Provenance

Various Parties

Purpose/Function

Reference, Research, Information

Arrangement

KHS Order

Content

Reference file containing information about Alva and Frances Allen, including notes taken at a talk to the Society by Mr. Alva Allen (undated) and books published by his wife, Frances Allen (nee Johnston): the autobiographical Eyes in the Back of My Head (1979), and Verses Versatile (1985). Frances Allen was a graduate of Melbourne Kindergarten Teachers College and became the first kindergartner to work in a children’s home (White Hills, Bendigo). She also established the first country kindergarten at Euroa. The undated talk records Alva Allen’s first hand memories of Billy Hughes and Robert Menzies. There is also an unusual reference to Gough Whitlam “living down Stevenson Street way”. Both Alva and Frances were members of the Kew Historical Society.