Historical information

Guests at the West Riding Hall, Henry Petrie Community Centre, Montmorency on the occasion of a buffet dinner as part of the Shire of Eltham centenary celebrations. Left: Mr Higgins, Methodist Minister, Eltham and Mrs Higgins and Brian & Irene Robertson, both Captains in the Salvation Army.

Reverend William ‘Bill’ Leslie Higgins (b. 15/1/1925, Renmark, Victoria, d. 18/10/1998) and Mrs Ella May Higgins (née Leersen b. 3/11/1921, Avoca, Victoria, d. 24/5/2003).

William was ordained to the Methodist Church of Australia on September 1, 1959.

Bill and Ella were involved with many communities throughout Bill’s full-time service until 1989. These parishes included Underbool, Wycheproof, Drysdale, Wonthaggi, South Yarra, Eltham, Nathalia, Murchison and Seymour.

Bill and Ella touched many thousands lives during their ministry. Bill passed away in 1998 while assisting with a Sunday evening service near Drysdale, and Ella continued to dedicate her time to others until her death in 2003.

Information received via Brian and Irene Robertson's son, Mark (15 Dec 2023), noted that in 1969 they lived in Prahran and by 1971 they would have been appointed to Briar Hill (now Greensborough).

Brian Robertson's parents and at least one set of his grandparents were also Salvation Army officers (primarily from Victoria), whilst Irene was originally from Perth and she had 2 other sisters that became Salvation Army Officers as well. Irene also had 3rd sister and younger brother who were linked to the Salvos (as was Brian’s brother).

After several years in church work, Brian and Irene transferred over to the Social Services branch of the Salvos and worked with homeless men, broken families, drug & alcohol dependent clients (similar to what Brendan Nottle does in Burke St), family stores and eventually seniors (nursing homes).

Brian, known as Robbie passed away in 2013, and Irene is currently living in a retirement unit. [Dedc 2023]

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 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