Journal entry on page twenty and twenty-one, details Gippsland Nurses' Service in WW1 including Mary Freetag who changed her name from Freitag to Freetag to avoid comment on the Germanic origin of her name. The Article includes a photograph of Mary in her War Service Nursing Uniform in 1917. It states that Mary had to resign her appointment in 1919 "on account of marriage". mary freitag, mary freetag, world war 1 nurses, gippsland great war nurses, dorothy morrison, st vincent's hospital nurse training.

No 19 of series showcasing aspects of Gippsland Victoria history. this issue has articles on Wonthaggi, Wattle Bark Industry, Bargwanaths, career and wreck of the Shah, Serbs migrants in Latrobe Valley, Briagolong, Aboriginals, Great War Nurses, roadsideaboriginals, township, ships and shipping

In November 1914, an advertisement was placed in the national press inviting monetary contributions to a 'Sailors & Soldiers Christmas Fund' which had been created by Princess Mary, the seventeen year old daughter of King George V and Queen Mary. The purpose was to provide everyone wearing the King's uniform and serving overseas on Christmas Day 1914 with a 'gift from the nation'. The response was truly overwhelming, and it was decided to spend the money on an embossed brass box, based on a design by Messrs Adshead and Ramsey. The contents varied considerably; officers and men on active service afloat or at the front received a box containing a combination of pipe, lighter, 1 oz of tobacco and twenty cigarettes in distinctive yellow monogrammed wrappers. Non-smokers and boys received a bullet pencil and a packet of sweets instead. Indian troops often got sweets and spices, and nurses were treated to chocolate. Many of these items were despatched separately from the tins themselves, as once the standard issue of tobacco and cigarettes was placed in the tin there was little room for much else apart from the greeting card All boxes, irrespective of recipient, contained a Christmas card and a picture of the Princess. Those which were not distributed until after Christmas were sent out with a card wishing the recipient a 'victorious new year'. The wounded on leave or in hospital, nurses, and the widows or parents of those killed were also entitled to the gift. Prisoners of war at the time had theirs reserved until they were repatriated. Great efforts were made to distribute the gifts in time for Christmas, and huge demands were made on an already stretched postal service. More than 355,000 were successfully delivered by the deadline. As time pressed on, a shortage of brass meant that many entitled personnel did not receive their gift until as late as the summer of 1916, and in January 1919 it was reported that 'considerable' numbers had still not been distributed. Orders for brass strip were placed with the USA, who were not yet involved in the war, and a large consignment was lost with the ship 'Lusitania'. As so much brass was being consumed in the production of weapons and munitions, the quality of the boxes which were manufactured late on was poor, being of a plated inferior alloy, when compared with the earlier pure brass examples. When the fund finally closed in 1920, almost £200,000 had been donated for the provision of more than two and a half million boxes with contents. The 'tin' is approximately 5" long by 3¼" wide by 1¼" deep with a double-skinned, hinged, lid. The surface of the lid depicts the head of Princess Mary in the centre, surrounded by a laurel wreath and flanked on either side by the 'M' monogram. At the top, a decorative cartouche contains the words 'Imperium Britannicum' with a sword and scabbard either side. On the lower edge, another cartouche contains the words 'Christmas 1914', which is flanked by the bows of battleships forging through a heavy sea. In the corners, small roundels house the names of the Allies: Belgium, Japan, Montenegro and Servia; France and Russia are at the edges, each superimposed on three furled flags or standards.

William Hill Irvine came from Northern Ireland around 1879 and lived in Heidelberg. He became a barrister and Member for Flinders Electorate, serving at various times as Attorney-General, Chief Justice, Premier and Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria. His daughter Beatrice married James Morrison and lived in Eltham. Irvine's other children were William and Agnes. William became Crown Prosecutor. Agnes married Ian Hayward and moved to Adelaide. Beatrice worked with the War Service Committee, raising money for the Red Cross and became chairman of the War Memorial Committee which built the Baby Health Centre, the Children's Library and the Pre-School Centre in Eltham. The family were interlinked with other local people. Contents Document by Beatrice W Morrison, 8 May no year given but pre 1989: life of Sir William Hill Irvine, his daughter Beatrice Wanliss Morrison and her husband James Morrison, and memories of Eltham and residents. Document summarising life of Beatrice Wanliss Morrison, undated but post 1989. Letter from Beatrice Williams to Eltham Shire, 29 September 1985: endorsing the idea of a nature corridor through Eltham Shire to the Great Dividing Range, noting she nursed the Morrison family before WWII. Letter from Health Shire to Beatrice Williams, 9 October 1985: acknowledging letter. Newspaper death notice, The Age, 19 March 2008: William Irvine Askin Morrison. Newspaper clippings, A4 photocopies, etcwilliam hill irvine, james morrison, agnes hayward nee morrison, war service committee eltham, red cross, baby health centre eltham, children's library eltham, pre-school centre eltham, somerville morrison, archie morrison, virginia morison, michael irvine, ian hayward, bill hayward, killeavy eltham, mccoll family eltham, logan family eltham, dry creek eltham, jack mccoll, burke and wills, orford family, andersons family, mount pleasant road eltham, reynolds road eltham, eddy anderson, reynolds family, sweeney family, sweeney's lane eltham, burston family, carrucan family, beatrice wanliss morrison nee irvine, beatrice williams, thomas watson haymes, william irvine askin morrison

Mrs. Vanessa McDonald was born in Beechworth in 1917. Christened, Agnes Bertha Collins, Vanessa changed her name in 1960. Mrs. McDonald's family's connection with gold mining in the district reach back to the first of Beechworth's gold rushes, when her great grandfather, a Dutchman who adopted the name Charles Collins, arrived in 1851-1852. Mrs. McDonald spent her childhood in the isolated hamlet of Stanley, in the area known as 'Little Scotland', where she recalls helping her mother to raise younger siblings, picking apples and walnuts on the family farm, and roaming the hills for wildflowers. As a young woman Mrs. McDonald attended religious and social gatherings in the local community. In 1940 she went to Melbourne to work as a mothercraft nurse during the Second World War. She met her husband at a Beechworth football match and was married at the Stanley Methodist Church in 1941. The gold diggings known as the 'Nine Mile' became the hamlet of Stanley, after the British Prime Minister, Lord Stanley, in 1858. By the late 1850s, Stanley boasted schools, an athenaeum, a church, a weekly newspaper and several hotels and other civic infrastructure to cater for a growing population. The area attracted large numbers of Chinese miners, whose presence was frequently resisted. Like other early Victorian mining settlements, Stanley was a hotbed of political and racial tensions during the gold rush. One side of the Nine Mile Creek was known as 'Little Scotland’, the other, 'Little Ireland'. A number of Christian denominations built congregations and churches in Stanley, including the Church of England, Methodist Church, the Catholic Church, and Presbyterian Church. Stanley became part of the United Shire of Beechworth in 1871. By 1880 timber was being cut and two sawmills were established by 1887. River-dredged gold mining consumed vast amounts of timber from the forests in the area, and in 1931 the first of several softwood plantations began. This oral history recording was part of a project conducted by Jennifer Williams in the year 2000 to capture the everyday life and struggles in Beechworth during the twentieth century. This project involved recording seventy oral histories on cassette tapes of local Beechworth residents which were then published in a book titled: 'Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century Beechworth'. These cassette tapes were digitised in July 2021 with funds made available by the Friends of the Burke.Following the decline in the mining and associated industries during the early-mid-twentieth century, the Beechworth district experienced a period of general economic decline. On the east side of the Dingle Range, Mrs. McDonald's father, William Henry Collins, felled timber and the family were pioneer apple orchardists. The establishment of apple orchards in Stanley reflects changes to how land was used and contributes to our understanding of the historical development of rural communities following the gold rush. Mrs. McDonald's recollections are significant for understanding family and social life in a small rural town in years leading up to the Great Depression and prior to the Second World War. This oral history recording may be compared with other oral histories and items in the Burke Museum's collection. This oral history account is socially and historically significant as it is a part of a broader collection of interviews conducted by Jennifer Williams which were published in the book 'Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth-century Beechworth.' While the township of Beechworth is known for its history as a gold rush town, these accounts provide a unique insight into the day-to-day life of the town's residents during the 20th century, many of which will have now been lost if they had not been preserved.This is a digital copy of a recording that was originally captured on a cassette tape. The cassette tape is black with a horizontal white strip and is currently stored in a clear flat plastic rectangular container. It holds up 40 minutes of recordings on each side.Mrs Vanessa McDonald /listen to what they say, beechworth, oral history, burke museum, emigration, gold rush immigration, victorian gold rush, mining families, apple orchard, forestry, forest plantation, little scotland, stanley, twentieth century history, regional australia, rural australia, farming, harvest festival, great depression, dingle range, the nine mile, australian wildflowers, high country wildflowers, mothercraft nurse, rural and regional women, social history, collins, mrs. vanessa mcdonald, building community life, shaping cultural and creative life, fruit growers, family history, changes to land use in regional victoria