List of baptisms of Little Eltham residents 1850-1860 and Diamond Creek 1850-1862 at St John's Anglican Church Heidelberg. Includes names of about 80 children whose abode was given as Diamond Creek or Little Eltham. Printout of spreadsheet listing number, date of baptism, birth date, christian name, names of parents, abode and profession. Baptisms performed at Saint John's Anglican Church Heidelberg. Arranged in date order. Includes hand written contextual notes by Harry Gilham. Copy provided to Jock Ryan, President of the Nillumbik Historical Society in 2006. Additional notes by Harry Gilham, 2012: Compiled by the late Eric Tetlow, Secretary, Yarra Glen and District Historical Society who, working at St John's Church of England Heidelberg in their archives in 2006, discovered files which he colated into this spreadsheet document of Baptisms relating to Little Eltham and Diiamond Creek. St John's Heidelberg is the original source of information.A significant resource which pulls together names of pioneer families for the area during its early European settlement.4 pagesHG Booklet 41harry gilham collection, st john's anglican church heidelberg, diamond creek, armstrong, bailey, bennett, benson, blackman, bodan, booth, bozwell, briggs, chad, clark, clayton, cochrane, crozier, dennis, ewing, fowler, haley, harper, heley, hill, irish, jones, kaylock, kerr, keylock, macklin, mccoll, mitchell, morris, palmington, scott, silk, spicer, stokely, taylor, thornburn, thorborne, waterton, wills, marshall, little eltham

Born 17 May 1897, daughter of Walter Herbert and Fanny Withers, baptised in the Parish of St John, Heidelberg, Victoria1897, baptism certificate, fanny withers (nee flinn), john withers collection, nancy josephine pitt withers, st john's anglican church heidelberg, walter herbert withers

Born 5 February 1902, son of Walter Herbert and Fanny Withers of Heidelberg, baptised in the Parish of St John, Heidelberg, Victoriabaptism certificate, fanny withers (nee flinn), john withers collection, walter herbert withers, 1902, charles meynell pitt withers, st john's anglican church heidelberg

St Margaret’s Church of England was officially opened on December 12, 1861. It is the oldest intact church building in Eltham. At the time it was known as Christ Church until its consecration in 1871, when it was completely free of debt (£1,700 for the church and parsonage) despite the district’s poverty. This was largely due to the free labour and materials, including locally made bricks donated by local artisans and others. The church is historically significant because it is the oldest church in the former Shire of Eltham and has associations with the philanthropist and founder of Brighton, Henry Dendy (who donated the land on which the church is built), the architect Nathaniel Billing and the prominent local builder, George Stebbing. The church is architecturally and aesthetically significant because it is constructed in the Gothic Revival style with several stained-glass windows of various dates and is also a very early use of polychromatic brickwork in Victoria. Billing was one of the first Melbourne architects to employ polychromatic brickwork and an important early architect. The rear wall was intended to be temporary. A major feature of the design is the large buttresses with long, steeply graded upper faces. The overall design is well proportioned with the surface brick patterns relieving an otherwise austere design. The church is spiritually and socially significant because it has been an important place of worship for the people of Eltham for almost 150 years. The land on which the buildings stand was donated by Henry Dendy. Dendy arrived in Melbourne in 1841 after purchasing in England eight square miles at Brighton under the system of "special surveys". After this land passed out of his hands, Dendy moved about Victoria, visited England, then returned to settle in Eltham where he purchased a flour mill. Dendy chaired the meeting held in 1860 “for the purpose of devising such means as may be expedient for the establishment of a Church of England in the township of Eltham”. He became chairman and treasurer of the church committee. Unlike the establishment of many early churches in Victoria where a vicar was appointed to a parish and later a permanent church was constructed, the population at Eltham initiated action to build a church. The nearest church at that time was at Heidelberg and the Eltham settlement was part of the parish of St Johns Heidelberg. Isolation and the tedious, time consuming journey between Heidelberg and Eltham resulted in the Eltham community taking its own action. The original vicarage (Dendy House) at the rear of the church is also an important part of the cultural significance of this place because it is connected to the church and the development of the Eltham area. Together, the church and the vicarage are aesthetically significant because they form a significant streetscape feature. The mud-brick community hall designed by Robert Marshall was added in 1978. In 2014 the original temporary rear wall was removed as part of a modern extension designed by Architects Atelier Wagner and constructed by Conrad Construction and Management. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. National Trust of Australia (Victoria) State significance Victorian Heritage Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p67 St Margaret’s Anglican Church in Pitt Street, Eltham, which officially opened on December 12, 1861, is the oldest intact church building in Eltham.1 With the nearby courthouse and police station, it was one of the first permanent community buildings in the district. The church and vicarage are on the Register of the Heritage Council of Victoria and the National Trust of Australia – Victoria. The church is important as an early example of polychrome brickwork by the notable architect Nathaniel Billings. It is also notable for its historic associations with the early settlement of the Shire of Eltham and its connection with Henry Dendy, Brighton’s founder.2 Henry Dendy, who lived in Eltham much longer than at Brighton, chaired the original meeting which planned the church, and he donated the half-acre (0.2ha) site. Dendy had arrived in Melbourne in 1841 after buying eight square miles (20.7sq km) at Brighton while in England. After this land passed out of his hands, he eventually settled in Eltham where he bought a flour mill, west from the corner of Main Road and Pitt Street (then called Brewery Lane). The vicarage was named Dendy House after him. The Eltham settlers were unusual in initiating the establishment of a church. Usually in Victoria a vicar was appointed to a parish and then a permanent church was constructed. But then, the nearest church was at Heidelberg, which was a tedious and time-consuming journey. St Margaret’s builder was a local, George Stebbing, who also constructed the former Methodist, later Uniting, Church at John Street and the Shillinglaw Cottage near Eltham’s Central Park. It is believed the first Anglican Bishop of Melbourne, Bishop Perry, dedicated the church. After the ceremony he joined in the festivities at the nearby pub and a bill was sent to the parish for teas taken there by the bishop with other participants. The first vicar was the Reverend Robert Mackie from 1864 to1866. St Margaret’s Church was originally called Christ Church until its consecration in 1871, when it was completely free of debt (£1700 pounds for the church and parsonage) despite the district’s poverty. This was largely due to the free labour and materials, including local bricks, donated by local artisans and others. St Margaret’s Church is in the Gothic Revival tradition with a buttressed nave, paired lancet windows, porch and bell-cote. It was the first polychromatic brick church in Australia, using softly contrasting coloured brickwork.3 Billing was one of the first architects to introduce polychrome brickwork into Melbourne. His original drawings for St Margaret’s survive in a folio of his architectural work. However the church’s brickwork is more subdued than in his drawings. About half the windows – those in clear glass with gold borders – are original. The stained glass windows were made much later, but the one behind the altar is thought to be the oldest in the Diamond Valley. It was to be temporary until the congregation could afford to extend the church. In the early 1960s the original cedar pews were replaced by blonde timber pews and the originals were sold to restaurants and to private individuals. Eminent local sculptor Matcham Skipper created a crucifix for the church. A major addition was made in 1978, when the weatherboard hall was replaced by a mud-brick hall. Made of local material, it was designed by local architect and a former shire president Robert Marshall. The mud-brick hall reflects the style of building in Eltham of the late 1970s and for which Eltham is well-known. Perhaps because its earthy tones blend with the surrounding environment, the hall sits well with the church building. St Margaret’s membership has included economist and ABC chairman, Richard Downing; political commentator, diplomat and academic, William Macmahon Ball; Eltham civic leader, Charles Wingrove; artist, Peter Glass; and Eltham’s first postmaster, Frederick Falkiner.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, eltham, st margaret's anglican church, st margaret's church, st margarets church hall, christ church

The building was designed by Charles Maplestone of Heidelberg, son-in-law to Anthony Beale of St Helena. Maplestone was a prominent architect who came out to Australia with his family in 1852. The foundation stone was laid by Mrs Isabella Maplestone on 11th November 1867. The bricklayers for the church were George Stebbing, H Limmer, H Spicer and a Mr Timm while Thomas Day was the stonemason. Another three years were to pass before sufficient money could be raised for its completion. It was opened by Bishop Perry on 1st November, 1870. The church bell which hung under a tree for 50 years until it was incorporated in the parish hall was brought out from England and presented by Charles Orme. In 1916, the estate of George Martin Pizzey left sufficient money to build the red brick hall, which still stands today (2023) though in January 1969 the hall and bell tower were badly damaged by bushfire. Coincidentally the former home of benefactor, George Pizzey was destroyed in the same fire. Of particular significance are the interior and exterior of the church, the Sunday school and hall with emphasis on pre-World War I fabric (excluding the 1990s additions) and the three coloured glass windows currently suspended in the 1990s entry foyer. In 2011 further alterations were made to the front of the Church. The church is historically significant because it was the oldest public building in the former Diamond Valley Shire, is amongst the oldest buildings in the Shire of Nillumbik and is associated with the early settlement of the Diamond Creek district. The church is historically, socially and spiritually significant because it has been a place of worship for over 150 years and continues to be, an important meeting place in the Shire. The church is aesthetically significant for the three stained glass windows executed by the noted stained glass manufacturers, Ferguson & Urie, as well as the supporting coloured glass windows in the church. The Sunday school & parish hall is architecturally significant because the hall is a well executed and preserved example of the work of noted church architects, North & Williams. It is historically significant because it is connected with local parishioner and Melbourne industrialist, George Pizzey, who bequeathed funds for its construction. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. National Estate Ntionl Trust of Australia (Victoria) Local significance Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p85 St John’s Anglican Church stands like a beacon on the hill on Main Street, Diamond Creek. Today the church has a large congregation, but its early years were marked by a small congregation struggling to find enough money to survive. It was gold in Diamond Creek that resulted in the building of this National Trust registered property.1 This church is far removed from William Wilson’s humble barn (later the Bowling Green) where the first Anglican church services were conducted – probably the first in the district.2 In the mid 19th century services were infrequent as the Rev Francis Hales, travelling on horseback, also conducted services elsewhere, including at Heidelberg, Coburg, Kinglake, Arthurs Creek, St Andrews and Kangaroo Ground. In 1860 Diamond Creek came under the jurisdiction of the Eltham Parish. Until the mid 1860s the Diamond Creek settlement included only about 20 families who were struggling farmers. But this changed when gold was found in 1862. Then the township grew to 200 families, including miners, civil administration workers and shopkeepers. The resulting growth of Church of England adherents prompted them to petition the Government in 1866 for land to build a church. The area chosen, on which the original building still stands, was at the centre of the proposed township. Today church leaders believe that this conspicuous location is one of the reasons for its exceptional growth. Prominent architect Charles Maplestone designed the building as he did the Presbyterian Church at Kangaroo Ground. St John’s, which is still intact, was built in the Gothic Revival style with the traditional rectangular plan of a central nave and sanctuary at the end. It is typical of small churches built in Victoria at that time, with polychromatic hand-made bricks, a porch, diagonal buttresses and a slate roof.3 The church was officially opened by Lord Bishop Perry on November 1, 1870. But during the next 40 years, due to the varying fortunes of gold mining, the church struggled to remain viable. In 1909 it separated from the Eltham Parish to form a parish with Greensborough. Life became more difficult with the privations of World War One. Then disaster struck in 1915 when fire destroyed the Diamond Creek Gold Mine, wiping out the major livelihood of most parishioners. However the church’s morale was lifted in 1916, when it received a bequest to build the red brick hall, from late parishioner and prominent leather manufacturer, George Pizzey. As prosperity grew, in 1924 the congregation separated from Greensborough, but they rejoined in the 1930s Depression. In the 1950s the wider population soared, impacting on St John’s, and it became a separate parish, becoming responsible for six churches at St Andrews, Hazel Glen, Hurstbridge, St Helena and Yarrambat. As parishioner numbers outgrew the building, extensions were added in 1989 and then in 1993, blending in well with the original building. Church members have made a huge contribution to the local community. John Ryan was a Heidelberg Shire Councillor for 25 years from 1931, Mayor in 1939 and headed several local sporting and other organisations. His son Jock became a clergyman and a local historian heading the Nillumbik Historical Society. Another parishioner, Dr Ted Cordner, came to Diamond Creek in 1920. One of his sons Donald, who was a local doctor, won the Brownlow Medal, was President of the Melbourne Cricket Club and President of the Melbourne Grammar School Council. Roy ‘Monty’ Vale was a state Liberal MP and was related to May Vale, a member of the Heidelberg School of Artists.4 In the early 21st century St John’s Anglican Church is one of the fastest growing congregations in Melbourne. References: St Johns Anglican Church complex, Sunday School and Parish Hall 61 Main Street DIAMOND CREEK, NILLUMBIK SHIRE. (2023, June 7). Retrieved from https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/64023 Diamond Creek, VIC. – St John’s Anglican (2023, June 7). Retrieved from https://www.churchhistories.net.au/church-catalog/diamond-creek-vic-st-johns-anglican 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, st john's anglican church, diamond creek

The Nillumbik Cemetery is of historical, architectural, aesthetic and social significance at a Regional level (North-east Melbourne). The memorial arch is of State significance. Nillumbik Cemetery, which was established in 1867, is of historical and social significance for its association with the early history of Diamond Creek and as a record of the pioneering families of the district. Significant graves include those of the famous writer Alan Marshall, author of 'I Can Jump Puddles', footballer Gordon Coventry, and William Ellis, notable early settler and benefactor. The 1897 Tudor/Gothic revival memorial arch, bequeathed by William Ellis, is a rare design in ornamental gateways and is relatively large for the size of the cemetery. It is unique in Victoria as a cemetery gateway arch. The burial ground has associated structures, such as the hexagonal timber sexton's office, post and wire fence and picket hand gate along Main Street, all probably built in the early twentieth century. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. National Trust of Australia (Victoria) - Regional significance Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p83 Entering Nillumbik Cemetery through an ornamental gateway and shaded by the Monterey Cypress hedge helps one leave the busy world outside and contemplate yesterday’s Diamond Creek. The gateway, classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), and inscribed with ‘JANVA VITAE’ (gate of life), was a gift from a distinguished pioneer, William Ellis. Ellis, who was an original trustee of the Nillumbik Cemetery representing the Primitive Methodists and a successful farmer, bequeathed £100 to build the red-brick and carved stone gateway in 1887. In 1867 surveyor Edward Bage had set aside two acres (0.8ha) now 35 Main Street, for this cemetery, in what was then called the village of Nillumbik. Several earlier burials on private lands in the district might have been exhumed and re-interred in the new cemetery. The first burials in the cemetery are thought to be of ‘a Chinaman who hanged himself from a tree behind the Church of England’ and ‘another man who was drowned in a water-hole behind the same church’.1 The 1000 or so graves in the cemetery are grouped into five denominational sections: two Anglican and one each for the Methodist (the largest), Catholic and Presbyterian Churches. It is believed that several unmarked graves are of Aborigines and Chinese miners.2 Perhaps the most famous person buried in the cemetery was author Alan Marshall, who died in 1984 and wrote, among other books, I Can Jump Puddles. Surprisingly his grave is particularly modest consisting of only a grassed plot with a tiny boulder and a simple bronze plaque. It lies about halfway down the main path, at the west and third row back. The first European, interred at the cemetery on July 9, 1869, was Hannah, aged 13 years eight months, daughter of local orchardist John Lawrey and wife Honor.3 Each grave has a story which reflects a rich history. Phillip Cummings, who died in 1884, provided the barn for Diamond Creek’s first school, run by the Primitive Methodist Church. The barn stood at the corner of Phipps Crescent and the main road.4 Former Eltham Shire councillor George Stebbings, who died in 1896, built several prominent buildings in the district, including Shillinglaw Cottage in Eltham.5 The grave of miner James Joseph Whyte, who died in 1908, is a reminder of Diamond Creek’s gold mining history. At age 51, Whyte died from a rock fall in the Diamond Mine, Diamond Creek. Diamond Creek’s first butcher, Patrick Ryan, became President of the Shire of Heidelberg and Chairman of the Eltham Hurstbridge Railway Trust. A former gold miner, he was grandfather of local historian Reverend Jock Ryan. He was buried in an unmarked grave halfway down the central path. His son John Lawrence, who is buried elsewhere, had been a Mayor of the City of Heidelberg. George Martin Pizzey gave a hall, for what was to become The St John’s Anglican Church in Diamond Creek. He was a Crimean War veteran, mason and leather goods manufacturer in Melbourne, who died in 1915. The two world wars took a heavy toll of locals with 54 personnel buried here, two thirds of whom served in World War One. A sporting pioneer was Greensborough District Cricket Club founder, Andrew Webb, who was buried in 1971. Politician Roy Mountford Vale (Monte), who died in 1977, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Greensborough, and a founding councillor and president of the Diamond Valley Shire. Modern-day residents are also remembered in this cemetery. The tragic Ash Wednesday bushfires took their toll on the district: William Marsden of Panton Hill CFA died, aged 39, fighting bushfires at Upper Beaconsfield in 1983.6 Several graves tell of those who held distinguished positions overseas, including William Constable, who died in 1989. Constable was artistic director of a ballet company, art director of more than 30 films for London-based film productions, and was awarded best Film Art Director at the Moscow Film Festival in 1960.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, diamond creek, memorial arch, gateway, nillumbik cemetery, william ellis