Believed to be Percy Leason’s tribute to famous singer, Dame Nellie Melba, operatic soprano who died on 23 February 1931. The black and white drawing shows two men beneath a pedestal and sculpture of a head with the words “MELBA. A GREAT AUSTRALIAN”. Percy Leason (1889 - 1959) was a painter and cartoonist renowned for his depictions of Australian society in the 1920s and 1930s. He lived in Eltham from about 1924 to 1938 when he moved to the USA. In 1931 his cartoons were published in the Melbourne weekly magazine “Table Talk”, usually a whole page on page 8 or 9. (although it cannot be confirmed that this one was). Orignal source: Thomas Nelson, Carlton. This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital image and 4 x 5 inch B&W Negsepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, percy leason, nellie melba, cartoon, drawing

Percy Leason (1889-1959) was born in Kaniva Victoria, Leason is best remembered as a cartoonist. His wiregrass cartoons in the Melbourne magazine “Table Talk” were based on a mythical country town. The inspiration was Kaniva but the happenings could be associated with many towns. Eltham residents thought they could identify with many cartoons. Leason was also an accomplished painter and an anthropologist. Leason was associated with the Montsalvat Artists’ Colony and in the mid 1930’s built “Landscape” in nearby Lavender Park Road. At the end of 1937 Leason travelled to America where he remained for the rest of his life. Paperback; 1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 22 cm.percy leason, artists

This political cartoon and black and white drawing depicts a man who looks like Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) an Indian lawyer, anti-colonist and political ethicist (who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule) pushing a hand push lawn mower in front of a house being renovated. A big man representing a politician stands in the background. Gandhi was involved in the Round Table peace conferences of 1930-1932 organised by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. Percy Leason (1889 - 1959) was a painter and cartoonist renowned for his depictions of Australian society in the 1920s and 1930s. He lived in Eltham from about 1924 to 1938 when he moved to the USA. This image was published by Melbourne publisher Thomas Nelson.This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital image and 4 x 5 inch B&W Negsepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, percy leason, cartoon, comic, mahatma gandhi, india, drawing, political cartoon

"Jones purchased a quiet little weekend retreat in the hill', published in 1928. Black and white drawing from a Bird’s eye perspective showing a house with veranda surrounded by shrubbery and a large gum tree. It features numerous people in the garden with a road full of various automobiles at the top of the picture. The image is reminiscent of the artists “Wiregrass” series of a mythical country town which were published in the Weekly “Table Talk” magazine from 1926 to 1937. Percy Leason (1889 - 1959) was a painter and cartoonist renowned for his depictions of Australian society in the 1920s and 1930s. He lived in Eltham from about 1924 to 1938 when he moved to the USA. Published by Thomas Nelson, Carlton date unknown. Published in "Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall" (1971) Chapter 16 Eltham in Modern Times, page 97.This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book, "Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital imagesepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, eltham, percy leason, drawing, illustration

This political cartoon depicts a black and white drawing; “General Depression”, a large ugly man wearing a German pike helmut, representing the Great Depression which Australians suffered from 1929 through the 1930s with a period of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement. This figure overshadows a small man, representing Prime Minster James Scullin with a suitcase labelled “Jim S, London to Australia”. This is a reference to the PM’s decision to travel to London to seek an emergency loan and to attend the Imperial Conference (a meeting of Prime Ministers of the British Empire) He is holding a sling shot. The image has a “David and Goliath theme” denoting Australia as the underdog, a contest where a smaller, weaker opponent faces a much bigger, stronger adversary. The artist Percy Leason (1889 - 1959) was a painter and cartoonist renowned for his depictions of Australian society in the 1920s and 1930s. He lived in Eltham at his property 'Landscape' which he built in New Street (present day Lavender Park Road) from about 1924 to 1938 when he moved to the USA. In 1931 his cartoons were published in the Melbourne magazine “Table Talk” (although it cannot be confirmed that this one was). The original source of this image for the SEPP collection was the Publisher Thomas Nelson based in Melbourne. This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital image and 4 x 5 inch B&W Negsepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, percy leason, depression, cartoon, comic, james scullin, david and goliath, drawing, political cartoon

Folder of information on Percy Leason, Artist, Cartoonist, Historian, Anthropologist, Eltham, 1930s. 1. Photo: ANOTHER WIREGRASS PROBLEM: A well known artist who has gone to the bush to be alone with Nature, is discovered, By Percy Leason 2. Photo: SCENE DURING THE EIGHT HOURSS' DAY SPORTS AT WIREGRASS, By Percy Leason 3. Photo: "FIRE!": "An unfortunate occurrence. When the members of the Wiregrass Fire Brigade assembled at the Fire Station last evening for their weekly practice, they were horrified to discover that the building was on fire." - WIREGRASS WEEKLY CLARION, By Percy Leason 4. Photocopy: "Goliath and the Prodigal David" by Percy Leason 1931 [See SEPP_0727] 5. Photocopy: "Yes you are improving the place. I'll have to increase your rent." by Percy Leason 1933 [See SEPP_0728] 6. Photocopy: Cartoon by Percy Leason 1931 [See SEPP_0729] 7. Photocopy: Cartoon by Percy Leason [See SEPP_0730] 8. LEASON, Percy Alexander, Painter and Illustrator; Who's Who in Australia, XIVth Edition 1950 9. LEASON, Percy Alexander, Painter and Illustrator; Who's Who in Australia, date unknown 10. Percy Leason 1889-1959 11. LEASON, Percy Alexander, 1889-1959, Painter and Illustrator 12. Percy Leason: Artist, cartoonist and Historian, by L.J. Blake, B.A., B.Ed., M.A.C.E. (President of the R.H.S.V.); An Address to the Society on Tuesday evening 27 August 1968; The Victorian Historical Magazine, pp 158-180 13. Catalogue: The Percy Leason Collection on view in The la Trobe Library 20 September - 29 October 1971 14. Invitation: Christmas Exhibition, The Wiregrass Gallery, 4 December 1977 15. Newspaper clipping: Artist's retreat, 1980 16. Newspaper clipping: Sharper than snapshots by Giles Auty; Arts, Review, The Weekend Australian, November 13-14, 1999 17. Works by Percy leason held by Castlemaine Art Museum, October 2018alan whitmore estate agents, biography, exhibition catalogue, la trobe library, landscape, percy leason, rhsv, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, wiregrass gallery, eltham

Photographs of four framed black and white drawings attributed to Percy Leason (1889 - 1959). He was a painter and cartoonist renowned for his depictions of Australian society in the 1920s and 1930s. He lived in Eltham from about 1924 to 1938 when he moved to the USA. Bicentennial/Heritage Week Display, "The Eltham Tradition", Eltham Shire Office, 17-22 April 1988 Four colour photographsactivities, eltham shire office, heritage display, heritage week, percy leason, bicentenary, exhibition

"Who would have thought that a boy born in 1889 from the Victorian Mallee would become a successful artist on New York’s Staten Island? This finely illustrated, exhaustively researched and beautifully written biography on Leason features the artist’s entire career as a painter and cartoonist renowned for his depictions of Australian society in the 1920s and 1930s. Leason’s story is a poignant one tracing his beginnings as a cartoonist, to the bohemian Melbourne art scene in the early 20th century, to his involvement in the artists’ camps of Eltham, to his important series of portraits of Lake Tyers Indigenous Australians, and his eventual move to the US where he has been acknowledged as making an enormous contribution to the New York arts scene. This story, as yet untold, fills a gap in the history of art in Australia and offers a new perspective on Australian art in the first half of the 20th century." - Thames and Hudson website A NEW HOME IN ELTHAM Once they had settled back into Melbourne, Perry and Belle began to look for a place to make a permanent home. Having enjoyed the bush setting of Mosman, they decided to explore the rural fringes of Melbourne. Each weekend they packed a picnic and travelled to the towns in the nearby hills - such as Ferntree Gully, Sassafras, Lilydale and, of course, Cockatoo Creek. Eventually deciding these places might be a little too far from The Herald office, they searched closer to the city. The Heidelberg and Box Hill regions that had inspired his old teacher McCubbin, had become busy, urban areas but further east, towards Warrandyte and Templestowe, there were still large tracts of bush. Finally they settled on Eltham, an area Percy knew very well, having often painted there with Jock Frater. Perry's old friend Dick McCann and his wife Margery had also settled in Eltham. The township was fifteen miles from Melbourne and serviced by an electric train that went to the central Melbourne station of Flinders Street, near where The Herald offices were located. Eltham was a small village in 1925, separated from Melbourne by the Yarra River, and surrounded by orchards and large tracts of bush. Small farms dotted the landscape and the main businesses revolved around ironmongers, blacksmiths, and farming supplies. Of particular appeal to artists was Eltham Park, a large expanse of bushland bounded by the Yarra River on the south side and the Diamond Creek on the east. The park included a playing field that was busy on weekends with cricket or football matches, but for the rest of the week it was mostly empty and an ideal place to paint. The scenery there provided the inspiration for many paintings by Leason, Meldrum and other artists such as Colin Colahan and Peter (A.E.) Newburv. The Leasons found a rundown old farmhouse on four-and-a-half acres of land in New Street, now known as Lavender Park Road. The site was splendid, at the top of a gentle slope which gave panoramic views east to the Dandenong hills, south over the Templestowe orchards and north to Kinglake. The front lawn was taken over by onion grass (or wiregrass as Leason called it) and scattered about the property were many wattles and gum trees. Aloe cacti covered much to the front of the house, while old quince and lucerne hedges separated the house and out-buildings from a rundown apple orchard. Here they would build a new home. ·with financial assistance from The Herald, Leason bought the property and immediately commissioned an architectural firm to design a new house in the popular bungalow style of the time. The old farm house was demolished but Percy saved the siding boards, bricks and corrugated iron for the outbuildings of his new home. The new house was a two storey, triple brick with a large, gabled, terracotta tiled roof. It was situated at the very top of the slope. The paint and varnish were barely dry when the family moved in during the summer of 1925-26 and the fumes were overpowering in the heat. Despite the house being wired for electricity, power poles had not yet reached the area and initially the family had to rely on kerosene lamps and candles. When electricity did arrive, Leason reflected on the community's reception of electricity at the expense of the old growth gum tree corridors in his cartoon, Electricity comes to Wiregrass. The family had now grown to seven. Jack was nearly nine, Jean was seven, Marjory was four, Nancy was two and the baby Patricia was seven months old. Jack and Jean were enrolled in the local primary school down the hill. A retired farmer, Jock McMillan, came to live on the property and help out with the general maintenance. Jock built himself a shack and Belle provided him with meals. He was kept occupied building structures around the property·, such as the garage, the outside toilet, garden beds, trellis arbours and a number of ponds. The elderly, bearded Scotsman with his old hat and baggy pants also provided the inspiration for one of the characters Leason regularly included in his cartoons. Like Leason, Jock smoked a straight stemmed pipe. A neighbour was employed to help Belle with domestic chores, and so the family settled down to live comfortably in their new Eltham house. Two dogs, Maginary and Wodger, completed the large and vibrant household. “Percy Leason; an artist’s life” by Margot Tasca, Thames & Hudson Australia Pty Ltd, Port Melbourne 2016, pp 63-64 Hardback Bookpercy leason, margot tasca, biography, artist, landscape

Black and white photograph reproduced on p97 of 'Pioneers & Painters' Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photo Collection, no. 730 (duplicate of hard copy held at Eltham Library)pioneers and painters, sepp, percy leason

Back Cover: At a time when black and white art was flourishing in Australia- with artists like Norman Lindsay, Will Dyson and Stan Cross at work - Percy Leason's creation of Wiregrass ranked him as an illustrator of surpassing genius. His early successes as a book illustrator and as a cartoonist for the Bulletin and Melbourne Punch, presaged a full flowering of his work with his creation of the mythical town and his endowment of it with a host of characters and comic situations. His inspiration came from his childhood town in Kaniva, Western Victoria but Wiregrass was every country town, with its general store, pub and church hall, its swimming hole, football ground and racecourse, its leading citizens, its battlers and mischievous children. Wiregrass flourished in Table Talk Magazine from 1926 to 1937 when Leason, seeking to escape his comic reputation and pursue "serious" art, went to live in America." Percy Leason lived in Eltham Softcover, 80 p. : ill., 1 port. ; 30 cm.ISBN 0850912490australian wit and humour, drawing, caricatures and cartoons, country life

Heritage Excursion - An Eltham South Ramble, 2 Sep 2017Born Digitalactivities, eltham district historical society, eltham south, heritage excursion, local history centre

Purchased through the Horsham Art Gallery Trust Fund with the assistance of the Friends of Horsham Art Gallery, 1990

Morrison Kleeman Real Estate sales information material relating to the property "Landscape". Built by the cartoonist and painter Percy Leason (1889-1959). anthropologist. Leason was associated with the Montsalvat Artists’ Colony and built “Landscape” before he moved to the USA in 1937 . 6 documents, 12 pages A4 gayle blackwood collection, houses, morrison kleeman real estate, eltham south, landscape, lavender park road, percy leason

Built by artist and cartoonist Percy Leason in 1927 in what was then New Street but renamed Lavender Park Road in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p121 Said to be a genius, cartoonist Percy Leason’s career was at its peak when in 1925 to 1926 he built his home at New Street (now Lavender Park Road) Eltham. The Herald newspaper owner, Sir Keith Murdoch, had hired Leason for his newly acquired Melbourne Punch magazine at a salary of £1750, making him ‘one of the highest paid cartoonists in the world’.1 With this salary and financial help from Murdoch, Leason was able to build his lovely home in Eltham. At the crest of a sweeping drive, the home now two-storey in white brick with a gabled grey slate roof and dormer windows is flanked by an extension built by another owner in the 1980s. Leason lived in the home with his wife, Isabel and children, until 1937, when he left for the United States of America, where he lived until his death in 1959. The four-bedroom house and garden would have been well-suited to bringing up his family and to entertaining their friends in style. Large airy rooms have high ceilings with moulded plaster, timber floors and several are brightened with bay windows. Leason made friends with many of the artists and personalities who gravitated to Eltham. Around 1931 Justus Jörgensen, founder of the Montsalvat Artists’ Colony, helped Leason build his large studio at the back of the house. Another friend was journalist Mervyn Skipper, father of jeweller and sculptor Matcham, and artists Helen and Sonia. Leason’s teacher, artist Max Meldrum, also visited and rented accommodation in Eltham, opposite Wingrove Park. Punch folded in 1925, but Leason continued as cartoonist for Table Talk. In 1926 Leason began the cartoons of a mythical Australian town Wiregrass, which were inspired by Kaniva, his home town. The art gallery in Main Road Eltham was named Wiregrass in Leason’s honour. Leason completed 1000 drawings from 1919 to 1937, which author Garrie Hutchinson claimed, were technically unsurpassed and had regional and universal interest. Leason’s acute observations of country life stemmed from his childhood in Kaniva in Victoria’s western Wimmera, where he was born, the son of a selector, in 1889. Meldrum claimed that Leason could name every plant and the habits of every animal.2 Leason also painted 28 portraits of the last full-blooded aboriginals in Victoria at Lake Tyers in Gippsland, most of which are in a private collection. In Sydney Leason illustrated Henry Lawson’s Selected Poems and worked for The Bulletin. Leason had begun his career at 13 as an apprentice lithographic artist at Sands and MacDougall. He attended night classes at the National Gallery and the Victorian Artists Society. Leason first visited Eltham in 1910 to paint with fellow artist William ‘Jock’ Frater. They camped near Bible and Pitt Streets and along the Diamond Creek on the site of the present Eltham Retirement Centre. Despite his success as a cartoonist, Leason wanted to be recognised as a serious painter and for his anthropological work.3 He was also conservative and felt uncomfortable with the modern art scene in Melbourne.4 So he left for the United States of America to work as a painter. Ironically his time in New York saw the burgeoning of modern art, notably by artists such as Jackson Pollock. But Leason found his niche by running an art school, painting society portraits and illustrating books and magazines.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, landscape, lavender park road, percy leason, new street

Mary Tenbosch lived in Eltham for 40 years and died 1968. Contents Newspaper article: "She saw the spacious era pass: Death of an early Elthamite", Diamond Valley News, 21 May 1968. Life of Mary Tenbosch. - Obituary for Mrs Mary Tenbosch, former wife of W.B. Bassett-Smith who lived for 40 years at the top of York Street.Newspaper clippings, A4 photocopies, etcmary tenbosch, york street eltham, bridge street eltham, brougham street eltham, eltham telephone exchange, lyon brothers eltham, millette's eltham, research hotel, eltham fire brigade, percy leason, wiregrass cartoons, henry street eltham, blue gum milk bar (eltham), brougham steet, eltham, eltham public hall, eltham shops, ford model t, ford wagonette, henry street, lyon bros. garage, millett's foodland, montevideo, newsagency, obituary, police station, post office, table talk, telephone exchange, uruguay, w.b. bassett-smith, york street

35mm colour positive transparency Mount - Black and Whitelandscape, percy leason, lavender park road

David Newbury, artist of Eltham, son of artist Peter Newbury, is retiring from teaching at Melbourne State College. He remembered the Eltham of his childhood. A E (Peter) Newbury, artist of Eltham, influenced by Frederick McCubbin and Walter Withers, later by the work of Max Meldrum. Contents Newspaper article: "Artist with a claim to fame", Diamond Valley News, 7 December 1982. Describes David Newbury's life and career. Pages 116-117 from "Pioneers & Painters" by Alan Marshall: Life of A E (Peter) Newbury and son David Newbury.Newspaper clippings, A4 photocopies, etcdavid newbury, peter newbury, frederik mccubbin, walter withers, max meldrum, percy leason, botlon street eltham, eltham primary school, swinburn technical school, national gallery school, melbourne state college, royal melbourne institute of technology, clare newbury, a e (peter) newbury, richard mccann, eltham hotel, bill withers, walter dobson

John Webster Lawson was born in Sheffield, England in 1855. HE travelled Europe as a young man where he studies art in Paris under Ferdinand Cormon. He arrived in Australia in 1895. His first job in the arts was designing theatre sets for James Cassius Williamson whose theatrical management company was described in its heyday as the largest theatrical firm in the world. Lawson went on to open an art school in Nhill where one of his pupils was Percy Leason. Lawson died in Sale in 1941.Oil painting in a gold coloured timber frame. The painting depicts a coastal scene. To the fore of the painting is a wrecked timber dinghy boat on the sand. It is falling apart. To the right of the boat are large rocks, to the left is the sea. There are sailing boats on the sea and the coastline stretches into the horizon. There are cliffs running along the edge of the sea. The sky is blue with white fluffy clouds.Signed bottom rightportland, glenelg shire council cultural collection, oil painting, sea scape, landscape, 1800s

John Webster Lawson was born in Sheffield, England in 1855. HE travelled Europe as a young man where he studies art in Paris under Ferdinand Cormon. He arrived in Australia in 1895. His first job in the arts was designing theatre sets for James Cassius Williamson whose theatrical management company was described in its heyday as the largest theatrical firm in the world. Lawson went on to open an art school in Nhill where one of his pupils was Percy Leason. Lawson died in Sale in 1941.Oil painting in a gold coloured timber frame. The frame is ornate and detailed with scrolls and decorations and each corner. The scene depicts and rocky beach. Steep cliffs follow the coastline along. There are two seagulls on the beach and several flying above the water. There are sailing boats on the sea. At the top of the cliffs in the top left corner is a building. The sky is blue with white fluffy clouds.Signed and dated bottom leftportland, glenelg shire council cultural collection, oil painting, sea scape, landscape, 1800s

John Webster Lawson was born in Sheffield, England in 1855. HE travelled Europe as a young man where he studies art in Paris under Ferdinand Cormon. He arrived in Australia in 1895. His first job in the arts was designing theatre sets for James Cassius Williamson whose theatrical management company was described in its heyday as the largest theatrical firm in the world. Lawson went on to open an art school in Nhill where one of his pupils was Percy Leason. Lawson died in Sale in 1941.Oil painting in a double frame. The inner frame is canvas with a gold timber beveled inner edge and the outer frame is timber. The scene depicts a coastal scene. A beach in the foreground with three cows grazing on the grass to the left. A rickety fence can be seen behind the cows. The cliffs reach out to the horizon and a lighthouse can be seen in the distance at the top of the cliffs. There are two sailing boats on the sea and seagulls flying above the water. The sky is blue with a few clouds.Signed and dated bottom leftportland, glenelg shire council cultural collection, oil painting, sea scape, landscape, 1800s, lighthouse

Contents: • History Matters by Jim Connor • 9th August Meeting - The Shallards of Montmorency • Heritage Excursion - Saturday 2nd September - An Eltham South Ramble • Montmorency Guiding Memories by Jean Ryan • Percy Leason: An Artist's Life by Margot Tasca - Book review by Russell Yeoman • Eltham District Historical Society: Russell Yeoman by Jim Connor • 40 Years of Environmental Living by Janet Mattiske • Membership Subscriptions • Wellers Hotel of Kangaroo Ground - Part 1 by Jim Allen • Morrison Kleeman Real Estate • Our Sponsors • Contacts for the Eltham District Historical Society The Shire of Eltham Historical Society was formed in October 1967. The first newsletter of the Society was issued May 1978 and has been published continuously ever since on a bi-monthly basis. With the cessation of the Shire of Eltham in late 1994, the Society's name was revised to Eltham District Historical Society and this name first appeared with issue No. 103, July 1995. The collection of the Society's newsletters provides a valuable resource on the history of the Society's activities, office bearers and committee members, guest speakers and subjects of historical interest pertinent to the former Shire of Eltham and the Eltham District.A4 photocopied newsletter distributed to membersnewsletter, eltham district historical society, shire of eltham historical society

Contents: • What happened in the Shire of Eltham in 1924 by Jim Connor • Next Meeting –7:30pm Wednesday 9th October 2024 • November Excursion - Saturday 2nd November – Killeavey Walk and Talk • Robert Hoddle – Chains and Grids in Terra Nullius by Anne Paul (Part 3) • A Heidelberg School Artist in Eltham by Marguerite Marshall • Eltham Council Officers; Tuesday 6th April 1937 • Our new sponsor • Percy Leason by Richard Pinn • Body in the Bush – Misadventure or Murder? By Terry Beaton • Shillinglaw Cottage – 60 years on by Jim Connor • Montsalvat People by Richard Pinn o Helen Lempriere (1907-1991) o Sigmund Jorgensen (1940-2019) • You Can Bank On That! by Jim Connor The Shire of Eltham Historical Society was formed in October 1967. The first newsletter of the Society was issued May 1978 and has been published continuously ever since on a bi-monthly basis. With the cessation of the Shire of Eltham in late 1994, the Society's name was revised to Eltham District Historical Society and this name first appeared with issue No. 103, July 1995. The collection of the Society's newsletters provides a valuable resource on the history of the Society's activities, office bearers and committee members, guest speakers and subjects of historical interest pertinent to the former Shire of Eltham and the Eltham District.A4 newsletter distributed to members (Digital and A4 photocopy)newsletter, eltham district historical society

Tickets and newspaper clippings glued to a folded sheet of cardboard comprising: Inside: 20 - MMTB Cable and Electric tram through tickets - transfer and priced, all numbered. Newspaper clipping from Friday Feb 18, 1927 - HMAS Bacchante under sail and Bearded Pioneers at Ballarat. Outside: 4 MMTB ES (Eastern System) tickets - different colours, un-priced, all printed as between Regent St and High St. 1 - Transfer ticket - blue, punched for "to Northcote Town Hall". 1 - MMTB Scholar's concession check - block - printed for Prahran, Malvern and Hawthorn Electric Tramways Newspaper cuttings - How St Kilda welcomed the King and Queen - 6/5/1901 - Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. and a cartoon, of an overloaded cable tram trailer with a gentlemen carrying a bag marked CRB and many parcels with the conductor asking "Fares Please!", drawn by Percy Leason.trams, tramways, tickets, cable trams, transfer tickets, cartoons, regent st, crb, royal visit

Photocopy (A4): Map hand drawn by Peter Grier, brother to Wendy Wilson, commissioned by jeweler, Michael Wilson showing his business 'Eltham Goldsmithery' c.1979-1981. Newspaper article: Art and design venue, Diamond Valley News, August 14, 1996, p14 where it is announced that the business has been approved as an outlet for Italian design house Alessi. In same article a reference to an exhibition by the deceased 'Twenty Melbourne Painters' hanging at the Victorian Artists Society Gallery and former and present day connections with Eltham area including Angela Abbott, Peter Glass, Alan Martin, Lesley Martin, Max Meldrum, Percy Leason, Alice Bale, Walter Withers, Margery Withers, Richard Mccann. (On p13 letters to the Editor about protesting against inappropriate development and the Commissioners plans for future elected Nillumbik Council structural representation). Advertisement 19 June 2013, Michael Wilson diamond jewellers. Advertising flier 23 November 2020, Michael Wilson.main road, eltham, property, houses, shops, businesses, michael wilson jewellers, peter grier, map, eltham goldsmithery, artisans minting, cafe de chin, eltham barrel, eltham clinic, eltham community centre, eltham gallery, eltham railway station, eltham shopping centre, eltham town park, gallery 4, john mills pottery, living and learning centre, once upon a time land, michael wilson diamond jewellers, shillinglaw cottage, wiregrass gallery, montsalvat, country arts story, montsalvat country, eltham college, eltham hotel, wingrove park

William (Jock) Frater (1890-1974) was an an artist and stained-glass designer who had some associations with Eltham. Frater was born in 1890 in Linlithglow Scotland. In 1910 he arrived in Melbourne. With a passion for painting, he hadn’t been in Melbourne very long before he met Percy Leason and Richard McGann, who were both working as lithographers with Sands and McDougall who produced Melbourne Directories. Jock Frater asked them where, near Melbourne, he should go to paint, and they both replied ‘Eltham’. Frater and Percy Leason became firm friends; and with others they spent their weekends painting, at Eltham and other places. Many times, during those weekends Frater and Leason would camp the night near Bible and Pitt streets. Another favourite spot for their weekend sketching was along the Diamond Creek where Judge Book Memorial Village was later built. In 1916 Jock Frater married his wife Winifred Dow, a tailoress. They bought a house and small property on the corner of Arthur and Bible streets. They lived in Eltham for about a year, then moved to Alphington. Jock also became a stained-glass designer. The west window of Wesley Church, Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, he regarded as his most significant design. His contribution to art in Australia was, however, as a painter who introduced Post-Impressionist principles and challenged the notion that art was an imitation of nature. He visited Central Australia in 1950 and Port Douglas, North Queensland, in 1952. His later major exhibitions were at the Australian Galleries, Melbourne, in 1958, the Victorian Artists’ Society in 1963, and a retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1966. Frater was a revered president of the Victorian Artists’ Society from 1963 until 1972, exhibiting annually with the society during the last decade of his career and filling three galleries at his final exhibition in July 1973. In 1974 Frater was appointed O.B.E. for his services to art. His work is represented in galleries and private collections throughout Australia as well as the Glasgow Art Gallery. He died at his home at Alphington on 28 November 1974 and was buried in Arthurs Creek cemetery. He was survived by four sons and a daughter. Reproduced Page 113 of "Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham by Alan Marshall, 1971. This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as the 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.' It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.Digital image of colour print 12 x 9.5 cm. Also black and white printeltham local characters, sepp, shire of eltham pioneers photograph collection, "pioneers and painters", william frater, jock frater, artist, stained glass designer, immigrant, o.b.e.

The Pony Club was a dream of Diana Bassett-Smith, which came true, based on the British Horse Society Pony Club formed in 1929; a worldwide organisation. A meeting was called at ‘Lavender Park’, the home of Mrs Mary Grant and her brother George ‘Mel’ Balfour. Invited to the meeting were Baye Skues, Eric Rundle, Ben Taylor, the Barringtons, Smiths, Lou Lewis and Gwen Cascaden. They all supported Diana Bassett-Smith for forming a Pony Club. The first formal meeting was held at ‘Landscape’, which was the home of the Barringtons and the former home of artist Percy Leason. Negotiations with the Lands Department resulted in the club being granted use of the grounds in Eltham Lower Park for a peppercorn rent. Eltham was the 4th Pony Club in Victoria; the other three being Frankston, Templestowe and Western District. Together they formed the Pony Club Association of Victoria at Diana Bassett-Smith’s instigation. This image shows club members attending their first rally held in the summer school holidays, December 1953 L-R: Andrew Donald, Alex Smith, Jenny McMahon, David Bell, Fay Hardess, Chrissy Mclean, Jane Kimber, Barry Hardess, Sue Heseltine, Sue Donald, Helen Rank, Elizabeth Thomas, Margot Donald, Christine Cuscaden, Diana Lewis, Erif Reseigh, Stephen Harris, Diana Bassett-Smith Black and white photographic reprint with names printed on frontalex smith, andrew donald, barry hardess, chrissy mclean, christine cuscaden, david bell, diana bassett-smith, diana lewis, elizabeth thomas, eltham district horse and pony club, erif reseigh, fay hardess, helen rank, jane kimber, jenny mcmahon, margot donald, stephen harris, sue donald, sue heseltine