(i) Wall hanging on card. An illustration of a couple in their Regency clothes. No. 24 KAY NIELSEN. A description of the scene is in the quote, '' Ah, Princess! Surely you are not running away from me?'' . Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., London. (ii) A small picture of the nativity scene.artwork, print, print, lydia chancellor, collection, handcrafts, ephemera, art, artwork, drawing

Buff coloured envelope, unopened, addressed to Willis Ah Hoy, Hawker, White Hills, from Connelly, Tatchell & Dunlop, Barristers & Solicitors. Date stamped 25.9.02. Return to sender, see back, stamped on front over name. Red one penny stamp on the envelope A statement showing Balance owing on account re Instructions to defend you on a charge of being illegally found on premises at night ' April 1902business, legal, connelly & tatchell, dunlop

Eulogy by John McArthur t seems trite to say that it is a privilege to be able to speak about Alex’s work in the Church, but having known Alex for over 50 years and our various activities having been inextricably intertwined it is indeed an honour as well as a privelge. I first met Alex in the late 1950s when we were members of the PFA State Council – they were halcyon days for the young people in the church with very strong youth groups in most congregations. Alex was the state Treasurer. John Anderson was the President with Maureen Hancock, the secretary, Maureen, who with many others from that Council are here today. Alex was also very active in his local church at Canterbury in all aspects of its life and witness as we have heard from his children, Barrie and Jo, earlier in this service Alex who had trained as an accountant, applied for and been appointed to a position with the PCV and upon the retirement of his mentor, S. K. Williams, was appointed the Financial Secretary of the Church. When I was appointed as a member of the Trusts Corporation, I was very glad to see that Alec was the secretary – most members were nearly twice my age and it waas comforting to be with an old friend of somewhat similar age. The meetings were reasonably formal as one would expect from a gathering of some of the very senior business men in our State. Alex’s records were immaculate – not only did his agendas have the business arising from the previous meeting but there on the side were a list of matters that in Alex’s opinion had not been satisfactorily finalised over the past year. But one matter has stuck in my memory - only the correspondence that required action was considered, many other letters were left to be formally minuted. This time there was a letter from the Government advising that a building on the south side of Collins Street originally owned by the Free Presbyterian Church in the 1800s was to be placed on the Historic Register and this was our first intimation of the matter. One trustee, a knight of the realm, whose chin was always down on his chest, ( I wondered whether he was asleep or something) raised his head and said “If one just stood still in Collins Street for five minutes they would slap a historic citation on you” and back down went his head. I was not sure what would happen next when I looked at Alex and slowly, that recognisable smile appeared on his face – not really a smile , more like a grin as Barrie and Jo said earlier, one that would appear time and time again over the years at meetings which were meant to be quite formal. Alex had an encyclopaedic memory – for example, ask him about bequest funds, say, the W. S. Godfrey Perpetual Bequest, his answer would be, “Ah yes, donated by the man who founded the Grocery business in Carlton, the capital now would be about 53, 250 dollars, been no call on it for 2 ½ years”. If a new project was thought appropriate and needed funding, he would be able to find a fund or a bequest that, with a little tweaking, could be used to seed the programme. His financial presentations at meetings contained all the information one could want – he would choose his words carefully, and one would sometimes think – get on with it Alex - but his purpose was to make it quite clear what funds were available and what was their correct use. He took this financial acumen into other committees of the church, the Stipend Committee dealing with Ministers’ salaries, the Beneficiary Committee, the superannuation fund for both ministers and lay workers. There are many in the church who have had cause to be grateful for his financial input which added to their well being. But his work was not all with financial matters – as the Financial Secretary for the State, Alex was ex-offficio a member of the Presbytery of Maroondah where he was not the Treasurer and although as an ex officio member he was not expected to take that much part in the Presbytery’s activities – but Alex did, he took part in the strategy and pastoral care committees which showed his depth of concern for others in his church life. But I believe it was around this time that Alex produced some of his greatest work for the church – Church Union, not all Presbyterians wanted to be part of the Uniting Church – so a Statutory Commision was established on a national level, to divide the assets of the Church between those desiring to form part of the Uniting Church and those wanting to remain Presbyterian. Each State produced detailed records and submissions for the Commission – and Victoria was always the first to have its documents to the Commission – although Alex had made it quite clear that he would be with the Uniting Church, his work was meticulous, impartial and assisted greatly the work of the Commission relating to Victoria. And this in addition to his normal day to day work which continued over a period of some four or five years. The inauguration of the Uniting Church did present Alex, and indeed the rest of us, with some challenges. There were the financial records of three churches to be merged, properties to be considered, new community programmes required, new administrative structures to be put in place. Alex took these all in his stride – although after the initial planning, his role was to concentrate on financial matters only, the other activities had to be financed. As the chairperson of the Finance Division and the Resources Commission for a large portion of the early years of the Uniting Church, I was more than pleased to have Alex again by my side, reports were prepared, queries answered, it was just like old times. The Rev. Allan Stuart, now retired and living closer to his family in NSW was one on those young people from the Canterbury congregation – emailed me recently “Alex has been a faithful servant of the Church, at all levels from the National Assembly to the local congregation. But times are changing, and Alex had rightly passed the torch onto others” Allan was right but I also think that words of that great Scottish poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, sum up Alex’s life: “A man is a success when he has lived well, laughed often and loved much. One who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by work, relationships, one who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.” To me, that is our friend who we remember today - Alexander Robert Gillespie. BW photo of Alex Gillespie dressed in shirt sleaves and tie, upper body.C&N 11/2/1987, p. 33alex gillespie (29/2/1928–1/9/2009) worked for the presbyterian church as its managing treasurer for many years before then moving to the uniting church as the synod treasurer.

Artist Leonard French said of this work:- "The centre panel suggests a tree of knowledge growing out of a jewelled fish (a spiritual accompaniment is intended), and from the tree birds rise, spreading out through the cloud shapes of the other panels. Hands and figures rise from the earth, reaching for the birds. The left hand panel depicts the journey of figures in a boat, the seeking after or journeying to the source of knowledge. The far right hand panel is the garden, figures in a primitive state, a sort of evolution of figures from a primitive garden (the first garden). Visualization, verbalization, music and dance are tools we have to express a concept. The analysis of an art work is a delicate and sensitive task and great harm can be done in an attempt to become verbal about a form which relies upon elements peculiar to itself for intrinsic meaning." Leonard FRENCH (OBE) (08 October 1928 - 10 January 2017) Born Brunswick, Victoria Died Heathcote, Victoria Known for his enormous dalle de verre (concrete and slab glass) ceiling in the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria Leonard French produced a large body of work throughout his lifetime. French won the Sulman Prize in 1960, and the Blake Prize for Religious Art in 1963 and in 1980. He was also awarded a Harkness Fellowship in 1965. In the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1968 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In early 1959 Leonard French was commissioned by the Ballarat Teachers' College students to paint a mural. The students were responsible for the payment of the work. When unveiled artist George Bush remarked: "the 1959 students have left something not just to 'oooh' and 'ah' at, but something that is thought provoking, arresting and interesting. This work of art keeps something in reserve and draws you to search for deeper meaning behind the splendour of colour. This mural is not one which will not fade the interest of its beholders, but one which will provide intrigue for generations to come." Originally French intended the mural to be five panels, each entitled (left to right) 'the Journey', 'Man', 'The Tree', 'The Earth', 'The Garden'. The finished mural was reduced to four panels with the central tree incorporated into the panels 'Earth' and 'Man'. Ballarat Teachers' College Art lecturer Arch Cuthbertson explained that the artist:- "Aims at evoking emotional flashed, opening doors to simultaneous thinking and feeling. To accomplish this he juxtaposes the threads of conscious and unconscious images, thus effecting a tapestry that allows many points of reference to converge upon his singular images. Whether the colours offer metaphysical sensations or convey a literal meaning will depend upon the breadth and depth of the viewer's experience. Similarly with the bird - we might well ask is it a defiance of gravity, a metaphysical ascension or the elusive winged knowledge? Again the answer could well be that these three associations have a singular purpose. " This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.A four panel mural by Leonard French, commissioned and gifted by the Ballarat Teachers' College Student in 1959. Art lecturer Arch Cuthbertson was highly involved in this commission. Artist Charles Bush unveiled the mural at the Ballarat Teachers' College in Gillies Street, Ballarat. At that time he said:- "You have left behind you on object which will be full of interest to a lot of people. A work of art, so long as it is in existence, is constantly under review. Most of the good things that keep on going are usually to the uninitiated a little worrying. Many of you will be worried by this, because it does not make its message immediately clear. But come back and assess it again and again." art, leonard french, french, artwork, mural, ballarat teachers' college, class of 1959