Robert Uriah Nicholls was born in Devonshire, England, and arrived in Victoria in 1853, and Ballarat in 1854.] He ran R.U. Nicholls &​ Co., nurserymen in Doveton Street North, Ballarat. He was a member of the Ballarat Horticultural Society for 51 years, and was President of the Old Colonists' Association in 1907. Robert Nicholls died in 1910, and is buried at the Ballaarat New Cemetery.Photographic portrait of R.U. Nicholls who arrived in Australia in 1853.r.u. nicholls, robert nicholls, nursery, plant nursury, ballarat hortucultual society, robert u. nicholls

W.G (William George) Gray, owned and managed Allwood Nurseries in Hurstbridge. By 1922 he operated a well cultivated property of 64 cleared acres, 56 of which were under nursery healthy stock, principally apples, peaches, plums and cherries. In addition to 4 acres of potatoes. 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, hurstbridge, gray's orchard, nurseries (plants), apple industry, allwood, allwood nursuries