Allan Parkinson was born in Beechworth in 1924. The eldest of eight children, his mother provided laundry services to the people of Beechworth whilst his father worked for the local tannery, trapping rabbits. Allan fondly remembers times spent during his childhood catching rabbits with his father. As his younger years were set amidst the experiences of World War Two and the Great Depression, Allan recalls a feeling of solidarity amongst the residents of Beechworth that was present during this time(for instance, sharing food with neighbours in wartime), as well as the disassociation he felt as a returning soldier after the war. Allan talks of the great number of 'New Australians' who arrived in Beechworth in the post-war years, many of them coming from war-torn countries in Europe. Before being integrated into Australian society, these 'New Australians' would often first spend time at the Migrant Reception and Training Centre in Bonegilla, Northern Victoria. They were taught English and learnt about Australian life before being billeted out across the country to fill labor shortages. Following time spent up in Queensland, Allan worked in the forestry industry, clearing thousands of acres across Victoria which were needed to plant pines. The interview ends with discussions of the famous Wheelbarrow Push from Beechworth to Mt Buffalo in 1935, of which Allan's Uncle Tom was a central participant; this is an event which has since become an annual fundraising tradition in Beechworth. This oral history recording was part of a project conducted by Jennifer Williams in the year 2000 to capture the everyday life and struggles in Beechworth during the twentieth century. This project involved recording seventy oral histories on cassette tapes of local Beechworth residents which were then published in a book titled: Listen to what they say: Voices of twentieth century Beechworth. These cassette tapes were digitised in July 2021 with funds made available by the Friends of the Burke. Mr Allan Parkinson's account of his life in Beechworth and the local area during the twentieth century is historically and socially significant to the cultural heritage of the region. He details important historical events and hardships that had lasting local, regional and national impacts, including Australia during wartime, post-war migration and economic struggles. This oral history account is historically and socially significant as it is part of a broader collection of interviews conducted by Jennifer Williams which were published in the book 'Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century Beechworth'. While the township of Beechworth is known for its history as a gold rush town, these accounts provide a unique insight into the day-to-day life of the town's residents during the twentieth century, many of which would have been lost if they had not been preserved. This is a digital copy of a recording that was originally captured on a cassette tape. The cassette tape is black with a horizontal white stripe and is currently stored in a clear flat plastic rectangular container. It holds up to forty minutes of recordings on each side. Mr Allan Parkinson / allan parkinson, oral history, beechworth forestry, forestry industry, beechworth tannery, jennifer williams, rabbit trapping, new australians, australian depression, rabbiting, bonegilla, bonegilla migrant camp, 20th century beechworth, wheelbarrow push beechworth to mt buffalo, barrowthon, wheelbarrow push 1935, listen to what they say, listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century beechworth, world war two, wartime, wartime solidarity, burke museum

Two items about this family. Three photocopied pages from Henderson – Early Pioneer Families of Victoria and the Riverina. Article gives history of William Lyall and associated family. Includes his family and grandchildren’s history and mention of his Murrumbeena property Frogmore. One photocopied page, including photo from Who’s Who in the World of Women, of Mrs. Ernest Ricardo (Bertha Maude) who was the daughter of William Lyall of Frogmore Murrumbeena and Harewood Westernport.lyall william, lyall annabella, brown annabella, house names, frogmore, german migrants, cotswold sheep, charcoal, farmers, lyall maude, ricardo maude, ricardo bertha maude, lyall bertha maude, ricardo ernest, murrumbeena, pioneers

This file contains four items: 1/A black and white photocopy of a letter dated either 07/08/1889 or 09/08/1889, from Robert Lundon to an unidentified recipient discussing an agreement reached between the author – on behalf of the recipient – and Soon Hang Hi in regard, in regards to the allotment known as Webber’s. The agreement is outlined in the letter in what appears to be Chinese characters, and includes the marks of Robert Lundon and Soon Hang Hi. File note from Joy Wu states that the calligraphy is not Mandarin or traditional Chinese. 2/Three sheets of hand-written working notes with information taken from the Victorian Government Gazette on THE ROSSTOWN AND MURRUMBEENA LAND COMPANY LIMITED, THE ROSSTOWN JUNCTION RAILWAY AND PROSPERITY COMPANY LIOMITED, and THE ROSSTOWN JUNCTION, ELSTERNWICK, AND OAKLEIGH RAILWAY COMPANY LIMITED, covering dates between 1887 and 1894. The notes concern meetings and creditors claims relevant to the companies, with reference numbers for the information source. Date and author of the notes are not recorded. 3/A black and white photocopy of the a partial map of the Rosstown Railway and surrounding area, undated. The map includes the names of landholders in the areas of Brighton, Garden Vale and Elsternwick, as well as other railway lines present in the region. 4/A fold-out map and guide of the Rosstown Rail Trail, including a brief general history of Caulfield as well as a more extensive biography of William Murray Ross and the Rosstown Railway. The map marks and describes significant sites along the trail, including photographs of some of these sites, provided by DF Jowett.documents, correspondence, webber’s, lundon robert, chinese characters, ethnic communities, signatures, text, settlements, taxes, fraser john grieves, lovell r.h., price davies, meetings, communication activities, soon hang hi, commercial events and activities, the rosstown and murrumbeena land company limited, victorian government gazette, bulmer richard, parry john, osment henry, shareholders, creditors claims, the rosstown junction railway and property company limited, finch and best, lawyers, the rosstown junction elsternwick and oakleigh railway company limited, cameron w.c., phillips p.d., garden vale, elsternwick, elsternwick railway station, rosstown, rosstown railway, thomas street, bay street, kooyong road, melbourne and brighton railway, hawthorn road, bambra road, caulfield and frankston railway, booran road, grange road, koornang road, murrumbeena road, north road, north road railway station, east brighton railway station, south road, railway routes, railway lines, railways, land transport, murphy j., caulfield, hamilton t.f., dane p., holloway, webb, ailee john, payne t.b., brodie chas, dane john, o’neil h., mccombie john, mcmillane a., smyth c.d., cooper, ebden, landholders, jeffrey j.d., gill j., balcombe a.e., cooper h., mcnab j., white j., sutherland j., greeves a.f.a., newton m.c., chamley f.b., fowler j., inglis p., grant t., stooke j., swanson g., cochrane c., adams e.b., mccombie thas, keyes robert, brighton cemetery, burials grounds and graveyards, war-ein road, were j.b., holland j., mcmahon c., winter t.l.m., dendy henry, mitchell w., jackson s., were j.e., wickham francis dawe, bryant jane, east brighton railway station, railway stations, maps, allotments, land titles, roads and streets, rosstown rail trail, city of glen eira, tourism, trains, tourism information bureaus, tours, pamphlets, elsternwick railway park, oakleigh junction, princes park, ee gunn reserve, packer park, sites, jowett d.f., weickhardt i.g., return to rosstown: railways land sales and sugar beet ventures in caulfield, land sales, walking trails, ross william murray, transport objects, locomotion, walking, cycling, driving, sports, country mansions, people, caulfield john, builders, construction and demolition workers, occupations, careers, professionals, topography, geology, landforms, horticulture, market gardens, primary industry workers, city of caulfield, mood kee, pennington harold, annual general meetings, caulfield town hall, glen eira city council, carnegie, carnegie station, rosstown station, people by circumstance, migrants, sugar beet, sugar beet mill, sugar beet industry, mills, factories, sea beach lines, bent thomas, parliamentary representatives, neville street, miller street, lemann’s swamp reserve, koornang park, cane sugar industry, breweries, rabbit processing plants, health establishments, hospitals, food production establishments, abattoirs, thieves, social problems, vagrants, theft, squatting, financial economics, debt, finance industry, insurance companies, company managers, bentleigh, ross leila, the grange, leila road, wild cherry road, financial trouble, mortgages, gisborne street, archibald street, riddell parade, victoria railways, glen huntly road, clarence street, college street, gladstone parade, parrell street, aileen avenue, seaview street, drion estate, land subdivisions, dover street, sussex street, landfill, marara road, booran road, woodville avenue, dorothy avenue, ormond park, royal avenue, ormond railway station, oakleigh road, melten avenue, miller street, munro avenue, lord reserve, neerim road, toolambool road, the rosstown hotel, rosanna street, murrumbeena crescent, commercial establishments, the national bank, rosstown road, kangaroo road, poath road, freda street, hughesdale kindergarten, oakleigh council, hughesdale community centre, civic establishments, galbally reserve, plaques, warrigal road, out and about brochures