Historical information

John Box 1841 - 1914, the 4th son of George and Mary Box, was born in Withyham, Sussex England and came to Australia in 1856 with his parents. He lived and worked on his fathers market garden in East Brighton ( now Bentleigh) for several years and then rented a property in Tucker Road in 1862. John married Martha Sheldrake and they had 10children. Rebecca Anne b 1863 was in the first party from Australia to go to the China Inland Mission in 1890 and was known as 'Faith' because of her evangelical zeal. The Mission Post was invaded by the Boxers during the Rebellion 1900-01and she was moved to the safety of Shanghai by Nicholas Viloudakia, a Greek silk merchant whom she later married. Rebecca sent the bolt of hand embroidered silk material to her brother Alonzo for his marriage to Mary Closter. Mary Box nee Closter's Wedding Dress is on display at Box Cottage Museum . Martha Sheldrake died 1895 and John married Eleanor Rushall b1866 and they had 3 children. John was well respected in the community and was a Methodist lay preacher.

Significance

John Box is the brother of William Box who, with his wife Elizabeth Box, lived in Box Cottage . John Box was a pioneer market gardener in East Brighton now Bentleigh. He married Martha Sheldrake and they had 10 children. The eldest daughter Rebecca was a Methodist Missionary in China and Alonzo, their 9th child, served in the Army WW1 at Gallipoli, France and Flanders. Rebecca sent the hand embroidered Chinese silk material for the Wedding Dress worn by Mary Closter at her marriage to Alonzo Box 1918. After Martha died he married Eleanor Rushall and they had 3 children. John was well respected by the community and also a Methodist lay preacher.
Box Cottage Museum, a reconstruction of an early settler hut, is named after the Box family who resided there 1865 -1913 . William Box who, with his wife Elizabeth Avis Box and 13 children, lived and farmed on the block of land in Jasper Road, East Brighton ( now McKinnon / Ormond) that was part of the Henry Dendy Special Survey 1841.

Inscribed in Album
“ The early photos in this album were found by Mr (Laurie) Lewis when he was demolishing the Old Box Cottage. He gave them to Mrs Avis Box Eldridge who in turn gave them to me. They were not identified. I believe they rightly belong in the Cottage. I have attempted to identify them and present them in a way they can be preserved as a historical record of the era.” A B Leigh

Physical description

A black and white professional photograph of John Box c1880

Inscriptions & markings

Photographed by J. Read Brennand / 83 Chapel St. Prahran