The district of Strathfieldsaye was proclaimed in 1861 and named a Shire on the 17th September in 1866. It remained a shire until amalgamation in 1994 when it became part of the City of Greater Bendigo. The shire was located 8 km to the south- east of Bendigo and covered an area of 601 square kilometres and extended from the Calder Highway to the Coliban and Campaspe Rivers. The shire's administration centre was in Strathfieldsaye until 1972 when new offices were opened in Kennington.Silver gelatin framed photographic group portrait of fifteen men taken in the alcove of the Strathfieldsaye Shire Hall. Four men are seated and eleven are standing. Photograph is attached directly to cream mount card. Handwritten note with photograph: 1/ John Burke, 2/ (?), 3/ (?), 4/ RHS Abbott, 5/ M Brennan, 6/(?) 7/(?) 1/. M Condon? 2/ (?) 3/ M Burns, 4/(?) Gentlemen at back are probably council staff.shire of strathfieldsaye, strathfieldsaye shire council, president of strathfieldsaye shire, councillor john burke, councillor r.h.s. abbott, councillor brennan, councillor condon, councillor m burns

Richard Hartley Smith Abbott b 1858 – d 1940 Born in Bendigo, his mother remarried Joseph Henry Abbott in1860 after his father died. He adopted his stepfathers surname in 1884. Abbott attended Bendigo High School and St Andrews Scotland. Returning to Australia in 1879 he became proprietor of the Abbott Supply Company, a had a variety of business interests including Director of the Sandhurst Building Society, the Bendigo Gas Company, and several local mining enterprises. He owned farms at Lyell, Mandurang and Eppalock, and was a pioneer of lucerne cultivation and tanning. In 1887, Abbott became a councillor for Strathfieldsaye Shire, a position he held for fifteen years. He was Shire President (1901–02) and a Bendigo City councillor (1904–09; 1913–19), serving as Mayor of Bendigo between 1917 and 1918. Co-founder and President of Bendigo Art Gallery and originator of the RHS Bequest Fund to support acquisitions. Abbott Court a section of the gallery is named in his honour. In 1884, Abbott married Mary Hannah Gibbs and together they had eight children. Three quarter studio photographic portrait of Cr R.H.S. Abbott wearing fur collared mayoral robes and chain. Photograph has hand painted details. Window mounted. Gold ornate frame. Cr R.H.S. Abbott / Mayor of Bendigo 1917 - 18 / Recto lr: 'Vincent Kelly Bendigo' cr r.h. s. abbott, mayor abbott