The twenty five debutantes made their debut in Sunbury at the Memorial Hall late c1950s or early 1960s. Mrs Aitken trained the girls for the event.

Debutante Balls were a popular annual event in the local Sunbury community and were well attended. They were organised by the Community and/or the Shire of Bulla,

A non-digital black and white photograph of twenty five debutantes with their teacher posing for their official photograph. The names of some of the participants have been listed on the back of the photograph.

debutante balls, debutantes, sunbury, memorial hall, mrs. aitken

The photograph was taken at the Sunbury Presentation Ball in c1940. The participants are Back row L-R - 1. Ron Forbes, ---, ---, ---, ---, Bernie McMahon, ---, ---, ---,---. Front Row L-R: ---, ---, ---, 4. Thelma Dunn, 5. Pat Hayes, ---, 7. Mary Morrison, 8. Judy McDougall, ---, ---. Flower Girl Fay Webb and Page Boy Alan Webb are standing in front of the group.

Debutante Balls were popular annual social events that were usually staged by the local Sunbury community or the Shire of Bulla. They were held in the Memorial Hall and were well attended by people in the district.

A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border showing ten debutantes and their partners along with the flower girl and page boy posing for a photograph.

debutante balls, sunbury, faye webb, alan webb, ron forbes, bernie mcmahon, thelma dunn, pat hayes, mary morrison, judy mcdougall, flower girls, page boys

The Gisborne Football Club organised a ball, which was held in the local Community Chambers on 26th May 1937. Judging from the number of people in the hall, the event was well attended.

Functions like balls organised by local groups such as sporting clubs have been popular and well attended by the people living in country towns across the country.

A non-digital sepia photograph in post card format of a group of people in a large hall, posing for a photograph in front of a stage. Streamers are decorating the venue with gumtree branches on either side of the stage.

A Memento of the Footballers' Ball inborn 26. 5. 37

gisborne football club, football, gisborne, sporting clubs, balls, social gatherings

The people photographed were attending a ball in Sunbury organised by the local Firemen to raise funds for the local fire service. It took place on the 26th August 1936 in the Sunbury Memorial Hall (formerly Mechanics Institute) in Stawell Street.

Local fund raising social functions like balls were well supported on country towns across the country and were a way of raising the necessary money for the organisations to keep functioning.

A non-digital sepia photograph in post card format of a group of people at a social function, posing for a photograph in a large hall. Details of the event, the donor and maker are on the back of the photograph.

A Memento of the Firemen's Ball, Sunbury 26.8.36

sunbury firemen, balls, social functions, stawell street, memorial hall

The people in the photograph were attending a ball organised by the Sunbury School Mothers' Club in September 1936. It was held in the Sunbury Memorial Hall ( formerly the Mechanics Institute) in Stawell Street, Sunbury.

Local fund raising social functions held in country towns were very popular and well-supported by the community. In 1936 Sunbury State school was a small two-roomed rural school which catered for the children in the district.

A non-digital sepia photograph in post card format of a people in a large hall at a community dance. Details of the event, the maker and the donor have been hand written in pencil; on the back.

A Memento of the Mothers' Club Ball Memorial Hall Sunbury 5.9.36

social gatherings, balls, memorial hall, sunbury mothers' club, stawell street

The 11 workmen are standing at the Sunbury railway crossing facing towards the south. It was in Station Street. In the distance the Sunbury Asylum hill is on the LHS. The men are from the Diggers Rest railway gang. Standing in the immediate front is Jim Brain and front left is Malic Cahill, seated is the ganger, Clary Grimmet, 3rd from right is Phil O'Conner, son of Frank and 5th from left is Mick Frouly.

It wasn't until 2023 that the level rail crossing at Sunbury was removed by redirecting Station Street under it as part of the Victorian Government's program to remove level rail crossings in built-up areas.

A black and white non-digital photograph with a cream border of 11 men standing at a closed country rail crossing. The photograph has been pasted onto a piece of brown light cardboard. In formation about the people in the photograph is on a separate sheet of paper.

sunbury rail crossing, station street, railway gangers, railways, jim brain, malic cahill, clary grimmet, frank o'connor, mick frouly

The small wooden bridge is spanning an arm of the Moonee Ponds Creek in its upper reaches in Greenvale near Woodlands Park, possibly along Providence Road.

A non-digital black and white photograph with a white border of a timber bridge spanning a small creek, which is under a roadway. A country home is visible on the opposite side of the road.

bridges, greenvale

In 1952, the local Sunbury Progress Association sponsored the 'Back to Sunbury' celebrations which were held from 13th to 20th September 1952. The festivities celebrated 100 years of settlement (white) and provided a time for many long-time residents to get together. A.F. Cliff was businessman in Gisborne.

A sales docket for £1.10.0 made out by A.F.Cliff, dated 26/9.52 for the sale of 5lbs of . . . . The purchaser was the Back to Sunbury Committee.

Invoice A.F. CLIFF

back to sunbury, celebrations, a.f. cliff

The two storey building is the Royal Hotel which replaced an earlier single storey building that was destroyed by fire in 1935. It stood on a corner at the intersection of Brook and Evans Street. The new hotel was completed and opened in 1939 on the same site and still functions as a hotel today.

The Royal Hotel was has occupied the same site in Sunbury's shopping strip for 163 years.

A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a brick two storey hotel with white trims around the windows and doors. The building occupies a street corner in a shopping centre.

hotels, brook street, evans street, royal hotel

The two storey building under construction is the Royal Hotel. The larger building replaced the former single storey hotel which was built on the same site in 1861. The new building is a red brick structure.

A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a two storey brick building under construction and surrounded by scaffolding.

royal hotel, evans street, brook street, hotels

In this image. the older Royal Hotel building which stood on the corner of Evans and Brook Streets has been demolished and surrounding buildings that were part of the former hotel's complex are left.

A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a demolition site with some surrounding buildings.

royal hotel, evans street, brook street, hotels

The building being demolished in the photograph is the Railway Hotel which was destroyed by fire in 1936. It was decided to demolish the old building and rebuild a more modern hotel on the Brook/Evans Street corner where the old building had stood for 61 years.

A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a single storey building undergoing demolition. Two other buildings are visible on the site.

royal hotel, brook street, evans street, hotels

The single storey Royal Hotel was built on the SE corner of Brook and Evans Street in 1861, two years after a rail service reached Sunbury. It occupied that site until July 1936 after a fire destroyed the building. It was decided to demolish the old hotel and replace it with a modern building. The first stages of the building's demolition have been captured in this image.

The Royal Hotel was one of the first hotels to be built in Evans Street when businesses moved from Macedon Street closer to the station after rail services came to Sunbury in 1859.

A non-digital black and white photograph of a single storey hotel building being demolished. The doors and windows have been removed as well a portion of the iron roofing. Three empty barrels are stacked by the doorway.

royal hotel, brook street, evans street, hotels

The building is in a section of Brook Street on the south side between O'Shanassy and Evans Street. The news office and the retail business were run by the Boardman family in Sunbury.

A non- digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a group of buildings comprising a double fronted weatherboard house, shop and news office with nine people standing in the street.

brook street, arthur boardman, newsagency

The building is the Sunbury News Office after the business moved to larger premises on the SW corner of Brook and O'Shanassy Street. In its new location, the Boardman family ran the news office and a general store in the adjacent shop.See entry P0868 for further information.

The building is the first Sunbury News Office that was owned by Arthur Boardman. In 1892 he began publishing the' Sunbury News' in this printing office which was on railway reserve near the station, which today is the bus terminal at Sunbury Station.

The 'Sunbury News' was distributed throughout the Shire of Bulla and surrounding areas for almost 7 decades.

A faded sepia non-digital photograph backed onto fawn coloured cardboard of a shop building with five people standing outside.

sunbury news, arthur boardman

The two storey building is the Royal Hotel which is sited on the corner of Brook and Evans Streets in Sunbury's main shopping strip.The photograph was taken sometime in 1939 after it was totally rebuilt. A fire had damaged the old single storey structure, which was built on the same site c1860 shortly after Sunbury had a rail service. The building still operates today on the same site.

The Royal Hotel is one of four hotels that were built in Evans Street Sunbury between Brook and Station Streets ion the 1860s shortly after the rail service arrived in the town. They were They were the Railway Hotel (Olive Tree), White Horse Hotel, Royal Hotel and the Rupertswood Hotel, opposite the Royal Hotel.

A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border of a two storey brick hotel building with light concrete trimming around the windows and entrances sited on a corner. A large black sedan car is parked near the corner.

royal hotel, hotels

In 1916 a jumble sale took place in the Sunbury Common School building and afternoon tea was also available. Violet Boardman is the lady seated. The first Sunbury Common School No. 604 was built in 1871 in Macedon Street, between Barkly and O'Shanassy Streets, with 32 students enrolled. By 1910 the building was in a bad state of repair and was replaced with a new Federation style brick building, that opened on 2 May 1912 and was renamed Sunbury State School No. 1002.

An old non-digital black and white photograph of gathering of a gathering people outside a building that is displaying a tea rooms notice.

jumble sales, violet boardman, sunbury common school no. 604

A wheat silo was erected on railway land adjacent to the Sunbury Station in 1967. Frank Millett handled the operations. As bulk handling was the preferred way to transport wheat, the silo gave local cereal growers to deliver their grain to the railhead. Over the years of the operation 200 grain wagons delivered wheat annually to the silo. In 1984 the silo was dismantled and removed.

Cereal growing was one of the agricultural activities carried out in the Sunbury and surrounding areas for many years.

A non-digital coloured photograph of a metal wheat silo being dismantled. A crane is beside the silo and two men are suspended from the crane in a basket to ensure that the sheets of iron land safely on the truck.

wheat storage, silos, frank millett, cereal crops, sunbury railway station

The photograph was taken at one of the early Sunbury Shows. In April 1900 saw the establishment of the Sunbury Horticultural Society but it was in September 1915 that the first Sunbury Show was held at the Corporation Sale Yards in the form of a horse parade and sale. In 1917 the Show was held at the Old Reserve which was adjacent to the railway precinct. Today the Sunbury Show is held in October at the Clarke Oval.

Annual Agricultural Shows are important events in many towns throughout the country and in Sunbury, it still draws crowds.

A non-digital black and white photocopied photograph of a gathering of people at an agricultural show. Some people are on horseback while others are herding some cattle and a group are unloading barrels from a horse and dray.

sunbury show, agricultural shows

The property in the photograph is the winery building at Goonawarra Vineyard, which is situated on the east side of Jacksons Creek and on the north side of Macedon in Sunbury. The winery and homestead were established in 1858 by James Goodall Francis, who received a crown grant of land in Sunbury. From 1865 to the 1920s, the vineyard produced white wine grapes. James Goodall Francis died ion 1884 and the property was brought by M.P.Synott who ran merino sheep on the property. It wasn't until the early 1980s that Goonawarra reverted to be a vineyard after the property had been in the hands of a variety of owners.

Goonawarra was one of Sunbury's earliest wineries to be established in the area.

A coloured polaroid photograph with a white border, of a pathway leading to a double storey building

goonawarra winery, james goodall francis, wineries, jacksons creek

The two homesteads are Ben Eadie and Craiglee, which were two of Sunbury's earliest vineyards that were established in Sunbury. James Stewart Johnson designed and built his concrete home, Craiglee, in 1865 where the previous year he had planted out his vineyard on the surrounding 26 acres of land.The property was on the east side of Jacksons Creek on Macedon Road. He concentrated growing Riesling and Hermitage grapes. After his death in 1896, his son Wilfred continued to produce wines until the late 1920s, when he pulled out the vines and concentrated on raising sheep for wool and meat. The Carmody family purchased the property in 1961 and in 1976 decided to replant the vineyard. Ben Eadie was built some time in 1863 and settled by the Eadie family who also were millers. The winery was built into the side of a hill close to the house but the Eadie family tended to concentrate on milling and retailing.

In the earliest days of European settlement many wineries were established in the Sunbury area.

Two non-digital sepia photographs have been mounted on cardboard. They are photographs of two homesteads with bare hills in the background. They were built in Sunbury in the early days off European settlement

Ben Eadie Vic. Craiglee Sunbury 1903

john eadie, ben eadie winery, james stewart johnson, craiglee, wineries, vineyards

Scottish miller and immigrant, John Eadie established his water-driven flour mill on Jacksons Creek in Sunbury in 1861.To make of a sufficient water supply to operate the mill, he built a weir and a water-race to drive it. Some of these can be seen today. The machinery for the mill was bought from Scotland and transported here. The mill continued to operate until 1914. At that time the 20 ton metal wheel and the iron roofing removed to aid the war effort.

This mill is one of a number that were built along the water courses in the Sunbury-Bulla area to process the wheat grown in the area.

A non-digital black and white photograph in post card format of a an old bluestone mill building sited on the bank of a watercourse in a deep valley with bare hills in the background. The remains of the water wheel are at the rear of the building. A New Year greeting dated 24th Dec. 1907 has been written on the back from H.H in Bulla to his aunt, Miss M.A.Ripon who was staying with Mrs. Tricks in Canterbury at the time.

The Old Mill Sunbury

john eadie, the old mill, milling, jacksons creek

The building in the photograph is a present day view of the former Lochton Mill which was built on a bend of Deep Creek in Bulla on 1856 on property owned by Captain William Morrison Hunter.

Lochton Mill was one of a few mills that were set-up on the banks of Deep Creek in Bulla and Jacksons Creek in Sunbury.

A non-digital coloured photograph of the ruins of a bluestone mill that was built on a bend of a river. It is an elevated view and clearly shows the river's course in the deep valley as well as the surrounding hilly countryside.

lochton mill, bulla, deep creek, captain william morrison hunter, milling

The post card with its greeting was sent by a person called Edwin to his brother.

A non-digital sepia photograph in post card format of the administrative building at the Sunbury Asylum, with a New Year's greeting hand written on the back.

post cards, sunbury asylum

The administrative building along with four other buildings were part of the former Sunbury Asylum complex that operated in Sunbury on Jacksons Hill from 1876 to 1992. The white fence in the front of the photo was the boundary for The Pines golf club where patients, staff and Sunbury residents played before the Goonawarra Golf Club was established.

The Sunbury Asylum was an important institution in the town and many of the townspeople worked there over the 120 years of its operation.

A non-digital sepia photograph in post card format with a white border across the bottom, of the administrative building and other brick Victorian style buildings that were part of the Sunbury Asylum complex. A white post and rail fence is in the foreground.

sunbury asylum, caloola, the pines golf club

Sunbury United Soccer Club was established in 1973 by a group of expatriate Europeans who wanted to play the game they grew up with. Their first games were played on the recreation reserve in Evans Street on the ground designed for AFL football. (Now the site of a shopping complex). In August 1975, Sunbury United moved to its present home on seven and a half acres of sporting ground at Langama Park in Mitchells Lane . Over the years that area has developed and there are now three senior, and two junior soccer pitches with two cricket pitches and practice nets. Although there is still room for improvement to the floodlighting on the main pitch, the night games have proven successful.

The Sunbury United Soccer Club has played an important roll in district competition and is one of the many sporting clubs in Sunbury.

A non-digital black and white photograph of a soccer ground showing a set of goal posts with the clubrooms and change rooms in the background.

soccer, sunbury united soccer club, football, langama park, mitchells lane

The Sunbury Cycling Club was formed in September 1897 although prior to that date cycling was popular in the district. A popular place to cycle in those times was at Diggers Rest. In 1897 the Sunbury Cycle Club organised a race around the township. After that local bike races were organised on a weekly basis. According to the caption, the race in the photograph took place some time in 1895.

A non-digital sepia photograph backed onto board of a line of men on bicycles in a main street preparing to set off for a cycling race.

cycling, cycling races, plumpton avenue, sports clubs

The people in the photograph were enjoying a day out at a Sunbury race meeting some time in the early 1900s. Races at Sunbury began in 1886 with the establishment of the Sunbury Racecourse that was located along Racecourse Road on a section of the Rupertswood Estate on land consisting of six furlongs and two straights. The site included a patron’s stand, saddling paddock, bookmakers’ enclosure, two bars, a committee room, judges box, stables, toilets, six entrance gates and ticket boxes. Special trains from Melbourne brought patrons and horses to the Sunbury race meetings. A report in the Melbourne Argus newspaper in 1922, stated that city taxi drivers came out to Sunbury to drive patrons to the racecourse, which was located about 3 kms from the Sunbury station. Some time however, between 1886 and 1901, there was a period when the racing club had been inactive. A meeting was called in 1901 to restore the club’s activities. With a substantial loan from Mr. Clarke the committee was able to organise the installation of a turnstile, perimeter fencing and irrigation of the course by a windmill that pumped water from a recently constructed dam that was on the estate. The club continued to function until 1942, during World War 2, and did not resume activities after the end of the war. The land was eventually sold for housing development.

The Sunbury Race meetings were popular with the racing fraternity not only in the district but further afield and were deemed sufficiently important to run special trains from Melbourne to Sunbury on Race days.

A non-digital sepia photograph with a strong cardboard backing of a crowd of people dressed smartly for a day out at the races. Most of the spectators are seated in a long marquee. Three men on the RHS are looking at a horse that is lying on the ground.On the back of the card there are scribbled notes and numbers which seem to indicate the photograph has been used for a publication at some time.

sunbury race meetings, sunbury race course, racecourse road

The photograph was taken at a Sunbury Race meeting, when a sudden shower of rain caused the spectators to run for cover. Sunbury Race Course was situated along Racecourse Road about 2kms from the railway station. The land has been sold and it is now a housing estate.

The race meetings in Sunbury were well attended with special trains running from Melbourne on race days.

A noon-digital sepia photograph mounted on cardboard of a crowd of people caught in a sudden shower of rain and running for shelter at a race meeting.

sunbury race meetings, racecourse road, races, stud farms