Mr Eric Sumsion was the gardening curator for Wodonga Shire in 1956. He had previously operated a bootmaker’s shop in High Street, Wodonga for many years. Eric saw the potential of the area in Wodonga now known as Belvoir Park and asked permission to work on part of the area. He eventually purchased a house adjoining the area giving him more time and easy access to work on it. The Lagoon, Lake Huon, Belvoir Lagoon, Belvoir Park and Sumsion Gardens are all names used over time for what is today one of Wodonga’s favourite recreation and picnic spots. In the 1800s river boats could enter Lake Huon from Wodonga Creek. There was a jetty south of where the water fountain is today. In later years, this jetty was used by the Clay Bird Shooting Club. From the early 1900s football and cricket were played there, and some mining leases were also allowed. At one time there were open gravel pits between House Creek and the main lagoon, and these were subsequently filled with town garbage collected by the Council. In the late 1940s, Wodonga Golf Club took over part of Belvoir Park for a 9-hole golf course with sand greens. The Golf Club House was built in 1946. The Club extended the course to 12-holes when the football ground moved to Martin Park and the course later extended to 18 holes. Under Eric Sumsion’s care the area became a magnificent area of parkland and curated gardens. After he had retired in 1961 his work was acknowledged by the Shire Engineer, Mr Bill Page, when the Sumsion Gardens were named in his honour. He was also responsible for the design and curating of many other gardens in Wodonga, including those at Sarah Coventry and Richardson Park. Eric Sumsion died in July 1988, aged 85.This item is significant because it acknowledges the dedication and commitment of Eric Sumsion to the Wodonga Community.A collection of photographic images and an advertisement related to the work of Eric Sumsion in Wodonga.eric sumsion, parks and gardens wodonga

Sarah Coventry Pty. Ltd. was a North American jewellery company that was established in 1949 by the Stuart family as part of Emmons Jewelry, Inc. It began operations in England and Australia in 1968, and in Australia it moved from Carlton in Melbourne to Wodonga in 1969. The premises were originally on High St. in Wodonga, but a new warehouse was built in Melbourne Rd. later in 1969. It was a direct selling jewellery business using a party-plan model similar to Tupperware and Avon. The sales reps or 'Hostesses' were provided with jewellery samples in demonstration kits, which they displayed at jewellery parties in their homes. The designs for jewellery such as brooches, necklaces, earrings, chokers and bracelets were purchased from freelance designers and jewellery manufacturers rather than in-house designers. In 1979 Sarah Coventry Pty. Ltd. in Wodonga was bought by three Australian businessmen, including Wodonga local Jim Sawyer, and continued to sell jewellery under the name "Sargem Pty. Ltd”, for several more years in the 1980s. Eric Sumsion was a gardener and curator for the Wodonga Shire. As part of the Sarah Coventry collection, the framed photograph has local significance with the decentralised commercial development of regional centres such as Wodonga in NE Victoria, as well as with its association with Eric Sumsion who was a prominent figure in Wodonga's history and development. Faded colour photograph shows part of the garden at the Sarah Coventry warehouse in Wodonga, built in 1969, in a brown wooden frame."Presented to Eric Sumsion by Sarah Coventry : In appreciation of a job well done." written on the back of the framing.sarah coventry, jewellery, wodonga, costume jewellery, vintage fashion jewellery, eric sumsion