Yields information about the SEC Wendouree Parade depot and the activities at the depot after closure.Set of two Colour 27 x 27 mm slides in Fuji film, processed by Hanimex white cardboard mounts. .1 - view of the SEC depot front with three and four roads doors, shows the sign and the small personnel door open. .2 - No. 30 towing a bogie tram with the trolley poles and lifeguards removed (possibly No. 37 but looks more like an ex HTT car) onto Wendouree Parade to be loaded. Photo from the collection of Lilian Butler.ballarat, tramways, trams, sec depot, depot, wendouree parade, closure, tramcars, loading trams, scrubber, tram 37

Lifeguard Milk was a product name for milk sold by the Bacchus Marsh Dairyman's Co-operative Association and its subsidiary the Federal Milk company. In 1938 the Dairyman's co-operative began trading as the Lifeguard Milk Company. This company was a major employer in Bacchus Marsh and was in business until the late 1960s.Timber box used for packing condensed milk products for export.Stow away from engine room and boilers: Lifeguuard Milk Products on long side. Export Lifeguard Sweetened Condensed Milk 48 x 14 OZ tins Made in Australia on narrow side.dairying, milk factories, lifeguard milk company

This bottle is an example of a container used for eucalyptus oil in the first half of the 20th century.A clear glass flat-sided bottle which probably had a cork stopper.in rectangle - LIFEGUARD BRAND EUCALYPTUS OIL on base - indecipherable markingseucalyptus-oil-lifeguard-brand bottle container

Blue singlet style men's bathersLincoln Mills The best Australia produces, All wool, 42. On the logo of a surf life saver on the front of the bathers is the word ' Lifeguard'

Could have contained eucalyptus oil ( Lifeguard?)Small brown glass bottle with a threaded neck.On the base- P D & CO 524bottle glass parke -davis container

Rescue boards like this one were commonly used by lifeguards and surf lifesaving clubs in the mid 20th centuryFibreglass rescue board with slotted handesSunshine Lions

A former Greensborough pool lifeguard-turned-soldier can't wait to visit his old stomping ground when he returns home from Iraq at Christmas.News article 1 page, black text, colour image.greensborough, braden holmes, soldier

Set of four newsletters, issued by Camberwell Depot staff: No 2 - April 1979 - looking at issues with Z class lifeguards and their effectiveness, driver training - Z and Ws, running times, a song titled mess Room" and a poem "Six Days on a Broken" - looking at the issue of working Broken shifts and "The Wattle Park Blues" by Barry Humphries dated 1974. No. 3 - May 1979 - notes on depot Committee meeting - Z class trams issues, V214, shifts, Warragul Rd cars, working at other depots, autumn leaves, defective cars, heaters, sandstorms in Swan St, 50 years of Camberwell depot No. 4 - June 1979 - change over to an all Z depot, loss of the Camberwell line from the depot, depot meeting resolutions, new rosters and shifts as a result of the change to all Z depot, training of new drivers, what to do if blocked by a motor car. No. 5 - July-August 1979 - Rosters/Transfers etc, track dispute, service cuts, depot committee, Princes Bridge and Z class trams, shifts, accidents and the polilce, running times, and workers compensation.Yields information about the effective of Z class protective bars instead of lifeguards and two poems and other issues at Camberwell Depot when it became an all Z class depot.Foolscap duplicated sheet titled "Camberwell Depot Newsletter" No. 2 tramways, newsletter, camberwell depot, lifeguards, z class trams, safety, poems, broken shifts, wattle park, barry humphries, sand, sanding equipment, princes bridge, shifts, disputes

The photograph shows SEC Ballarat tram No. 34 in Wendouree Parade, near Forrest St, inbound to Victoria St, with Lake Wendouree in the background. Tram has been fitted with large reflective triangles and appears to have a freshly painted lifeguard flap. Not known who took the photo or the date. Post 1956 to 1960.Yields information about tram 34 appearance in the mid to late 1950s.Colour print on plain paper.tramcars, tram 34, wendouree parade, lake wendouree

Yields information about ESCo tram No. 10, uniforms, passengers and the tramcar equipment.Black and white photograph, digital print, of ESCo 10 with Motorman, Conductor and two passengers standing on a step. Tram has the destination of Lydiard St Nth, track backs, rolled up canvas blinds. On the pillar nearest to the camera is hanging a Section Staff. Photo shows the painting scheme on the side in detail and front dash panel lining and numbers. Also shows the sand pipe, hand brake type, lifeguard and some of the internal signage. Photo c1010trams, tramways, esco, lydiard st, motormen, conductors, safeworking, crews, tram 10

Yields information about ESCo tram No. 2, uniforms, passengers and the tramcar equipment.Black and white photograph, digital print, of ESCo 2 with Motorman, Conductor and passengers sitting on the tram including a church minister. Tram has the destination of Gardens via Ripon St. Photo taken with a Gardens background., track brakes, rolled up canvas blinds. On the pillar nearest to the camera is hanging a Section Staff. Photo shows the painting scheme on the side and front dash panel lining and numbers. Also shows the hand brake type (geared), lifeguard, and strap hangers. Photo c1010trams, tramways, esco, lydiard st, motormen, conductors, safeworking, crews, tram 2

Deer Park early 1940s Left hand side from No 828 looking south across Ballarat Road Alf Newmans house centre Alec Newman father of Alf Newman milk truck travelling west to Lifeguard milk factory Bacchus Marsh Righthand side from No 828 Walter Curly Vincents Church of England church can be seen also Vincents and Andy Rosss housesearly s deer club, deer, park photograph

Printed colour postcard of the intersection of Sturt St. looking west from the southeast corner of Lydiard St. In the bottom left-hand corner is the number "300479" and the initials "JV"? within a circle. In the view are Crockers and the Art Gallery Association buildings. The later became the SEC Ballarat city offices. Image possibly taken c1912 as the trams appear to have driver's windows. Car featured in photo is No. 17. Note on the position of the rear lifeguard area of the tram is the word "Summerscales". Titled "Sturt St from Lydiard St Ballarat" centrally along the top of the card. The printer/publisher of the card is "The Valentine & Sons Publishing Co. Ltd, Melbourne and Sydney". In the stamp area is the number "20-2". Two copies held. Yields information about Ballarat and Sturt St in c1912Postcard - coloured, divided back, Valentine & SonsOn rear in ink "No. 17 old type, about 1912", Ken Magor stamp and letters "WJ" underneath.trams, tramways, esco, sturt st, postcards, lydiard st, tram 17

Digital image of Electric Supply Co. well loaded, tram No. 17 in the Gardens, mid 1920s. Two images of the same photograph - the first has been straightened up. Photo by Jim Cox. Original held by the Brunswick Community History Group. Side on view of the tram shows the hand brake mechanism in the front cab, lifeguards, magnetic brakes, the seating arrangement, the step guards and rolled up blinds. It has an roof advert for the Ballarat Coliseum. In front of the tram appears to be the driver wearing a white summer jacket and cap. The lady standing nearest to the number of the tram is wearing a Charleston dance style skirt with a lower belt line and the Charleston dance style shoes - more around the top of the legs. The gentleman alongside has his trouser hem length high than normal to expose the shoes or boots. In the background is the Gardens Kiosk roof.Yields information about ESCo tram 17 and the travellers of the mid 1920s in Ballarat.Digital image of a black and white photograph.esco, tram 17, wendouree parade, one man trams

Yields information about the SEC Wendouree Parade depot and the activities at the depot after closure.Set of seven Colour 27 x 27 mm slides in Kodachrome white cardboard mounts of activities and tramcars at the depot at or just after the time of closure. .1 - view of the depot, under exposed or a lady, possibly Lil Butler standing in front of the gates of the depot with some tramcars in the shed. .2 - view with 1 road doors closed of the scrubber tram on "0" road, derailment marks, and the tennis court lighting. .3 - partial view of a tram (bogie) just clear of one the depot doors. .4 - internal view of the depot - no lights - very underexposed - but shows the gloom! .5 - photo showing door step of a bogie tram. .6 - ditto with the lifeguard reset rod lifted - shows damage to the front panel of the tram. .7 - tram being readied for lifting or loading with E. Davis alongside - see Reg Item 6453 for a colour print as well. Negative of this filed with 6453. Slide mounts dated September 1971 Photo from the collection of Lilian Butler.ballarat, tramways, trams, sec depot, depot, wendouree parade, closure, tramcars, lifeguard, loading trams, scrubber, tram 37

Radio transcript - 12 foolscap sheets, typed. Although not named, appears to have been prepared for or by Mr. Strickland describing "inside information regarding tramcars". Notes cable trams, conversion, sale of trailers and dummies or grip cars, the variety taken over from the trusts, design of new cars (180 in service at the time of the report), open cars vs closed cars, seating and standing capacity, speed, braking system, step heights, destination signs, lifeguards. Gives a description of Preston Workshops, finishing soon, description of the tramcar construction, roofing, painting, sourcing of materials, timbers, cost per tram of 3250 pounds, depots, breakdowns, overhauls, workshops, collision repairs in 1925, construction of 10 safety cars. Vicsig.net gives that X1 461 entered service in Sept. 1926. Pinned to the file by Robert on the rear of TMSV Raffle ticket is a note "Electrical Engineer 15/7/26 p35 "C. H. Wickham gave recent address broadcast on 3LO"In blue pencil in top left hand corner appears to be "Wickham"trams, tramways, tramcars, preston workshops, new trams, sale of trams, cable trams, destination roll, tram brakes, tramcar equipment, x1 class, w class, depots, radio stations

Set of 14 black and white photographs of the use of former sleeper transport car, W2 485 - see page 80 of Destination City 5th Edition for more details of the tram. Tram body being used to train emergency staff how to recover a tramcar that had been tipped over onto its side. DC5, notes it was stored at Preston workshops and later "used an instruction car to train emergency crews in the righting of the overturned trams. It was overturned several times in this role." Note: - would have been at the time, probably the only way to do this, as mobile cranes were only just starting to be developed. Truck is an AEC built Matador truck. Possibly these photos who the first time used as such, as one of the life guards was being cut off in the photos. 1 - tram on its side 2 - ditto - showing underside of tram 3 - pulling one of the bogies clear. 4 - cutting away a lifeguard 5 - pulling the other bogie clear 6 - setting up the chains to recover the tram - note the sleepers it is lying on. 7 - ditto 8 - starting to lift the tramcar 9 - rolling the tramcar upright 10 - tram upright and being jacked up to roll the bogies back under 11 - pushing a bogie under 12 - ditto 13 - as for 9 14 - as for 10 15 - similar to 9trams, tramways, training, emergency, accidents, recovery, mmtb, preston workshops, tram 485, w2 class, aec, r10 vehicle, works cars

In 1956 an international surfing competition was staged on Torquay Beach in conjunction with the Melbourne Olympics. A number of countries were invited including the USA and its Territory of Hawaii, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon, Great Britain. An international surf carnival was held on 25th November and Australian championships were held on 2nd December. Australia was represented by each state with the majority of teams coming from NSW (64), then Queensland (18), Victoria (12), South Australia (7), Western Australia (7) and Tasmania (3). The Victorian teams were Anglesea, Apollo Bay, Lorne, Ocean Grove, Point Leo, Point Lonsdale, Port Fairy, Portland, RAAF College, Sorrento/Portsea, Torquay and Warrnambool. Preparation for the carnivals was immense. The mouth of Spring Creek was diverted closer to the bluff to allow more sand area for the competitors. Forestry Commission tractors were brought to do the task and they also smoothed other sections of the beach and covered rocky areas. Wire fences were erected to enclose the spectators' area. VIPs who accepted to attend were Prime Minister R G Menzies, State Premier H E Bolte, High Commissioners of South Africa, Ceylon and New Zealand and the Ambassador of USA. International visitors included Rusty Millar USA Chief Lifeguard and Duke Kahanamoku. Australian VIPs included Andrew "Boy" Charlton who set five world swimming records and won three silver and one bronze Olympic medal. Special trains ran from Flinders St Station from 8.45am connecting with buses to Torquay. Torquay locals were called upon to volunteer as ushers, gatekeepers and for other event duties. Torquay SLSC entered 52 competitors across all events both junior and senior. 70,000 people attended the International Carnival. The Americans came with narrow fibre-glass surfboards which were much faster than the Australian boards. The reel and line method of rescue was a new concept to the Americans who wore a belt and carried a reel of line into the water and let it out as they swam to the patient. New Zealand won the march past and Hawaii won the beach relay and the board race. In the Australian Championships NSW won the rescue and resuscitation event and a Victorian (J Fountain, Lorne) won the belt race.108 page souvenir programme, colour cover. Colour, and black and white pages inside. surfing, surf life saving association of australia, torquay

Set of 14 duplicated newsletters printed on coloured quarto or foolscap duplicated paper, "Trammie Link" .1 - November 1978 - 1 quarto sheet - complaining about the lack of union leadership - published by a "tramways rank and file group" .2 - March 1979 - 4 sheets - training, shift work, Burke Road tram, route 72 tram, Gardiner, lifeguards, uniforms. .3 - April 1979 - 4 sheets - disciplinary panel, rosters, Camberwell depot, route 72, buses, North Fitzroy, Doncaster, Clifton Hill, Z class cars. .4 - May 1979 - 4 sheets - discipline, lifeguards, bus safety, union issues. .5 - June 1979 - 3 sheets - politics and unions, Preston depot, Camberwell depot, wage indexation, union matters, finance for public transport, Tramway Record. .6 - August 1979 - 10 pages- Preston Depot, item written by Jim Harper, public transport and government, hook turns, union meetings, women, ACTU, wages, shift work, rosters, depots, wage indexation, shift lengths. .7 - June 1980? - two pages - undated - Service cuts at North Fitzroy, depot committees, news from depots, and note re a meeting on Monday 7 July. .8 - July 1979? - 4 pages - strikes, union campaigns, depot management, industrial issues, discipline, depot facilities. .9 - Sep. 1980 - 3 pages - Lonie report, buses, closure, public transport, union, 35 hour week, unions. .10 - Oct. 1980 - 4 pages - union elections, industrial campaigns, 35 hour week, Lonie repot, public transport. .11 - Oct. 1982 - 3 pages - Preston workshops and new trams, new trams, W class trams, accidents. .12 - Undated - 2 pages about Paul Krutulis - a scab or an Agent Provocateur - see https://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/interventions/years/11revival.htm - accessed 30-8-2016. - Extracted are the 4th and 5th paragraph below which give a bit of a background. .13 - July 1991 - 4 pages - open letter to Jim Harper re union Amalgamation, rank file view, what it would mean to workers - a negative view. Amalgamation was a major push of the Hawke - Keating Government. .14 - March 1992 - supportive of Jim Harper, dismissive of Lou DiGregorio, Union executive, union amalgamation, cross linking of tram routes, racial discrimination within the PTC, Kew Depot, ACTU. Lists the rank and file committee - see key associations. Latham’s frustrations were shared by several would-be heroes in Victoria. In 1977 Paul Krutulis gained an exemption from union membership from the Arbitration Commission as a conscientious objector, only to find that tramway workers at Kew planned to stop work as soon as he appeared. Commissioner Cohen then recommended his dismissal, saying she “had to deal with the reality of the situation.” Krutulis later became president of a group called People Against Communism, before being murdered in September. Thus Krutulis departed the scene to be followed in early 1978 by motor mechanic Jack Kane, who had crossed a picket line at a Melbourne City Council depot. The AMWU forced the Council to sack him before it would end the strike. In September of the same year, Barbara Biggs succeeded in provoking a confrontation in the tramways where Krutulis had failed, by refusing to join the union and prompting 100 unionists at Brunswick depot to go on strike. The union executive had arranged token action confined to this depot, but the members wanted more. The strike spread to Preston, then 2,000 trammies at a mass meeting voted for an indefinite strike amidst “rowdy outbursts”. When Biggs complained at being excluded from the meeting a conductress told her, “We should have let you in, love. You would have been torn to pieces.” Paul was murdered by his brother George in Sydney - see the Age 29/11/1977, but there seems to be some conspiracy theories abounding as well.Handwritten note / letter from Chris Jacobson.trams, tramways, unions, training, shifts, uniforms, route 75, gardiner, light rail, camberwell, z class, buses, discipline, tramway record, preston, north fitzroy, services, strike, depots, discipline, lonie report, public transport, preston workshops, rtbu, actu, ptc

Mary Tolhurst M&DHS - March 29th Dunvegan Willows Park Melton 1992 Ladies Oral History Day Graham Minns President Ray Radford MC Sound recording transfer to CD 2011 by Tom Wood Edited typescript by Wendy Barrie 2013 I was born in Rockbank, and when I was five years old moved to Toolern Vale and started and finished school there. Toolern Vale only consisted of the Store, Post Office and shop, where you could buy your fodder, and pollard supplies, the Hall, the little Church and the bluestone School. The School changed shape three times from the 1800s[1869] til the time I went there. There was four generations of my family that went there and it was destroyed by fire in 1965. Marjorie nee Myers Butler. Yes, I remember along with it your lovely Ronisch piano. Mary, quite true! Marj what you say about the Ronisch piano. When I came the age to learn music my mum and dad couldn’t really afford it, but still what parents do for their children. They had Marj go along with them and pick this lovely Ronisch piano. It was known round the district. Everyone commented about the loss that lovely piano. After leaving school it was war time, 1939, then it was work, When I was 7 year old I was put out into the cow yard. In 1940 when the soldiers were going away our milk was confiscated it had to go to Bacchus Marsh. It used to go the Sunbury to be brine cooled and then go to Melbourne. Then they took it then to the Lifeguard Milk Factory at Bacchus Marsh. It had to go as condensed milk to the soldiers. This year is 50 years of the Land Army. I was an unofficial Land Army but they still kept check on me. I went onto married life and I followed the cows right through [howls of laughter] and we went on until the 1965 fire. That’s when we got out of the cows. Marjorie asks, was Granny Watts your grandmother or great grandmother? Mary: She was my great grandmother, the midwife of Melton. The 1965 fire started ¾ of a mile above our place, Frank Ryan’s sheds were burnt and his house was saved, then it wiped the School out, the Hall, the Church the Post Office and Store and little house that was Charlie Charlton’s in the early days. Mrs Wilson’s place was saved by the Fire Brigade by pulling boards off the side, and from there it went over the hill and it was stopped at the Rockbank Railway Station. If it had of got over the railway they said it would have gone into Werribee. A lot was burnt out in that strip. Mary nee Nixon Collins: 18 houses burnt that day. Audience question, did Melton get burnt that day? Ray: No. It came down through the Toolern Vale road and cut across about a mile and a half from the cross roads at Toolern Vale from north westerly to the south east and cut through over the Keilor road. Mary: It came in across the creek at Funstons in Toolern, then through Jim Minns. Dorothy was it your place then [nee Knox Beaty] to Ken Beatty’s and from there it went through to Doug McIntosh’s and to Cockbills and the wind changed and it came across to the railway line, and that is where they stopped it. [the cause of the fire was controversial, they had been burning off the night before and there was some talk of someone starting it. It was very hot and very strong wind, it was a terrible day] Ray: When the fire went through McIntosh’s they had a haystack on the north side of their house and the haystack got caught and the fire burnt a hole through the side of the house and the boys pyjamas on the bed. The house was saved. It came through like and express train roaring at you, I was at McIntosh’s when it went roaring past. You couldn’t see, dust and ash and tremendous heat. The fire started about 12 o’clock Jack [husband] said to me, fire, I said where, where? Just up the road, what have I got to do? and he went out and he had gone to the fire and left me. I tried to get the animals and I put out buckets of water, putting the buckets of water out saved my life. Chas Jones and another friend of his came in and they picked up the buckets of water, I thought I had better get out because the fire was on the haystack up the paddock and when I went to go out through the north side of the house and couldn’t get out, I’ll go through the front gate so I went around the other side of the house. I got caught there and Chassy Jones and his friend came round carrying the bucket of water and I panicked. He threw the bucket of water over me. Well that is what saved my life because I was damp, whenever we tried to leave the ball of fire came over me and over my shoulder and my hair was scorched. Chassy Jones lost his truck and Keith Watt his big truck because he had the water tank on it and they couldn’t get out of the yard. Granny Watt’s house, the first private hospital had condemned and Jack and I pulled it down and had it moved up to Toolern and had it in the yard a fortnight and it was all burnt and we didn’t get the shed we wanted. Every 13 years right up until Ash Wednesday fires, there has always been fire close at hand. The 1952 fire went down the back of the house, the 1965 fire took the house, and the house that I live in now, it is the third house that has been on that spot. When the Hunters owned it, Mrs Hunter was nearly burnt in her bed. They had a 13 roomed house. In 1924 the house burnt down, and there was another house was built there and that was the one that burnt down. Edna: So Mary built a brick veneer house. Marjorie: like the three little pigs [laughter] Mary Tolhurst member of the Melton & District Historical Society in the Melton and Moorabool Leader local identities, local special interest groups

Mary Tolhurst M&DHS - March 29th Dunvegan Willows Park Melton 1992 Ladies Oral History Day Graham Minns President Ray Radford MC Sound recording transfer to CD 2011 by Tom Wood Edited typescript by Wendy Barrie 2013 I was born in Rockbank, and when I was five years old moved to Toolern Vale and started and finished school there. Toolern Vale only consisted of the Store, Post Office and shop, where you could buy your fodder, and pollard supplies, the Hall, the little Church and the bluestone School. The School changed shape three times from the 1800s[1869] til the time I went there. There was four generations of my family that went there and it was destroyed by fire in 1965. Marjorie nee Myers Butler. Yes, I remember along with it your lovely Ronisch piano. Mary, quite true! Marj what you say about the Ronisch piano. When I came the age to learn music my mum and dad couldn’t really afford it, but still what parents do for their children. They had Marj go along with them and pick this lovely Ronisch piano. It was known round the district. Everyone commented about the loss that lovely piano. After leaving school it was war time, 1939, then it was work, When I was 7 year old I was put out into the cow yard. In 1940 when the soldiers were going away our milk was confiscated it had to go to Bacchus Marsh. It used to go the Sunbury to be brine cooled and then go to Melbourne. Then they took it then to the Lifeguard Milk Factory at Bacchus Marsh. It had to go as condensed milk to the soldiers. This year is 50 years of the Land Army. I was an unofficial Land Army but they still kept check on me. I went onto married life and I followed the cows right through [howls of laughter] and we went on until the 1965 fire. That’s when we got out of the cows. Marjorie asks, was Granny Watts your grandmother or great grandmother? Mary: She was my great grandmother, the midwife of Melton. The 1965 fire started ¾ of a mile above our place, Frank Ryan’s sheds were burnt and his house was saved, then it wiped the School out, the Hall, the Church the Post Office and Store and little house that was Charlie Charlton’s in the early days. Mrs Wilson’s place was saved by the Fire Brigade by pulling boards off the side, and from there it went over the hill and it was stopped at the Rockbank Railway Station. If it had of got over the railway they said it would have gone into Werribee. A lot was burnt out in that strip. Mary nee Nixon Collins: 18 houses burnt that day. Audience question, did Melton get burnt that day? Ray: No. It came down through the Toolern Vale road and cut across about a mile and a half from the cross roads at Toolern Vale from north westerly to the south east and cut through over the Keilor road. Mary: It came in across the creek at Funstons in Toolern, then through Jim Minns. Dorothy was it your place then [nee Knox Beaty] to Ken Beatty’s and from there it went through to Doug McIntosh’s and to Cockbills and the wind changed and it came across to the railway line, and that is where they stopped it. [the cause of the fire was controversial, they had been burning off the night before and there was some talk of someone starting it. It was very hot and very strong wind, it was a terrible day] Ray: When the fire went through McIntosh’s they had a haystack on the north side of their house and the haystack got caught and the fire burnt a hole through the side of the house and the boys pyjamas on the bed. The house was saved. It came through like and express train roaring at you, I was at McIntosh’s when it went roaring past. You couldn’t see, dust and ash and tremendous heat. The fire started about 12 o’clock Jack [husband] said to me, fire, I said where, where? Just up the road, what have I got to do? and he went out and he had gone to the fire and left me. I tried to get the animals and I put out buckets of water, putting the buckets of water out saved my life. Chas Jones and another friend of his came in and they picked up the buckets of water, I thought I had better get out because the fire was on the haystack up the paddock and when I went to go out through the north side of the house and couldn’t get out, I’ll go through the front gate so I went around the other side of the house. I got caught there and Chassy Jones and his friend came round carrying the bucket of water and I panicked. He threw the bucket of water over me. Well that is what saved my life because I was damp, whenever we tried to leave the ball of fire came over me and over my shoulder and my hair was scorched. Chassy Jones lost his truck and Keith Watt his big truck because he had the water tank on it and they couldn’t get out of the yard. Granny Watt’s house, the first private hospital had condemned and Jack and I pulled it down and had it moved up to Toolern and had it in the yard a fortnight and it was all burnt and we didn’t get the shed we wanted. Every 13 years right up until Ash Wednesday fires, there has always been fire close at hand. The 1952 fire went down the back of the house, the 1965 fire took the house, and the house that I live in now, it is the third house that has been on that spot. When the Hunters owned it, Mrs Hunter was nearly burnt in her bed. They had a 13 roomed house. In 1924 the house burnt down, and there was another house was built there and that was the one that burnt down. Edna: So Mary built a brick veneer house. Marjorie: like the three little pigs [laughter] Collins - Mary M &DHS - March 29th 1992 Ladies oral history day at Dunvegan, Willows Park Melton. Graham Minns President Ray Radford MC Sound recording transferred to CD 2011 Edited typescript by Wendy Barrie 2013 Mary Collins nee Nixon born in Terang 1907 down in the Western District and we shifted to Melton when I was 5 and a half then I started school here in Melton, and spent all my school life at Melton State School, next to the Church of England, it’s called the Primary School now. I got my Qualifying and Merit Certificate then I left School because there wasn’t a High School. When I was 16 I got and job in the Melton Post Office and I worked there, I was the first girl in Melton to deliver the mail, and worked on the telephone and the Bank business. Mrs Ross and myself behind the counter, there were about 500 – 600 people in the Shire at that time and now when I go into the new Post Office there is 36,000 here there’s still 2 people behind the counter [laughter from the audience] and wait in a queue right out to the door. Times haven’t changed much have they! There was a manual telephone and you had to ring the handle, and there were eight subscribers when I went there and when I left there were 46 I had coaxed that number to join the telephone, even the police station didn’t have the phone on. The two Hotels and the two Chaff mills and Mr Ernie Barrie, Parkers the butcher, the Shire Office was No 8, and the Police house was next to the Courthouse on the corner. They were number 9. I can remember a lot of the numbers still. The Post Office was the Agency for the Commonwealth Bank [comment from audience member] I used to do the Bank business too, I left after four years there, mother wasn’t very well. The Inspector who used to come up to the Post Office asked me if I would take up casual Post Mistress and to go around the different districts but I refused and when Mrs Ross’s holidays were due I was the replacement. I wasn’t 21. I loved my work meeting everybody and most people had horse and jinkers and when the elderly would come in there would be Mr Tom Morrow, he only had one arm and Mrs Dunn came from Bulman’s road in their horse and jinker. They were elderly I would see them pull up out the front and quickly get their mail and run out to them because they didn’t have to get out of the jinker to tie up their horse. If someone had a baby in arms I would tear out and hold the baby while they got down. Mrs Ross was very very strict. I had to sweep the Post Office, she had a couple of mats and there would be a threepence or a sixpence under the mats show she knew whether I lifted the mat, I was whether I was honest or not. Graham: How much were your wages? I got 27/7 pence a week for a 52 hour week. I had to work every holiday except Good Friday and Christmas Day and even when it was Monday holiday I always had to go to work from 9am - !0 am, the Post Office was always open. In the winter I had to wait until twenty past six in case there were any telegrams to deliver. I delivered them on a push bike. One time Tom Barrie told me this years afterwards. I used to go home for lunch. We lived on the Keilor road and I used to ride my bike home. On the hot days the boys used to go and swim in the swimming pool down near a turn in the creek there was a hole where the boys would swim in the nude, they didn’t have any bathers and they didn’t have any watches in those days. Tom Barrie said they always used to watched for me as I was always about 3 minutes past 1, my lunch hour was from 1-2. One particular day they missed seeing me and swam on, and of course they were all late for school when they got back and were all kept in a night. I did get a fortnight holiday. I loved my work and I knew everyone in the district right from Toolern Vale to the Marsh and everybody at Melton South. Did you listen into conversations on the Switchboard? Oh no. [laughter] Melton did not have electricity then. I had to fill the lamps everyday with kerosene. The Staughton Memorial was outside the Post Office. It had four posts with the chain looped around it, and that’s where the people used to tie up their horses. Marjorie nee Myers Butler comments about sitting and swinging on the chains. Mr Fred Coburn lit the acetylene gas light in the Memorial. It was the only streetlight in Melton. There was no electricity until 1939. Ray Radford comments about another gas street light which was on the corner of Station road. [later] Mary passes around her school photos. Mary mentions the names of those who have passed away, Maisie McDonald, ,Marian Wraith, Hilda McCreey, and Valda McDonald. I have written the names on the back. Marjorie comments about Marie Jongebloed and Greta are the only two girls left out of big family of ten I think there were [hesitates] 4 or 5 girls and the rest were boys. Mary. Flora Woodley, Dorrie Flynn and Margaret McDonald are still alive. They are my age we were all born about 1907. Marjorie points out herself in a later photo [1921 and 1922 School ] Mary mentions the name Walsh and identyfies following names, the Parker boys, Ken Beaty, Malc and Linda Cameron, Maisie Mc Donald, Ted Radford, George Nixon, Norman Minns, he was later the Shire Secretary of Werribee. One of the Woodley girls. [Maisie Arthur] Marjorie: Rosie Shearwood, June Whiting Mary. Lily Mc Donald, she has passed away. Isabel Harrison nee Tinkler, she lives at Werribee, Doreen Rogers, Marjorie Walker, Jess McIntosh, Mary Gillespie. Mr Malone was the Junior teacher Mr Roe and Miss Cooke. Fred Myers, my sister [Elizabeth] and the year was 1921. Myers (Barrie) School Photo Collection. Many of the names were identified at the 1970 Centenary of Melton State School No. 430. Edna Barrie organised, compiled and typed the lists to accompany these photos for the year 1921. The 1922 photo shows the higher grades. Ladies Oral History Day event held by Melton and District Historical Society, article featured in the Telegraphlocal identities, local special interest groups

Small pamphlet. Stapled softcover. 23 unnumbered pages. 11cm x 16cm. Contains photographs and cover illustration. BMDHS Location: AR/SU5 Pamphlets Box 4.non-fictionThis pamphlet outlines the early history of the house constructed for William Bacchus in 1846-1847 and briefly describes its condition as it was in 1957. William Bacchus was one of the first European colonists to live in the area in which a township (Bacchus Marsh) was later named after him. He arrived on land occupied by the Wurundjeri and Wadawurrung peoples in 1838 and established a large sheep farm. Between 1846 and 1847 he contracted builders and other skilled workers to construct a large brick and stone two storey house. William Bacchus died in 1849. His son Henry Bacchus sold the house in 1851. For many years it was owned by the Crook family. When this pamphlet was published in 1957 the house was owned by the Lifeguard Milk Company of Bacchus Marsh. By this time the property had become derelict and was almost demolished. Around this time the Young Mens Christian Association Club in Bacchus Marsh became involved in efforts to help preserve this historic property. This pamphlet was part of those efforts. PUBLICATION DETAILS: Y's Mens Club Bacchus Marsh, Bacchus Marsh, Vic., 1957. Text written by Ronald G. Westood. william bacchus, bacchus family, henry bacchus, bacchus marsh, manor house bacchus marsh, houses bacchus marsh, historic buildings bacchus marsh