The Kew RSL is located in "Wilton" House, 63 Cotham Road. The RSL was established on January 1st 1920, later joining with the Hawthorn RSL. In November 1931, Cr. C.R. Parry organised the reformation of the Kew Sub Branch and its first president was Brig-Gen Pat McGlin, a veteran of the Boer War and the First World War. On July 17th 1932, the club rooms first opened on Army land at the corner of High Street and Highbury Grove. In late November 1948, the Kew RSL bought the "Wilton" house from the Kew City Council for £10,067, opening seven years later in July 1955. [Source: Victorian Heritage Database]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.The exterior of the Kew RSL on the corner of Cotham Road and Charles Street, Kew. Designed by Guyon Purchase for Dr. William Walsh in 1886, the building was originally called Wilton."Chap 59. Cotham Rd. Built/Commences about 1885-6. Present day Wilton . Kew RSSUILA rooms. (Rumour of sale 1972?)"wilton, dr william walsh, guyon purchas, dorothy rogers, cotham road (kew)

Dr William Butler Walsh was born in 1854. He bought from James Venn Morgan on the corner of Charles Street and Cotham Road and in 1886 built Wilton on this site. He was at one stage the only doctor between Melbourne and Lilydale.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.Grave of the Walsh family in the Boroondara General Cemeterywilliam butler walsh, boroondara general cemetery, dorothy rogers, kew cemetery

At the beginning of the 1890s, the Kew businessman and Town Councillor, Henry Kellett, commissioned J.F.C. Farquhar to photograph scenes of Kew. These scenes included panoramas as well as pastoral scenes. The resulting set of twelve photographs was assembled in an album, Kew Where We Live, from which customers could select images for purchase.The preamble to the album describes that the photographs used the ‘argentic bromide’ process, now more commonly known as the gelatine silver process. This form of dry plate photography allowed for the negatives to be kept for weeks before processing, hence its value in landscape photography. The resulting images were considered to be finely grained and everlasting. Evidence of the success of Henry Kellett’s venture can be seen today, in that some of the photographs are held in national collections.It is believed that the Kew Historical Society’s copy of the Kellett album is unique and that the photographs in the book were the first copies taken from the original plates. It is the first and most important series of images produced about Kew. The individual images have proved essential in identifying buildings and places of heritage value in the district.This panoramic view was probably taken from the roof of Xavier College. It invites the viewer to look down on the buildings and streets of Kew, and across to the distant horizon. Mansions and solid bourgeois villas dominate the view of Charles and Wellington Streets. The imposing spires of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, built in one of the highest areas of Kew, can be seen in the distance. In the foreground, the photographer includes three significant mansions: Molina, Roxeth and Elsinore. Molina, in the foreground, and the group of weatherboard buildings in its yard was used at this stage for the privately operated ‘Kew High School’ (founded 1872). Roxeth, the home of Herbert Henty can be identified by its distinctive four-sided tower. All three buildings are now part of Trinity Grammar. Other built structures observable in the photograph include Wilton (now the Kew RSL), designed by Guyon Purchas for Dr William Walsh in 1886, and the only known image of the Prospect Hill Hotel prior to the renovation of 1935. Bird's Eye View Looking Northkew illustrated, kew where we live, photographic books, henry kellett