Friday, September 24, 2010

History Week 2010

History Week 2010

Discover the wonders of Victoria's past.

24 - 31 October is History Week

To celebrate, why not spend the week travelling back in time, discovering Victoria's wide and wonderful past.

From fascinating walking tours and engaging discussions, to exhibitions and ‘history in the making' events -there is something in store for everyone to enjoy.

This History Week you can...

  • celebrate the 175th anniversary of Melbourne's foundation by discovering some of the key people and events that shaped our city;
  • indulge in Melbourne's passion for shopping, from the Paris end of Collins Street to the local corner store, at the 'til you drop Exhibition;
  • go trick or treating on a guided Halloween tour of the Melbourne General Cemetery;
  • reflect on Victoria's worst industrial accident - the collapse of the partially completed West Gate Bridge - through eyewitness testimony, photographs and moving footage taken at the time;
  • discover the oldest area of continuous Chinese settlement in the western world, meeting Dai Loong (the Big Dragon) and sipping on Chinese tea;
  • enjoy a Sunday afternoon in the countryside taking part in a festival of celebration for the 150th Anniversary of the Malmsbury Viaduct, and then popping into Kilmore on the way home for a tour of the Kilmore General Cemetery;
  • take a free guided walk within Victoria's first public hospital, hearing the stories about the dedicated people who have contributed to 162 years of caring for the community;
  • get a glimpse into working-class life in late 19th century Melbourne as you delve through an archaeological time capsule at the Melbourne Museum;
  • explore Victoria's largest and most visited war memorial and learn the fascinating story of the mystery of the missing Diggers of Fromelles;
  • take a cemetery tour with a difference, recalling some of Melbourne's macabre crimes on the "Mostly Murders" tour;
  • meet Wendy Lee, St Kilda's Neon Ice Skating Girl (Little Audrey's lesser-known cousin!);
  • visit historic Walhalla, taking part in guided town walks, ghost tours, a market and an 'open house' inspection of heritage buildings at the Walhalla Heritage Day;
  • ride on a model steam train at Scienceworks and check out historical vehicles in action;
  • spend a spine tingling night at one of Melbourne's oldest cultural institutions - the State Library - discussing the things that scare us;
  • hear how things have changed over 50 years of medical practice in Victoria;
  • research your family history with the experts at the Immigration Museum;
  • learn all about the Velvet Rebel, Jessie Webb, who was one of the founders of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria;
  • find out all about farming in the Plenty Valley and why it became known as Melbourne's Food Bowl;
  • and much, much more!

Monday, March 1, 2010

John F Kelly - the Mons of Deepdene




I recently read Robert Pascoe's The Feasts and seasons of John F. Kelly (Allen & Unwin, 2006) as part of my effort to read more books in 2010. John F. (or the Mons as he was later known) was born in Mansfield in 1910 and thus lived through an amazing period of the Catholic Church in Australia. He was an intellectual and book-lover who often at Lent tried to give up going to bookshops (he seems mostly to have failed in this ambition); his name was also synonymous for many years with the Catechism, the Catholic Education Office, with Pre-Cana conferences and with Y.C.W. (Young Christian Workers). His lifetime covered the Second Vatican Council, the Movement, the Labour Party split, and archbishoprics of Mannix, Simmonds, Knox and Little.

Whilst ordained in 1928 and having worked as a curate in parishes, his main work was outside parishes until 1968 when he "retired" to become parish priest of Deepdene in the City of Boroondara, where ironically he had as his parishioner, B.A. Santamaria. The Mons was at Deepdene until he really retired to a house he purchased in Inglesby Road, Camberwell in 1986. I had heard of John F Kelly all my life as my introduction to history was through the textbooks he wrote for Victorian Catholic primary schools and a large proportion of his library now adorns the Armadale presbytery where my friend Brendan Hayes presides.

I enjoyed reading this book, though at times I was a bit irritated by inaccuracies such as where Pascoe goes on about the Palace Hotel in Camberwell and the affects of Camberwell declaring itself a dry zone. No, Mr Pascoe, the Palace Hotel was only affected by the dry zone by getting an increase in business as the Palace in on the Hawthorn side of Bourke Road!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Out and about

Family History Week 1 August - 9 August, 2009
Family History Week is an initiative of AFFHO
(Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations).
See event details for Victoria on this website:

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

History of Ward Names

Bellevue

Takes its name from a street in the 1922 Camberwell City Heights subdivision. The estate was a strip of land from Doncaster Road to the Koonung Koonung Creek, between Hill and Bulleen Roads.

Most of the street names were derived from references to the views in all directions, many in French. The name was used for a new primary school in 1957 and a nearby shopping centre.

Maranoa

Takes it name from the native plants garden established by John Middleton Watson on land he bought in the early 1890's. The area was previously known as One Tree Hill or Canterbury Park, Balwyn.

He continued to buy land in the area most of which later became Beckett Park. He began to create gardens on one side with Australian and New Zealand indigenous species.

He named the gardens Maranoa after a river in Queensland, from native words meaning flowing, alive or running.

Maling

Takes its name from the road beside the Canterbury Railway Station, which ran through a large property owned by the Logan family.

The area originally had four different names due to various subdivisions. Councillor Mercy suggested that long term Councillor and three times Mayor John Butler Maling be honoured in 1899, with a last section renamed also in 1908.

The Maling Road part of the Canterbury Shopping Centre slowly became more important than Canterbury Road. By the First World War, the two-storeyed row of shops, a theatre and hall and then the de-licensing of the large Canterbury Hotel increased the area's importance. The area is now recognised and protected by Council as an important tourist precinct.

Lynden

The Hartwell village was subdivided in the early 1850's, and with its school and post office, was briefly more important than Camberwell Village.

Lynden takes its name from the road and park through long time farming land generally known as Highfield. The first subdivision occurred after the First World War, through a property belonging to the Boyd family, and named after trees.

The Linden is a lime tree, but the original subdivision plan shows the street spelt with a 'y', which could have been a minor change due to other Linden streets not far away. It is also possible that the name was changed due to anti-German sentiment following the War to avoid associations with the German avenue in Berlin.

Solway

Possibly named after a Scottish Firth, and the name given to Camberwell's post office in the southern part of the former Waverly Golf Links estate.

In the 1890's a long timber railway bridge extended the railway over Gardiner's Creek, similar in appearance to a bridge across the original Firth. The Education Department acquired some of the land in 1929, and opened Darling East Primary School in 1950.

According to the wishes of the PMG's Department, the school was renamed Solway in 1956. The railway terminated at Ashburton for many years, but was eventually extended to the new Alamein station for the new government housing developments. The housing was built after the Second World War on an area popularly known as Ashburton Forest.

Gardiner

Takes its name from John Gardiner, the first white settler in the Boroondara parish. At the end of the 1830's John Gardiner lived close to the top outlet of the creek named for him, stretches of which had other names until the 1850's.

At first his cattle were free to roam over a wider area on the south side of the creek which was the first district to use the name as the Gardiner Road district. This area was later named Malvern.

Studley

This name is associated with John Hodgson, the Kew pioneer responsible for the establishment of the Studley Punt in the 1840s. The punt took traffic across the river into land which was part of his squatting run known as Studley.

Some of the land was set aside for public purposes by the mid 1950s, becoming a popular recreational area. Part of the area was used for quarrying and volunteer army exercises took place there in the 1860s. The road to the punt where a bridge was later erected was known as the Studley Park Road.

Cotham

Was a settlement from the early 1850s, near Wellington Street east of Denmark Street where the two roads from the river crossings met.

The roads then diverged and travelled to settlers along the river or along the Main Gippsland Road due east. It was soon overshadowed by the larger Village of Kew, also established in the 1850s just north along the road to Bulleen, later called High Street.

It had a strip row of thriving shops, businesses and hotels by the 1860s, when Kew's streets were named. Some of the main roads had different names to those already given by other municipalities.

The Main Gippsland Road was generally known as the White Horse Road after the hotel in the Box Hill district, but on the Kew side of Burke Road it retained its name as the Cotham-road, the road to Cotham.

Junction

The Camberwell Junction developed around the hotel licensed in 1857 by George Eastaway, established near where the main roads met.

The area was formerly known as Red Gum Flat. Town Commons were set aside below, and a school, churches and Camberwell Town Hall built. This name was also used for residents across the boundary road in Hawthorn.

The Junction shopping centre spread to and beyond the new railway station in the 1880's. The name recalls the original village established around the Camberwell Cross, or crossroads.

Glenferrie

Peter Ferrie's property on the Glenferrie Road/Toorak Road hill in the 1840's gave its name to the road which led to it.

The new Hawthorn municipality officially adopted the name in the early 1860's. The official name was also eventually adopted by Kew, where the road was known as Barkly, to honour the Victorian governor.

The new railway station on Glenferrie Road in the 1880s took the name permanently to that area. The station was first known as the Glenferrie Road station and like other stations, dropped the 'road' reference.

The name was then used for nearby businesses and a hotel.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Click goes the Library – Family History

This session is aimed at the novice genealogist. It will cover getting started, popular sites, handy hints and tips, and more.

Explore how to use the internet and other resources to assist in your family history research.

Presented in conjunction with the Town Hall Gallery Public Program series, participants are invited to view the exhibition The Family Mould following the event.

This session is free, however bookings are essential.

When: Wednesday 15 July 11am-12noon
Where: Town Hall Gallery, Rear Entry, Lower Level, Hawthorn Town Hall, 358 Burwood Road, Hawthorn
How to book: 9278 4666 or online

Friday, June 26, 2009

Local History & Heritage

The City of Boroondara has a proud and rich heritage.

This area was originally part of the hunting grounds of a Wurundjeri clan of the Woiwurrung people. In 1837, John Gardiner and his family were the first Europeans to settle here.

Surveying the area that same year, Robert Hoddle declared it the 'Parish of Boroondara'. As the area was densely wooded, he took the word from the Woiwurrung language, translating it as ' where the ground is thickly shaded'.

The first Local Government body was the Boroondara District Road Board, formed in 1854 and incorporated the areas which were to become Hawthorn, Kew and Camberwell.

Hawthorn and Kew were created as separate municipalities in 1860 and the remaining area of the Road Board became Boroondara Shire in 1871. This later became the City of Camberwell.

With the amalgamation of the Cities of Camberwell, Kew and Hawthorn in June 1994 the City of Boroondara was created.

The logo of the new municipality represents this amalgamation, as well as the geography and history of the area. The Yarra River, Gardiner's Creek and the area's leafy environment are symbolised.

The formal shape of the logo suggests the structured settlement of Boroondara, and the circle represents the community that is embraced and shaded by the other elements. The colours express early Aboriginal influences.

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