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 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.ephemera, civic ephemera, civic invitations, city of collingwood, mrs w d birrell, mayoresses of collingwood, mrs r l friend

Identification provided by the donor, Mrs Ruth Edgar (nee Johns), as follows: Back row - L to R: Miss Hilda Davis (later Mrs F A McLaughlin), of 16 Valonia Avenue, aged 103 in 1995 and the only one in the photo then alive; E Murray Johns, eldest son of Rev and Mrs Wesley Johns of Mont Albert; he married and built a home in Scheele Street and lived there until he was promoted to Head Office of the Bank of NSW; brother of the donor; Miss Ethel Street from Wodonga, daughter of Mrs Theresa Street in the front row; an unidentified friend; Mr Walter E Davis, Manager of the Telegraph Branch of the G.P.O. and a keen member of the Surrey Hills Bowling Club, owner of 40 Windsor Crescent and an active member of the Surrey Hills Methodist Church. Front row - L to R: Mrs W E Davis, sister of E J Nuttall of Surrey Hills, one of the co-designers of the Australian flag; W Lyndon Davis, son of Mr & Mrs W E Davis, who built and lived in Lightfoot Street; Mrs Theresa Street from Wodonga, sister of Mr W E Davis & Mrs Wesley Johns; Mr Walter Street, son of Mrs T Street, newly returned from WW1 with his young English bride, Helen. Walter Edwin Davis - born 1858, married Bertha Amy Nuttall / Davis (1864-1941) in 1889. Walter Lyndon Davis (1895-1970) Ruth Lilian Johns (1911-2004) daughter of Wesley Johns & Elizabeth Davis. The photo was enlarged & reprinted from a 75 year-old photo 2 inches by 3 inches by a local firm "Think Negative" in Mont Albert. A black and white photograph of 5 women and 5 men assembled in a group in the garden of a building. One man is in uniform, the other men are wearing suits. The ladies are wearing long skirts.valonia avenue, windsor crescent, lightfoot street, world war, 1914-1918, helen (mrs), mr e murray johns, rev wesley johns, scheele street, miss ethel street, mrs w e davis, miss bertha amy nuttall, walter lyndon davis, walter edwin davis, miss hilda davis, mrs frederick arthur mclaughlin, mrs theresa street, miss theresa emily davis, miss elizabeth davis, mrs elizabeth johns, walter frederick street, mrs helen swtreet, miss helen hewlett, ernest murray johns