Sydney Joy (joy) Stewart (1925-2018) was a founding member of the Kew Historical Society, and during the 1970s its secretary. During her residence in Kew, she completed numerous property illustrations on commission. These ranged from preliminary sketches, including architectural details to finished pen & ink and wash illustrations on paper. On moving to Queensland, Joy Stewart donated the remaining property illustrations in her possession to the Kew Historical Society. In 1987-88 she fulfilled a commission by the Society of designs for a series of embroideries completed by residents during the Australian Bicentennial commemorations.Sydney Joy (Joy) Stewart was born in Melbourne 1925. She studied at Swinburne Technical College Art School from 1941-1945, then the National Gallery Art School 1946-1948. Her career included employment positions as a display artist, designer/painter, gallery assistant, and art teacher. Joy relocated to Cairns in 1981. Solo exhibitions in Melbourne and Cairns, including 'Done By Me' at Cairns Regional Gallery in 1999. Group exhibitions at Cairns Regional Gallery, 'The Fish John West Regrets, 1993' and 'Facets of Life' 1994. Joy Stewart died in Cairns in 2018.Watercolour, Pen & Ink on paper by the artist and local historian Joy Stewart of the home in Ridgeway Avenue of Nettie and Vance Palmer. Inscription: "Home of Nettie and Vance Palmer / 7 Ridgeway Avenue, Kew." Signed lower right: "JStewart".joy stewart, vance palmer, nettie palmer, ridgeway avenue (kew)

Softcoverwalsh st library

Softcover w/ Ripped Dust Jacket (Placed inside book)Newspaper clipping of a review of the book from Arguswalsh st library

Book. ALEC H CHISHOLM COLLECTION. 784 page blue hardcover book of poetry by Poet Laureate, John Masefield. Published in 1923 by William Heinemann, London. Printed by Morrison & Gibb Ltd, Edinburgh. Two newspaper cuttings from the Melbourne Herald inside front cover. 13 May 1967 - Reporting the death of J. Masefield aged 88. 20 May 1967 - Brief article on Masefield. Catalogue sticker '2117 MAS on spine. Signature of John Masefield written in ink on flyleaf. Also handwritten in ink inside front cover ''This book was among those present when Austn (Australian) authors entertained John Masefield at Scott's Hotel, Melbne (Melbourne) on Fri., Nov.9, 1934. Masefield signed the book on the first page & some of the local lads & lasses signed on the next page. A. H. Chisholm 10/11/34'' Signatures of the following authors on the second page 'Vance Palmer, Louis Esson, Katherine Susannah Prichard, Bernard Cronin, Bernard O'Dowd, Shaw Neilson, Myra Morris, Georgia Rivers, Alec H Chisholm 9-11-34'John Masefieldbooks, collections, poetry, alec h chisholm collection, john masefield, vance palmer, louis esson, katherine susannah prichard, bernard cronin, bernard o'dowd, shaw neilson, myra morris, georgia rivers, poetry

Second issue of poetry magazine Overland founded by Stephen Murray-Smith in 1954. Overland – Australia’s only radical literary magazine – has been showcasing brilliant and progressive fiction, poetry, nonfiction and art since 1954. The magazine has published some of Australia’s most iconic writers, and continues to give space to underrepresented voices and brand-new literary talent every single day. In Overland’s very first edition in 1954, Stephen Murray-Smith noted that the magazine would ‘publish poetry and short stories, articles and criticism by new and by established writers. It will aim high … [but] will make a special point of developing writing talent in people of diverse backgrounds. We ask of our readers, however inexpert, that they write for us; that they share our love of living, our optimism, our belief in the traditional dream of a better Australia.’ (from Overland website) overland, dr h.v.evatt, vance palmer, hugh anderson, laurence collinson, jack lindsay

This is the Weekly Times Annual of 1929. The Weekly Times newspaper was established in 1869 and was taken over by the Herald Newspaper group in 1892. It is a paper dedicated to rural affairs and is now the oldest rural newspaper in Australia. It has long been known as the ‘Bible of the Bush’. This annual contains many advertisements and photographs and sketches of places in rural Australia. It also has many articles, short stories and illustrations. Notable people that have contributed to this annual include Will Dyson (sketches), C.J.Dennis (poem), Vance Palmer (short story) and Norman Lindsay (reproduction of an art work). It also has a short story by Gertrude Hart, a novelist and short story writer. Her parents lived in Warrnambool in the 1850s (her father was the local Wesleyan minister) and her father retired to a place near to Warrnambool – Kirkstall. This attractive booklet is retained as an excellent example of Weekly Times Annuals in the past. It is also important because it has a short story by Gertrude Hart, a writer with connections to Warrnambool. This is a newspaper annual booklet of 68 pages. The cover has a buff-coloured background with a colour illustration of a stately building on the front with red printing and five colour photographs on the back page with black printing. The booklet has many advertisements, articles, short stories and photographs. Some pages are missing and a couple of pages are torn. the weekly times, gertrude hart, history of warrnambool

A search of the Dictionary of Biography returned the names of thirty-two individuals with a connection to Kew, who were claimed to be supporters, members or opponents of the Communist Party of Australia. Some were only linked to communism by reputation. The historian, Geoffrey Serle, in the entry on Vance Palmer (1885-1959) wrote that: ‘From 1942 he was a member of the Commonwealth Literary Fund's advisory committee and from 1947 to 1953 chairman; he suffered despicable allegations that he was a communist’ (Serle, 1988). Serle also noted that Palmer, a liberal socialist of the broad left, was defended by R.G. Menzies. Others were linked through marriage. Gwendolyn Kent Hughes (1889-1965), the third daughter of Wilfred Kent Hughes, was married to Victor Reginald Lloyd (1895-1964) in 1930 in Holy Trinity Church. Lloyd ‘... had strong ties to the trade union movement and belonged to the Communist Party of Australia’ (Barbara Falk, 2000).Single page flyer used in a City of Kew election for Studley Ward protesting about Rate Increases in the Ward. The Society has only one item of this communist legacy in its files. It is an undated electoral tract, appropriately printed on red paper, advising electors in a local government election to vote against rate rises in Studley Ward. communist party of australia -- kew (vic.), political flyers -- kew (vic.)

Phyllis Catherine Hore (née Kiss) was born in 1918. A Kew resident from 1949, she was elected to Council in 1972, after several attempts, and served for twenty- three years until her death in 1994. A secondary teacher by profession, Cr Hore represented College and Sackville Wards. While a councillor, she was a resident of High and later Pakington Streets. She served on Council committees and was a delegate to the Kew Elder Citizens Association, the Family and Community Services (FACS) Local Consultative Committee, and the Kew Music Centre Board of Management. During her Mayoral year, she was instrumental in memorialising Vance and Nettie Palmer, significant Kew writers and poets, by unveiling a plaque at the Kew Library in the year of the centenary of their births. In May 1994, the Mayor of Kew, Cr Tom Indovino, named a meeting room at Kew Library, the Phyllis Hore Room in recognition of her service to the City. She is buried in the Heidelberg (Warringal) Cemetery. (Source: Chairmen and Mayors of Kew 1960-1994, p. 88)Two colour 'proofs' of mayoral photos of Cr Phyllis Hore, donated by her daughter in 2019cr phyllis hore, mayors of kew (vic)

On the crest of Stanhope Hill at Peter Street, Eltham, stands the former home of a couple, Clem and Nina Christensen who had a major influence on the literary development of post World War 2 Australia. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p109 On the crest of Stanhope Hill at Peter Street, Eltham, stands the former home of a couple, who had a major influence on the literary development of post World War Two Australia. In 1946, Clem and Nina Christensen bought the house, which had been designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear, considered to be one of Australia’s most innovative architects in the first quarter of the 20th century.1 That year the stucco building with a metal roof, built in 1910, was extended to the north and south. The main residence was built of jarrah, with stucco walls, floors of Tasmanian hardwood and rooms panelled with Californian redwood (sequoia). The property included a cottage, former stables, a dairy and meat-house. From its beginnings the property has attracted artists and intellectuals. Official World War One artist, Will Longstaff, bought the property – then 15½ acres (6ha) around 1900. Famous for his painting The Ghosts of Menin Gate, now in the Australian War Memorial Canberra, Longstaff was the cousin of another well-known painter, Sir John Longstaff. Several leading artists visited Longstaff at Stanhope including Walter Withers of the Heidelberg School, who lived in Brougham Street, Eltham. In 1919, Theo Handfield, father of author and journalist John Handfield, bought the property from Mrs Longstaff. Then in 1924 the land was subdivided and most of the estate (80 blocks) was auctioned. The next owner was related to novelist Virginia Woolf. Bishop Reginald Stephen, Warden of Trinity College, bought the house and five acres (2 ha) in 1928. He was related to Sir Leslie Stephen, the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography and Woolf’s father. Novelist and music critic John Harcourt, was the next tenant, while he and his wife Fay, built their mud-brick house Clay Nuneham, at the foot of Stanhope Hill. Dr Clem and Mrs Nina Christensen, lived in the house until their deaths. Clem Christensen – who died aged 91 in 2003 – was a poet, short story writer and painter. However, he is most noted for founding Australia’s foremost literary journal2 Meanjin (originally Meanjin Papers), which he described as ‘democratic left of centre’, in Brisbane in 1940. Clem brought Meanjin to Melbourne in 1945 and remained editor until 1975. Enormously influential, Meanjin spawned and encouraged many of Australia’s best literary talents and it had an international reputation. Meanjin was the first to publish such writers as Judith Wright and David Malouf and it encouraged writers like Patrick White and Peter Carey. Nina Christensen – who died aged 89 in 2001 – was founding Editor of the Melbourne Slavonic Studies Journal and pioneered the study of Russian in Australia. In 1946 she established the Department of Russian Language and Literature at The University of Melbourne, which she led until 1977. Nina’s graduates largely staffed subsequent departments, in other Australian universities.3 However Nina’s Russian heritage and Clem’s outspoken views caused problems. They were forced to defend themselves in the Petrov inspired Royal Commission on Espionage in the 1950s, but were exonerated. The Christensens attracted and hosted many distinguished Australian and foreign writers, artists and academics, including Nobel prize-winning novelist, Patrick White and the world’s then leading cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich.4 Other writers and intellectuals who visited Stanhope were: Vance Palmer, Alan Marshall, A D Hope, Xavier Herbert, Nevil Shute, Geoffrey Dutton, Martin Boyd, Judah Waten, Bruce Grant, Dorothy Hewett and Sir Herbert Read. Painters included: Danila Vassilieff, Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Justus Jörgensen, Robert Hughes and Clifton Pugh. Academics included: Manning Clark, Geoffrey Blainey, W Macmahon Ball, Richard Downing, Geoffrey Serle and scientist Tim Marshall. Politicians included: Jim Cairns, Pauline Toner, Lance Barnard, Sir Paul Hasluck, Sheryl Garbutt and performance artists included: film star Olivia Newton-John, members of the Bolshoi ballet and the Russian State Ballet of Siberia.5 Nina Christensen was honoured in 2006 at the Eltham Living and Learning Centre with the building of an amphitheatre designed by V Sverdlin.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, clem christesen, eltham, nina christesen, peter street, stanhope