Sent to an Australian soldier serving in the Middle East in WW2WW2 Canteen Order - Australian Defence Canteens Service Value Five Shillings Issued at Healesville Post Office V108878Sent to VX5414 C. L. Cowley 22nd May 1941. Sent by Mrs E. A. Humphries C/O N. L. Taylor.

The present store was built circa 1900 to replace another which had been destroyed by fire in 1898, which had replaced a predecessor on the opposite side of the road in 1865. The store was also used as a post office until early 2000s. The general store is historically significant because it has a long association with Kangaroo Ground and has been an important centre of community life for more than 120 years - Council meetings used to be conducted in the front room of the store at a time when Kangaroo Ground rivalled Eltham as the major centre of the Shire. The general store is historically and aesthetically significant as one of a group of three well preserved public buildings in the Kangaroo Ground hamlet and as a major heritage component of Kangaroo Ground which was one of the earliest settled areas of the Shire and which has the character of an English village rather than an Australian settlement. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p77 Today the general store is an uncommon form of trade but the one at Kangaroo Ground continues a long tradition of friendliness and service. For more than 100 years it has been a centre of community life. In the settlement’s early days a previous general store, on the same site, was the meeting place for the Eltham District Road Board, precursor to the Eltham Shire Council. For years Kangaroo Ground rivalled Eltham as the shire’s major centre. It developed very differently from the rest of the shire as its rich soil attracted prosperous Presbyterian Scots who had large agricultural properties.1 The present store was built to replace another one, which had burnt down in 1898, after replacing a predecessor on the other side of the road in 1865. The store retains its outward character and its cellar, although inside it has changed considerably. It now includes a café and offers local produce, milk bar products, grocery items, gas and other fuel. Until early this century the store was also used as a post office. Kangaroo Ground’s first postmaster was Andrew Ross, who first operated from the school opposite, then from his hotel next to the present tennis court site. The first postmaster at this store was Edward Weller, followed in 1868 by James Anderson. At that time a mail coach ran three times a week between Eltham and Woods Point through Kangaroo Ground, Yarra Flats, Healesville, Fernshaw, Marysville and Matlock. Some early postmasters were Rodger, McLaughlin, Greenway and Burns.2 Burns was the only postmaster operating from the store. The others operated from Andrew Ross’s hotel. The mail service improved in 1892 when coaches ran from Melbourne to Queenstown (now known as St Andrews) and changed horses at Kangaroo Ground twice daily. The only telegraph office in the district at that time was at the Kangaroo Ground Post Office. Telegrams to outlying areas such as Queenstown and Kinglake had to be sent by hand. A local resident in the early 1900s often rode his pony to deliver telegrams and was paid one shilling a mile porterage. The store has also contributed to the lighter side of Kangaroo Ground life. During the years that Con Wraight owned the store, between 1906 and 1946, a new piano was needed for the Kangaroo Ground Hall, so monthly dances were held to raise money. When the piano was bought, a grand ball was held in the Kangaroo Ground Hall to celebrate the occasion and supper followed at Mr Wraight’s barn, cleaned especially for the occasion. Every New Year’s Eve, a Scottish piper would set off from between the store and the schoolhouse, playing his pipes, and march to Cameron’s Pigeon Bank homestead on the Kangaroo Ground-Warrandyte Road. Between 1914 and 1922, the store was a station for the Kangaroo Ground Bush Fire Brigade’s tanker. It consisted of a wooden barrel on a cart, fitted with a hand-pump, and stood on the side of the road outside the store. Joy Ness, who belonged to an early Kangaroo Ground family, moved here in 1940 and recalled her impressions of the store at that time: ‘It was a very dark shop stained in a dark colour and on the walls just below the ceiling hung hurricane lamps, ropes, kitchen utensils and other goods for sale. ‘Goods were weighed on a brass scale with weights, on which mothers also weighed their babies, because the nearest Infant Welfare Centre was at Greensborough. The bacon was cut with a hand slicer and later a pot-bellied stove warmed the store. Farmers and other locals used to gossip around it as they collected their daily mail. In those days the butter and cheese were kept in the cellar as no ice was delivered for cooling.’This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, eltham-yarra glen road, kangaroo ground general store

Alice McGREGOR Born: 1908; unknown parents. Possibly adopted by the Salter family? Electoral Roll 1936: Highland Terrace Kangaroo Flat. Alice Mary Salter and William Robert Salter living together; presumed to be sister and brother. William Robert Salter was killed in a MVA in Bendigo in 1937 aged 26. In Victoria in 1938, Alice Mary Salter married James Thomas McGregor (born Victoria 1917, died Victoria 1983, buried Fawkner Cemetery) Lived: 1968; 22 Wade Street Golden Square Alice McGregor Died: 1999 aged 91 at Anne Caudle Centre, Bendigo Buried: Kangaroo Flat Cemetery See additional research. Postcard Album of Alice McGregor contained 86 post cards.Postcard Album of Alice McGregor containing 86 post cards. See 1400. Colour photo of the Yarra River at Healesville, Victoria. Banks of the river has shrubs in flower. Addressed to Miss A. Stapleton, Arcade, Bendigo Post office cancellation stamp dated 18.11.05, Melbourne postcard, collector, alice mcgregor

An early black and white photograph taken at Fernshaw.An early black and white photograph taken at Fernshaw. Fernshaw was a rural township 63 km north-east of Melbourne and 10 km north-east of Healesville. Situated on the Watts River, near where a log had fallen making a convenient crossing, Fernshaw was settled in the 1860s. It provided good country for orchards and berry growing. The location was at the foot of Blacks Spur, with Mounts Juliet and Mondah rising on either side, providing spectacular scenery. There were nearby fern gullies giving rise to the name – ‘shaw’ is old English for thicket or wood. By 1875 Fernshaw had a post office (1865), two hotels, a school (1871) and stores. It was famed for its beauty, attracting tourists. In 1886 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works began work on the Watts River water catchment scheme – later to become Maroondah – and the Board obtained approval for the catchment country to be reserved and kept free of settlement. This required the removal of the Fernshaw township, which was completed by about 1890. The area was described in the 1903 Australian handbook:ARMSTRONG COLLECTION 42 STATION STREET/ SANDRINGHAM 3191/ TEL. (03) 9521 5442/ IAN M.L. ARMSTRONG OAMfernshaw, healesville, watts river, orchard, berry orchard, blacks spur, black spur, mount juliet, mount mondah, maroondah dam, victoria

A copy of an early pencil sketch of Fernshaw in Victoria.A copy of an early pencil sketch of Fernshaw in Victoria by Louis Buvelot. Louis Buvelot ( 1814–1888), born Abram-Louis Buvelot, was a Swiss landscape painter who lived 17 years in Brazil and following 5 years back in Switzerland stayed 23 years in Australia, where he influenced the Heidelberg School of painters. Arriving in Melbourne in February 1865, after leaving the cold of Switzerland, which was impacting on his health, for the warmth of Australia, Buvelot was in business as a photographer in Bourke Street for a year but soon resumed his painting. He lived in Melbourne for a number of years before moving to Fitzroy. The National Gallery of Victoria purchased two of his paintings and he continued painting until his death in 1888. He was buried at the Boroondara Cemetery, where a large monument was erected in his memory. Fernshaw was a rural township 63 km northeast of Melbourne and 10 km northeast of Healesville. Situated on the Watts River, near where a log had fallen making a convenient crossing, Fernshaw was settled in the 1860s. It provided good country for orchards and berry growing. The location was at the foot of Blacks Spur, with Mounts Juliet and Mondah rising on either side, providing spectacular scenery. There were nearby fern gullies giving rise to the name – ‘shaw’ is old English for thicket or wood. By 1875 Fernshaw had a post office (1865), two hotels, a school (1871), and stores. It was famed for its beauty, attracting tourists. In 1886 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works began work on the Watts River water catchment scheme – later to become Maroondah – and the Board obtained approval for the catchment country to be reserved and kept free of settlement. This required the removal of the Fernshaw township, which was completed by about 1890.Fernshaw 17.2.83louis buvelot, fernshaw, victoria, national gallery of victoria, switzerland, boroondara cemetery, kew cemetery, artist

A copy of an early oil painting of Fernshaw in Victoria.A copy of an early oil painting of Fernshaw in Victoria by Isaac Whitehead. Isaac Whitehead (1819–1881) was an Irish-Australian artist who worked in watercolour and pastel. He was also a picture framer and art promoter. It is believed that Isaaz Whitehead emigrated to Australia with his family in either 1853 or 1858. Isaac Whitehead died at his home 50 Punt Road, Prahran, Melbourne, on 21 April 1881. Isaac Whitehead had established himself as the foremost picture framer in Melbourne by 1860, known for his highly ornate frames with floral decorations. Among the clients of his framing business were Louis Buvelot, Nicholas Chevalier, and Eugene von Guérard. In his own paintings, he painted a number of scenes of the forests of Gippsland, Victoria. His work focused on the rich landscapes with trees and ferns, with a high degree of botanical detail. His work won him two medals and his work was posthumously exhibited at 1884 Victorian Jubilee Exhibition, the 1886 London Colonial and Indian Exhibition, and the 1888 Melbourne Centennial Intercolonial Exhibition. Fernshaw was a rural township 63 km northeast of Melbourne and 10 km northeast of Healesville. Situated on the Watts River, near where a log had fallen making a convenient crossing, Fernshaw was settled in the 1860s. It provided good country for orchards and berry growing. The location was at the foot of Blacks Spur, with Mounts Juliet and Mondah rising on either side, providing spectacular scenery. There were nearby fern gullies giving rise to the name – ‘shaw’ is old English for thicket or wood. By 1875 Fernshaw had a post office (1865), two hotels, a school (1871), and stores. It was famed for its beauty, attracting tourists. In 1886 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works began work on the Watts River water catchment scheme – later to become Maroondah – and the Board obtained approval for the catchment country to be reserved and kept free of settlement. This required the removal of the Fernshaw township, which was completed by about 1890.isaac whitehead, fernshaw, victoria, louis buvelot, nicholas chevalier, eugene von guerard, gippsland, victorian jubilee exhibition, london colonial and indian exhibition, melbourne centennial intercolonial exhibition, watts river, healesville, blacks spur, mount juliet, mount mondah

A copy of a black and white photograph on the Watts River near Fernshaw in Victoria.A copy of a black and white photograph on the Watts River near Fernshaw in Victoria taken by Fred Kruger. Fred Kruger (born Johan Friedrich Carl Kruger, 18 April 1831 – 15 February 1888) was a German-born photographer noted for his early photography of landscape and indigenous peoples in Victoria, Australia. Fernshaw was a rural township 63 km northeast of Melbourne and 10 km northeast of Healesville. Situated on the Watts River, near where a log had fallen making a convenient crossing, Fernshaw was settled in the 1860s. It provided good country for orchards and berry growing. The location was at the foot of Blacks Spur, with Mounts Juliet and Mondah rising on either side, providing spectacular scenery. There were nearby fern gullies giving rise to the name – ‘shaw’ is old English for thicket or wood. By 1875 Fernshaw had a post office (1865), two hotels, a school (1871), and stores. It was famed for its beauty, attracting tourists. In 1886 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works began work on the Watts River water catchment scheme – later to become Maroondah – and the Board obtained approval for the catchment country to be reserved and kept free of settlement. This required the removal of the Fernshaw township, which was completed by about 1890.fernshaw, watts river, victoria, fred kruger, photograph

Colour photograph of the Swimming pool at Healesville, Victoria.swimming pool, sport, swimming, pre olympic, concrete, healesville, healesville swimming pool

Tom NESTOR Tom Nestor studied a Diploma of Fine Art at Ballarat College of Advanced Education (later Federation University) in 1980, 1981 and 1982 with the intending to be a secondary teacher. Instead, he opened his own ceramics studio in Bald Hills at his parents property near Creswick. He worked for potteries in Albury and Healesville as well as Old Ballarat Pottery as a production thrower. In 1985 he moved to Belgrave where he continued to work producing kitchenware and garden pots till mid 1986. Works may be marked with an impressed stamp as on this vase "Tom Nestor Bald Hills Handcrafted"Glazed vase with cobalt blue leaves.ceramics, australian studio pottery, tom nestor, bald hills pottery