Reproduced on p49 of 'Pioneers & Painters'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 B&W Print 20 x 25 cm B&W Prtint 12.5 x 17.5 cm sepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, kangaroo ground, garden hill farm, james ness, robert ness, pioneers and painters

Source: Mr. R.B. Ness, Kangaroo GroundThis 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 imagesepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, kangaroo ground, garden hill farm, james ness

35mm colour positive transparency (1 of 25) Mount - Kodak EktachromeProcessing Date Code Jun 90Mkangaroo ground, memorial park, garden hill, garden hill farm, shire of eltham memorial park

1951 Aerial photo 1423-110 Run 10 showing the Shire of Eltham War Memorial at centre of image with the newly constructed Caretaker's cottage.aerial photographs, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, memorial park, shire of eltham war memorial

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerRoll of 35mm colour negative film, 7 stripsFuji 100Nkangaroo ground, caretaker cottage, garden hill farm, war memorial tower

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerColour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerColour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial

The Caretaker's cottage was built to replace the original 1927 hut, which had been built with left over stone from the tower. There was a desire to expand the size of the hut to make provision for a married caretaker. The caretaker's cottage was opened along with the re-dedication of the memorial to include the fallen from the Shire of Eltham during the Second World War by Sir Dallas Brookes on 8 November 1951.Colour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial, memorial park, shire of eltham war memorial

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerColour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerColour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerColour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerColour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerColour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial

At Kangaroo Ground Memorial TowerColour photographcaretaker cottage, garden hill farm, kangaroo ground, kangaroo ground memorial

View to south-east from Shire of Eltham Soldiers' Memorial Park showing the carriageway from the road to top of Memorial Park. Accompanying notes state that the entry gate was put in place in May 1921. Eltham and Whittlesea Shire Advertiser and Diamond Creek Valley Advocate Fri 21 May 1920 p 2 reported: Kangaroo Ground Memorial Park "It was decided to arrange for a working bee on Saturday, 29th inst., for the purpose of forming and gravelling the track leading to the Park, and of carrying out other necessary works." A history summary of the Shire of Eltham Soldiers’ Memorial Park • The summit at Garden Hill was a popular tourist lookout and picnic spot from the 1880s. Virtually the entire Shire of Eltham and beyond could be viewed from this location. • A local farmer, Mr Walter A. D. Wippell is credited as being the first to propose the idea of a war memorial park and offered £50 towards the purchase of the land. • The earliest public reference to this project is to be found in the local Advertiser newspaper edition of August 9th, 1918. A report of the August Council meeting records the Eltham Shire President, Cr. Robert White, saying: "some time back it was proposed that the Council obtain and place on an Honour Board in the Council Chamber [at Kangaroo Ground] containing names of the lads who had enlisted. Just recently however, it had been suggested that a more fitting memorial would be the obtaining of a piece of land on the summit of Garden Hill, Kangaroo Ground, and the formation of a memorial park in which a monument could be erected to represent the whole of Shire. If a couple of acres could be obtained a gentleman had promised to donate 50 pounds, and another one would fence it, and other contributions, he was sure, could be obtained." • Councillors were favourable of the proposal and the President, Shire Secretary and Shire Engineer were deputised to wait on Messrs Mess Bros. (the owners of the Garden Hill farm) and ascertain if they would gratuitously give the land. The Mess Bros. land adjoined the farm/stud of Mrs Fanny White (Cr Robert White’s mother), daughter of Andrew Harkness who established their property on Garden Hill around 1846. • Access to the land came in February 1919 when several Councillors and the Shire Engineer surveyed the actual two acres of '5 chains along the road and 4 chains deep'. The Engineer volunteered his services free to do this task. The Mess brothers however demanded £100 per acre but eventually agreed to take £50 per acre. • Entry from the Kangaroo Ground-Yarra Glen road was seen to be a problem and Mrs. White, who owned the land beside the park, was asked to donated a triangle of her property to allow this access. • By September 1919 returned soldiers were employed by the Shire and volunteers were called to clear the hilltop by ploughing up the rocks and clearing the area, the fencing was put into place and in May 1921 the Council erected three gates, within an archway, at the entrance to the drive and pathway to the summit. • Public subscriptions were sought through the Advertiser newspaper to beautify the site. The views of the Curator of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens were sought as to the ‘class of ornamental trees most suitable for planting in the Park area”. • The Memorial Park or Shire of Eltham Soldiers’ Memorial Park was officially opened by Mr. W.H. Everard, M.L.A., 3 September 1921. • In 1922 plans were made to place a War Memorial in the Park. Funds were donated by the Council of £250 and a challenge to the community, to match this money with contributions was met. • On Anzac Day 1923, 1,000 people gathered on the summit in the park for a memorial service. A much smaller group of about 50 people gathered around a newly constructed cairn and flagstaff in the afternoon of Anzac Day 1924 amidst rain and a squally southerly wind, the morning service being cancelled. • A meeting for those interested in establishing a War Memorial monument within the park was held in January 1924 and the Eltham Shire War Memorial League was formed and a design competition decided upon. • The Shire of Eltham War Memorial tower was built in 1926 at a cost of £1,023 and 5 shillings with locally quarried stone donated by Dr Ethel and Professor William Osborne. It was formally known as the ‘Shire of Eltham War Memorial’ and was unveiled on 11 November 1926. The large bronze inscription above the entrance to the tower states: SHIRE OF ELTHAM WAR MEMORIAL THESE MEN DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY 1914 IN REMEMBRANCE THIS TOWER WAS BUILT 1918 • The Caretaker’s hut was built in 1927 with left over from the tower construction. • A returned soldier was appointed to act as caretaker for the memorials. Tiny Carrol, a huge man, was the first caretaker and lived in the stone hut. There was a push to have alterations made at one stage to provide additional rooms for a married caretaker but was rejected. • A new Caretaker Cottage was built in 1951 at a cost £2,500. The cottage had been subjected to raids by thieves three times during construction until a guard from the Returned Servicemen’s League was posted until its opening. • The War Memorial tower was re-dedicated by Sir Dallas Brooks on 8 November 1951, unveiling new bronze plaques containing the names of those who fell during the Second World War. Sir Dallas also officiated the opening of the new Caretaker’s Cottage. • A toilet block was built in 1965. • A further dedication of the Shire of Eltham War Memorial tower took place 11 November 2001 to recognise the men who fell in subsequent campaigns up to and including Vietnam. • Four land titles are involved: o The purchase of the two acres from owners Ruth Gosling, Alexander Mess, James Johnson Mess and Joseph Mess is recorded in two actions, the first being the payment of £100 for the two acres, the second showing that the Shire of Eltham did not get a transfer of title until 14th January 1952. o The access land donated by Mrs. Fanny White is dated 26 February 1924. A further need to widen the entry came after the deepening of the road cutting and another land donation was given by Sir Herbert Gepp, title dated 15th May 1952. This would have been about the time he sold off the former White ‘Garden Hill’ property. o The land reserve to increase the area and possibly allow a circuit road to be put in place on the western side of the park was purchased by the Shire of Eltham, title dated 16th February 1973. Rare photograph of the entrance to the Shire's Memorial Park during early stages of development prior to the erection of the Shire of Eltham War MemorialSepia photograph printed with white border with slight crack lower left hand corner and three significant vertical cracks fanning from lower centre edge to upper edge Digitally enhanced version to minimise impact of crackseltham-yarra glen road, entrance gate, garden hill, kangaroo ground, shire of eltham memorial park, shire of eltham war memorial, kangaroo ground war memorial park

In 1854 in Melbourne George Rolfe Senior established an import business dealing in groceries, wines and spirits and tea. His son George, born in England, took over the business of Rolfe and Co in 1871. A keen sportsman, George Rolfe’s love of fishing led him to take frequent holidays in Warrnambool. He began buying blocks of land near the mouth of the Hopkins River in Warrnambool in the 1870s. By the 1880s Rolfe owned 50 acres in the Hopkins River area and named the property, Lyndoch. He built stables, chaff and bone sheds, a jetty, a boatshed, a water well, a windmill, a reservoir and extensive gardens. He also bought the nearby properties of Shipley and Fairy Hill, establishing a stud farm and breeding cattle. In 1891 he married Jane Ann Lake, the widow of his property manager, and when he died in 1919 his step-daughters, Florence and Annie Lake, inherited Lyndoch. The property was sold and became an aged care facility in 1952. The cutlery items were in use in the building erected by Florence Lake in 1920 and known today as Lyndoch but the ‘R’ monogram on the items suggest that they belonged to George Rolfe or even his father before him.These cutlery items are of considerable importance as mementoes of George Rolfe and his family. They were prominent in Warrnambool’s history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the establishment and development of the property, Lyndoch, near the mouth of the Hopkins River. These are 17 pieces from a silver cutlery set that belonged to the Rolfe family (one tablespoon, six large forks, five smaller forks, four small spoons and one mustard spoon.) All the pieces of cutlery have a monogrammed ‘R’ at the end of the handles. Twelve of the items are tarnished and one small spoon is very worn. All the items have six hallmarks. ‘R’george rolfe, lyndoch, warrnambool, rolfe & co. melbourne, florence lake, lyndoch warrnambool., history of warrnambool