A history of the Bonegilla Hall and its pivotal role in the communtybonegilla hall, bonegilla community, history bonegilla

Our Collection includes several photographs signed BONSEMA WODONGA or sometimes simply TBW. Thomas Peter John Bonsema was born in Wodonga in 1876 to Peter John Bonsema and Mary Ann nee Nash. His name first appears on the Electoral Roll for Wodonga in 1909 and on the Electoral Roll in 1912 he is listed as a photographer. His photographs capture many scenes and events around Wodonga and surrounding areas. Thomas Bonsema married Minna Louisa Jones in 1912. By 1914 he had moved to Chiltern, Victoria where he established Bonsema’s Photographic Studio. From this time onward many of his works bore the signature “BONSEMA CHILTERN”. As well as continuing to photograph landscapes and important buildings, Mr Bonsema was often the official photographer at school and community celebrations. He also sold many framed photographs and postcards from his premises at 68 -70 Conness Street, Chiltern. By 1943 Thomas John Bonsema had relocated to New South Wales and died in Beecroft, NSW on 14th July 1944. Some of his photographs are held in the Victorian State Library and Mitchell Library Sydney Collections.These images are significant because they are the work of a recognised photographer Thomas Bonsema who was born in Wodonga in 1876. The picnic and sports days were an important community event in Bonegilla.Four Black and white photographs taken by Thomas Bonsema at a picnic and sports day held at the Bonegilla Hall. 1. Picnic Day at Bonegilla 2. Group at Bonegilla Picnic 3. After the wood chop 4. Ready for the Startbonsema photography, thomas peter john bonsema, wodonga post office

This set of seven photographs of sports action was taken on Flag Day, an annual sports competition between the Army Survey Regiment (ASR) and the School of Military Survey (SMS), at Bonegilla in 1974. The two RA Svy units took turns each year to host the event. Personnel from the ASR’s Detachment located at Bonegilla were part of the SMS’s teams. The day competition usually comprised basketball, cross country, golf, sailing, squash softball, tennis, rifle shooting, touch football, tug-of-war and volleyball. The evening competition often included darts, carpet bowls, hookey, quoits and snooker. This is a set of seven photographs of sports action was taken on Flag Day, Army Survey Regiment (ASR) versus the School of Military Survey (SMS), at Bonegilla in 1974. The photographs were printed on photographic paper and are part of the Army Survey Regiment’s Collection. The black and white photographs were scanned at 300 dpi. .1) & .2) - Photo, black & white, 1974, ASR Rifle Shooting Team - Back row L to R: Max Neil, Barry Lutwyche OAM, Warren ‘Waldo’ Shirley, unidentified. Front row L to R: Jim McDonald, Warren ‘WAH’ Hall, unidentified. .3) - Photo, black & white, 1974, ASR Golf: L to R: unidentified (x2), Alex Cairney. .4) - Photo, black & white, 1974, unidentified golfer. .5) - Photo, black & white, 1974, ASR Tug-of-War Team: Back row L to R: Ian ‘Rock’ Thistleton, unidentified (x2), Jeff Willey, Bob ‘Stretch’ Hayden, Peter Bion. Front row L to R: unidentified, Jim Cook, Ken ‘Sluggo’ Slater, Tom Pattison. .6) & .7) - Photo, black & white, 1974, ASR Tug-of-War Team in action..1P to .7P –No personnel are identified. ‘Visit to the School of Military Survey, 1974’ annotated on cover sleeve.royal australian survey corps, rasvy, army survey regiment, army svy regt, fortuna, flag day

Land for the Methodist Church in Wodonga was reserved in 1864. By 1865 the Reverend Francis Neale, a Wesleyan minister was appointed to Albury from where he supervised the congregation at Wodonga Creek until a church was built in 1873. By 1885 Wodonga and the other preaching places on the Victorian side of the Murray had become a separate circuit under the Reverend L. J Rowlands. This circuit included Bethanga. Kiewa. Leneva, Kergunyah and Bonegilla. In the 1960s the Methodist congregation built a new chapel in Hovell Street, Wodonga. The creation of the Uniting Church during the 1970s meant that the services were held in the former Presbyterian Church and joint Sunday School classes were conducted in the Methodist Hall. In 1961 the Church building and land was purchased by the Ukrainian Community for £2,000. Ukrainian Catholic families in Wodonga donated £100 each towards the purchase. Additional fund raising such as carol singing in nearby towns (Benalla, Wangaratta, Albury and Wodonga) assisted with the purchase of the Church. The former Methodist Church was in poor condition and the members of its new congregation undertook the replacement of the floor, the footings, replastering of the walls and the construction of an altar. The renovations cost a further £400. Once a month a priest came up from Melbourne to conduct services in the Church. On completion it was blessed by Bishop Ivan Prasko to become St Olga's Catholic Church (Ukrainian). In 1965 the Church was dedicated to its patron St Volodymir, with Bishop Varlamm (Sydney) and Bishop Donat (Melbourne) taking part in the ceremony. The members of the Ukrainian Catholic community also built a hall and smaller chapel in Hunt Street, Wodonga. With a declining congregation, this property became more manageable to maintain than the original brick building and the decision was made to close the building in 2010. In 2022 the building and extensive block of land in Church Street was sold commercially for potential redevelopment.These images are significant because they depict an early Wodonga Church building.A collection of coloured photographs depicting the first Methodist Church in Wodonga, Victoria It was a red brick church with a steeply pitched gable roof and parapeted gable walls. There was a small front porch with matching roof and gable treatment to the front. Simple timber Gothic windows were along the sides, with a tri-partite window above the porch. Two sections of this window featured stained glass, the other was opaque glass. Red brick buttresses were topped with white-painted render, as were the parapets, and the windows were also outlined with white painted render. Timber joinery was painted white. A front path led directly to the porch and the Church was flanked by mature oak trees. A small, relatively modern red brick skillion extension was added to the rear of the building.wodonga churches, methodist church wodonga, ukrainian catholic church wodonga

A small publication by a local author. A4 size including photographs and a map.This publication tells the story of the village of Mitta Junction which was established in about 1920 on the Victorian side of the Hume Dam construction site. The town was built to house workers and their families during the construction of the Hume Weir. It included houses, a shop, hall and school as well as tennis courts. After the completion of the weir the village and all its contents was sold at auction in June 1936 for £7000. The Mitta Junction school continued to operate until the mid 1980s. The book also documents aspects of the history of the Clark family of Bonegilla.mitta junction township, hume weir construction, clark family bonegilla

The Victorian Ex Servicewomen's Bicentennial Bowls Tournament was also a celebration for the bowlers who, 45 years earlier were contributing to Australia's war effort. Lorna Gorman, 79, who has received the Life Member of Melbourne WAAAF Branch, Royal Australian Air Force Association, Victoria Division award for services rendered over many years. Joan Wicks, 72, was on the first ship to leave Australia, after Japan entered the war in 1941, and joined the 2/1st Australian General Hospital at Gaza. After serving throughout the war she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Scholarship and on completion took up the position of Matron of the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne. Olive Jepson joined the Royal Australian Nursing Service in early 1942 and was attached to the 2/11th Australian General Hospital in Bonegilla. A page from a magazine consisting of two large black and white photos of women in bowls uniforms and three columns of text. The upper photo is of three women having a cup of tea and a laugh, with the lower photo depicting eight women holding the Bicentennial flag.[red ink line down the left side of a paragraph of text, left side, middle] [red ink line down the left side of a paragraph of text, middle, lower] 'Archie Webster 580 1815' [blue ink, bottom right]mckinnon bowls club, joan norton, jack smith, eileen mclean memorial plaque, jess whitehead, vi smith, may johnson, edna myers, ww2, wwii, middle east, western australia, new guinea, bouganville, heidelberg military hospital, buna, joy livingston, heather hall, betty craft, cath nimon, nance pownall, audrie webster, jeanne mathews, joan flower