Historical information
William was a coach-builder, wheelwright and blacksmith. He moved from Prahran to Surrey Hills to property owned by the family. The house at 34 Union Road was built in 1905 for William and his wife Emily. Their son Ernest worked with him as a coach painter and also worked as a painter undertaking intricate hand painting on early cars.
Their other son Martin played for the Surrey Hills Football Club. In return for the support given to the club by Mrs Emily Kleinert, the club built a rotunda in South Surrey Park as a memorial to her.
Alan Holt research: Lot 6 was sold to Martin Kleinert by Karl Richter in 1860 together with a portion of another adjacent lot. From 1860-1885 Martin worked it as a market garden leasing some land for grazing when it was not required for gardening. He died in 1898. In a formal document, William declared he was the son of Martin "who purchased land in 1860, died in 1898 and the land has been continually occupied by father and family since. It has been cultivated as a market garden; when not being used for gardening it was let for cultivation and grazing." William died in 1939 and the property passed to his sons Martin and Ernest.
The Kleinert land extended from Union Road to Essex Road. They ran horses, ducks and fowls and Emily Kleinert grew flowers. The Kleinert property later became the South Surrey Park. The family sold the land to the Camberwell Council in the 1950s.
Ernest and Ida Kleinert lived on the corner of Scotsdale and Warrigal Roads.
The donor of the photo Nada Harris, nee Kleinert, was Ernest and Ida's daughter. Ida lived to a good age (> 93 years) and in later life lived in Burwood.
Physical description
Black and white photo of a large group of men, women and children posed for the photograph which is taken outdoors. William Kleinert is identified as seated in the front centre playing his German melodion. Sons Ernest and Martin and William's daughters Ivy and Rose are also in the photo (not identified).
Nada Kleinert (daughter of Ernest and Ida and 1st grand-daughter of William and Emily) is standing next to her great-grandmother Radford.
