The item is a glass writing desk set used at Carramar, the family home of Carl Axel Nobelius, who founded the Gembrook Nurseries. Gembrook Nurseries were a major employer in the area, shipping fruit and decorative tree species around Australia and internationally. Carramar was the largest private residence in the area with sixteen rooms in addition to staff accommodations. The Nobelus family entertained several famous or important guests there, including Dame Nellie Melba and the Governor of Victoria, Sir Reginald Talbot. The desk set is thought to have been a gift to Carl Axel Nobelius and his wife Emily on the anniversary of their wedding. The Gembrook Nurseries, informally known as the Nobelius Nurseries after the founder Carl Axel Nobelius, began with the purchase of sixty-three acres in 1886 and boomed in the 1890s due to opportunities provided by employment-promoting schemes to develop public parks and gardens and street shade by local and State Governments around Australia. Trees were sold to more than forty councils and Government organisations in the 1890s, including the Department of Agriculture, Lands Department and Victorian Railways. The need to transport nursery products by train via Ferntree Gully rather than by bullock dray to Narre Warren was a factor in the successful petition to develop what is now known as the Puffing Billy Railway. Gembrook Nurseries had an indirect influence on the development of other farms and industries in the region. As a wholesale nursery with high sales volumes it was an important employer of local people. Peak season for employees was during the cooler months, during most farmers' off-season. This provided local farmers with a source of income while their own farms were becoming established. The desk set appears to be in Art Deco style, which suggests that it was in use at Carramar later in Carl Axel Nobelius' life, prior to his death in 1921, as the style became most popular in the years after the First World War. Carramar was the largest private residence in the area with sixteen rooms in addition to staff accommodations. A real estate listing from the sale of Carramar in 1941 indicates that it had five bedrooms, three reception areas, a large billiards room, two bathrooms, rooms for staff use and a separate six-room gardener's cottage as the home sat within extensive gardens. The Nobelus family entertained several famous or important guests there, including Dame Nellie Melba and the Governor of Victoria, Sir Reginald Talbot.The item is significant due to its association with the estate of Carl Axel Nobelius, a horticulturist whose business activities at the Gembrook Nurseries contributed to both the social and infrastructure development of Emerald and surrounds and the distribution of several plant species internationally.The item is a glass plate on small metal legs. Arranged across the surface of the glass plate are a metal rack suitable for holding letters, a square glass bottle with a metal lid sitting in a square metal receptacle which may have been used for ink and two metal brackets suitable for holding a pen. The metal used is silver-toned.carramar, carl axel nobelius, carl axel nobelius, gembrook nurseries, nobelius nursery, writing equipment, desk set, art deco

Carl and Emily Nobelius moved to a sixteen-roomed Victorian mansion called Carramar where over the years they entertained important guests including Dame Nellie Melba and Governor of Victoria, Sir Reginald Talbot. Carramar retains several fruit and ornamental trees planted by Nobelius and much of its original architectural features.This record holds historic significance as it captures the history of agriculture within Emerald and reflects the significance agriculture had on the development and urbanization of Emerald. There is also strong research potential due to the presumed time period the photograph was taken and the location of the photograph.Black and white rectangular photograph printed on matte photographic paper. This black and white photograph consists of ornamental trees in Emerald Nursery. In the image, we see mass amounts of trees and shrubbery on the hills that were for street planting, possibly linked to Carramar, which was the family home belonging to Carl and Emily Nobelius. Circa 1916.Obverse: ORNAMENTAL TREES FOR STREET PLANTING /1910s, nobelius nursery, nobelius family, nurseries, trees, agriculture, emerald & district collection

A tourist promotion booklet with numerous colourred photographs. Two-page section on Emerald includes mention of Nobelius Nursery, Emerald Country Club, Carramar, and Hans Knorr, sculptor (photographs of his work).Victoria's Dandenong Ranges - Soft cover, 40 page booklet, with coloured photographs and map; ISBN 0 908411 01 4dandenong ranges, victoria, australia, emerald, victoria, australia, clematis victoria australia, tourism, sculpture, dandenong ranges promotion centre, emerald country club, emerald lake park, hans knorr

Vendors brochure for auction, Saturday 26 January 1960 (?), of 34 garden allotments. Includes locality plan. No year date on brochure. Describes rich mountain soil, beautiful flowering trees and shrubs, formed roads with access to every block. Electric light telephone etc. Carramar was built by Carl Axel Nobelius in 1898. It was later owned by Mrs Mirams and used as a nursing home. The garden had many rare and beautiful trees and shrubs used by Nobelius for propagation. C.A. Nobelius's son, Arch Nobelius, started the Nobelius & Co. Estate Agency later bought by H.B. Mickelborough.Real estate brochure re Carramar Estate, two-sided.Paperemerald, victoria, australia, land sales, real estate agencies, nurseries (plants), carramar, carl axel nobelius, nobelius nursery, gembrook nurseries, nobelius estate agent

From the Nobelius home, "Carramar"Bread and butter plate, Meakin "bleu de roi" - Chinaemerald, victoria, australia, china, table service, nobelius, e morris, carramar

Found in the garden at Carramar by Bill Hazard in Winter 2002. Possibly used in chopping kindling.Well-used, small, iron chopper or tomahawk head, 140 mms long, 95 mms wide at blade. The back has severe indentations possibly through use in hammering wedges.emerald, victoria, australia, tools, horticulture, carl axel nobelius, carramar

Carl Axel Nobelius established the Gembrook Nurseries in 1886 on sixty-three acres purchased from an original selector after the area's gold rush started to diminish. It was called the Gembrook Nurseries as it was located in the Parish of Gembrook, but it was commonly referred to as the Nobelius nurseries after its founder; especially as control of the remaining portions of the nurseries remained with the Nobelius family until 1955. The Nobelius Nurseries had a substantial impact on the development of the township of Emerald, as local farmers were able to earn funds during the winter by working at the nursery which gave them financial resources while waiting for their own farms to become productive. The need to transport plants and trees to port quickly also contributed to the development of rail infrastructure in the region; C.A. Nobelius was one of thirteen witnesses to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways in 1898 debating a rail connection between Gembrook and Ferntree Gully, which became today's Puffing Billy tourist service. The nurseries occupied 280 acres at their peak in 1905, with more than one million trees available for sale at that time. The nursery focused on exotic fruit and ornamental species which were supplied to public parks and gardens all over the world. In several cases the nurseries were the first suppliers of the trees in Australia. Sales records show that trees were supplied to clients in Europe, Asia, the United States, Africa and New Zealand, as well as to many Councils and Government organisations around Australia, such as Melbourne's Fitzroy Gardens and Royal Botanic Gardens. Emerald Museum records indicate that this photograph of the Gembrook Nursery was taken in the vicinity of Carramar, the family home built by Carl Axel Nobelius. The sixteen-room mansion was one of the premier estates in the region and was visited by guests including Dame Nellie Melba and the Governor of Victoria, Sir Reginald Talbot. The building still stands amongst gardens that feature original Gembrook Nurseries plantings. Portions of the Gembrook Nurseries (and the Carramar estate) were sold at different times throughout the Twentieth Century, with the Emerald Country Club and Emerald Lake Park both occupying portions of the original land. In 1981 the final twelve acres were purchased by the Shire of Sherbrooke in recognition to be used as a heritage landmark in recognition of the site's significance.The photograph is significant because it depicts the built environment and stock cultivation at the Gembrook Nurseries during the early decades of the Twentieth Century; a period in which the nurseries were the leading Southern-hemisphere supplier of plants and trees to public gardens around the world. Museum acquisition records indicate this photograph was taken in the vicinity of the 'Carramar' estate, the home of the Nobelius family.Black and white rectangular photograph printed on photographic paper. The photograph depicts cultivated fields, roads, fencing and buildings at the Gembrook Nurseries; in the vicinity of the 'Carramar' estate.Obverse: 70 / (?) nt /1910s, 1890s, 1900s, carl axel nobelius, gembrook nurseries, nobelius nursery, carramar, farming, buildings, agriculture, dame nellie melba, reginald talbot, emerald country club, emerald lake park, shire of sherbrooke