Author: Alan Judge Holt amassed a significant collection of historical material related to the Surrey Hills area. Born in Moonee Ponds in 1912 to Edmund Holt and Ellen Ruby Sutton, he married Edna Jean Pallot in 1937. They lived at 62 Broughton Road, Surrey hills, had 3 sons and were strongly associated with the Surrey Hills Methodist Church. Alan was Secretary of the Victorian Lands Department and in his spare time recorded the occupancy of every property in Surrey Hills and Mont Albert at the beginning of each decade from 1890 to 1980. His collection of files and individual cards covers people, places, churches, clubs, businesses and other organisations in the area. Alan used this information to give talks and tours of the area and gifted his material to the local history collection through Jocelyn Hall.Unpublished manuscript / notes written by Alan Holt about settlers in and around Surrey Hills bound in-house. It is supported by maps showing landowners over various years from about 1840-1885(mr) henry jamieson, (mr) ken hall, (ms) edna holt, (mr) frank bamford, (mr) harrison buchanan, scouts, grange hill, wattle park, round hill, bona vista, mount albert, barton street, (mr) john raeburn, (mr) edmund holt, (mr) james dunn, butter merchant, mont albert road, elgar road, view hill, new street, surry mont, delany's hill, reservoir hill, riversdale road, middlesex road, surrey hills, (mr) aldo massora, aborigines, damper creek, back creek, west creek, kooyongkoot creek, (mr) john gardiner, (mr) chas mullins, (mr) henry elgar, (mr) robert campbell, (mr) alexander dyce, (mr) robert brooks, t budds payne, (mr) hugh glass, (mr) patrick trainer, w virtue, (mr) t fulton, (mr) john crimp, (mr) w dempsey, (mr) w e stanbridge, (mr) james atkinson, j porter, j collings, w edde, (mr) orlando fenwick, (dr)(mr) l l smith, (mr) j h knipe, (mr) george cockcroft, (sr) (mr) john martin kleinert, w morton, d delaney, a moeller, (mr) william smith, (mr) e.p.s.sturt, (mr) thomas blood, (mr) patrick mornane, (mr) henry de carle, w craig, j hill, w oliver, j keogh, a laing, vineyards, toll gates, (mr) david staig, (mr) phillip kleeper, (mr) goyder usher, (mr) james lawler, (mr) w.e. stanbridge, (mr) gideon rutherford, c a f mater, j gadsby, w h wrixon, e h lamont, i ainger, (mr) james henty, (mr) henry henty, w freemantle, w palmer, beckett park, maranoa gardens

Author: Alan Judge Holt amassed a significant collection of historical material related to the Surrey Hills area. Born in Moonee Ponds in 1912 to Edmund Holt and Ellen Ruby Sutton, he married Edna Jean Pallot in 1937. They lived at 62 Broughton Road, Surrey hills, had 3 sons and were strongly associated with the Surrey Hills Methodist Church. Alan was Secretary of the Victorian Lands Department and in his spare time recorded the occupancy of every property in Surrey Hills and Mont Albert at the beginning of each decade from 1890 to 1980. His collection of files and individual cards covers people, places, churches, clubs, businesses and other organisations in the area. Alan used this information to give talks and tours of the area and gifted his material to the local history collection through Jocelyn Hall.A spiral bound manuscript which includes a physical description of Wattle Park as well as covering aboriginal occupation, pastoral and timber cutting, the original purchasers and locations of neighbouring farms.back creek, wattle park, delany's paddock, cleary's paddock, blood's paddock, conran's paddock, udimore lodge, (mr) george thomas usher, (mr) orlando fenwick, phoenix grange, (mr) john filson, (mr) denis delany, (mr) john crimp, (mr) james atkinson, (mr) john lawler, (mr) henry de carle, (mr) walter craig, (mr) daniel dunn, (mr) frederick goyder, (mrs) eliza welch, metropolitan tramways, d h dureau, (mr) robert beckett, (mr) alexander gerald proudfoot, (mr) james conran, (mr) thomas blood, (mr) william smith, payne and glass

To the Editor of the Ringwood Mail Dear Sir, would you please publish in your widely read paper the following letter for the information of the residents of the City of Ringwood- Re the passing of my brother Mr. J.P. Howship, who was an ANZAC one of the pioneer family of Howship of Ringwood which name is connected with the early history of Ringwood or more particularly Ringwood East as the late J.P. Howship and myself purchased the Nursery of Mr. John Hill around the year 1912 and after a couple of years my late brother Bert was taken into partnership and we bought the adjoining nursery of Mr. Will Hill and traded under name Howship Bros. Rosedale Nursery and the name of one street in the old property Howship Avenue is named after the old firm as well as Rosedale Crescent. The move for the establishment of the Ringwood East station started with myself and in a meeting up with a Mr .T. Birkitt who I felt was the man I needed as he was a sub Estate Agent .A meeting was called and held in our packing shed at the end of Federal Road which at that time ended at Mr. Charlie Burdens property and abbuted (sic) on our property. This meeting was attended by about sixty residents and the late Mr. C. Wedge was elected as the first President of the Ringwood East Railway League and Progress Assoc. with Mr. T. Birkitt as Secretary and myself as assist. Secretary. This League raised the sum of about 1,600 from residents and land owners for the erection of the Ringwood East Railway Station & after the station was erected and paid for the League part was canceled and the Progress Assoc. carried on. The present Ringwood East Cricket Club was formed at meeting and the Prog .......and my three brothers Bert, Mervyn and played cricket in the Ringwood district for many years and most of us were members of the Ringwood at first and then the Ringwood East Football clubs and followed the teams for years a few names of the old players came to mind in E. Thomas , C. Weil, T. Homewood, the Pratt family and others. I might mention for the benefit of the City of Ringwood residents my eldest brother Laurie late of New Street and now living at Blairgowrie was with what was then known as Coopers Mills and designed and helped to build some of the first buildings in that property now known as Ringwood Timber & Trading Co .Also that myself and others namely the Reidy Brothers, Mr. Taylor, & L .Cleary & voluntary labour formed the tennis courts at East Ringwood with the help of our young Ladies of the time, those courts I'm pleased to say are well established and two more are added and provide good activities for the young people of the district. Also with the aid of C .Thomas, Norm Blood and others we formed the Methodist courts. From the Ringwood East Progress Association came the move to have a Health Centre for Ringwood. This was established by a good deal of enthusiastic work by some mothers after spending nearly fifty years in Ringwood watching it grow from town surrounded by orchards to a City and I must congratulate the Civic Fathers and their staff in the growth of Ringwood and the fine roads, Parks, Elderly Citizens Club and have all done a good job but why oh why have you neglected mines Road Ringwood east. Why has this road not been made the drainage there is something to be seen to be believed in such a city .The only solution is making and curbing this road & I would ask those responsible why the curbing was put down Dublin Road where there are no residents this curbing could well have solved the problem in Mines Road if used there. I recently spent a weekend with my Daughter, Mrs. Munro at the corner of Maroondah highway and Mines Road and was disgusted at the condition of Mines Road and drainage and had to air my views and suggest a trip to Mines Road by the Civic Fathers led by the Health Inspector I am yours sincerely H.C. Howship Sheila Street, Rye. (copied here verbatim)3 pages of hand written letter detailing the early history of the East Ringwood Railway and Progress Association, football, cricket and tennis clubs.. Written as a draft in 1963.

Black and white photograph - Grade 6(?), 1905"Attached to photograph" Back Row - L to R: Hilda Aird, Anastasia Smith, Clara Aird, Flo Blood, Edith Blood. 2nd Row - L to R: ?, Olive Porteous, Alice Blood, Evelyn Blood, Floss Hocking, Elvie Hill, ruby Saunders, Mr Hocking (Headmaster). 3rd Row - L to R: Miss Geraghty, Winnie Thomas, Vera Edgar, G McAlpin, Lena Williams, Alice Hodgetts, Ethel Colcott, Doris Oates, Miss Predeaux. Front Row - L to R: Mary Graham, Olive Burchett. Teacher:

Black and white photograph - Grade(?), 1901"Attached to photograph" Back Row - L to R: Mr Draper, Bert Hocking (Son of H.T.), George Tortice, Bill Knox, Fred Campbell, Alf Milne, Frank Parker 9( later Mayor of Ringwood), A Milne. 2nd Row - L to R: Edie Graham, Grace Thomas, Alice Hodgetts, ?, Ruby Saunders, Elvie Hill (Mrs McAlpin, Mayroress of Ringwood), ?. 3rd Row - L to R: ?, ?, ?, Vera Hunt, Floss Hocking (Daughter of H.T.), ?, Ethel Colcott, Winnie Thomas, Olive Porteous, Lena Williams. Front Row - L to R: (?) Wadeson, Violet McDermott, Anastasia Smith, Evlyn Blood, (?) Wadeson. Teacher: Mr Draper.

The sample of steel from which the S.S. Julia Percy’s boiler was made has been tested, according to the attached label. The test involved heating the steel to blood red temperature (or dark red colour) then dipping it into water and bending it when it was cold. A “very severe test for quality” was written on the ticket by T.H. Osborne. (Mr Thomas Hamilton Osborne was the secretary for the Western Steam Navigation Co, established in Warrnambool in 1886. The company’s office was on the corner of Timor and Liebig Streets in Warrnambool and its north-western wall is now part of the current Warrnambool Regional Art Gallery. ) Cold bending of steel in a press or through rollers is the typical method of curving steel for construction. The steel needs to be manufactured in such a way that it is strong enough yet still flexible enough not to crack when bent or rolled. The boiler on the Julia Percy could have been a Scotch Boiler, a design introduced in the 1870’s and still being used today. This design was more robust that previous boilers, generating higher working steam pressures. The design incorporate greater ability to roll iron plates, leading to greater strength, thicker plating and fewer riveted joints. They were originally made of iron then later incorporated steel sections until they were entirely constructed of steel. Many examples of this type of boiler can be found on wreck sites. Shipping was the cheapest and most practical means of carrying produce and goods during the period 1840-1890. Regular domestic steamer services commenced in the Warrnambool district in the late 1850’s and by 1870 the passenger trade was booming. Produce was loaded from the jetty into ‘lighters’ (small boats), which took it to the ships at anchorage in the bay. Passengers were taken to the ship’s side then climbed aboard up ladders or gangways. The coming of the railway in October 1889 meant the gradual decline and end of the steam shipping era. Originally the ship was known as the SS Julia Percy and was later renamed as the Leeuwin. She was an iron passenger-cargo steam ship built in Glasgow by Thomas Wingate for the Warrnambool Steam Packet Company, which commissioned the ship for the steamship trade in Victoria’s western district. She was first registered in Warrnambool, Victoria in 1876. At one point in time the Julia Percy would sail from Warrnambool to Melbourne every Friday and return from Melbourne to Warrnambool every Tuesday. The cost of a return ticket for a Saloon Fare was £1.0.0. She would sail “if practical and weather permitting”. The Julia Percy changed hands several times. Her next owner was the Western Steam Navigaiton Co of Melbourne (1887). It was the manager of this company, Mr. T.H. Osborne, who tagged ths steel sample above. Melbourne Steamship Co became the next owners (1890), followed by William Howard Smith and Sons (1901) for use in Queensland coastal trades, then she was bought by George Turnbull in 1903 and used for local mail contract in Western Australia. She was sold to the Melbourne Steamship Company Ltd. (1906) and re-named the Leeuwi but continued in her Western Australian coastal run. She was converted into a coal hulk in Melbourne in 1910 as a result of damaged caused when she was driven against the jetty at Dongara during a gale. The ship was eventually dismantled and scuttled in Bass Strait on 28 December 1934. The steel sample is significant for its association with the wreck of the Leeuwin (Julia Percy), which is on the Victorian Heritage Register. It is historically significant for being a rare artefact that has potential to interpret aspects of western Victoria’s 19th century steamship trade and Victorian cultural history, including the testing and manufacturing process associated with steam power. Leeuwin is listed on the Victorian heritage Register as being historically significant ‘as one of only four wrecks of steamships in Victorian waters associated with the western district of Victoria’s coastal steamship trade. Her registered number is VHR S413. A sample of the steel from which the boiler of the "SS Julia Percy" (later named Leeuwin) was made. The piece of steel is a ‘C’ shape with the ends almost meeting. A luggage ticket is tied onto the steel and has an inscription on it. The steel is rusty.Ticket with typed information “Steel of which the Boiler of the “Julia Percy” (Warrnambool Steam Navigation Co) was made. TEST: Made Blood hot or Dark Red then dipped into water and bent cold. A very severe test for quality T.H. Osborne. Below these words is the hand written inscription in black “FM 151 / 9.75” julia percy, leeuwin, steel, boiler, steam ship, metal testing, western steam navigation co., flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, t.h. osborne

‘Garmure’, 26 Russell Street, Surrey Hills was built c. 1887 and renovated c1988. This photo was taken after renovation of the rear of the house when the corner tower was added. Occupants: 1890: Mr Caffin 1910: Miss Agnes Campbell Hutchinson Orr 1930 – 1988: Sextons Miss Orr was born in Hutchesontown, Glasgow to Francis Orr (1834-1859) and Jane McDonald. Her father died soon after her birth and her mother married Thomas Blood. She had a half-brother Robert McDonald Blood. In 1903 she, her brother and mother were living in Boundary Road. She is buried with them in Kew Cemetery. She died aged 57 on 1 December 1926. A black and white photograph of a Queen Anne Style weatherboard house with a return veranda. The roof is corrugated iron. There is a picket fence along the front and a driveway on the left had side of the building.garmure, house names, (mr) - caffin, sexton family, queen anne style, corrugated iron, weatherboard, russell street, surrey hills, (miss) agnes campbell hutchinson orr