Historical information

William Bell was born in Scotland and arrived aboard the 'David Clark' October 1839 and settled at Kangaroo Ground. Died at "Hitchill" Kangaroo Ground (now Seven Oaks)

"Mary Ann Bell - Yarra Flats, a native of Scotland, born in 1834, came to Australia with her parents in 1841. Her husband, the late Mr. William Bell (born in 1831) came to Australia in 1839, and was on the Diamond Creek diggings for a few years. About 1851, Mr Bell went to Yarra Flats and purchased a station of 640 acres, where he carried on grazing and farming until his death in 1877, when he was buried in the Yarra Flats cemetery. .. She has a family of four sons and four daughters..."

from "Victoria and its Metropolis: Past and Present" written in 1888 by Alexander Sutherland.
Chapter 19, "The Upper Yarra District" pages [402] - 415. Includes descriptions of some townships and short biographies of local residents. Page 405

Significance

This photo forms part of a collection of photographs gathered by the Shire of Eltham for their centenary project book,"Pioneers and Painters: 100 years of the Shire of Eltham" by Alan Marshall (1971). The collection of over 500 images is held in partnership between Eltham District Historical Society and Yarra Plenty Regional Library (Eltham Library) and is now formally known as the 'The Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph Collection.'
It is significant in being the first community sourced collection representing the places and people of the Shire's first one hundred years.

Physical description

Digital image