Unearthing local heritage has won two Year 8 Korowa Anglican Girls School students the state finals in the 'Victorian Heritage' section of the National History Awards. Serrin Smyth and Georgina Blood submitted a video which was one of over 2000 entries from across Victoria. Their chosen subject was in the history challenge topic 'Civic Rights and Responsibilities in our History' was Blood's Cottage in Station Street, Box Hill. The cottage is now 144 years old and is the oldest surviving cottage in Box Hill. Keeping the cottage has, and will definitely have, an impact on society. Cutting from 'Whitehorse Post', 3 September 1997.smyth, serrin, blood, georgina, bloods cottage, box hill

A Storm Glass and Thermometer such as this one would be used in predicting or forecasting the weather. Farmers used predictions they read from their Storm Glass to prepare for stormy weather or for choosing a good time for planting or harvesting their crops. This could mean to them the difference between a good year and a year without income. This design has been in use since the early 1800’s. According to Admiral Fitzroy (who studied the storm glass and wrote instructions on its use) the liquid in the glass changes composition and appearance according to the direction of the air moving around it. He advised the user to disturb the contents once or twice a year by tipping it upside down and shaking it gently. Item is a good example of a barometer/thermometer that would have been in most homes and farms from the late 19th century and early 20th century. This item would have been massed produced at the time therefore easily available and quite cheap to purchase making this particular item not very significant as not associated with a historic person or property or with a known manufacturer or date.Storm Glass and Thermometer, commonly called a 'Cottage Barometer', mounted on a rectangular dark rectangle of wood, top corners rounded. The Storm Glass (or weather glass, or chemical weather glass) is suspended in a long oval shaped hole in the wood on left side, held in place at top and at bottom with 2 metal bands secured by nails. The glass of this gauge is hand blown, sealed at the top with another layer of glass. The watery fluid in the storm glass is opaque brownish colour with dark particles floating in it. (Storm glasses were usually filled with a variation of a mix of camphor, distilled water, ethyl alcohol and silver nitrate.) The alcohol thermometer is mounted on the right side of the wood, bulb resting in a hollow, attached at top and near base by 2 thin metal strips, with clover-leaf shaped ends, nailed into place. Over the bulb is nailed a metal guard with 3 ventilation slits cut into it. On left of thermometer is a scale, stamped into wood, 30 below zero to 130 above zero, in 2 degree intervals. A border of 2 thin parallel lines, with remnants of light coloured paint, is around the block of wood. On the reverse side, a metal plate is nailed to the top with a mounting hole in it. Impressed sideways along edge of barometer is "STORMY" "CHANGE" "FAIR". Across the top of the thermometer is a fleur de leis in the wood, and above this it is stamped "FAHRENHEIT". On right of the thermometer, stamped into the wood, is "BLOOD/HEAT", "SUMR/HEAT", "TEMPE/RATE", "FREEZ/ING". On the back of the wood, at the base, are remnants of a white sticker with "...111.73". Carved into the wood is "HOLLAND / AV". flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, barometer, cottage barometer, storm glass, thermometer, chemical weather glass

Plan of Subdivision LP41463 - Part of Crown Allotment 43, Parish of Ringwood, County of Mornington. Map includes Bedford Road, Homebush Court, Vista Avenue and Vista Court, Heathmont. Allotments include LP201659, LP139446, LP115253, LP207494, LP216905, PS335874, LP206161, PS305345, PS300083, LP92899."Reaghill”; a 30 acre property in Bedford Road, Heathmont was bought from the Blood family about 1910 by Mr Seymour Davies as a weekend retreat from his busy life as a manager with the Glenferrie (or Hawthorn) branch of the English, Scottish and Australian (ES&A) Bank. He and his family came by train to Ringwood and then drove a pony cart up Bedford Road to a gateway at about number 139 and then a long drive, which wound up to the top of the hill. There was a wonderful view of Mount Dandenong which later became obliterated by tall eucalyptus trees. The land which became “Reaghill” was part of an 80 acre crown land sale to Mr Robert Blood on 12 March 1872. More information on the Blood family involvement with the area is given on pages 13-17 of the original 1974 edition of Hugh Anderson, Ringwood, Place of Many Eagles. Another section of this land was bought by Mr Frank L Walker and subsequently became "Wombalano Park". There is a quarry on the property from which stone was used for the long driveway. The garden was mainly left natural although we have two large Liquidamber trees which were planted by his wife Dora Davies (nee Hall). Surely these were some of the first to be planted in Melbourne gardens. A small weatherboard, galvanised iron roofed cottage was built on the top of the hill. At the time the house was built there was a strike of plasterers - as a result it was lined with timber, an unusual combination at that time. The Davies had a daughter and two sons - Dora (born 1897), Geoffrey (1900), John (1902). All studied medicine at Melbourne and practised, Geoffrey in Sydney, John in general practice Melbourne while Dora went to England in the 1930s and never returned. John and Dora married in 1933 and 1938 respectively and had families. Soon after the beginning of the 1939-45 war Geoffrey enlisted in the AIF as a Medical Officer and was in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese. He spent the remaining war years in various POW camps, including Changi and others in Malaya and Thailand. While there he earned the gratitude of his fellows by his innovative use of available plants to treat tropical diseases. After this war Geoffrey returned to Melbourne and worked as a pathologist at the. Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital while living for part of the time at "Reaghill". Seymour Davies died in October 19-35 and his wife, Dora, in February 1945. Of their children, John died in 1976, Dora in 1985 and Geoffrey in 1986. In July 1968 Geoffrey moved to East Ringwood and the two acre house block* and an adjacent one were sold to Dr James Hamilton Kelly, then of New York State, USA (Title Vol 8740 folio 991). As far as is known he never lived there. The house was let to a Mr and Mrs Ingamels for some years. The relatively fertile lower slopes on the south side of the land were cleared and farmed by descendants of the Blood family. At the time of the 1957 subdivision there were clear signs of the ploughed area. It was said that they used to grow strawberries in those paddocks. In about 1955 Dr Geoff Davies decided to sub-divide the property, he was unmarried and found it too large to maintain. Initially five of the seven normal house sized blocks fronting Bedford Road were sold and in about 1957 the remainder, was divided into 15 blocks (averaging nearly two acres) and put on the market. These were sold for £1000 ($2000) per acre. Homebush Court and Vista Court were formed to give access to- these blocks. The Homebush Court blocks have close access to Heathmont and the others to East Ringwood although all are lumped into East Ringwood by the municipal and postal authorities. The name "Reaghill" possibly comes from the Davies family's Irish origins. Homebush Court was named by Geoff Davies from the Sydney suburb of that name where he had lived in the 1930s. It was originally the name of a property owned by one of the early NSW Governors. Vista was a reminder to Geoff Davies of the once-grand views he remembered seeing from the hilltop. The earlier history in this article was recounted by my mother, a niece of Mr Seymour Davies, who remembered coming on a great outing to "Reaghill" as a child. Other recollections are from our own conversations with Geoff Davies. Ian and Margaret McKellar. 16 January, 1996

.1 PAINTING OF A COTTAGE WITH PICKET FENCE AND FRONT GARDEN OF THE HILL STREET HOME .2 OVAL PHOTOGRAPH OF LOUISA SWAINSON .3 PHOTOGRAPH OF JOHN SWAINSON .4 HANDWRITTEN LETTER :DEAR SIR OR MADAM PLEASE FIND ENCLOSED PHOTO OF LOUISA SWAINSON NEE WORLEY. SHE WAS A NURSE AT HOSPITAL. THE SECOND WIFE OF JOHN SWAINSON..THEY HAD 3 CHILDREN. A PAINTING OF THE HILL STREET HOME, BY THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER RUBY. SHE MARRIED A WELSH MERCHANT MARINE SAILOR. FOR MANY YEARS THEY LIVED ON THE ROAD UP TO TH MITCHELL'S PROPERTY. AFTER LOUISA PASSED AWAY (JOHN'S FIRST WIFE DIED AFTER GIVING BIRTH TO 4 CHILDREN) ALSO ENCLOSED IS A HANDPAINTED PHOTO OF JOHN SWAISON. ALSO HIS DETAILS WHICH WERE SENT TO UK FOR THE PAINTING. ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER HAS INFORMED US ACTUALLY JOHN'S NAME WAS SVENSON. HE CHANGED IT WHEN HE JUMPED SHIP IN SYDNEY ON HEARING THAT GOLD HAD BEEN FOUND IN CLUNES. .3 ON THE BACK : HANDWRITTEN ON TOP: THIS PICTURE IS TO GO TO AUSTRALIA AND AS IT CANNOT COME BACK FOR ALTERATIONS PLEASE SEE THAT THE PROOF IS FOLLOWED IN THE MIDDLE A GLUED ON DAMAGED PIECE OF PAPER HANDWRITTEN - EYES: HAZEL, WHITE STREAKED WITH BLOOD VEINS HAIR, WHISKERS AND BEARD: DARK BROUN ALMOST BLACK DREE DARK 23/2/80 ON THE BOTTOM A RECTANGLE PIECE OF PAPER GLUED ON AND TYPED THIS PICTURE IS TO GO TO AUSTRALIA AND AS IT CANNOT COME BACK FOR ALTERATIONS PLEASE SEE THAT THE PROOF IS FOLLOWED EYES HAZEL WHITE STREAKED SLIGHT WITH BLOOD VEINS HAIR WHISKERS AND BEARD DARK BROWN ALMOST BLACK DRESS DARKjohn swainson, louisa swainson, worley, john svenson

Contents; 56 pagesSketches of various houses and other significant landmarks in Box Hill with accompanying description. Drawings by Julia Morant. machadodorp, pound house, whitehorse, town halls, libraries, houses, cemeteries, parks and gardens, box hill high school, burwood primary school, greek orthodox church, churches, blood's cottage, shops, shadmani, upton house, surrey dive, wattle park