An original photograph donated to the Kew Historical Society by the City's Engineering Department following the amalgamation of Kew into the City of Boroondara. While not all of the photographs are of Studley Park, Kew or East Kew, each photo provides a fine snapshot of the work of local government engineering departments of the period. They reveal they types of labour conducted, the techniques used and the equipment and machinery in the possession of the local government authority. Historic and rare photograph of major public works in Kew in the 1930s.Public works. Men at work in the creek bed of Connor's Creek in Kew, while constructing the underground drain. Connor's Creek was one of the two main tributaries of the Yarra River in Kew. It originated somewhere near the grounds of Genazzano FCJ College. The barrel drain was finally completed in 1941 at a cost of £14,000. Inscription on reverse: "City of Kew / Cecil st drain / November 1936". city of kew, city of kew (engineering department), engineering, connor's creek (kew)

An original photograph donated to the Kew Historical Society by the City's Engineering Department preceding the amalgamation of Kew into the City of Boroondara. While not all of the photographs are of Studley Park, Kew or East Kew, each photo provides a fine snapshot of the work of local government engineering departments of the period. They reveal they types of labour conducted, the techniques used and the equipment and machinery in the possession of the local government authority. Historic and rare photograph of major public works in Kew in the 1930sPublic works. Men at work in the creek bed of Connor's Creek in Kew, while constructing the underground barrel drain. Connors Creek was one of the two main tributaries of the Yarra River in Kew. It originated somewhere near the grounds of Genazzano FCJ College. The barrel drain was finally completed in 1941 at a cost of £14,000. Inscription on reverse: "City of Kew / Cecil st drain / November 1936". public works (kew), roadmaking, engineering, city of kew (engineering department), connor's creek (kew), cecil street drain

'Kew, Kew East, Balwyn & Balwyn North are located approximately 7km north east of Melbourne. Four main stormwater drains service the area flowing from south to north. Three of the drains: Deepdene Drain; Balwyn Drain & Glass Creek converge in Kew East just west of Burke Road at Kew High School before discharging into the Yarra River. The fourth drain, Kew Main Drain connects directly with the Yarra River to the West of Glass Creek.' The Kew Main Drain is a barrel drain that was created in the 1930s, and follows the route of the former Connor's Creek from the vicinity of Genazzano FCJ College to the Yarra River in East KewImportant and verifiable evidence of the construction methods used by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works in building the Kew Main Drain, before its reconstruction in c.1985.Original print colour positive photograph of the Kew Main Drain, provided on 14/12.84 to the Chief Engineer of the City of Kew, Ian Poulter, by the Supervising Engineer (Works), Southern and Eastern Drainage, Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works. The record includes an image of the reverse as well as the donation document from the MMBW."A84/1855-9 / 750mm council drain looking D/S [down stream] and across Parkhill Road. To be replaced with 1200 mm R.C.P. [reinforced concrete pipe] as part of MMBW Kew Main Drain reconstruction works"kew main drain, stormwater drains -- kew (vic.), connor's creek -- kew (vic.)

'Kew, Kew East, Balwyn & Balwyn North are located approximately 7km north east of Melbourne. Four main stormwater drains service the area flowing from south to north. Three of the drains: Deepdene Drain; Balwyn Drain & Glass Creek converge in Kew East just west of Burke Road at Kew High School before discharging into the Yarra River. The fourth drain, Kew Main Drain connects directly with the Yarra River to the West of Glass Creek.' The Kew Main Drain is a barrel drain that was created in the 1930s, and follows the route of the former Connor's Creek from the vicinity of Genazzano FCJ College to the Yarra River in East KewImportant and verifiable evidence of the construction methods used by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works in building the Kew Main Drain, before its reconstruction in c.1985.Original print colour positive photograph of the Kew Main Drain, provided on 14/12.84 to the Chief Engineer of the City of Kew, Ian Poulter, by the Supervising Engineer (Works), Southern and Eastern Drainage, Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works. The record includes an image of the reverse as well as the donation document from the MMBW."A84/1855-10 / 750mm council drain looking U/S [up stream] from Parkhill Road, Kew."kew main drain, stormwater drains -- kew (vic.), connor's creek -- kew (vic.)

Connor's Creek is/was one of two major waterways bisecting Kew, both of which empty into the Yarra River. Connor's Creek originates near the grounds of Genazzano FCJ College, which is one of the highest points in Kew. Until the 1930s, this was an open creek until a barrel drain - the Kew Main Drain - was constructed. As the creek ran through Kew it cut across a number of roads the maintenance of which was a continuing concern for Kew Councillors. In August 1864, the Council called for tenders to erect a stone culvert and embankment over Connor's Creek, on Belford-road. This may be the embankment on which the boys are sitting.Original, small photographic positive on card of two boys, identified by the donor as 'Wal Ives and Bert' [Albert Watson] sitting on bluestone capping above an outlet of Connor's Creek. To the left of the boys is a barrel drain which at that stage was the outlet for Connor's Creek near the Yarra River. The retaining wall is constructed of brick. In ink on photo: "Wal & Bert"connors creek -- kew (vic), wal ives, albert watson, belford road, yarra river -- kew (vic.), creeks -- kew (vic.), drains -- kew (vic.)

Several boathouses were built in Kew and Fairfield in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They included Chipperfield’s ‘Moorings’ and floating pontoon. The substantial two-storey house was named the Moorings, and incorporated an upper storey residence. The Moorings was almost washed away in the 1916 floods, and in 1934 almost totally submerged when the Yarra River rose 26 feet in 14 hours. Following the 1934 flood, the house was restored. The floating pontoon, sometimes referred to as a ‘kiosk’ or ‘canteen’, was used to store canoes. Both were removed in 1972 for the construction of the Eastern Freeway.This work forms part of the collection assembled by the historian Dorothy Rogers, that was donated to the Kew Historical Society by her son John Rogers in 2015. The manuscripts, photographs, maps, and documents were sourced by her from both family and local collections or produced as references for her print publications. Many were directly used by Rogers in writing ‘Lovely Old Homes of Kew’ (1961) and 'A History of Kew' (1973), or the numerous articles on local history that she produced for suburban newspapers. Most of the photographs in the collection include detailed annotations in her hand. The Rogers Collection provides a comprehensive insight into the working habits of a historian in the 1960s and 1970s. Together it forms the largest privately-donated collection within the archives of the Kew Historical Society.Chipperfield's Floating Canteen (also known as the pontoon) on the Yarra River. at North Kew The children wading in the river are believed to be the three sons of Dorothy Rogers."Chipperfield's Floating Canteen & house in background. At extreme right - observe channel where Connors Creek flows in."chipperfield's boat house, river yarra, dorothy rogers, floods 1916, 1934

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) was established by an act of the Victorian Parliament in 1890 to prepare for and to implement a sewerage and water reticulation system across what was then inner Melbourne, its surrounding and middle distance suburbs, including Kew. The MMBW was disbanded in 1991.The map collection of the Kew Historical Society has at its core the historic maps assembled and originally stored in the City Engineer's Department of the City of Kew. These include maps in a number of scales. The vast majority of maps were produced by the MMBW in the first two decades of the twentieth century, and are solid working maps, backed by linen for durability. These maps are historically significant to Kew, the City of Boroondara and to the history of the development of state utilities in Victoria. A number of the Kew maps have additional details added by former municipal officers, including the levels reached by various floods. As these were working documents, information was added to them long after the period of their initial production and distribution.Early map of part of the Borough of Kew, created in the first decade of the twentieth century, at a scale 160 ft to 1 inch. The map covers what was then the northern most part of Kew, bordered on its north and west by the Yarra River, in the East by Connor's Creek and by the Asylum in the south. The map shows the extent of urban development by that time, prominent institutions and the outlines of built structures in the municipality. Contour lines and historic flood levels were added in ink to the map at a later stage.MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS / PLAN NO. 64 / KEW & HEIDELBERGmelbourne & metropolitan board of works, mmbw maps, mmbw plans, borough of kew, cartography

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) was established by an act of the Victorian Parliament in 1890 to prepare for and to implement a sewerage and water reticulation system across what was then inner Melbourne, its surrounding and middle distance suburbs, including Kew. The MMBW was disbanded in 1991.The map collection of the Kew Historical Society has at its core the historic maps assembled and originally stored in the City Engineer's Department of the City of Kew. These include maps in a number of scales. The vast majority of maps were produced by the MMBW in the first two decades of the twentieth century, and are solid working maps, backed by linen for durability. These maps are historically significant to Kew, the City of Boroondara and to the history of the development of state utilities in Victoria. A number of the Kew maps have additional details added by former municipal officers, including the levels reached by various floods. As these were working documents, information was added to them long after the period of their initial production and distribution.Early map of part of the Borough of Kew, created in the first decade of the twentieth century, at a scale 160 ft to 1 inch. The map covers what was then the north central part of Kew, bordered in the north by Oak Avenue, in the west by the Yarra River and Connor's Creek, in the south by Beresford and Carnegie Avenues, and in the east by Glass's Creek and Burke Road. The map shows the extent of urban development by that time, prominent institutions and the outlines of built structures in the municipality. Contour lines and the levels of historic floods were added in ink to the map at a later stage.MELBOURNE AND METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS / PLAN NO. 68 / KEW melbourne & metropolitan board of works, mmbw maps, mmbw plans, borough of kew, cartography