The story of the Beet Sugar factory at Maffra Victoria from its beginnings in 1894 the problems encountered and the demise of the industry after WW2 The history of earlier Victorian unsuccessful into establishing the industry are mentioned Maffra beet sugindustrial, agriculture

This file contains four items: 1/A black and white photocopy of a letter dated either 07/08/1889 or 09/08/1889, from Robert Lundon to an unidentified recipient discussing an agreement reached between the author – on behalf of the recipient – and Soon Hang Hi in regard, in regards to the allotment known as Webber’s. The agreement is outlined in the letter in what appears to be Chinese characters, and includes the marks of Robert Lundon and Soon Hang Hi. File note from Joy Wu states that the calligraphy is not Mandarin or traditional Chinese. 2/Three sheets of hand-written working notes with information taken from the Victorian Government Gazette on THE ROSSTOWN AND MURRUMBEENA LAND COMPANY LIMITED, THE ROSSTOWN JUNCTION RAILWAY AND PROSPERITY COMPANY LIOMITED, and THE ROSSTOWN JUNCTION, ELSTERNWICK, AND OAKLEIGH RAILWAY COMPANY LIMITED, covering dates between 1887 and 1894. The notes concern meetings and creditors claims relevant to the companies, with reference numbers for the information source. Date and author of the notes are not recorded. 3/A black and white photocopy of the a partial map of the Rosstown Railway and surrounding area, undated. The map includes the names of landholders in the areas of Brighton, Garden Vale and Elsternwick, as well as other railway lines present in the region. 4/A fold-out map and guide of the Rosstown Rail Trail, including a brief general history of Caulfield as well as a more extensive biography of William Murray Ross and the Rosstown Railway. The map marks and describes significant sites along the trail, including photographs of some of these sites, provided by DF Jowett.documents, correspondence, webber’s, lundon robert, chinese characters, ethnic communities, signatures, text, settlements, taxes, fraser john grieves, lovell r.h., price davies, meetings, communication activities, soon hang hi, commercial events and activities, the rosstown and murrumbeena land company limited, victorian government gazette, bulmer richard, parry john, osment henry, shareholders, creditors claims, the rosstown junction railway and property company limited, finch and best, lawyers, the rosstown junction elsternwick and oakleigh railway company limited, cameron w.c., phillips p.d., garden vale, elsternwick, elsternwick railway station, rosstown, rosstown railway, thomas street, bay street, kooyong road, melbourne and brighton railway, hawthorn road, bambra road, caulfield and frankston railway, booran road, grange road, koornang road, murrumbeena road, north road, north road railway station, east brighton railway station, south road, railway routes, railway lines, railways, land transport, murphy j., caulfield, hamilton t.f., dane p., holloway, webb, ailee john, payne t.b., brodie chas, dane john, o’neil h., mccombie john, mcmillane a., smyth c.d., cooper, ebden, landholders, jeffrey j.d., gill j., balcombe a.e., cooper h., mcnab j., white j., sutherland j., greeves a.f.a., newton m.c., chamley f.b., fowler j., inglis p., grant t., stooke j., swanson g., cochrane c., adams e.b., mccombie thas, keyes robert, brighton cemetery, burials grounds and graveyards, war-ein road, were j.b., holland j., mcmahon c., winter t.l.m., dendy henry, mitchell w., jackson s., were j.e., wickham francis dawe, bryant jane, east brighton railway station, railway stations, maps, allotments, land titles, roads and streets, rosstown rail trail, city of glen eira, tourism, trains, tourism information bureaus, tours, pamphlets, elsternwick railway park, oakleigh junction, princes park, ee gunn reserve, packer park, sites, jowett d.f., weickhardt i.g., return to rosstown: railways land sales and sugar beet ventures in caulfield, land sales, walking trails, ross william murray, transport objects, locomotion, walking, cycling, driving, sports, country mansions, people, caulfield john, builders, construction and demolition workers, occupations, careers, professionals, topography, geology, landforms, horticulture, market gardens, primary industry workers, city of caulfield, mood kee, pennington harold, annual general meetings, caulfield town hall, glen eira city council, carnegie, carnegie station, rosstown station, people by circumstance, migrants, sugar beet, sugar beet mill, sugar beet industry, mills, factories, sea beach lines, bent thomas, parliamentary representatives, neville street, miller street, lemann’s swamp reserve, koornang park, cane sugar industry, breweries, rabbit processing plants, health establishments, hospitals, food production establishments, abattoirs, thieves, social problems, vagrants, theft, squatting, financial economics, debt, finance industry, insurance companies, company managers, bentleigh, ross leila, the grange, leila road, wild cherry road, financial trouble, mortgages, gisborne street, archibald street, riddell parade, victoria railways, glen huntly road, clarence street, college street, gladstone parade, parrell street, aileen avenue, seaview street, land subdivisions, dover street, sussex street, landfill, marara road, booran road, woodville avenue, dorothy avenue, ormond park, royal avenue, ormond railway station, oakleigh road, melten avenue, miller street, munro avenue, lord reserve, neerim road, toolambool road, the rosstown hotel, rosanna street, murrumbeena crescent, commercial establishments, the national bank, rosstown road, kangaroo road, poath road, freda street, hughesdale kindergarten, oakleigh council, hughesdale community centre, civic establishments, galbally reserve, plaques, warrigal road, out and about brochures, orion estate

This file contains one item: 1/The obituary of William Murray Ross from Brighton Southern Cross, dated 03/09/1904. Ross is commemorated as a pioneer of Caulfield, and the obituary includes a biography recording his life in the area.murray ross william, ross william murray, obituaries, caulfield, pioneers, ‘the grange’, jordan sergeant, sugar beet, sugar industry, rosstown refinery, rosstown railway, railway lines , elsternwick railway, dandenong road, hawthorn road, inkerman road, local government, caulfield road board, pennington harold councillor, kooyong road, glen eira road, watts thomas, v.a.t.c. racecourse, street names, aboriginal languages, caulfield council, lempriere councillor , death and dying, bayston councillor, mayors, brighton southern cross, rosstown, funerals

This file contains three items: 1/A review of the ROSSTOWN RAIL TRAIL from LIVING IN GLEN EIRA, vol. 11, 2004, Issue 4, no. 25, date and author unknown. The review explains the purpose of the Rail Trail with a brief narrative of the history behind Rosstown Sugar Mill Railway line. Concluding with information on the location of the Trail and the expected time required to walk the entire track included in the review is a map of the Rail Trail, which marks significant sites along the trail with historic pictures. 2/A newspaper article from THE AGE, dated Tuesday 21/10/1980 and written by Iola Matthews, reporting on the circumstances that led to the publication of the book RETURN TO ROSSTOWN written by Des Jowett and Ian Weickhardt. The article begins with a brief biography of the authors before moving into details of the book’s content, providing a further biography of W. Murray Ross which includes information on his financial ventures – particularly the Rosstown Rail – his marriage and children. The article includes a black and white photograph of Weickhardt and Jowett walking along the route of the railway line, an illustration of the Rosstown sugar works and a map of the area surrounding the site of the mill. 3/Three photocopies of a black and white illustration of the Rosstown sugar works from the east, undated and artist unknown.rosstown rail trail, rosstown, ross william, ross w. murray, ross murray, sugar beet mills, mills, elsternwick, land transport, railways, railway lines, railway routes, carnegie neville street, carnegie miller street, factories, market gardens, horticulture, peat, soils, land forms, topography, geology, civic issues, cone sugar industry, elsternwick plaza, elsternwick, glenhuntly road, parks and reserves, ee gunn reserve, caulfield racecourse, sportsgrounds, caulfield, carnegie, riddell parade, clarence street, aileen avenue, princes park, dover street, marara road, oakleigh road, rosanna street, murrumbeena crescent, north road, kooyong road, hawthorn road, booran road, koornang road, poath road, warragul road, railway platforms, railway buildings, bambra road, swamps, landforms, landfill, council landfill, railway bridges, bridges, railway underpasses, sporting clubs, tennis clubs, bowls clubs, rosstown railway, rosanna street reserve, maps, railway maps, living in glen eira, weickhardt ian, jowett des, caulfield south, curraweena road, oakleigh, caulfield technical school, return to rosstown, beet sugar industry, crops, land booms, land development and subdivisions, bent thomas, fink benjamin, sugar works, rosstown hotel, oamdenong road, rosstown dry cleaners, shops, rosstown road, rosstown plate, people by circumstance, migrants, accountants, occupations, professionals, the grange, real estate, grange road, financial agents, judges, rosstown estate, financial trouble, rabbit preserving, breweries, political debates, political issues, political electorates, politics, political science, debt, financial loans, court procedures, court cases, legal events and activities, malleson and riggall, widowers, seabeach railway, economics, economic deadline, depression 1890s, economic crash, mortgages, divorce, social problems, poverty, ross claude, ross roderick, world war 1914-1918, wars, military history, servicemen, australian flying corps, engineers, caulfield council, swagmen, homelessness, glenhuntly road, glenhuntly road tram, woornack road, leila road, wild cherry road, melten avenue, illustrations, steam trains, trains, horse and cart, horse-drawn transport, railway stations