Historical information

The Victoria District of Rechabites (District No. 82) was established in the 28th January 1861 with the transfer of Star of Australia Felix Tent No. 4 of the Tasmania District (which was established in Melbourne on the 25th January 1847) and Mount Alexander Tent No. 9 of the Tasmania District (began in Castlemaine on the 26th January 1860).In its heyday the Victoria Rechabites’ membership numbers grew and grew to the extent that there were at one stage in excess of 36,000 members associated with the Victorian Rechabites in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s covering approximately 250 operating Tents.
Reference: Victoria Rechabites

Significance

This work forms part of the collection assembled by the historian Dorothy Rogers, that was donated to the Kew Historical Society by her son John Rogers in 2015. The manuscripts, photographs, maps, and documents were sourced by her from both family and local collections or produced as references for her print publications. Many were directly used by Rogers in writing ‘Lovely Old Homes of Kew’ (1961) and 'A History of Kew' (1973), or the numerous articles on local history that she produced for suburban newspapers. Most of the photographs in the collection include detailed annotations in her hand. The Rogers Collection provides a comprehensive insight into the working habits of a historian in the 1960s and 1970s. Together it forms the largest privately-donated collection within the archives of the Kew Historical Society.

Physical description

Illuminated certificate testifying that Brother William Richardson was enrolled as a member the Independent Order of Rechabites on the fourth day of September 1882. [William Richardson was the father of the historian, Dorothy Rogers]. The Star of Kew Tent No. 260 had been formed in 1882 as a branch of the Independent Order of Rechabites. W. H. Richardson was a founding member.