This needle case belonged to Nina Ayers (nee Casement) 1891-1972. She was taught sewing by her aunt, Blanche Casement, with whom Nina lived after her mother died when she was seven. NIna and her husband, Arthur Ayers 1887-1964 lived in Avonsleigh 1929-1964. Nina, in turn, gave this needle case to her daughter Frances Ayers who later married the grandson of Carl Axel Nobelius.This needle case belonged to a local woman whose daughter was related by marriage to the Nobelius family, and it tells a story of sewing skills passed from mother to daughter.Attractive small needle case with red background and red and gold lettering. At one end is a small hole for dispensing needles and a top able to be swivelled to the correct needle compartment. Inside the case are five compartments for dispensing five different needle sizes. (There are no needles now in the case.)On side of needle case: 'THE /CROSS-FOX / NEEDLE CASE / ABELL MORALL LTD /REDDITCH ENGLAND / TRADE MARK' On bottom of needle case: ' BEST ENGLISH EGG EYED SNAPS / CONTAINING 50' On top of needle case: 'ABELL MORALL / CROSS FOX / NEEDLE CASE / REDDITCH ENGLAND'nina casement, arthur ayers, blanche casement, sewing, avonsleigh, carl axel nobelius

This postcard belonged to Blanche Constance (Nina) Casement 1891-1972 whose fiancé, Arthur Woodzell Ayers (1887-1964), enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 and served at Gallipoli and the Western Front. Arthur was completing officer training at Oxford New College 23 Feb 1917 - 27 May 1917 when he sent these postcards. Nina and Arthur married in 1919 and moved to Avonsleigh in 1929. This postcard was passed to their daughter Frances Nobelius (Ayers).This is an example of communications between Australian soldiers and family members during World War I.Postcard with photograph of Oxford New College Dining Hall. On the back is a handwritten message postmarked 18 April 1917.On front of postcard, printed: 'Oxford New College Dining Hall (Founded A.D. 1386)' On back of postcard printed: ' POST CARD / This space to be used for Communication. The Address only to be written here.' On back of postcard postmarked: 'MELBOURNE / 6 IF 74 A' 'OXFORD / 8.30 PM / 18 APR 17' On left side of postcard printed: 'George Davis, 7 The Turl, Oxford.' On back of left side of postcard handwritten: 'This is where we / have our meals / and some of / the lectures / We are going/ to Warwick on / Sunday for 5 / days. / Love W' On back of hand side of postcard handwritten: 'Miss Nina Casement / C/o Mrs Quince / Roy Court / Mit-ford St / St Kilda / Melbourne / Victoria / Australia [an alternative street address in Richmond, Melbourne has been crossed out]' world war i, nina ayers, postcard, 1917, arthur woodzell ayers, oxford new college

This postcard belonged to Blanche Constance (Nina) Casement 1891-1972 whose fiancé, Arthur Woodzell Ayers (1887-1964), enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 and served at Gallipoli and the Western Front. Arthur was completing officer training at Oxford New College 23 Feb 1917 - 27 May 1917 when he sent this postcard. This postcard is a group of trainee officers of which Arthur was one. Nina and Arthur married in 1919 and moved to Avonsleigh in 1929. This postcard was passed to their daughter Frances Nobelius (Ayers).This is an example of communications between Australian soldiers and family members during World War I.Postcard photograph of group of thirty-six trainee officers arranged in four rows in front of an Oxford college building. On the back is a handwritten message postmarked 18 April 1917.On back of postcard: Left hand side of postcard a handwritten message: "With very/fondest love/ Woodzell". The middle top printed words "POST CARD" Left hand side printed "Norman ??VIOR, Day and Electric Studios Carfax House/142 High Street and 4 Cowey Road Oxford/ Portraits taken day or night". No stamp in the place provided on the top righthand corner world war i, nina ayers, postcard, 1917, arthur woodzell ayers, oxford new college

On the crest of Stanhope Hill at Peter Street, Eltham, stands the former home of a couple, Clem and Nina Christensen who had a major influence on the literary development of post World War 2 Australia. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p109 On the crest of Stanhope Hill at Peter Street, Eltham, stands the former home of a couple, who had a major influence on the literary development of post World War Two Australia. In 1946, Clem and Nina Christensen bought the house, which had been designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear, considered to be one of Australia’s most innovative architects in the first quarter of the 20th century.1 That year the stucco building with a metal roof, built in 1910, was extended to the north and south. The main residence was built of jarrah, with stucco walls, floors of Tasmanian hardwood and rooms panelled with Californian redwood (sequoia). The property included a cottage, former stables, a dairy and meat-house. From its beginnings the property has attracted artists and intellectuals. Official World War One artist, Will Longstaff, bought the property – then 15½ acres (6ha) around 1900. Famous for his painting The Ghosts of Menin Gate, now in the Australian War Memorial Canberra, Longstaff was the cousin of another well-known painter, Sir John Longstaff. Several leading artists visited Longstaff at Stanhope including Walter Withers of the Heidelberg School, who lived in Brougham Street, Eltham. In 1919, Theo Handfield, father of author and journalist John Handfield, bought the property from Mrs Longstaff. Then in 1924 the land was subdivided and most of the estate (80 blocks) was auctioned. The next owner was related to novelist Virginia Woolf. Bishop Reginald Stephen, Warden of Trinity College, bought the house and five acres (2 ha) in 1928. He was related to Sir Leslie Stephen, the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography and Woolf’s father. Novelist and music critic John Harcourt, was the next tenant, while he and his wife Fay, built their mud-brick house Clay Nuneham, at the foot of Stanhope Hill. Dr Clem and Mrs Nina Christensen, lived in the house until their deaths. Clem Christensen – who died aged 91 in 2003 – was a poet, short story writer and painter. However, he is most noted for founding Australia’s foremost literary journal2 Meanjin (originally Meanjin Papers), which he described as ‘democratic left of centre’, in Brisbane in 1940. Clem brought Meanjin to Melbourne in 1945 and remained editor until 1975. Enormously influential, Meanjin spawned and encouraged many of Australia’s best literary talents and it had an international reputation. Meanjin was the first to publish such writers as Judith Wright and David Malouf and it encouraged writers like Patrick White and Peter Carey. Nina Christensen – who died aged 89 in 2001 – was founding Editor of the Melbourne Slavonic Studies Journal and pioneered the study of Russian in Australia. In 1946 she established the Department of Russian Language and Literature at The University of Melbourne, which she led until 1977. Nina’s graduates largely staffed subsequent departments, in other Australian universities.3 However Nina’s Russian heritage and Clem’s outspoken views caused problems. They were forced to defend themselves in the Petrov inspired Royal Commission on Espionage in the 1950s, but were exonerated. The Christensens attracted and hosted many distinguished Australian and foreign writers, artists and academics, including Nobel prize-winning novelist, Patrick White and the world’s then leading cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich.4 Other writers and intellectuals who visited Stanhope were: Vance Palmer, Alan Marshall, A D Hope, Xavier Herbert, Nevil Shute, Geoffrey Dutton, Martin Boyd, Judah Waten, Bruce Grant, Dorothy Hewett and Sir Herbert Read. Painters included: Danila Vassilieff, Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Justus Jörgensen, Robert Hughes and Clifton Pugh. Academics included: Manning Clark, Geoffrey Blainey, W Macmahon Ball, Richard Downing, Geoffrey Serle and scientist Tim Marshall. Politicians included: Jim Cairns, Pauline Toner, Lance Barnard, Sir Paul Hasluck, Sheryl Garbutt and performance artists included: film star Olivia Newton-John, members of the Bolshoi ballet and the Russian State Ballet of Siberia.5 Nina Christensen was honoured in 2006 at the Eltham Living and Learning Centre with the building of an amphitheatre designed by V Sverdlin.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, clem christesen, eltham, nina christesen, peter street, stanhope

Dimitri Sofianos is seated in foreground of the photograph with his two children, Nina and Spiro (Pip). They are at an annual Ithacan picnic which they always attended as a family. The annual Ithacan Philanthropic Society's picnic is a very popular event on the club's social calendar as has been the case for many years. A partly faded black and white photograph of a group of people at a picnic. In the foreground a man has his arms around a little boy and girl. A table set out with food is in the background on the RHS of the phoptograph