This is a summary of the articles and events taken from the newsletters sent to the Secretary from SEHA Groups and Societies. November 2014. Compiled by Heather Arnold.

Chelsea & District Historical Society

• The newsletters have an engaging “I remember when” column. Ron Jacobs wrote about Charlie North’s passenger bus that went from Carrum to Chelsea. In 1945, it stalled on the railway crossing and was hit by a train. The bus was considered a write-off by all except Charlie, so not being able to get anyone to fix it, he wrote to Reg Ansett of Ansett Bus and Pioneer Coach service, who had the bus fixed in Ansett’s workshop. Frances Sneddon moved to Chelsea in the 1950s, then moved to Chelsea Heights as it was country. Frances was an operator at the Chelsea telephone exchange and sometimes you had to wait 30 minutes for a line to become free to be connected and on Monday morning when all the businesses were calling their suppliers the wait could be 2 hours! Dorothy Meadows recalled that in 1958 when she became pregnant with her first child there was an article in The Argus that said that Chelsea had the highest birth rate in Victoria.

Cranbourne Shire Historical Society

• Annual Dinner – Award winning country singer and National Road Transport Hall of Fame inductee, Ian Castles, will entertain with his songs and music and stories about his life on the road. When: Thursday, December 4 at 6.30pm. Where: Tooradin and District Sports Club. Cost: $35.00 per head. RSVP by Monday, December 1 to Polly Freeman on       5998 3454 and please include any special dietary requirements.

Dandenong & District Historical Society        http://ddhs.com.au/

• The October 2014 Gipps-Land Gate has an article about Marg Stork who started writing for the Dandenong Journal as a 15 year old. She lived at Lyndhurst and wrote about the social news of Hallam, Hampton Park, Cranbourne and Lyndhurst.  This lead to a paid position in 1940, when she was 17 and Marg continued to write for the Journal until she passed away in June this year. Tom Stein has an article about the Dandenong Swimming Club; Chris Keys has an article, including family trees, about the Keys family who gave their name to Keysborough and Keys Road. There is also an article about the Lonsdale Ski Club at Mt Baw Baw.

Friends of Cheltenham & Regional Cemeteries          www.focrc.org

• Rosemary Reddick took over as President of this Group early this year.
• March 2015 is the 150^th anniversary of the first burial at the Cheltenham Pioneer cemetery and there will be three days of events to celebrate this milestone.
• The Friends would love to hear from you if you have any relatives buried at the Cheltenham cemeteries (Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery and the Cheltenham Memorial Park) and are happy to share your family stories.
• The Friends are also working on a project to identify the graves of World War One soldiers, over 200 have been identified so far, with 12 in unmarked graves. One of the aims is to have a head stone or marker placed on the unmarked graves.

Hastings Western Port Historical Society     http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dromana/hastings.htm

• The Society has a new President, Andrew Tredwell. The September newsletter has a history of the Furphy water cart.
• Noted historian, Valda Cole, is the guest speaker at the morning coffee meeting being held by the Hastings Western Port Historical Society at 10.15am on Thursday, November 6 2014. The subject of Mrs Cole’s talk is ‘My journey with history’ Venue: Hastings Museum, cr Marine Parade and Skinner Street Hastings.

Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Historical Society

• The August newsletter has an article about the Cora Lynn War memorial; the September newsletter has an article about the Koo-Wee-Rup Brass band and a list of the 261 members of the Koo-Wee-Rup Red Cross in 1943/44; the October newsletter has a history of St George’s Anglican Church in Koo-Wee-Rup.

Mordialloc & District Historical Society 

• ‘We Remember: an exhibition of historical photographs and memorabilia relating to World War One’ will officially open on November 11 at 2.00pm at the Laura and Charles Ferguson Museum, Old Bakery Lane, Mentone.

Mornington and District Historical Society     www.morningtondistricthistory.org.au

• The Society has been awarded two Mornington Shire Heritage awards – one for restoring the Fenton Grave at the Mornington Cemetery and the second for Heritage Interpretive signage at the Fenton Grave as well at the Football Disaster Memorial. Follow this link for information about James Fenton (Member of Parliament and acting Prime Minister in the Scullin Government in 1930) and his grave. http://www.morningtoncemetery.com/Denominations/Methodist/Fenton/Fenton-James.shtml
• The October 2014 newsletter also has an interview with Ron and Nan Dunstan. Ron’s dad owned the first general store in Mt Eliza.

Mornington Peninsula Family History Society        http://www.mpfhs.org/

• Peninsula Past Times from August 2014 has an article about the Burnell family of Mornington and one on Pioneer women of the Mornington Peninsula.

Narre Warren & District Family History Group          http://nwfhg.org.au/

• Spreading Branches August 2014 has an account of the Group’s AGM. New President is Wendy Eldridge.

Nepean Historical Society          http://nepeanhistoricalsociety.asn.au/

• The September 2014 Nepean has an article about the ‘First Shot centenary’ event that commemorated the first shot of World War One being fired. The Society also has a Heritage and Planning Group who are currently concerned about the Quarantine Station development and matters relating to the Collins Settlement site.

Phillip Island & District Genealogical Society         www.piadgs.org.au

• Reflections newsletter from November 2014 has an article about early motor cycle racing on Phillip Island.

Phillip Island & District Historical Society    http://home.waterfront.net.au/phillipislandhistory/

• Graham Patterson, the author of ‘Walks around Western Port’ and ‘Port Philip Bay: Coastal guide to nature and history’ is the guest speaker at the Phillip Island & District Historical Society Christmas Function. When: Saturday, December 6  at 6.30pm for 7.00pm.  Where: St Philip’s Parish Hall, Thompson Avenue, Cowes.  $30.00 per head by pre-purchased ticket, RSVP by November 28 2014.  Contact: Judy 5952 6498 or PO Box 816 Cowes 3922.

Rye Historical Society       http://ryehistoricalsociety.weebly.com/

• The Whitecliffs newsletter (October-December 2014) has an article about an early Rye family, the Albress family, written by Linda Berndt. Antonio Albress came from the Cape Verde Islands, a Portuguese Colony, 570 km off the coast of west Africa.  One of the family, Billy Albress played for Richmond in the VFL in 1917, 1918. There is also an article about St Andrew’s Church in Rye.

Somerville Tyabb & District Heritage Society      http://home.vicnet.net.au/~stdhs/

• The Society has received a grant from the Bendigo Bank which will be used to purchase picture frames and hangers for the Leila Shaw Gallery.

Wonthaggi and District Historical Society      http://www.wonthaggihistoricalsociety.org.au/

• In the August and September editions of The Plod Sam Gatto talks about the Wonthaggi Citizens band, which he joined in 1954 as a lad and the various competitions the band participated in. The October Plod has part 2 of the story of Clifford and Jean Osborne who migrated from England in 1948 and moved to Wonthaggi. Part one was in the July issue.
• Annual Dinner – Sonia Weston, Business manager at the South Gippsland Aboriginal Health Service will be the guest speaker at the Wonthaggi and District Historical Society Annual Memorial Dinner. Sonia is a local Boon Wurrung woman who will share some stories of her Dreamtime and give insights into the history of the Wonthaggi area from the perspective of the traditional owners of the area. When: Thursday, November 20 at 6.30pm. Where: Kirrak Room, Wonthaggi Workmens Club, Graham Street, Wonthaggi. $30.00 per head by pre-purchased ticket. RSVP by November 13, 2014 to the Workmens Club on 5672 1083 or email functions@wonthaggiworkmens.com