non-fictionAn illustrated autobiography of South Australian artist Barbara Leslie born 1940. Painter and illustrator Leslie charts her life through three sections. Book 1: letters to her best friend Marilyn; Book 2: written to her inner child; Book 3: a diary format after Merilyn's death.south australian bushfires, art school, drawing, family

Full page newspaper clipping featuring the March 1965 Victorian bushfires. Items include: Photograph - TWO-WOMAN BUCKET BRIGADE, Mrs Henry Marsden (left) and Mrs Moureen Ellis, whose fire-fighting efforts yesterday were highly praised today by their Eltham neighbours, carry out mopping-up operations Photograph - DOGS MADE HOMELESS by the fire in North Eltham yesterday are being cared for at First-Constable Doug. Mummery's kennels at Eltham and here is kennel maid Helen Oliver, 17, with some of them today. The two basset hounds are owned by Mr Bill Guy who lost about 100 daschund and basset hound puppies and dogs in the fire. Photograph - He died at Eltham [Picture of John Lawrence Coleman] Builder Mr John Lawrence Coleman, 31, of Main Rd., Eltham, one of three men burnt to death yesterday in the fire at North Eltham. The other two were XXXXX, 33 who lives opposite the Colemans and Mr William Elwers, 64 of Batman Rd., Eltham. John Lawrence Coleman (1934-1965) born January 10, was the son of Raymond John Coleman and Hanna May (Gillet) Coleman. He married Margaret Frances Dare in 1955 and was the father of two children. He died whilst attempting to rescue an older man trapped in the bushfire at North Eltham on March 3, 1965 Other news stories of the day:  Bushfires rage in Victoria, Snowy: Three dead (1965, March 4). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), p. 1. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131758981 Includes two photos of the fire in North Eltham “Firemen make for safety as fire rages in Upper Glen Park Road, North Eltham, Victoria. The smoke hides a house.” and “A house explodes into flames at North Eltham, Victoria. Firemen said bottled gas went up.” Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Thursday 4 March 1965, page 1 ________________________________________ Firemen make for safety as fire rages in Upper Glen Park Road. North Eltham. Victoria. The smoke hides a house. A house explodes into flames at North Eltham. Victoria. Firemen said bottled gas went up. Bushfires rage in Victoria, Snowy: Three dead MELBOURNE, Wednesday.—Three people died today in a bush» fire which raged through North Eltham, about 15 miles from Melbourne. The victims were three men. A fourth man is feared to be dead. Another bushfire. sparked off by the heatwave sizzling over south-eastern Australia, is burning out of control in the Kosciusko State Park, in the Snowy Mountains. Firefighters fear that if it reaches pine forests up the Yarrangobilly River, they will be powerless to stop it. The three victims of the North Eltbam fire were trapped by flames in a valley. Their bodies were found only a few yards apart. They were named by police tonight as Mr. George Crowe, 78, of North Eltham, William John Ewers, 64, and John Laurence Coleman, 31, both of Eltham. The other two have not been identified. They are believed to be a man aged about 40 and an 18-year-old youth. At least 12 homes were destroyed by the fire, the worst in Victoria since 1962, when eight lives were lost and hundreds of homes burnt down at Warrandyte. At one time the township of Eltham was threatened, but a cool change swept in from the south and held back the wall of flames. More than 100 dogs, worth about £4,000, died when the fire raced through two kennels in Short Street, Eltham. and Upper Glen Park Road, North Eltham. A trickle of water Residents ran into the streets as the blaze raced towards their houses. Others frantically dug firebreaks around their homes. Mrs. Sue Recourt wept when firemen arrived while she was vainly trying to stop the flames with a trickle of water from the garden hose. A stack of firewood was blazing, but the firemen managed to save the house and rescue four goats. Many homes in Eltham were saved after flames had crept to within feet of their fences. Students at North Eltham State School had to be evacuated when the blaze threatened the building. Fire fighters were severely hampered by lack of water and narrow roads. The blaze, which began in above century heat, turned toward Wattle Glen, where two houses were gutted. Then the flames raced towards Hurstbridge to the north. Firemen battling desperately, controlled the fire late this afternoon. Five forest fires were still burning in Victoria tonight.   IN VICTORIA THIS WEEK Tragic lack of central fire authority (1965, March 9). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), p. 2. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131759928 Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Tuesday 9 March 1965, page 2 ________________________________________ IN VICTORIA THIS WEEK Tragic lack of central fire authority From Rohan Rivett It was the worst week for Victorian fire fighters since Black Friday 27 years ago. On that day one pilot up in a spotter plane said afterwards: "It seemed at times that half the State was on fire." This time, for three days on end, Gippsland men, women and children had moments of conviction that their towns would have blackened into anonymity before the weekend was out. The week began with horror at Eltham on the North-eastern edge of Melbourne. Eltham today is something of an artists' colony. Oil painters, water colourists, potters and sculptors proliferate. A number of University folk have emulated the example of Professor MacMahon Ball who pioneered the way by moving to Eltham and carving a home out of the bush in the thirties. Innermost Eltham is barely 14 miles from the G.P.O. Farthest Eltham stretches miles beyond. It served to illustrate the tragi-ludicrous truncation of Victoria's fire control. Part of Eltham is under the protection of the Melbourne Fire Brigade. But this responsibility ceases at some invisible and incomprehensible line — apparently determined by the meanderings of the water mains. At this point everybody's property throughout the rest of Eltham is dependent on the Country Fire Authority. Half an hour before midday on Wednesday, a fire suddenly started on the West side of Upper Glen road on the edge of Eltham. Before the fire brigade could arrive, it was burning on a widening front through timber and high grass north of Eltham. Two wind changes in rapid succession saw the fire leaping Diamond Creek. With a freshening wind it struck home after home in three streets. More than one of them exploded suddenly as if hit by an incendiary bomb. There is no piped gas in the Eltham area, hence many housewives use bottle gas. The flames outside caused the bottles to explode. Altogether twelve homes were completely incinerated and four more were badly damaged. Thirty prize dogs perished. About three hours after the fire started it raced suddenly down a gully hillside trapping an elderly man. Two other men apparently raced to the rescue. Flames caught the three men within yards of each other, not 200 yards off the Upper Glen Park Road where safety lay. They were burned to death. Next evening an angry and convincing secretary of the Fire Brigade Union, Mr. W. M. Webber, came on television and appealed to the people of Victoria to end the ridiculous and dangerous dualism in fire-fighting control. The Eltham fire, he said, had precisely illustrated the situation. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade area touched Eltham, but where the fire had gutted and killed, was just outside its area. Mr. Webber said his union had constantly urged one authority for the State with a complete reorganisation of fire protection. On Wednesday the union had repeated its call for an inquiry into fire protection in Victoria to the Chief Secretary, Mr Rylah. "No matter how close the liaison between the two organisations, there are always divided sections of thinking," Mr. Webber told viewers. "I don't know how much tragedy the com-munity can take before it demands that it is properly protected." Rumours that differences in gauge between taps and hose nozzles (as between the two authorities) accentuated the damage were denied by fire chiefs who said that all appliances were now carrying adaptors so that hoses could be linked to mains everywhere. But there is grave concern in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade's higher councils at the action of several Federal authorities with projects in and around Melbourne. They are installing non-standard equipment without reference to the State authorities or any dovetailing of appliances and equipment. Public alarm was not diminished by the publication on Friday and Saturday of a heart tearing letter from the young widow of John Lawrence Coleman, 31 year old father of two, who had died in the flames apparently trying to rescue the old man trapped in the gully. By that time, a Vast area of Gippsland was in flames and the troops had been sent in to back up the overworked and often helpless fire-fighters. By Saturday, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Stoneham, who has previously demanded a Royal Commission into fire-fighting arrangements, repeated his demand. To add to the Chief Secretary's worries he was publicly rebuked for allegedly implying on television that lives had been lost at Eltham because people went to the wrong place at the wrong time. In a letter to the Press, Professor MacMahon Ball pointed out that two of the men involved were experienced bushmen who had gone "to help an old man in great danger fully aware of the danger to themselves". As Victoria faced its sixth day of total State-wide fire ban, it looked likely that even official resistance was not going to silence the demand for one central authority to control the fire fiend. At the moment, the 400 square miles where two million Victorians live in Greater Melbourne are divorced from the rest of the State in planning, communications, equipment and control of personnel. No one doubts the whole-hearted co-operation and willingness to back each other up of the M.F.B. and the C.F.A., both at top-level and among the firemen themselves. However, when a city straggles so deeply into the country side, the absence of a single authority, to oversee and analyse the fire threat as a whole, suggests suicidal policy of divide and fuel. Emphasis of the tragic loss of a member of a pioneering family who died whilst helping others in his communitybushfire, cfa, country fire authority, fire brigrade, glen park road, heroes, john lawrence coleman, north eltham, victorian bushfires - 1965, volunteers, william john elwers, fire fighter, frank martin, george john crowe, ken gaston, orchard avenue, doug mummery, helen oliver, mrs henry marsden, mrs moureen ellis

John Lawrence Coleman (1934-1965) born January 10, was the son of Raymond John Coleman and Hanna May (Gillet) Coleman. He married Margaret Frances Dare in 1955 and was the father of two children. He died whilst attempting to rescue an older man trapped in the bushfire at North Eltham on March 3, 1965 He died at Eltham (Herald, 4 March 1965, p3) [Picture of John Lawrence Coleman] Builder Mr John Lawrence Coleman, 31, of Main Rd., Eltham, one of three men burnt to death yesterday in the fire at North Eltham. The other two were XXXXX, 33 who lives opposite the Colemans and Mr William Elwers, 64 of Batman Rd., Eltham. * * * Frank Martin was a volunteer with the Eltham rural fire brigade at the time of the 1965 bushfires which burnt Eltham North and Research. Frank was asked to assist with the removal of three bodies from the back gully (now Orchard Avenue). They were badly burnt and one was found stuck under a fence as though trying to escape. Volunteers John Coleman Jnr, William Elwers and George Crowe were killed trying to protect Eltham from bushfire – they were local heroes. At the time, John Coleman Jnr was survived by his wife Margaret and two young children – John 11 and Vicky 2. Margaret Coleman lived in the family home until 1992 when she sold it and moved to Tasmania to be close to her son. She died in 1997 aged 65 years. 75 yr old Ken Gaston grew up on Edendale farm, which was originally a poultry farm but is now owned and run by the Shire of Nillumbik as an educational farm for schools and visitors. He was Captain of the Eltham rural fire brigade in 1965 when John Coleman Jnr was burnt to death in the Eltham North bushfires serving as an unofficial volunteer. He was able to draw where the original Wattletree Road was and at the time was verified with the location of some remaining bitumen and a post from the original bridge over the Diamond Creek located near the junction of the Diamond Creek and another small creek which is further down from Research or Christmas Creek as locals refer to it. The original Main Road ran behind Colemans before the railway line was built beyond Eltham in 1912. (Information recorded by Harry Gilham, President EDHS c.2011) * * * Bushfires rage in Victoria, Snowy: Three dead (1965, March 4). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), p. 1. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131758981 Includes two photos of the fire in North Eltham “Firemen make for safety as fire rages in Upper Glen Park Road, North Eltham, Victoria. The smoke hides a house.” and “A house explodes into flames at North Eltham, Victoria. Firemen said bottled gas went up.” Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Thursday 4 March 1965, page 1 ________________________________________ Firemen make for safety as fire rages in Upper Glen Park Road. North Eltham. Victoria. The smoke hides a house. A house explodes into flames at North Eltham. Victoria. Firemen said bottled gas went up. Bushfires rage in Victoria, Snowy: Three dead MELBOURNE, Wednesday.—Three people died today in a bush» fire which raged through North Eltham, about 15 miles from Melbourne. The victims were three men. A fourth man is feared to be dead. Another bushfire. sparked off by the heatwave sizzling over south-eastern Australia, is burning out of control in the Kosciusko State Park, in the Snowy Mountains. Firefighters fear that if it reaches pine forests up the Yarrangobilly River, they will be powerless to stop it. The three victims of the North Eltbam fire were trapped by flames in a valley. Their bodies were found only a few yards apart. They were named by police tonight as Mr. George Crowe, 78, of North Eltham, William John Ewers, 64, and John Laurence Coleman, 31, both of Eltham. The other two have not been identified. They are believed to be a man aged about 40 and an 18-year-old youth. At least 12 homes were destroyed by the fire, the worst in Victoria since 1962, when eight lives were lost and hundreds of homes burnt down at Warrandyte. At one time the township of Eltham was threatened, but a cool change swept in from the south and held back the wall of flames. More than 100 dogs, worth about £4,000, died when the fire raced through two kennels in Short Street, Eltham. and Upper Glen Park Road, North Eltham. A trickle of water Residents ran into the streets as the blaze raced towards their houses. Others frantically dug firebreaks around their homes. Mrs. Sue Recourt wept when firemen arrived while she was vainly trying to stop the flames with a trickle of water from the garden hose. A stack of firewood was blazing, but the firemen managed to save the house and rescue four goats. Many homes in Eltham were saved after flames had crept to within feet of their fences. Students at North Eltham State School had to be evacuated when the blaze threatened the building. Fire fighters were severely hampered by lack of water and narrow roads. The blaze, which began in above century heat, turned toward Wattle Glen, where two houses were gutted. Then the flames raced towards Hurstbridge to the north. Firemen battling desperately, controlled the fire late this afternoon. Five forest fires were still burning in Victoria tonight.   IN VICTORIA THIS WEEK Tragic lack of central fire authority (1965, March 9). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), p. 2. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131759928 Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Tuesday 9 March 1965, page 2 ________________________________________ IN VICTORIA THIS WEEK Tragic lack of central fire authority From Rohan Rivett It was the worst week for Victorian fire fighters since Black Friday 27 years ago. On that day one pilot up in a spotter plane said afterwards: "It seemed at times that half the State was on fire." This time, for three days on end, Gippsland men, women and children had moments of conviction that their towns would have blackened into anonymity before the weekend was out. The week began with horror at Eltham on the North-eastern edge of Melbourne. Eltham today is something of an artists' colony. Oil painters, water colourists, potters and sculptors proliferate. A number of University folk have emulated the example of Professor MacMahon Ball who pioneered the way by moving to Eltham and carving a home out of the bush in the thirties. Innermost Eltham is barely 14 miles from the G.P.O. Farthest Eltham stretches miles beyond. It served to illustrate the tragi-ludicrous truncation of Victoria's fire control. Part of Eltham is under the protection of the Melbourne Fire Brigade. But this responsibility ceases at some invisible and incomprehensible line — apparently determined by the meanderings of the water mains. At this point everybody's property throughout the rest of Eltham is dependent on the Country Fire Authority. Half an hour before midday on Wednesday, a fire suddenly started on the West side of Upper Glen road on the edge of Eltham. Before the fire brigade could arrive, it was burning on a widening front through timber and high grass north of Eltham. Two wind changes in rapid succession saw the fire leaping Diamond Creek. With a freshening wind it struck home after home in three streets. More than one of them exploded suddenly as if hit by an incendiary bomb. There is no piped gas in the Eltham area, hence many housewives use bottle gas. The flames outside caused the bottles to explode. Altogether twelve homes were completely incinerated and four more were badly damaged. Thirty prize dogs perished. About three hours after the fire started it raced suddenly down a gully hillside trapping an elderly man. Two other men apparently raced to the rescue. Flames caught the three men within yards of each other, not 200 yards off the Upper Glen Park Road where safety lay. They were burned to death. Next evening an angry and convincing secretary of the Fire Brigade Union, Mr. W. M. Webber, came on television and appealed to the people of Victoria to end the ridiculous and dangerous dualism in fire-fighting control. The Eltham fire, he said, had precisely illustrated the situation. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade area touched Eltham, but where the fire had gutted and killed, was just outside its area. Mr. Webber said his union had constantly urged one authority for the State with a complete reorganisation of fire protection. On Wednesday the union had repeated its call for an inquiry into fire protection in Victoria to the Chief Secretary, Mr Rylah. "No matter how close the liaison between the two organisations, there are always divided sections of thinking," Mr. Webber told viewers. "I don't know how much tragedy the com-munity can take before it demands that it is properly protected." Rumours that differences in gauge between taps and hose nozzles (as between the two authorities) accentuated the damage were denied by fire chiefs who said that all appliances were now carrying adaptors so that hoses could be linked to mains everywhere. But there is grave concern in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade's higher councils at the action of several Federal authorities with projects in and around Melbourne. They are installing non-standard equipment without reference to the State authorities or any dovetailing of appliances and equipment. Public alarm was not diminished by the publication on Friday and Saturday of a heart tearing letter from the young widow of John Lawrence Coleman, 31 year old father of two, who had died in the flames apparently trying to rescue the old man trapped in the gully. By that time, a Vast area of Gippsland was in flames and the troops had been sent in to back up the overworked and often helpless fire-fighters. By Saturday, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Stoneham, who has previously demanded a Royal Commission into fire-fighting arrangements, repeated his demand. To add to the Chief Secretary's worries he was publicly rebuked for allegedly implying on television that lives had been lost at Eltham because people went to the wrong place at the wrong time. In a letter to the Press, Professor MacMahon Ball pointed out that two of the men involved were experienced bushmen who had gone "to help an old man in great danger fully aware of the danger to themselves". As Victoria faced its sixth day of total State-wide fire ban, it looked likely that even official resistance was not going to silence the demand for one central authority to control the fire fiend. At the moment, the 400 square miles where two million Victorians live in Greater Melbourne are divorced from the rest of the State in planning, communications, equipment and control of personnel. No one doubts the whole-hearted co-operation and willingness to back each other up of the M.F.B. and the C.F.A., both at top-level and among the firemen themselves. However, when a city straggles so deeply into the country side, the absence of a single authority, to oversee and analyse the fire threat as a whole, suggests suicidal policy of divide and fuel. Emphasis of the tragic loss of a member of a pioneering family who died whilst helping others in his communitybushfire, cfa, country fire authority, fire brigrade, glen park road, heroes, john lawrence coleman, north eltham, victorian bushfires - 1965, volunteers, william john elwers, fire fighter, frank martin, george john crowe, ken gaston, orchard avenue

'Worlingworth', Eltham, home of noted anthropologist the late Professor Donald Thomson and his wife Dorita Thomson. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p127 Dubbed as ‘Australia’s Lawrence of Arabia’ anthropologist Donald Thomson lived much of his life in Eltham, at Banoon Road. On his retirement as Professor of Anthropology in 1968, The University of Melbourne professorial board compared Thomson to Lawrence of Arabia because of his work for Aborigines and his controversial personality. Although Thomson is now recognised for his huge contribution, during his lifetime he suffered opposition and his life has been described as ‘tragic’.1 Thomson failed to gain the recognition as a scientist that he felt he deserved and he failed to alter government policy towards Aboriginal people. But towards the end of his life in 1970, anthropologists were moving towards the type of research he had done and the movement to grant land rights to Aborigines was strengthening. Thomson is best known for his anthropological fieldwork in Cape York, Arnhem Land and Central Australia, but he is also known for his scholarly contributions to ornithology and ecology. Thomson documented every aspect of the daily and ritual life of the Aboriginal world of Cape York and Arnhem Land in the 1930s and 1940s. The huge collection in Museum Victoria includes 11,000 photographs, 7500 items of material culture, 1000 botanical and zoological specimens and 4500 pages of field-notes.2 The film Ten Canoes used Thomson’s photographs as a source. Thomson bought the Eltham property known as Worlingworth in 1934. The single-storey 60-square house standing by the Yarra River was built in 1922-23. It is one of the last in Eltham to survive with its farm setting intact. It is also one of the few substantial residences built in the Eltham Shire from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, which signalled a major change in the area towards the residential municipality it is today.3 The original section, built in the mid 1860s, of rose pink hand-made bricks and stone quarried on the property, was incorporated in the new red-brick house built in 1922. An immense oak tree by the house grew from an acorn brought by Patrick Armstrong who first bought the land in March 14, 1862. Armstrong named Worlingworth after his forbears’ village in Suffolk, England. Worlingworth saw grand days when Commander Alan A Barlee (R.N.) bought it in 1922 after winning the Calcutta Sweep. The property then included a nine-hole golf course, a tennis court, a bowling green, a boathouse and a boat-ramp.4 For most of his career Thomson, who was born in 1901, was attached to The University of Melbourne. In 1935 he represented the Commonwealth Government at Caledon Bay in east Arnhem Land to investigate and mediate for four Aborigines accused of killing five Japanese and three Europeans. In 1938 Thomson was awarded a PhD in Anthropology at Cambridge University, and during his career, he received several medals from British Societies, who perhaps appreciated his work better than their Australian counterparts. From World War Two, Thomson suffered a string of hardships, beginning with severe wounding in Dutch New Guinea (for his military service in New Guinea he was awarded an OBE) and he was invalided from service in 1944. That year he was diagnosed with diabetes. A fire in 1946 destroyed what Thomson regarded as perhaps the best record he had made of Aboriginal life – the 20,000 feet, (6096m) of film he had shot in Arnhem Land. In 1954 he and wife, Gladys, divorced. The next year he married his technical assistant, Dorita McColl. Several times during his career Thomson had major disagreements. For instance Professor P Elkin constantly opposed his work. He also opposed Thomson when he campaigned vigorously in 1947 against the establishment of a rocket range at Woomera, South Australia, because of the threat it posed Aborigines. Thomson resigned in frustration from the Victorian Aborigines Welfare Board in 1967, after serving for ten years, because he found that his advice was disregarded. His ashes were scattered over Caledon Bay from the air.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, banoon road, donald thomson, dorita thomson, eltham, worlingworth

An information brochure regarding Barree Mud Brick Holiday Cottages in Marysville. The cottages were built of 110 year old recycled Jarrah from the Fremantle Wool Stores. They had 90 year old Mountain Ash (native to the area) posts and beams from the South Melbourne Wool Stores. Old red bricks were used to create feature walls within the cottages which were two bedroom and fully self contained. These cottages, along with the majority of the buildings in Marysville, were destroyed in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.An information brochure regarding Barree Mud Brick Holiday Cottages in Marysville.marysville, victoria, australia, information brochure, barree mud brick holiday cottages, accommodation, 2009 black saturday bushfires

An information brochure regarding Barree Cottages in Marysville. The cottages were built of 110 year old recycled Jarrah from the Fremantle Wool Stores. They had 90 year old Mountain Ash (native to the area) posts and beams from the South Melbourne Wool Stores. Old red bricks were used to create feature walls within the cottages which were two bedroom and fully self contained. These cottages, along with the majority of the buildings in Marysville, were destroyed in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.An information brochure regarding Barree Cottages in Marysville.marysville, victoria, australia, information brochure, barree mud brick holiday cottages, accommodation, 2009 black saturday bushfires

A colour photograph of one of the Barree Mud Brick Holiday Cottages in Marysville. The cottages were built of 110 year old recycled Jarrah from the Fremantle Wool Stores. They had 90 year old Mountain Ash (native to the area) posts and beams from the South Melbourne Wool Stores. Old red bricks were used to create feature walls within the cottages which were two bedroom and fully self contained. These cottages, along with the majority of the buildings in Marysville, were destroyed in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.A colour photograph of one of the Barree Mud Brick Holiday Cottages in Marysville.marysville, victoria, australia, barree mud brick holiday cottages, accommodation, 2009 black saturday bushfires, photograph

Acquired from the artist for Council's Cultural Collection in June 2022MVRbushfire in the australian landscape

Ian SPRAGUE (1920 - 18 April 1994) Born Geelong, Victoria Ian Broun Sprague's initial training was in Architecture, completing a degree at the University of Melbourne in 1950. After a serious car accident in England, Sprague was encouraged to take up a craft to restore the strength in his arms. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London for three years, and spent two months at the David Leach Pottery in Devon, before returning to Australia in 1962. In 1964 Ian Sprague established the Craft Centre in Toorak Road, South Yarra, and the Mungeribar Pottery in Upper Beaconsfield, with Robin Welch, Mungeribar being an Aboriginal word meaning 'red clay'. In 1981, he moved to Mooney-Mooney, NSW (Mungeribar was gutted by bushfires shortly after he left), and to Noosa in 1992. The Mungeribar Pottery mark is an impressed 'm', and Sprague's own mark is an impressed 'IS' with the S rendered in Morse code. Ian Sprague's Mungeribar apprentices were Grattan Burley, Victor Greenaway (1969–73), Christopher Sanders (1976-78}, Trevor Hanby (1978–80). In 1981, he moved to Mooney-Mooney, NSW , and Noosa in 1992. Greenaway's mark in his Mungeribar years was an impressed capital G. Grattan Burley (for six months), The Craft Centre in South Yarra was owned and stocked entirely by Ian Sprague, and he travelled all over Australia in search of the best possible textiles, glassware, woodwork and jewellery, not just pottery. The opening exhibition showed the pottery of Robin Welch. Sprague sold the Centre in 1967, but soon started a campaign for a government funded centre, eventually established as the Meat Market Craft Centre in North Melbourne. In 1971 Sprague became president of the recently created Craft Association of Victoria. Dismayed by the quality of teaching in art schools and technical colleges, he ran many workshops around the country on the textural treatment of clay. This work is part of the Jan Feder Memorial Ceramics Collection. Jan Feder was an alumna of the Gippsland Campus who studied ceramics on the campus. She passed away in the mid 1980s. Her student peers raised funds to buy ceramic works in her memory. They bought works from visiting lecturers who became leading ceramic artists around the world, as well as from many of the staff who taught there.Contemporary ArtTexture fire clay slab and partly glazed wall panel. Ian Sprague produced his hand modeleed wall panels by cutting them from fireclay blocks, heating and scraping them, and applying bold simplified motifs. A strong solution of salted wated was poured onto the rugged clay surfaceswhich produced a warm toasted surface effect. The panels show a clear understanding of the modulation of two dimensional relief sculpture. Artists stamp on lower RH cornerceramics, ian sprague, gippsland campus, jan feder memorial ceramics collection, mungeribar, meat markery craft centre, craft centre south yarra

This photographic exhibition was developed by the Federation University-led Community Wellbeing research stream of the Hazelwood Health Study in collaboration with Morwell Neighbourhood House and Gippsland Centre for Art and Design at Federation University Australia. It highlights people's hopes for the future of Morwell has its roots in two unexpected places: the Hazelwood mine fire in 2014 and an academic study into community recovery from that fire. In late summer of 2014 a bushfire spread to the coal mine near the town of Morwell in the LaTrobe Valley, in south-eastern Victoria. The Hazelwood mine fire burned for 45 days, shrouding communities - especially Morwell - in smoke and ash. Strong calls by the community for an investigation into the health impacts of the Hazelwood Mine Fire led to the Department of Health's (Know the Department of Health and Human Services) decision to fund a ten year study of the potential health effects of this smoke event (Known as the Hazelwood Health Study). This exhibition came out of work undertaken by the Community Wellbeing Stream of the Hazelwood Health Study during 2016 and 2017. Based at Federation University Australia's Gippsland Campus, just a few kilometres from where the fire took place, one of our Study's main aims has been to find out from the community how the smoke event impacted on community wellbeing. We also planned to talk to community members about the effectiveness of community rebuilding activities, and find our how these have aided recovery following the smoke event. In 2017 we began working with community organisations on a project to foster community recovery and wellbeing. What emerged from these discussions was the idea for a photographic exhibition, on the theme of 'Our hopes for the future of Morwell'. Invitations to participate were extended to up to 50 members of various community groups. The groups were asked to think of some object that symbolizes their hopes for the future of Morwell. Individuals were then invited to attend a photographic session kindly hosted by the Morwell Neighbourhood House. Each individual was to hold this object while it was photographed, as well as explain what the object represented in terms of Morwell's future. Out of this process twenty nine photographs with their captions were produced, enlarged and framed for exhibiting. The photographs were taken by Clive Hutchison of the Gippsland Centre for Art and Design at Federation University Australia.Twenty nine framed original photographs.morwell, our hopes for the future of morwell, clive hutchison, photography, morwell neighbourhood house, hazelwood health service, gippsland centre for art and design, hazelwood mine fire, haxelwood health study, morwell neighbourhood mine fire, neale stratford, tracie lund, ian brown, susan yell, sue whyte, ainsley ja, ainsley james, michelle duffy, shaun mallia, valerie prokopiv, morwell art and framing

John James Davis (J.J. Davis) was Australia's most decorated NCO in the Vietnam conflict. This plaque commemorates the deeds he performed and medals received.Framed ceremonial medal board for JJ Davis. The piece includes a service photograph of JJ Davis in uniform, a fabric patch with the Australian Coat of Arms, five metal pins and 13 replica medals as listed below. The information plaque states '5411313 WO1 J.J. DAVIS, SB St J, MM, JP - RAAMC - 30 JAN 1963 - 30 JAN 1986. The five metal pins are: 1. Returned Services League Australia 2. Returned Active Service 3. RAAMC 4. Royal Australian Army Medical Corps 5. Knife surrounded by laurel leaves. Replica medals included are: 1. Military Medal 2. Australian Active Service Medal 1945-75, Vietnam 3. Vietnam Medal 4. Defence Force Medal with 1st Clasp 5. National Medal 6. Australian Defence Medal 7. St John 12 Year Long Service Medal with five year clasp 8. Silver Star (Unites States of America) 9. Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star (South Vietnam) 10. The Armed Forces Honour Medal (2nd Class) (South Vietnam) 11. Civil Action Medal (2nd Class) (South Vietnam) 12. Vietnamese Campaign Medal 13. ACT Emergency Service Medal (2003 Bushfires) john jams davis, john james davis, j j davis, vietnam, nco, photographs, portraits, badges, medals

After the 1939 bushfires, the Forests Commission Victoria invested heavily in a radically new communications network. After suffering some inevitable delays due to the war, radio VL3AA switched into full operation in October 1945 proudly beaming out 200 watts across the State. But by today’s standards, the technology was primitive and the reception poor unless the user was on a high point somewhere. The radio signal was "line-of-sight" and bounced between fire towers and relay transmitters across the mountains back to the District offices. The advent of solid-state electronics in the 1960s replaced the more delicate valve sets which enabled greater use of vehicle mounted radios. The Commission continued to research, develop and build new radios at its many workshops around Victoria. The network was supported by a large team of skilled radio technicians. The more secure and versatile State Mobile Radio (SMR) digital trunk system came into operation in about 1995. Upgraded Tait Radios were purchased in 2014 after recommendations of the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission. But it was the convergence of separate technologies such as 5G mobile phones, high-capacity and light-weight lithium batteries, Wi-Fi, the ever-expanding internet, cloud data storage, digital cameras, GPS, personal organisers and hundreds of supporting Apps into powerful smartphones and tablets which revolutionised bushfire communications from the mid-2000s. Manufactured in both UK and Australia, the 400 series telephone was developed for the PMG in 1957 based on the British, prototype, no.700, Bakelite phone. They became obsolescent by the early 1960s but because some magneto exchanges persisted in Australia for another quarter of a century and alternatives were not cost effective, PMG/Telecom regularly repaired or refurbished these obsolete phones until they were superseded by automatic exchanges. Used to communicate to remote fire towers Single wire (with earth return) often run through the bush from FCV district officesMagneto table telephone Christmas Hills South Instructions for use around winderbushfire, radios, forests commission victoria (fcv)

This photograph was taken at Wooragee Hall on the 28th of April, 2004, during an general information event titled "Questions About Quolls." The event was hosted by Andy Murray, then president of the South East Forests Spot-Tailed Quoll Working Group. Information provided included quoll characteristics, habitats, and how to find them. This event was partially prompted by a desire to find out if quolls still lived in Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park, as there had been no confirmed sightings since the 2003 bushfires. Andy Murray helped lead the efforts to find them. Currently, landcare group efforts have found evidence of a small but present spot-tailed quoll population in the park. Reasons for the decrease in population include fox populations in the area and destruction of habitat. The man pictured in the photograph is Owen Gemmill(?) The spotted-tailed quoll, also called the Tiger Quoll, is an endangered Australian animal. It is the largest carnivorous mammal in Australia, and is native to Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania. Slightly larger than a cat, the animals fur is normally brown, with black marking and white spots. Currently, there are approximately 14,000 spotted-tailed quolls in the wild. This photograph is significant as an example of events used by the Wooragee Landcare Group to inform the public on local environmental issues, and for its link to the hunt for the spotted-tailed quoll. Portrait colour photograph printed on gloss paper. Reverse: WAN NA 0ANA0N0 NN2+ 1 1636 quoll, south east forest spotted-tailed quoll working group, spotted-tailed quoll, tiger, mt pilot, andrew murray quolls, andy murray quolls, andrew murray, mount pilot chiltern national park, foxes, endangered quoll, queries about quolls, quoll species, wooragee, wooragee hall, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, owen gemmill

This photograph was taken in April 2004, on the field day in Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park as part of a workshop on quolls, led by Andrew Murray, then president of the South East Forests Spot-Tailed Quoll Working Group. IThis event was prompted by a desire to find out if quolls still lived in Mount Pilot-Chiltern National Park, as there had been no confirmed sightings since the 2003 bushfires. Andy Murray helped lead the efforts to find them. Currently, landcare group efforts have found evidence of a small but present spot-tailed quoll population in the park. Reasons for the decrease in population include fox populations in the area and destruction of habitat. Pictured, L-R: unknown, Andy Murray, unknown, Jerry Alexander, Geoff Galbraith, Mary Prowse The spotted-tailed quoll, also called the Tiger Quoll, is an endangered Australian animal. It is the largest carnivorous mammal in Australia, and is native to Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania. Slightly larger than a cat, the animals fur is normally brown, with black marking and white spots. Currently, there are approximately 14,000 spotted-tailed quolls in the wild.This photograph is significant as an example of events used by the Wooragee Landcare Group to inform the public on local environmental issues, and for its link to the hunt for the spotted-tailed quoll.Landscape colour photgraph printed on gloss paper. Reverse (partial) WAN quoll, south east forest spotted-tailed quoll working group, spotted-tailed quoll, tiger, mt pilot, andrew murray quolls, andy murray quolls, andrew murray, mount pilot chiltern national park, foxes, endangered quoll, queries about quolls, quoll species, wooragee, wooragee landcare, wooragee landcare group, jerry alexander, geoff galbraith, mary prowse, bushfire, chiltern

This photograph was taken in the Mount Pilot Chiltern National Park. This park is located near Chiltern in Victoria. It's most notable landmarks include Mt Pilot and Woolshed Falls. It also has many mines from the Gold Rush in the late 1800s. It is home to much flora and fauna, including the tiger quoll. The tiger quoll, also known as the spotted-tail quoll, is a marsupial that gives in the Mount Pilot Chiltern National Park. It is also main land Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial. It can weigh up too four kilograms and looks similar to either a possum or a spotted cat. It has red and brown fur with distinct spots. The tiger quoll is found along the Great Dividing Range, which includes Victoria, New South Wales and also near the border of Queensland. It lives in forests, rainforests and coastal heathlands and woodlands. In 2004 a team of volunteers from the Wooragee Landcare group as well as some of the Department of Sustainability and Environment staff set out to find the tiger quoll following the 2003 bushfires. Since the bushfires, concern had arisen for it because it hadn't been seen since the bushfires. They attempted to find traces of the quoll through finding and identifying their droppings as well as DNA testing. This photograph was taken during this search. This photograph represents the work that goes into protecting a important species like the tiger quoll. The tiger quoll is a significant species because it is main land Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial. As a result of this, there has been much work done to preserve and protect it. This photograph was taken when the Wooragee Landcare group went to ensure the survival of this species, highlighting how the tiger quoll is being protected. This photograph also demonstrates the impacts of the 2003 bushfires in the Mount Pilot Chiltern National Park. This is seen through the burnt trees featured in the picture. Landscape coloured photograph printed on gloss paperReverse: WAN NA 0ANA0N0 NNN 0 1636 / [PRINTED] (No.7) / 921quoll, mount pilot chiltern national park, national park, 2003 bushfires, search, endangered, beechworth, wooragee landcare group, wooragee landcare, wooragee, possum, australia, victoria, department of sustainability and environment, photograph, 2004, spotted-tailed quoll, great dividing range, spots, fur, forests, rainforests, woodlands, coastal heathlands, spotted quoll, spotted quoll habitat