The Municipality of Kew (1860-1863), the Borough of Kew (1863-1910), the Town of Kew (1910-1921) and the City of Kew (1921-1994) were local government instrumentalities in the State of Victoria. In 1994, the City of Kew was amalgamated, together with the former Cities of Camberwell and Hawthorn, into the new City of Boroondara (1994- ). Like other local government entities of the period, Kew was administered by town clerks. The two notable town clerks in Kew's history were H. H. (Henry Hirst) Harrison (1868-1955) and W. D. (William Dickie) Birrell (1899-1974). Harrison was appointed to the position in 1901 and retired in 1938 after 37 years. Birrell, appointed Acting Town Clerk in 1921, became Town Clerk in 1938, following Harrison's retirement. He continued in this role until his retirement in 1966.This card is part of an historically significant civic collection, containing hundreds of separate invitations, documents, greeting cards, programmes and tickets issued and/or collected by successive town clerks. Items in the collection illuminate the political, social and cultural history of the district. As a continuous record, ranging across most decades of the Twentieth Century, they reveal changing tastes in design, values and relationships in the history of local government in Victoria.OFFICIAL OPENING OF KEW MUNICIPAL OFFICES / BY / THE HONOURABLE R J HAMER, PREMIER OF VICTORIA / THE MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS OF THE CITY OF KEW / REQUEST THE PLEASURE OF THE COMPANY OF / ___________ / OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW MUNICIPAL OFFICES & LIBRARY / KEW CIVIC CENTRE / THURSDAY, 22ND MARCH, 1973, 3 P.M./ RSVP TOWN CLERK , KEW 8TH MARCH, 1973 / ON RECEIPT OF ACCEPTANCE ENTREE CARDS WILL BE FORWARDEDcivic invitations -- kew (vic), kew town hall -- charles street -- kew (vic.), kew civic offices

This is an aerial oblique image looking north. It shows Kew Junction before construction of VicRoads (Country Roads Board), Murphy's (Leo's) supermarket, and office towers. It also shows a building on the land now known as the Raoul Wallenberg Reserve, the Kew Municipal Offices in Walpole Street, and St Paul's School for the Blind in Fernhurst Grove, and Kew Bowling Club in Wellington Street.An aerial photograph of Kew Junction, showing the intersection of High Street South, Studley Park Road, Princess Street, High Street and Denmark Street. A number of buildings, now demolished can be identified in the photo, including Jellis’ Bakeries on the corner of Princess Street and Studley Park Road." Annotation on reverse: "Kew Historical Society from Mr L. H. Chinner".kew junction, aerial photograph (kew), oblique aerial, st paul's school for the blind, kew municipal offices, high street kew, studley park road, kew war memorial, kew post office, kew police station, kew court house, high street south, kew, wellington street kew, denmark street kew

Colour transparency (slide) created in June 1976 during a tour by the Junior National Trust, which was led by members of Kew Historical Society. The collection of 21 slides reveals that the tour covered all parts of Kew, but focused understandably on heritage buildings and sites.Image of an historic place in Kew that can be dated to an exact time and place. The images, albeit amateurish in composition, frequently reveal aspects of important buildings and sites that have changed over time.35mm colour transparency of the new civic offices on the corner of Cotham Road and Charles Street, Kew which also housed the council chamber. The building was opened in 1972 on the site of the former Italianate Villa, Southesk (formerly Ordsall)civic offices -- kew (vic.), municipal offices -- kew (vic.), cotham road, charles street

WADE, Ivan Mayor 1969-70, 1970-71 Ivan Wade grew up in Bendigo and Brunswick, one of eight children. After his marriage, he moved with his wife and young family to Kew in 1951. In 1959, he took a year’s sabbatical in 1959 to build a new family home for his wife and four children at 222 Cotham Road, Kew. He worked professionally in the Meat Industry, successfully building a small chain of retail butcher shops, and a meat exporting business. He worked for improvements in the Trade through involvement in the Meat and Allied Trades Federation, of which he was the first State, and then Federal President. He was to be awarded an OBE for his services to the Meat Industry in 1979. Having been a long-time member of Melbourne Lions Club, he helped start Chadstone Lions’ Club as an inaugural tenant of the Chadstone Shopping Centre in 1979. He was also a tireless worker for charity, making his home available for functions raising funds for local groups. His passion for the community led him to stand for Kew Council as a representative of College Ward. As a councillor, he was elected mayor for two terms. During his term of office, new Kew Municipal Offices were constructed in Cotham Road. An active worker for the Kew Elder Citizens Association, he was involved in the establishment of an Opportunity Shop in Walpole Street to raise funds for the development of a new Centre in High Street. The Opportunity Shop was used to train locally unemployed youth skills such as furniture repair. (GW)Silver presentation trowel associated with the opening of significant civic projects in the former City of Kew.Commemorative, inscribed silver-plated presentation trowel given by the City of Kew to the Mayor, Cr Ivan Wade, on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of the new Kew Civic Centre on the corner of Cotham Road and Charles Street, now part of Trinity Grammar School. The silver trowel was presented in a black leather case lined with blue velvet. The trowel was to be used a second time in 1982 when Cr Wade and his wife laid the foundation stone of Hamer Court. The trowel was later donated to Kew Historical Society Inc by Gwlad Wade, the wife of Cr Ivan Wade, on 20 August 2000. Front: "Presented to Cr Wade J.P. / Mayor of / the City of Kew / at the laying of the / foundation stone / of the / Kew Civic Centre /20-8-1971." Reverse: This trowel was also used / by / Cr Ivan Wade OBE JP & Mrs Gwlad Wade / at the laying / of the foundation stone / of / "Hamer Court" / Hostel for the Aged / 22nd August 1982"cr ivan wade, hamer court, commemorative trowels, kew civic offices, city of kew 1860-1993

The plaque to Henry Kellett was originally mounted in the vestibule of the Kew Town Hall in Walpole StreetThe plaque was once part of the Municipal Collection of the former City of Kew and was presented to the Kew Historical Society before the move from the Walpole Street (Kew) Town Hall to new Civic offices in Charles Street in 1971.Bronze funeral plaque commemorating the life and death of Sir Henry de Castres Kellett, who was killed in a traffic accident in 1924. The plaque bears an extensive dedication and is mounted on a wooden mount that was previously attached to a wall in the Walpole Street [Kew] Town Hall ."City of Kew Victoria [logo] / Erected in Memory of / Cr. Sir Henry de C. Kellett Bart. / Accidentally Killed Whilst Engaged / On Municipal Duty 20th June 1924 / A Tribute to His Faithful Service as / Councillor for Forty Years 19884-1924"sir henry de castres kellett, mayors of kew (vic), councillors of kew (vic)

The Kew Civic Centre (A K Lines, MacFarlane & Marshall, 1972) was built next to the Kew Civic Hall (A C Leith & Bartlett, 1960) on the site of the former mansion Ordsall (later renamed South Esk). Whereas the entrance to the Civic Hall was positioned off Civic Drive, the main entrance to the Civic Centre faced Cotham Road, as shown in the undated perspective drawing of the proposed building. The Civic Hall was used for public functions and performances, while the Civic Centre was used for civic offices. It also contained the Council Chamber. The building opened in 1972, following the relocation of the councillors and council officers from the former Town Hall in Walpole Street (now a Woolworth's supermarket). Following the amalgamation of the former City of Kew into the City of Boroondara in 1994, the Civic Centre was sold to Trinity Grammar School. The exterior of the Centre has been modified by Trinity Grammar.A report for Heritage Victoria (date) describes how two architectural firms dominated the designs for new civic buildings in Victoria during the post war period. The report claims that: "An interesting sub-theme in the erection of post-war municipal offices in Victoria is that a considerable proportion were designed by the same three or four Melbourne-based architectural firms, who established themselves as the leading specialists in this type of work. The two most prolific firms in this regard were A K Lines, MacFarlane & Marshall, and A C Leith & Bartlett; both, in fact, had made names for themselves as designers of local government offices prior to the Second World War. Lines' office, for example had designed the Eltham Shire Offices in 1941, while Leith's firm had been responsible for the celebrated Heidelberg Town Hall in 1937). Both practices parleyed this early experience into a lucrative post-war career, designing numerous municipals offices well into the 1970s." (Survey of Post-War Built Heritage in Victoria, Built Heritage Pty Ltd, 2010.) The perspective drawing importantly captures the original design and function of the exterior of the building and its public entrance.Hand-coloured perspective sketch of the new Kew Civic Centre, completed in 1972 to designs by A K Lines, MacFarlane & Marshall; and located on the corner of Charles Street and Cotham Road, Kew. The sketch represents the front elevation of the building and its relation to the preexisting Kew Civic Hall at right. The three storey building features strong vertical concrete buttresses that extend across the three levels. KEW CIVIC CENTRE / A K LINES, MACFARLANE & MARSHALLkew civic centre, a.k. lines, macfarlane & marshall, architectural drawings, civic buildings -- kew (vic.), town hall -- kew (vic)

The Municipality of Kew was granted independence in 1860. It was declared a borough in 1863, a town in 1910 and a city in 1921. In 1994, Kew was amalgamated into the new City of Boroondara. In 1960, a new Town Hall in Cotham Road was opened. The Municipal Offices that had remained in the former Town Hall in Walpole Street until it was moved to the new Civic Centre on the corner of Cotham Road and Charles Street in 1972.This is a rare and important colour photograph of the Kew Municipal Offices (former Town Hall) taken on 11/2/1972 in the year that the building was demolished and replaced by a Safeway Supermarket.Colour photographic positive (polaroid) of the front of the (former) Kew Town Hall in Walpole Street between High Street and Malmsbury Street, on the west side where Woolworth's supermarket now stands. The photograph, taken in February 1972, shows the detailing of the Italianate rendered-brick facade, added in the 1880s when the hall was renovated. The earliest building on the site was the Kew Athenaeum Hall (built 1860) which was purchased by Kew Council in 1865. The Town Hall was sold to Woolworth's and subsequently demolished in 1972 when the civic offices were transferred to a new building on the corner of Charles Street and Cotham Road.kew town hall -- walpole street, local government -- kew, town halls -- melbourne (vic.)

Cr. W.D. Vaughan in 'Kew's Civic History' (1960) records that: "In connection with the Melbourne Centenary Celebrations in 1934, the Kew Council decided to organise a strong post as an appropriate gesture of welcome to H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester. Also that the municipality be represented by a symbolic floral float in the Royal pageant. This was a striking entry and won first prize, and evoked much comment on account of its originality and truly Australian motif." The photograph of the Kew Strong Post was once part of the Municipal Collection of the former City of Kew and was presented to the Kew Historical Society before the move from the Walpole Street (Kew) Town Hall to new Civic offices in Charles Street in 1971.Historic photograph of participation by the City of Kew in celebrations for a royal visitFramed and glazed photograph on its original inscribed mount and original frame of the Kew "Strong Post" in St Kilda Road on the occasion of the visit to Melbourne of the Duke of Gloucester. The photograph has two components, at the upper left is a photo of the royal carriage while the man photo shows the people of Kew on a decorated 'Strong Post' on St Kilda Road, along which the procession progressed. T"Centenary Celebrations / Kew "Strong Post" St Kilda Road / On the occasion of the visit of / H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester / October 18th 1934."royal visits - melboure - 1934, duke of gloucester, kew (vic.) — municipal collection