Historical information

View looking south along the main road from Research to Eltham

Part of a presentation, "Roads and Byways of the Shire of Eltham", by Russell Yeoman to the 12 September 1990 Society meeting. Slides shown inclyuded copies of old photos and recent images ranging from the suburban streets of Eltham and Montmorency to the mountain roads of Kinglake. In the byways category are views of some iof the Shire's bicycle paths including then recently completed sections of the Main Yarra Trail at Lower Plenty.

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.

The Reynolds family were early settlers in Research.

The Reynolds/ Prior collection of photographs were taken by Tom Prior, the maternal uncle of Ivy Reynolds, around 1900 and the 60 photos in the album give a fine overview of many of the landmarks of Research and Eltham over 100 years ago.

lvy lived in the family home for many years at 106 Thompson Cres Research. Ivy's father, Ernst Richard Reynolds and grandfather, Richard Reynolds, lived at the same address. Ivy's father Richard worked for Mr. Trail on his property in Research. Reynolds Road is named after the family.

Mr Tom Prior (wife Eva) worked at the Melbourne zoo. He was very innovative and made his own camera, using the black cloth hood to exclude the light.
The photographs are a reminder of the rural nature of Research and Eltham and its rich heritage.

Physical description

Digital image (Neg missing)