Surrey Hills Historical Society Collection
Journal - Hilary Bennet Mason's History of Charles Street, Surrey Hills
... June Kavanagh... Diana Whitford Amanda Whitford Melissa Whitford June Kavanagh ...
Hilary Bennet Mason (born 25/12/1911 in North Melbourne; died 16/3/2008) married Olive Marjory Muridge (B 20/7/1915; D 26/9/2001) on 30 September 1940. They has one daughter, born in 1947.
Hilary had a number of occupations in his lifetime. His daughter referred to him as a tram conductor. The family lived at 7 Charles Street, Surrey Hills from c1960, having purchased it from William Stanton (Stan) Philp, a baker, and his wife Eileen. The title originally extended over 2 plots. The Philps sub-divided the land and built a new house for themselves at No 9.
No 7 Charles Street had a well under the kitchen window; the house was extended in 1971/72; it was sold after Hilary Mason died in 2011.
[REF: Personal communication from the donor; Alan Holt property register and online research.]
The handwritten timeline refers to the area having been "called Irish Town as Catholic's were in the majority."
Most of the writing is that of Hilary Mason, although some blanks have been filled in by another (unknown) hand. There is also an entry by John Whitford, who moved into a new home on the corner of Charles and Arthur Streets in 1982.
The last entry is dated June 1996, when Hilary Mason would have been c 85 years old.
Comment in relation to this catalogue entry: "One of the occupation that Mr Mason had was a Radio shop in Bridge Road, Richmond, called Mason's Radio. I worked for Mason's Radio in January 1963 to December 1964. Mr. Mason was a true gentleman, very kind and treated me like a son. Regards M.Zammit." (Maurice Zammit email; 9 March 2025)This is a unique piece of social history reflecting the closeness of this small suburban street.A standard lined exercise book, brand is HEADLINE, which contains a mixture of handwritten entries and pasted in and loose ephemeral items. These include house advertising flyers, newspaper clippings of a general nature and death notices, tickets, etc. The handwritten notes mostly pertain to a timeline of residents and their comings and goings to and from Charles Street in Surrey Hills, but also include some reflections on social history. Memories of other residents of the street are recorded. There are also some personal diary notes.Front cover: "begun october 1987 / History of / Charles street / Surrey Hills / History of Charles st. 1989 / 1996 / 1995 / 1993 1991 1990 / History 1987" in biro and marking pen in blue, red, brown and green.
Back cover: "History / of / Surrey / Hills [1987 /1990 /1993 / 1995 / 1996] / History of / Charles street / Surrey Hills 1991" handwritten in black, blue, green, red and pink biro and marking pen.charles street, edna holzer, jack wright, john whitford, diana whitford, amanda whitford, melissa whitford, june kavanagh, aub sherlock, hilary bennet mason, olive marjory mason, noni hallier, elvis greenwood, bob peacock, ken warren, chris holford, enid holford, keith ellis, gina ellis, nita jacobsen, christine craig, peter craig, gary austin, deb austin, ian pearson, chris jacobsen, jack titansaw, peter burton, william (bill) philp, george cook, lee burton, mary pearson, bill sloan, carmel sloan, fielding's foundary, antonio panzera, annunziata panzera, nancy panzera, dr eric allan, merelyn maher, charles lyons, doug sloan, coral meehan, peter haase, steve creati
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