studio with disabled access.1 In 1989, not long before Pugh died in 1990 of a heart attack at age 65, he established the Foundation with La Trobe University and the Victorian Conservation Trust now the Trust for Nature. Pugh’s gift to the Australian people – of around 14 hectares of bushland and buildings and about 550 art works – is run by a voluntary board of directors, headed by one of his sons, Shane Pugh. La Trobe University in Victoria stores and curates the art collection and organises its exhibition around Australia.2 The Foundation aims to protect and foster the natural environment and to provide residences, studios and community art facilities at a minimal cost for artists and environmental researchers. They reside at the non-profit organisation for a year at minimal cost. The buildings, some decorated with murals painted by Pugh and including a gallery, were constructed by Pugh, family and friends, with recycled as well as new materials and mud-bricks. The Foundation is inspired by the tradition begun by the Dunmoochin Artists’ Cooperative which formed in the late 1950s as one of the first artistic communes in Australia. Members bought the land collaboratively and built the seven dwellings so that none could overlook another. But, in the late 1960s, the land was split into private land holdings, which ended the cooperative. Dunmoochin attracted visits from the famous artists of the day including guitarists John Williams and Segovia; singer and comedian Rolf Harris; comedian Barry Humphries; and artists Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd and Mirka Mora. A potters’ community, started by Peter and Helen Laycock with Alma Shanahan, held monthly exhibitions in the 1960s, attracting local, interstate and international visitors – with up to 500 attending at a time.3 Most artists sold their properties and moved away. But two of the original artists remained into the new millennium as did relative newcomer Heja Chong who built on Pugh’s property (now owned by the Dunmoochin Foundation). In 1984 Chong brought the 1000-year-old Japanese Bizan pottery method to Dunmoochin. She helped build (with potters from all over Australia) the distinctive Bizan-style kiln, which fires pottery from eight to 14 days in pine timber, to produce the Bizan unglazed and simple subdued style. The kiln, which is rare in Australia, is very large with adjoining interconnected ovens of different sizes, providing different temperatures and firing conditions. Frank Werther, who befriended Pugh as a fellow student at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne, built his house off Barreenong Road in 1954. Werther is a painter of the abstract and colourist style and taught art for about 30 years. Like so many in the post-war years in Eltham Shire, as it was called then, Werther built his home in stages using mud-brick and second-hand materials. The L-shaped house is single-storey but two-storey in parts with a corrugated-iron pitched roof. The waterhole used by the Werthers for their water supply is thought to be a former goldmining shaft.4 Alma Shanahan at Barreenong Road was the first to join Pugh around 1953. They also met at the National Gallery Art School and Shanahan at first visited each weekend to work, mainly making mud-bricks. She shared Pugh’s love for the bush, but when their love affair ended, she designed and built her own house a few hundred yards (metres) away. The mud-brick and timber residence, made in stages with local materials, is rectangular, single-storey with a corrugated-iron roof. As a potter, Shanahan did not originally qualify as an official Cooperative member.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, art gallery, clifton pugh, dunmoochin, cottlesbridge, cottles bridge, barreenong road

Part of the original cottage named Culla Hill built by Thomas Sweeney (a former convict) remains as a small section of today’s house. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme National Estate National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Local Sifgnificance Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p19 Thomas Sweeney, a former convict who became a respected citizen, once lived on a property at what is now the corner of Sweeneys Lane and Culla Hill, Eltham. As Sweeney was one of the district’s first settlers, the property is registered by the National Trust. Thomas Sweeney was born in 1802, son of impoverished tenant farmers in Tipperary County, Ireland. He became a ploughman, then at 21 he was sentenced to hang for setting on fire the house of Patrick Guyder at Gullshill. It is said the arson was due to a dispute over undelivered guns to a social justice guerilla group, the White Boys, of which Sweeney was a member. But the sentence was commuted to life transportation to Australia in 1823.1 Apparently in Sydney he became a servant to James Chandler at Botany. Soon James Chandler leased his farm and became a catechist on the Hawkesbury River, so Sweeney was reassigned to a former convict, John Brown, at Liverpool. Later Sweeney was assigned to George Brown of Lake Illawarra. In 1831, Sweeney was granted a ticket-of-leave and bought a boat to carry goods between Illawarra district and Sydney Town. He married his first wife who had come to Australia as a free woman. However she drowned after bearing him a daughter. In 1838, one month after he had received a conditional pardon, Sweeney married a blacksmith’s daughter, Margaret Meehan, newly arrived from Ireland. They then moved to Port Phillip and squatted on the south side of the Yarra River, about seven miles (11km) from Melbourne. Around 1842, Sweeney bought 110 acres (44.5ha) in the parish of Nillumbik for £110. He built a slab hut 12 x 10 feet (3.6m x 3m) and then his homestead, Culla Hill, a typical Tipperary style cottage, now known as Sweeney’s Cottage. It was here that many generations of Sweeneys lived for almost 100 years. Culla Hill became a social centre for the district and the Catholic community used it as a church. Sweeney was apparently on good terms with a tribe of Aborigines living on the river nearby, who helped him build his house.2 Sweeney proved himself a civic-minded leader. In 1844, he led a call for a bridge over the Plenty River. He was on the first school board and supplied the first grain for Eltham’s mill. Sweeney profited during the gold rush, not by gold digging, but by providing supplies for nearby fields and others as far away as Beechworth.3 Thomas Sweeney died in 1867 and was buried at the Eltham Cemetery, leaving two sons, five daughters, and 300 acres (121.4ha), as well as Culla Hill. Culla Hill – by then reduced to 75 acres (30ha) – was sold out of the family in 1939, then renamed Sweeneys. The present Sweeneys Lane, running diagonally through the original holding, was the track to the house. Part of the original cottage remains as a small section of today’s house. The dining-family room fronted by a veranda is original, and although there have been some changes, the cedar door and most of the small 12-paned wooden-framed windows are original. The walls are made of the original hand-made brick. After buying the property in 1952 Mr and Mrs Burston demolished a dilapidated slab hut, a three-roomed detached kitchen and cellar, as materials needed to restore them were very difficult to obtain so soon after the war.4 However the barn remains almost in its original condition. It is believed to have been built from stone quarried on the property. Now roofed with iron sheets it was probably originally thatched. The sandstone barn has a peaked roof supported by the original saplings and a doorway large enough to accommodate a fully loaded wagon.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, culla hill, eltham, sweeney's cottage, sweeneys lane, thomas sweeney