Hand written document on lined paper torn from book."A S B" as signature. Stands for Arthur S Burgess, the District Inspectornyah state school, arther burgess, a w steane, district inspector, inspector's report

Possibly belonged to Mrs Lindorph of Nyah.Hand tinted colour head & shoulders photo of 4 unknown WWI soldiers in jackets & head gear. Mounted with light fawn border & cream painted wooden frame with glass front & cardboard backing.Written in pencil on back: “Mrs Lindorph”photograpy - photographs-frame accessories, military history - army

Original photo borrowed by Museum for copying. Sir Ronald East as a young man astride the Murray River near Nyah, during drought year

Reverend Alexander Palmer was ordained in 1961 and served at Ballarat West, Nyah West, Nhill, Wangaratta, Traralgon, and Maryborough. He entered permanent retirement in 1994.B&W head and shoulders photograph of Alexander and Edna Palmer."Rev Alex and Mrs Palmer C&N 9/4/1986 p 33"palmer, alexander, palmer, edna

BHS CollectionConditions of sale dated 20th February, 1926 between H. A. Wilkinson and R. Rigby for land situate in Elizabeth Street, Nyah West described in certificate of title Volume 4642 Folio 928297 together with 4-roomed weatherboard dwelling at present occupied by H. W. McDonald as tenant for the price of 500 pounds.organization, business, h.a. & s.r wilkinson real estate

This small saddle bag was carried on the off-side (right hand side) of the saddle. Nyah West is a town in Victoria, near the Murray River. It is near the Murray Valley Highway, 371 kilometres north-west of Melbourne and 27 kilometres north-west of Swan Hill.Dark brown leather single small saddlebag. The bag is secured with two buckles.

Colin McRae (1903–1986) was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1932, and served at Nyah West, Zeehan, Beulah, Hobart (Swan St), Invermay, as a chaplain in the AIF, Ballarat (Pleasant St), Geelong (Belmont), Hamilton, as Separated Chairman (North Western), Shepparton (Wesley), and as supernumery at Shepparton and Mooroopna.The Rev. Colin and Mrs McRae are shown receiving a presentation, presumably at a service to mark his retirement. Others in the photograph are the Rev. John Wade (making the presentation) Rev Colin McRaecolin mcrae; methodist-uniting church minister; nyah west, zeehan, beulah, hobart (swan st), invermay, as a chaplain in the aif, ballarat (pleasant st), geelong (belmont), hamilton, as separated chairman (north western), shepparton (wesley), and as supernumery at shepparton and mooroopna.

Colin McRae (1903–1986) was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1932, and served at Nyah West, Zeehan, Beulah, Hobart (Swan St), Invermay, as a chaplain in the AIF, Ballarat (Pleasant St), Geelong (Belmont), Hamilton, as Separated Chairman (North Western), Shepparton (Wesley), and as supernumery at Shepparton and Mooroopna.Rev John Wade, Rev Norman Mapperson, Rev. Colin and Mrs McRae. (Note: Different view of the same function as F516-2)Colin McRae; John Wade; Norman Mappersoncolin mcrae (1903–1986) methodist minister; nyah west, zeehan, beulah, hobart (swan st), invermay, as a chaplain in the aif, ballarat (pleasant st), geelong (belmont), hamilton, as separated chairman (north western), shepparton (wesley), and as supernumery at shepparton and mooroopna.

"The Policy should be forwarded to the Education Dept. for transmission to the Public Service Board". This piece of information would have been provided to assist with obtaining an Insurance Policy as instructed to comply with regulations.Light grey paper form with sections filled in with handwritten informationOfficial seal of the Education Department, Victoria Signed: A James on behalf of the Secretary Stamp indicating when it was received Nos. S00/7997 00/C Note written in pencil up left side: "The Policy should be forwarded to the Education Dept. for transmission to the Public Service Board."albert a w steane, bendigo, nyah, education department, appointment, insurance, assistant, head teacher

BHS CollectionConditions of sale by private contract dated 20th February, 1926 between R. Rigby and H. A. Wilkinson for land situate in Allingham Street Golden Square at present occupied by the vendor. Together with four-roomed weatherboard dwelling for the price of 225 pounds. Also with the contract there is a City of Bendigo Street Permit No. 430 and 2 accounts issued on 5th March, 1926 relating to the purchase and sale of property in Allingham Street and in Nyah West.organization, business, h.a. & s.r wilkinson real estate

Born 1893. Died 1967. First parish NYAH, 1922 - 1932 at Geelong Yarra St. 1936 - 1959 professor of theology, Queens College. 1959 retired. Rep to WCC 1937 + 1948 and to World Methodist Con 1937. Presiednt Australian Council of Churches, 1952 - 1953. (See Australian Dict. of Biography entry).Oval black and white, oval, head & shoulders studio photographic print portrait of Rev. G. Calvert Barber in clerical dress. He looking to his left. The print is a page that has been removed from a publication."REV. G. CALVERT BARBER, M.A., B.D., PH.D. PRESIDENT-GENERAL"rev g clavert barber methodist minister, president australian council of churches, rev g calvert barber professor of theology queens college university of melbourne, george calvert barber methodist minister, world council of churches, australian council of churches

Green cover book with brown leather spine. Orders for surveys or reports, under the following headings: nature of instructions, correspondence number, when returned. amount of survey fee, by whom paid, date of account passed, remarks. The following surveyors are used: William Archdall, Castlemaine - Garnet G. Birch, Bendigo - J.H. Brown, St. Arnaud - A.A. Briggs. Echuca - A.D. Thomson, Mildura - Tom Lowndes, Kerang - R.A. Black, Nyah West.survey, land, government

Presented to W. Forbes Raymond (Billy) William Forbes 1934-2008 Born Nyah West, Vic and died Echuca, Vic, Billy was a painter and decorator in the 1950s before joining the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade in the 1960s. In the 1970s he was employed at the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works until his retirement in 1991. In the 1930s he was raised in Nyah West then moved to Wallan in the 1940s, Collingwood/Carlton in the 1950s, Reservoir in 1970 then Torrumbarry, Vic from the 1990s. Billy undertook National Service in the 1950s and played football with the Carlton Royals in the 1950s and 1960s. Billy was presented with this Winner's Trophy for the 1954 Eltham Gift. The Eltham Gift was a running race similar to many other 'Gift' races around the the Melbourne suburbs and country towns. And that is where the mystery lies as press reports of the day have a completely different person winning the Eltham Gift in 1954. Bert Edwards was recorded in local news as winning the 1954 Eltham Gift held at Central Park Eltham. Brass alloy silver plated cup (engraved) on brown baketlite platic basePresented to W. Forbes, Winner, Eltham Gift, 1954eltham gift 1954, raymond (billy) william forbes 1934-2008, running race, sports, trophy, w. forbes, winner's cup, central park, athletics

BHS CollectionConditions of sale by private contract dated 20th April 1925 between G. A. Pethard as seller and H. A. Wilkinson as buyer. Contract issued by George Pethard Auctioneer for sale of land situate in Elizabeth Street Nyah West being lot 100 on plan of subdivision No. 6415 lodged in the office of titles and being part of Crown Allotment 11 Parish of TynTynder West County of Tatchera described in certificate of title volume 4642 Folio 928297, together with 4-roomed weatherboard dwelling. Price 518 pounds.organization, business, h.a. & s.r wilkinson real estate

Born Preston 21.10.1920. Started in the Methodist church as a Home Missionary at George Town followed by Nyah West in 1945, Burnie in 1948, Canterbury 1949-1950, Devenish 1951-1953. Following training and probation was ordained in 1952. In 1954 went to Euroa, then Kyabram 1958-1963, Warracknabeal 1964-1968, Bendigo 1969-1970, Lilydale 1971-1977; Armadale 1978-1982, Pakenham 1983 to Dec 1985. At the time of Union was assistant Secretary of the Methodist Conference of Vic and Tas B & W waist length photograph of Rev. Howard Abbey standing at a lectern, addressing an audience. abbey, rev. howard; home missionary; assistant secretary methodist conference of vic/tas; nyah west; george town (tas); devenish; euroa; kyabram; warracknabeal; armadale; pakenham

Born Preston 21.10.1920. Started in the Methodist church as a Home Missionary at George Town, followed by Nyah West in 1945,Burnie in 1948, Canterbury 1949-1950, Devenish 1951-1953. Following training and probation was ordained in 1952. In 1954 went to Euroa, then Kyabram 1958-1963, Warracknabeal 1964-1968, Bendigo 1969-1970, Lilydale 1971-1977; Armadale 1978-1982, Pakenham 1983 to Dec 1985. At the time of Union assistant Secretary of the Methodist Conference of Vic and Tas B & W waist length photograph of Rev. Howard Abbey standing at a lectern addressing an audience. abbey, rev. howard; home missionary; assistant secretary methodist conference of vic/tas; nyah west; george town (tas); devenish; euroa; kyabram; warracknabeal; armadale; pakenham

Rev Laurel Grace Davey was firstly a minister in the Methodist Church and then the Uniting Church. She was ordained in 1971 soon after the Victorian and Tasmanian Methodist Conference opened up the way for women to be ordained. Before that Laurel was a Deaconess, appointed to Geelong in 1956 as probationer. She also served in Parishes of Newport, Moe-Yallourn, Essendon, Nyah District (Mallee), Donald Heytesbury (Timboon), and was twice Presbytery Chairperson. She moved to Traralgon in 1993 after retirement where she was a one of the founders of the Fabric Art Group and the Friendship Club. [Source: Talking Point Traralgon District Uniting Church]B126 - Five badges pinned to a card with typed text. B126.1 - Christian Endeavour brooch - small silver bar with a Christian Endeavour emblem at the centre. The brooch has a safety chain with a safety pin at the end. B126.2 - Methodist Girls' Friendship brooch - metal bar with green enamelled MGF emblem at the centre. B126.3 - Methodist Youth Fellowship brooch - metal bar with small blue enamelled MYF emblem at the centre. B126.4 - Methodist Centenary Victoria lapel pin. B126.5 - Methodist Order of Deaconesses' badge - red and while enamelled badge with a safety chain. B126.6 - Not on the card: Methodist Girls' Comradeship badge - blue and white enamelled badge with safety chain.rev laurel grace davey 1927-2020, rev w j hunkin, christina davey, rev c w turner, christian endeavour, methodist girls'' fellowship, methodist youth fellowship, methodist order of deaconesses, methodist girls' comradeship

Information from the donor by email gives: Norma Pryde is identified as the girl in the second row on the far right. Her parents Norman & Hilda Pryde lived at 50 Broughton Road, Surrey Hills. The home was named 'Strathaven' after the town in Scotland where Norman's father came from. Norman & Hilda were married in 1923. Norma was born in 1924. Norman worked for Moran & Cato so the family moved around a lot for his work and is thought to have rented out the house from time to time. During some time in the 1920s they were listed on electoral rolls in Nyah West and then in 1942 they were listed in Hamilton. When the war ended they came back to Melbourne and in the late 1940s built a home at Blackburn. Norma married John Cleak in 1947 in Camberwell. This photo is representative of the large classes that were common in the interwar period.An original B&W postcard photo of a class taken outside against a brick wall. There are 34 boys in 2 rows. The back row of 20 boys would have been standing on a bench and in the front row the 14 boys are seated on the ground. The girls are standing in 2 rows - 14 girls in the second back row and 16 girls in the second front row. A total of 64 students. There does not appear to be a standard uniform.Front: In blue ballpoint: An arrow + ME Rear: In grey lead pencil on the LHS: "Miss N Pryde / Kitchener Rd / Croydon / Vic"; a stamp in purple ink on the RHS: "SUZANNE ET CIE PTY. LTD. / 357 COLLINS STREET / MELBOURNE." In addition a diagonal blue squiggle.surrey hills, norma pryde, norma cleak, jenny pomeray, surrey hills state school 2778, education, 1930-1939, 1935

Information from the donor by email gives: My grandparents Norman & Hilda Pryde lived at 50 Broughton Rd, Surrey Hills. The home was named 'Strathaven' after the town in Scotland where Norman's father came from. They married in 1923. I know they lived there in 1924 when my mother Norma was born. Norman worked for Moran & Cato so I know they moved around a lot for his work and I think they rented out the house from time to time. During some time in the 1920s they were listed on electoral rolls in Nyah West and then in 1942 they were listed in Hamilton. When the war ended they came back to Melbourne and in the late 1940s built a home at Blackburn. Their daughter was at school in Grade 6 at Surrey Hills State School in 1935. See related photo. At the time of the donation, this simple home was still extant. Since then, c2021, it was demolished and replaced by a large single dwelling.This photo is representative of the simple interwar home that infilled earlier scattered residential development in this part of Surrey Hills.An original B&W photo of a simple timber home set behind a woven wire fence and taken from across the street. The garden looks relatively undeveloped.NILbroughton road, surrey hills, norman pryde, hilda pryde, hilda gwendoline scales, 'strathaven', house names, 1920-1929, moran & cato, norma pryde, norma cleak, jenny pomeray, interwar housing

Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls (1906-1988), footballer, pastor, activist and governor, was born on 9 December 1906 at Cummeragunja Aboriginal mission, New South Wales, fifth child of Herbert Nicholls, seasonal worker, and his wife Florence, née Atkinson. Doug grew up at Cummeragunja, on the Murray River near Barmah, in its golden years of Aboriginal autonomy. Thomas Shadrach James gave him and other Yorta Yorta children a sound primary education, reinforcing the pride and self-assurance gained from their parents. As Doug grew, so too did the powers of the State’s Aboriginal Protection Board. Doug’s elder sister Hilda was removed about 1915. When Doug reached 14, he was moved off under the Aborigines Protection Act (1909) to find work. He took a job with dredging teams constructing levees on the Murray. Like other youths in the region Nicholls played Australian rules football, emulating kinsmen who had won local premierships since the 1890s. Doug and his brother Herbert (‘Dowie’) played with Tongala in the mid-1920s. Melbourne football beckoned, Doug trying out unsuccessfully for Carlton in 1927. He signed with the Northcote Victorian Football Association team, despite his nervousness about his Aboriginality, and was given a job with Northcote City Council. ‘Dowie’ joined him for a season. Doug was short at 5 ft 2 ins (158 cm), but muscular and lightning fast. He competed regularly during a boom in professional running, winning many heat and place prizes. In 1929 he won the Nyah and Warracknabeal gifts, earning a sash and £100 in each, together with a case of cutlery in the latter. Using his speed on the wing for Northcote, he produced great spring and agility from his compact body. The Sporting Globe reported in 1929 that ‘he flashes through packs of big men, whisks around small men . . . and attempts marks at the back of any six-footer’. In front-on clashes he was flattened only to rise again. The sole Aborigine in the VFA, he was known affectionately as the ‘flying Abo’ but called worse by his opponents’ barrackers. He competed for five seasons, being named ‘best and fairest’ twice, appearing in three association grand finals and winning in 1929. Keen to earn more than a seasonal wage, in 1931 Nicholls accepted a three-year contract with Jimmy Sharman’s travelling boxing show. The bouts matched opposites, local against tent boxer, white against black, and sometimes men of different sizes. He faced stiff competition from those who wanted to best the noted Melbourne black footballer, the crowd adding racial abuse. A far better footballer than boxer, he copped some punishment. Fighting in the Melbourne Stadium in December 1931, he was described by Truth as ‘slow and awkward’, but packing a ‘good wallop’. In 1932 Sharman, who treated his boxers fairly, released Nicholls to join the Fitzroy Victorian Football League team, which agreed to employ him as its groundsman. He played fifty-four games for Fitzroy over six seasons until knee trouble forced him out in 1937. Winning cups in 1934 and 1935, he played alongside Haydn Bunton and Wilfred (‘Chicken’) Smallhorn. Grand finals eluded him but he represented Victoria twice. Following his mother’s death, Nicholls revisited the Church of Christ chapel in Northcote, where they had worshipped together. On 17 July 1932 he experienced a conversion. He was soon baptised and witnessed openly, leading his fellow footballers to occasional church parades. Nicholls exhibited leadership qualities. William Cooper, founder of the Australian Aborigines’ League and Nicholls’ Yorta Yorta kinsman and fellow Christian, encouraged the young footballer. In February 1935 Cooper, Nicholls and others lobbied Thomas Paterson, the Commonwealth minister for the interior, over the need for Federal control of Aboriginal affairs. Nicholls attended the Day of Mourning protest for Aborigines held in Sydney on 26 January 1938, declaring: ‘after 150 years our people are still influenced and bossed by white people. I know we can proudly hold our own with others if given the chance’. When Cooper retired in November 1940 Nicholls became secretary of the AAL. On 2 June 1941 Nicholls enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces. He trained at Seymour and Bonegilla before being posted to the 29th Battalion. As Major Frank Corr’s batman, he was popular with other soldiers who tolerated his preaching and Bible reading. His army service was brief, however, and he was discharged in Melbourne on compassionate grounds on 22 January 1942. His biographer claimed that the Fitzroy police requested his return to mediate in the racial tensions developing between servicemen and the mostly respectable Aboriginal families living in crowded and dilapidated Fitzroy housing; Aboriginal people maintain that they requested his release. Nicholls began welfare work and religious services from an Aboriginal home in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. In April 1942, ‘Dowie’ died of road accident trauma, leaving his wife, Gladys, née Bux, and three children. On 26 December 1942 at Moama Methodist Church, New South Wales, Nicholls married her, a caring gesture which developed into a loving partnership. In January 1943 he initiated ‘Aboriginal Sunday’, featuring a gum leaf orchestra and choir. By 1955 this service had moved to July and later evolved into National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week. Ordained a Churches of Christ pastor in 1945, Nicholls conducted a vigorous ministry from a chapel in Gore Street, Fitzroy. His work survived on donations, a small honorarium, and his employment as team coach (1947) and curator at the Northcote Football Ground. In the 1950s Gladys established grocery and opportunity shops to earn income and provide services. Their house soon overflowed with people in need or visitors to Melbourne. Nicholls also hosted inspiring African American visitors such as the pianist Winifred Attwell and the singer Harry Belafonte. His ministry extended to Aboriginal country communities. Gladys taught Sunday school, undertook endless fund-raising and welfare work beside her husband, and became his greatest supporter and financial manager. They formed an Aboriginal Girls’ Hostel in 1956, for which they acted as house parents, and bought holiday units for Aborigines at Queenscliff. Persistently advocating Aboriginal rights, Nicholls protested about the impact of the Woomera rocket range on the people of the Warburton Ranges, co-ordinated the production of a concert, Out of the Dark, scripted by Jean Campbell, to rectify the omission of Aborigines from Victoria’s Commonwealth jubilee celebrations, and criticised the Victorian Aboriginal Protection Board. In 1957 when the board was transformed into the Aborigines’ Welfare Board, he and Harold Blair were appointed as Aboriginal representatives. Maintaining the stance of a political moderate, he did not bear grudges and sought to build bridges between black and white. He co-operated with any group that aided the cause, including the Council of Aboriginal Rights, whose executive were members of the Communist Party of Australia. This association attracted the attention of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, which in 1957 began to keep a file on Nicholls. In May 1957 Nicholls formed the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League with Doris Blackburn and Gordon Bryant, a Federal parliamentarian. As its paid field officer and spokesman, Nicholls contested assimilation policies and used film to raise awareness of issues. When the Welfare Board attempted to close Lake Tyers reserve, Gippsland, he resigned in disgust and led a protest march on parliament in May 1963. The AAL also petitioned the United Nations on land rights in June, perhaps the first indigenous body to do so. He argued for new premises at 58 Cunningham Street, Northcote, opened in 1966 as the ‘Doug Nicholls Centre’. In 1958 Nicholls was a foundation member of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders after 1964), which he served as national field officer (1961) and Victorian secretary (1962-63). While an innovator in tactics, he was alarmed by the influence of confrontational ‘black power’ politics in the AAL and resigned as a director amid turmoil on this issue in 1969, claiming the concept was a ‘bitter word’, not needed in Australia. Similar tensions in FCAATSI led him to join with Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal) in establishing the short-lived National Tribal Council as an alternative forum. As the AAL leadership moderated their stance, he returned as president (1969-74) of the new all-Aboriginal organisation. He was also a keen patron of the National Aboriginal Sports Foundation, founded in 1969. Many honours were conferred on Nicholls: he was appointed MBE (1957) and OBE (1968) and knighted (1972). In 1962 he was named Victorian ‘Father of the Year’ and the State’s second Aboriginal justice of the peace. Crowned Melbourne’s 1973 King of Moomba, he was declared Bapu Mamus (a Torres Strait term for ‘headman’) by the NTC. On 1 December 1976 Sir Douglas was appointed Governor of South Australia, but his health deteriorated within weeks, making it difficult for him to perform his official duties. In March 1977 he hosted Queen Elizabeth during her royal tour and was appointed KCVO. He relinquished his governorship on 30 April 1977 following a stroke. Ill health continued to dog him during retirement, but he played his Nelson Eddy records, enjoyed his expanding family, and when able, ministered to the Aboriginal Church at the League’s premises. Sir Douglas Nicholls died on 4 June 1988 at Mooroopna, predeceased (1981) by his wife and survived by his five children. He was given a state funeral and buried in tribal ground at Cummeragunja cemetery. Among the many tributes to him are an oval at Northcote, handed to the AAL in 1982, a Canberra suburb gazetted in 1991, and a fellowship for Indigenous leadership established in 2003, all in his name, and a statue of Sir Doug and Lady Nicholls by Louis Laumen, unveiled in 2007 in Parliament Gardens, Melbourne. Sir Douglas Nicholls is shown speaking at a microphone; head and shoulders; dressed in a suit.Pastor Douglas Nicholls