During a visit to England, Society members Russell Yeoman (Secretary and founding member) and his wife Marion reached out to the Eltham Society in Kent, England, just out of London seeking to establish a friendly relationship between two historical societies which share a common interest in their respective home towns of Eltham. They were invited to meet various members at the home of one of their members on 3 July 1996 where various items of relevance to Eltham, Victoria and Eltham, Kent were exchanged. In addition, the Yeomans were also invited to attend an Eltham Society meeting the following evening. Subsequent to the Yeoman's visit, Eltham Society members Margaret Taylor and Clifford Crate visited Eltham, Victoria during Christmas 1997 and were hosted by various EDHS members with further exchanges of items of interest. The relationship has been maintained over several years and was reinforced in May 2018 when Eltham Society member Margaret Taylor, proudly wearing her Eltham Copper Butterfly t-shirt, again acted as host to visiting EDHS members Peter and Liz Pidgeon. video recording, russell yeoman, marion yeoman, margaret taylor, eltham kent england, eltham society (london), presentation

A slab hut situated in Research, Victoria. An elderly man and woman stand in front of their small bark slab home with bark chimney. It has a tin roof and tin water tank to the side. A small garden is situated at the front. Reproduced on pp 38-39 of 'Pioneers & Painters: One Hundred years of Eltham and it's Shire" (1971) Article in "Australian Family Tree Connections" February 2000 by B. J. Parkinson claims that the people in this photo are "Jonas and Christina Jane (Gregg) PRIOR in front of their home at Ferny Hill, near Eltham, Victoria, 1877". Photocopy of photo also attached to 14 online family trees for the Prior family on Ancestry.com without the words "A Bush Home". References found to Prior in historical newspapers and the property "Ferny Hill". Jonas was a convict from Kent, England. He arrived in Hobart in 1821 aged 19 years. He married Christina Gregg in Hobart about 1834 and had 11 children. They came to Victoria about 1846. He died at Ferny Hill, near Research, Eltham in 1878 aged 74 years and was buried at Melbourne General Cemetery. His occupation was gardener.This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as the 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital image 4 x 5 inch B&W Neg Print 20 x 25 cmshire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, research (vic.), ferny hill, jonas prior, christina prior, hut, prior, convict, pioneers and painters