Historical information
Nillumbik Now and Then takes the reader on a journey from when the Aboriginal people were this area's sole inhabitnats, to the present day. Nillumbik's history - told in this collection of 96 stories, which are nearly all based on sites - mirrors those of the wider Australian community. It includes tales of the Wurundjeri people, a former convict, farmers, a bushranger, gold-mining, soldiers, artists, intellectuals, environmentalists and sportspeople.
Each story is illustrated with a photograph.
As a journalist with the former Diamond Valley News, Marguerite Marshall wrote a series of articles on local places of historic interest, later published as the small book "Eltham Shire - Historic Buildings and Places". Many years later an expanded version was published under the title "Nillumbik Now and Then". This is a much larger version of "Nillumbik Now and Then", including significant rewriting and many additional articles.
The new publication was made possible by financial support from the Victorian Public Records Office, Bendigo Bank and Nillumbik Shire Council. EDHS and other historical societies in Nillumbik assisted with content for many of the stories.
The book was launched at the Eltham Library on Wednesday 19th November 2008. Source: EDHS Newsletter No 183, November 2009
The front cover art depicts The former house of naturalist and artist Neil Douglas at Bend of Islands, photographer Marguerite Marshall.
Significance
This collection of almost 130 photos and stories 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.
Physical description
Paperback; x, 198 p. : ill., ports. ; 30 cm.
Inscriptions & markings
Signed by the author
