This book is one of the series of Royal Readers (Scotland) introduced into schools in Victoria in 1877 to replace the Irish Readers. They were in use until the 1920s and at first contained mostly British material (as does this copy which has no Australian content and features many articles on animals). By the late 19th century the Royal Readers used in Victoria contained some Australian material and it is presumed that this copy is an early edition. The Bonnett families were associated with farming in the Mepunga area and Jessie Edith Bonnett, the daughter of Frederick Bonnett and Charity Bonnett (nee Phillips) was born in Allansford in 1897. Jessie Bonnett spent her life on the family farm at Mepunga and was the last of the Bonnett families in that area. Mepunga East State School was established in 1886 with Ruth Broadway as the first Head Teacher. It has now closed. This book, though tattered, is of interest as an example of the Royal Readers used by pupils in Victorian schools in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also important as a book belonging to Jessie Bonnett, a member of the Bonnett family of farmers in the Mepunga area. The Warrnambool and District Historical Society holds in its collection some other items that belonged to Jessie Bonnett, including an important World War One scrapbookThis is a hard cover book of 186 pages. The cover was originally a dark blue-green colour but it is much faded and is now almost detached from the binding. The spine and several pages at the beginning and the end are missing. The text contains many black and white illustrations and some have been coloured in. Some of the pages are torn and stained. There is much scribble on the front and back covers. The inscriptions are handwritten in black ink.‘Jessie Edith Bonnett, Mepunga East State School No. 2762’ jessie bonnett, mepunga east state school

The recipient of this card, Jessie Bonnett was born in Allansford in 1897. She spent her life on the family farm at Mepunga with her brothers Jack and George. She died in 1990 and her scrapbook came into the collection of the Warrnambool and District Historical Society through her relative, Mary O’Callaghan. Nothing is known of Ada Lawlor.This card has social significance and interest showing the communication between people in an earlier age. Postcards were commonly used to convey a short message between friends. This is a postcard with an image of the ship ‘Georgia’ on the front and a letter from Nullawarre on the back. There is a stamp from the Gray’s Colosseum Stationers and a symbol, ‘F & J’ on the back. Nullawarre, 13.10.10 Miss Jessie Bonnett, Mepunga, Dear Jessie, Just a P.C. in answer to your pretty card and for being so kind in always helping me with my sums. Please excuse this P.C. as I have no other. I remain, your affect. playmate, Ada Lawlor. Dear Jess I was not at school yesterday as I was sick with a cold.jessie bonnett, ada lawlor, the georgia

These letters etc were initially printed in the Warrnambool Standard and other newspapers during the First World War. They were collected by the Bonnett family and pasted into the exercise book, possibly by Jessie Bonnett. The book has been transcribed and republished by the Warrnambool and District Historical Society under the title Fields Of War. It contains the names of over six hundred soldiers from the Warrnambool District.This represents a valuable insight into the lives, experiences and feelings of WWI soldiers and nurses and their families. It has value in the individual letters collected with many of the originals no longer surviving but also as a collection. It has strong social and historical significance.Black cloth covered, rectangular, thick exercise book with lined page with glue and string binding. A recycled book with original mathematics notation overlaid by newspaper clippings pasted in three columns per page. Includes photographs, letters, poems, related cuttings and notices. WARTIME LETTERS a compilation of newspapers/notices/and/letterswartime letters, newspapers, jessie bonnett, letters, photographs, poetry, first world war, warrnambool standard

This album is believed to have belonged to Jessie Bonnett ( 1897-1990) the daughter of Frederick and Charity (nee Phillips) Bonnett. Jessie spent her life on the family farm at Mepunga. She was a keen collector of newspaper cuttings recipes, postcards and collectable cards of the day. She won prizes at the local agricultural show for her flower collections. Most young girls early to mid 20th century had autograph albums Today the entries in these are a source of great social history. This album contains many local names of the time (Flett, Wiggs, Jenkinson Philips, Hortle etc.) and there are several interesting sketches and works of art. This album is of considerable significance as it was owned by Jessie Bonnett a member of a pioneer family in the Mepunga district. It is an important contribution to social history (1910 -12).This is an autograph album with a dark red leather cover. It has gold lettering on the front cover, pages with gilt edges, hand written entries, hand paintings and sketches. Autographs vintage autograph albums, jessie bonnett

This a booklet of six pages which included a calendar (now missing) and other printed material. The front cover has a sketch of a woman and a dog which appears to have been pasted on at a later date. The pages are stapled.non-fictionBusiness calendar and additional information warrnambool, wine and spirit merchants, duirs and worrell

This book belonged to Charity Lamerton Phillips and may have belonged to her parents before her. On the inside front cover are the names of George Phillips and Jessie Kerr, giving their marriage date and the birth dates of four of their children. Charity Lamerton Phillips (1872-1942) was the daughter of George and Jessie Phillips of Nirranda and she married Frederick Bonnett and farmed in the Mepunga district. This book is of interest because of its age and because it contains family information on the Phillips family of Nirranda. Many 19th century people recorded family information in a Bible or other old book kept in the home. This is a hard cover book of 325 pages. The cover is brown leather with some sections eroded away. The spine has gold lettering. The book contains several black and white illustrations. Some of the pages are stained and torn at the edges. There are two loose sheets – an undated newspaper cutting and a notice regarding an anniversary service at the Westdown Congregational Chapel. The inscriptions are handwritten in black ink. There is also pencil scribble on some pages. Inside front cover: Details of the marriage of George Phillips and Jessie Kerr and the birth dates of four of their children. charity phillips, george and jessie phillips of nirranda, history of warrnambool