Recording of a talk on Surrey Hills by Arthur Tonkin to the Nunawading & District Historical Society meeting on 10th April, 1999.tonkin arthur, surrey hills, whs meeting

Arthur Henry Dear was an employee of the City of Kew, acting as Hall Keeper of the Kew Recreation Hall in Wellington Street, and later the new Kew City Hall in Cotham Road. The Arthur Dear Collection contains memorabilia - tickets, programmes, invitations - as well as his identification badge. Items in the collection dates from the 1940s to the 1960s. The Kew Recreation Hall (Wellington Street) and later the Kew City Hall (Cotham Road) were major locations in suburban Melbourne in the postwar period for civic and private events including theatre productions and exhibitions. The Arthur Dear Collection (in conjunction with the scrapbooks compiled by Marion Tilley) provide a comprehensive snapshot of performing arts in Kew during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. The collection includes valuable data about performances, performers, directors etc., during this period. Letter to the Kew Historical Society relating to the donation of the Arthur Dear Collection by the donor.14TH JANUARY 2011 / KEW HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC / P/O BOX 175 / KEW 3101 / Dear Sir/Madam / My name is Mary Tracey (nee DEAR). My later father, ARTHUR HENRY DEAR was caretaker of the KEW RECREATION HALL from approximately 1945 to 1959 when the HALL was demolished by the KEW BOWLING CLUB. Please find enclosed some Programmes of events that took place at the HALL during that period of time. Hoping they may be of some interest, yours sincerely MARY TRACEY, ****arthur dear collection, performing arts -- kew -- victoria, kew recreation hall -- wellington street, kew civic hall -- cotham road, city of kew