Colour photograph of a well established Moreton Bay Fig tree at Mairburn Road, Metung, Victoria.gardens, trees

The Kew Historical Society's postcard collection includes views of Kew, Melbourne and Greater Melbourne as well as those including overseas scenes sent or received from Europe or the Middle East. They date from the 1890s to the 2000s. These postcards may or may not include the name of the publisher or printer. A number of the cards were published as parts of popular series. A way of dating early postcards is to identify whether the reverse was divided by a central line which became the norm after 1902 in the United Kingdom. However, other postcards produced after this date do not always conform to this print layout.The item forms part of the Laurie Bennett collection of thirty-six postcards and photographs of Kew and early Melbourne, donated to the Kew Historical Society in 1980. The postcards in the Bennett collection, like other images in the Society's holdings date from the 1890s to the present and comprehensively indicate points-of-view or scenes considered historically, aesthetically or socially significant in the period in which they were produced.Postcard depicting the Kew Post Office and Court House (built 1888) on the corner of High Street and Cotham Road. In front of the Post Office is a large Moreton Bay Fig tree. The later Kew War Memorial (opened 1925) necessitated the removal of the tree and the relaocation of the Queen Victoria Jubilee Fountain. "No-KH-388. 1888. Donated by Mr. L. Bennett. Later buildings joined. Fig tree + Queen Victoria Jubilee Fountain moved to make way for World War I Memorial 1920."kew court house, kew post office, postcards

The Huon family were early pastoralists in the Wodonga area. They built the mansion, de Kerilleau in 1870 and named after the family's ancestral estate in France. The original lease of the Wodonga Run was granted to Paul Huon as No. 202 on 7th February 1837, about a year after his cousin Charles Huon had squatted on the land. In August 1849, this run was transferred to Paul's son, William. Paul Huon was one of the children of Gabriel Louis Marie Huon de Kerilleau, a French nobleman who fled France during the French Revolution and travelled under a false identity with the Second Fleet in 1794. The mansion, De Kerilleau was built by William Huon in 1870. It is a solid two storey red brick building with cream brick flat window arches. The main feature of the house is its two-storey cast-iron verandah which has been restored to its original condition. When the Governor, Sir George Bowen, his wife and two daughters needed accommodation overnight after having taken part in the celebration of the railway in Wodonga in 1873, they stayed at de Kerilleau. Sir George planted a Moreton Bay fig tree in the grounds and it still stands today. de Kerilleau is a significant building in Wodonga which has been classified by the National Trust.Coloured photographs showing a variety of features of de Kerilleau homestead.huon family, de kerilleau, de kerilleau homestead

Paul Huon's son, William, arrived at "Belvoir Homestead" on the Woodonga Run in 1857 to learn the management of the Run so he could take over the role from his Uncle Charles. He spent five years residing at "Belvoir." In 1862 he built a new stone home on Wodonga Creek at the base of Huon's Hill. William gave this home the family traditional name " De Kerilleau." In the 1870s, William built the "de Kerilleau" homestead that still stands today. The first "De Kerilleau" homestead was almost completely demolished in 1907. It is a solid two storey red brick building with cream brick flat window arches. The main feature of the house is its two-storey cast-iron verandah which has been restored to its original condition. When the Governor, Sir George Bowen, his wife and two daughters needed accommodation overnight after having taken part in the celebration of the railway in Wodonga in 1873, they stayed at de Kerilleau. Sir George planted a Moreton Bay fig tree in the grounds and it still stands today. The historic homestead became the property of the Watson family in 1922 and again changed hands in recent years. It is listed by the National Trust.Donated by Des Martin & Rosemary BoyesPart of a set of original sketches by Des Martin for "A Record of the 150th Anniversary" Celebrations of the Rural City of Wodonga held on 30th October 1986.huon family, early wodonga

de Kerilleau was built for William Huon, son of the early pastoralist Paul Huon, in 1870 and named after the family's ancestral estate in France. The original lease of the Wodonga Run was granted to Paul Huon as No. 202 on 7th February 1837, about a year after his cousin Charles Huon had squatted on the land. Kenneth Darnton Watson bought de Kerilleau homestead in 1922 where the Watson family lived for three generations, caring for the land and serving the Wodonga community. Kenneth, his son Ian Darnton Watson and his grandson John Kenneth Darnton Watson all served on the Wodonga Council. The magnificent two storey brick homestead is built on ground above Wodonga Creek. The home of Georgian style consists of eleven rooms and a spacious cellar. At the rear of the main house in a separate single storey building was a large kitchen, pantry and accommodation for a cook and a housemaid. A feature of the homestead is the cast iron lace on the veranda and upper balcony, both supported by caste - iron pillars. The granite foundations of the home were quarried from the hill above the homestead. The enormous Moreton Bay Fig tree which stands to the side of the home was planted when Sir Charles Bowen visited de Kerilleau to mark the opening of the rail line that connects Victoria with New South Wales. Planted in 1873, it is still standing today. This painting was donated to the Wodonga Historical Society by George, Digby & Dugald Watson on behalf of the late John & Chris Watson. John Kenneth Darnton Watson was born on 28 August 1960 in Wodonga. After completing his primary schooling locally, he boarded at Geelong College from 1973. John joined the rowing crews, starting in the 8th VIII crew and reaching the 1st VIII crew in 1978. He received multiple House colours awards for cross country, athletics and rowing and received School colours for rowing. On completion of his schooling, John spent some time jackarooing before studying farm management at Marcus Oldham College in Geelong, Victoria. He then returned home to de Kerilleau, Wodonga to manage the family property. In 1984 John married Christine Honybun, daughter of David Lewis Honybun and Marian Josephine Edkins. John and Christine had three sons. John was community minded and involved in a number of local organisations such as Apex and agricultural societies. He was elected to Wodonga City Council in 1997, serving until 2004. Due to increased pressure on available land to cater for the growth of Wodonga, some of the property was sold and in 2003 John donated 200 ha of Huon Hill ‘s western slopes to the City of Wodonga. After this time, he moved away from farming to become a Hungry Jack's franchisee. In 2009, the hard decision was made to sell de Kerilleau and John and his family moved into Wodonga. After sadly losing Christine to cancer in 2017, John became a member and Deputy Chairperson of the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre Trust Fund Board and Ambassador for the Sunshine Walk. Tragically after his own cancer battle, John Kenneth Darnton Watson passed away on 24 August 2023, aged 62 years following a life of service to the Wodonga community.This item is significant because it was owned by a prominent Wodonga family and came from a Historic Homestead in WodongaA coloured portrait of John Kenneth Darnton Watson and a painting of de Kerilleau Homestead, the Watson Family home for three generations. The portrait was taken by Peter Charlesworth. The painting is the work of D.K. Ross in 1991.watson family wodonga, de kerilleau homestead, john watson, peter charlesworth

Published: Age (Melbourne, Vic.: 1854- ), 4 August 1933, page 3 Published title: GIRLS’ SCHOOLS – MODEL YACHTING - FOOTBALL Published caption: The headmistress, Miss H. Daniell, and girls at Ruyton, Selbourne Road, Kew, snapped after school hours. Trove article identifier: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204381763 Research by Project Volunteer, Louise McKenzie: Rather than the people, this charming building takes the eye! Originally named “Tarring”, it was built in 1872 by Mr Henry Henty and his wife Mrs Marion Anne Henty (nee McKellar) for their family. Located at 82 Selbourne Road, Kew, it is described by Melbourne’s Open House organisation as “… a two-storey, polychrome brick mansion built for them by prominent Melbourne architect Albert Purchas. The house and nearly four acres of grounds served as their family home until the death of Marian Henty in 1919. “ (See below for further information on Albert Purchas.) In 1920 it was sold to Ruyton Girls School. Ruyton was established in 1878 by its first principal, Charlotte Anderson (1838-1906), who named it in honour of the parish in Shropshire, England, Ruyton-XI-Towns, where her great-great-grandfather David Evans had been vicar. Its motto is Recte et Fideliter, meaning "Upright and Faithful", which is also the name of the school song. The original school, one of Victoria’s oldest independent schools for girls, was located at the home of Mrs Anderson at 63 High Street South, Kew. In 1882 she moved the school to Edgecombe in Studley Park Road. Mrs Anderson retired due to ill health and sold the school to her friend Miss Eliza Bromby. One of Ruyton's four Houses, Anderson, is named for Charlotte Anderson. When Ruyton Girls School was moved to the site in 1920 it established the building as a Boarding House, and renamed the building “Henty House” in honour of its original owners. Today the school remains an all girls’ school, and pays tribute to its founder and the historic significance of Henty House and its magnificent Moreton Bay Fig tree, which still stands today. The building retains many original, Victorian-era features, while also showing the layers of change, made over the decades in order to meet the evolving needs of one of Melbourne’s leading schools. The headmistress mentioned in the caption for MCK016 is Miss Hilda Daniell, shown standing in front of Henty House in the midst of a group of Ruyton girls in their school uniforms, some holding hockey sticks. Miss Daniell was the longest serving Principal of Ruyton 1913-1952. She was originally a student in 1893, then joined the teaching staff in 1898. It was under her leadership that the School purchased and moved to “Tarring”. The boarding house included a flat for Hilda to live onsite. An article in the Ruyton Heritage Collection – Bedford Series, dated 21 May 2021 cites that Miss Daniell “was affectionately known as “Dream” by Ruytonians of her era” apparently due to a tendency to quiet reflection. The article continues, “After her retirement in 1952 Miss Daniell was awarded an Order of the British Empire for her many services to education, an award she received from the hands of the Queen during the 1954 Royal Tour. Also in 1952, the Kew Council honoured her by renaming Brougham Place as ‘Daniell Place’.” Arthur Purchas, architect: The architect responsible for the design of “Tarring”. Arthur Purchas, was extremely active and highly regarded at this time. Born in Wales in 1825, he emigrated to Melbourne in 1851 and soon established a private practice as a surveyor and architect, with offices variously in Little Collins, Queen Street, Chancery Lane, and finally 462 Little Collins Street. Wikipedia notes in an early reference to Purchas that “An early story is that one of his first jobs, when he would have been about 25 years old, was a position under Surveyor-General Robert Hoddle, and disagreeing with him over the line for St Kilda Road, appealed to Governor La Trobe, and successfully got the road diverted around the hill which eventually became the site of the Shrine of Remembrance. There may not be much truth to this, since by 1851 St Kilda Road was already a well worn track running around the hill, the top of which La Trobe had reserved for a Government House in 1840.” The timing of Purchas’s arrival in Melbourne was perfect. The Victorian gold rush of the 1850’s generated enormous wealth in Melbourne, and a building boom followed. The Wikipedia entry continues … that alone, or with his brother in law Charles R Swyer, “Purchas is said to have designed over 140 houses, offices, churches, banks and cemetery buildings in Victoria in his long career. Berkely Hall, St Kilda dating from 1854 is one of his first buildings, and still exists, though the original house is obscured by an early C20th verandah. Another notable early design was the head office of the Melbourne Savings Bank, built on the corner Flinders Lane and Market Street in 1857-58, in an elaborately detailed Renaissance Revival style. His churches were mostly Gothic Revival, built for the Anglican Church, along with some parsonages, while most of the bank buildings were Renaissance Revival designs for the Bank of Australasia. He also designed city buildings in the 1860s and 70s, such as the Mutual Insurance Co, Northern Insurance Co, and the first premises for George & George, destroyed by fire in 1889. One of his most outstanding designs is St George's Presbyterian Church in Chapel Street, St Kilda (1877–80), in a striking polychrome brick Gothic Revival style, unusually carried on through to the interior. Purchas produced one of the few published maps and compilations of the early pastoral settlers runs in Victoria in 1853. In the same year he designed the layout of the Melbourne General Cemetery, the first 'garden' cemetery in Victoria, a curvilinear layout with extensive plantings, as well as the gate lodge and gates (the gates lodge were demolished and the gates relocated to their present position in the 1930s). He was a long time member of the Cemetery Trust, serving as secretary from 1876-1886. He was also Chairman of the Boroondara General Cemetery Board of Trustees 1867 to 1909, and designed many aspects of the cemetery, including the landscape, the cast iron entrance gates (1889), the rotunda (1890) and the surrounding brick wall (1895–6). Purchas was a keen inventor having applied for a patent for an invention for lighting a railway carriage with gas in 1861, and won a competition for a model farm complex, in 1862. This unusual design had the dairy either underground or half underground, to keep it cool, with a 'dry lining' around the outside of the sunken portions. In 1883, with fellow architect Alfred Smith, he took out a patent for fire-proof floors, arches, staircases and other parts of buildings.” Purchas died in his home in Kew in 1909 and, not surprisingly, was buried at Boroondara Cemetery. Henty family history in Australia: Henry Henty (b.1833-d.1912) was a successful businessman, and briefly a MLA for the seat of Grenville, Victoria in 1866. He was one of three sons of James Henty, and nephew of Edward Henty who is considered to be the first permanent European colonist to take up residence in Victoria. The Australian Dictionary of Biography provides a riveting overview of the complex and enthusiastic activities of the Henty family, and its entanglement in the development of mercantile life in WA, Tasmania, SA and Victoria from 1828 onwards. The family had a focussed commitment to creating thriving businesses in Australia, despite being regularly thwarted by legislative pushbacks and law changes, instigated in Britain as the Australian colony developed. Areas of greatest influence were merino sheep, beef and horse breeding, whaling, farm establishment, membership of the legal and political fraternities, sporting prowess, and board directorships in banking and railways. The Dictionary of Biography summarises: “As settlers the Henty men were notable not merely for being the first to settle in Victoria but also for their number and quality: a father and seven educated sons experienced in farming and trading, occupations of prime importance to a new colony, and importers of unusually substantial capital in money, skilled workers and thoroughbred stock.” As well as Tarring, the Henty family Melbourne residences included Findon (in Kew, overlooking Studley Park), Offington (St Kilda Road overlooking Albert Park) and Field Place (Henty Court, Kew), and descriptions of the houses in Wikipedia –Melbourne Architecture 1870s - reflect the development of Melbourne society. References RUYTON (1934, December 15). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 18. Retrieved March 12, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11001092 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruyton_Girls%27_School#:~:text=Ruyton%20Girls'%20School%2C%20commonly%20referred,of%20Melbourne%2C%20Victoria%2C%20Australia. https://www.ruyton.vic.edu.au/our-school#:~:text=With%20an%20international%20reputation%20as,opportunity%20and%20challenge%20for%20girls. https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5bea06b121ea690bf4eb08ed https://www.ruyton.vic.edu.au/our-school/campus-and-facilities Biography of Edward Henty and family: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/henty-edward-2247 Article on Offington House: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196554993 Article on Field Place House : https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/64881 Article on Findon: https://www.facebook.com/KewHistoryGroup/posts/in-the-book-jubilee-history-of-kew-1803-1910-by-fga-barnard-there-is-a-photo-of-/4389837914376555/ Charlotte Anderson/Ruyton: https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5be4b8c821ea6a039c7a13e3 https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/6179e90da912eb195970bdf8 https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5bea06b121ea690bf4eb08ed https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/65d3e05c5b5e5c61346420a2 Photo of Charlotte Anderson: https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE1515776&mode=browse Photo of Charlotte Anderson: https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/6179e90da912eb195970bdf8 https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5be4b8c821ea6a039c7a13e3 Wikipedia: Architecture of Melbourne: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Melbourne Open House Melbourne: Henty House: https://www.universe.com/events/henty-house-ruyton-girls-school-tickets-Z45LYH Albert Purchas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Purchas Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 3 June 1876, page 9 – Article on Offington http://www.ohta.org.au/organs/organs/BoxHillUC.html Melb Architecture 1870s - Wikipedia Victorian Collections: Letters of Hilda Daniell https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/65d3e05c5b5e5c61346420a2 Photographer notations on slide: "Ruyton Girls School 1933".schools, 1930-1939, architecture, victorian architecture, trees, architects

Collected by the historian Dorothy RogersDried Moreton Bay fig leaves from the vicinity of Palmer's Punt near Denham Street Hawthorn. Each leaf was inscribed by the historian Dorothy Rogers (sic) before 1973. The leaves are brittle and undated, with the text difficult to decipher. 1974.0010.1 "Moreton Bay fig leaf from old tree foot of Derham St Haw - vicinity Palmer's Punt until 1934 flood & hut for Punt passengers was still there. KH-355." 1974.0010.2 "Moreton Bay fig leaf from old tree foot of Denham St haw - vicinity Palmer's Punt until 1934 flood hut for punt passengers still existed there. A canoe tree in garden from Sir J. Palmer's land. KH-355." 1974.0010.3 "Moreton Bay fig leaf from old tree foot of Denham St leading to Palmer's Punt until 1934 flood there was still there a hut for punt passengers. Canoe tree in gardens from Sir J. Palmer's land. KH-355."denham street - hawthorn (vic), palmer's punt, invergowrie - hawthorn, 1934 flood - melbourne - hawthorn (vic)