This is a summary of some of the articles taken from the newsletters and other correspondence sent to the Secretary from SEHA Groups and Societies. Compiled by Heather Arnold.
Bass Valley Historical Society
• At the meeting held on September 7, 2025 the guest speaker Neil Daly gave an interesting presentation on the Mangroves of Western Port. The final meeting for the year is on December 7 and members are invited to give a short talk about a precious or special item they own.
Brighton Cemetorians https://www.brightoncemetorians.org.au/
• The September 2025 issue of The Cemetorian celebrates the 170th anniversary of the establishment of the Brighton General Cemetery. It also has profiles of some of the people buried in the Cemetery including John and Bridget Andrews, who purchased a farm at Hallam in 1854; Jessie Shmith (1891-1956), a popular Australian vocalist; and Charles Wickens(1872-1939), a statistician who worked for the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics and who was appointed the supervisor of Census in 1913.
• A well attended function was held at the Cemetery on October 19 to celebrate the 170th anniversary.
Chelsea and District Historical Society
• The October 2025 newsletter reported on the various projects of the Society, including giving talks to community groups and working towards uploading their collection onto Victorian Collections. There are also the memories of Elsie Longthorpe (nee Waddell) who came to live in Chelsea when she was a teenager. The memories of a long life were recorded in 1986 when she was about 90 years old. Elsie was the first bride to be married at the Congregational Church in Chelsea, which was in 1915. Her husband had already enlisted, he had five days leave to get married and was then sent overseas and she didn’t see him again for over four years. There is also an article about the naming of Chelsea by Graham Whitehead.
City of Greater Dandenong Heritage
• The City of Greater Dandenong presents – The Place To Be: Dandenong Town Hall exhibition on until February 20, 2026 at Benga House, 66 McCrae Street, Dandenong – details, plus those of associated events, are here https://www.greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/exhibitions/place-be-dandenong-town-hall
• For other events and news, subscribe to their newsletter https://www.greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/heritage-hill
Dandenong & District Historical Society
• Congratulations to Chris Keys, who was awarded Life Membership of the Society at their recent Annual General Meeting. Christine has been President since 2011
Friends of Cheltenham & Regional Cemeteries https://www.focrc.org/
• The August edition of Raves from the Graves has an article on Arthur Hall, M.M. (1895-1961), a World War One veteran and an article on Henry and Elizabeth Leah of Mordialloc. Mr Leah featured in the newspapers in 1939 as he had to rescue his dog from a nine foot long octopus at the Mordialloc Beach. Both articles by Heather Arnold. Gail Erwood, the editor of Raves from the Graves, has an interesting article on the graveyard and charnel house at Hallstatt in Austria.
Hastings – Western Port Historical Society https://www.hwphs.org.au/
• The September 2025 newsletter has an article on Heart, the Rubbish Boat, owned by Samuel McLennan. The boat is made of rubbish collected by Samuel and he spends his time raising awareness of mental health issues and the pollution of oceans. This is his website – https://projectinterrupt.com/ Samuel was also the guest speaker at the Morning Coffee held on October 9, 2025. At the recent AGM, John Woolley was elected as the President and Lance Hodgins as Vice President.
Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society
• The September 2025 newsletter has an article on local Agricultural Shows; the October newsletter on the six applications to establish a hotel at Koo Wee Rup, which were heard at the Wonthaggi Licensing Court on December 17, 1914. The successful applicant was Denis McNamara, whose Royal Hotel opened in September 1915. The November newsletter has an article on the Seventh War Loan Tank visit to Koo Wee Rup and surrounds in 1918. All articles written by Heather Arnold.
• As part of Seniors Month in October, two talks on the history of the drainage and settlement of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp were held at the Museum. 28 people attended the talk on Sunday, October 12, and 19 people on Wednesday, October 15. On Friday, October 24 the Nar Nar Goon History Group held a tour around the Koo Wee Rup Swamp and visited the Museum for morning tea.
Lang Lang & District Historical Society https://www.langlang.net/historical.html
• Their AGM was held on October 21, 2025.
Mordialloc & District Historical Society
• The September 2025 Bulletin has many articles and includes news about the proposed amalgamation with the Friends of Mentone Heritage Station Gardens group; there are articles entitled The Mordialloc Pier: a Place of History and Fun and St Matthew’s Ten Miles Walking Race 1904, the latter being written by Graham Whitehead.
Mornington Peninsula Family History Society https://www.mpfhs.org/
• Peninsula Past Times November 2025 contains an article by Cheryl Grey, Show Business in the Family. The article commences – I always knew from my Mum that her cousins (who were born in America) were dancers on Broadway in the 1930s but through research with my family history and contacting a second cousin from Ancestry DNA in America, I have discovered a lot more. An article by Anne Pelemis tells the story of an embroidered sampler, made in 1854 by Margaret Usher, and the discovery that Margaret was her mother’s great grandmother. There is also a comprehensive list of the updates to Ancestry and Find My Past compiled by Pam Norman.
Narre Warren & District Family History Group http://nwfhg.org.au/
• The August 2025 Spreading Branches has an article by Lynne Bradley on the value of the information contained within old newsletters, with many of the family stories therein not available on-line. The Group has scanned many of these older journals and they are available in their rooms at 110 High Street, Berwick. The Groups project – the Casey Cardinia Combined Index – is now 21 years old. The CCCI has 257,691 searchable records and 340 resources have been indexed. It is the best tool to use when researching people and places within the Casey Cardinia area, and is also available in their rooms. Eileen Durdin continues her story on the Wanke family and some of their activities in 1918, as gleaned from a diary kept by Oscar and Minnie Wanke.
• The guest speaker at their November 19 meeting is Paula Taylor talking about the illustrator Ellis Rowan. Details here – https://seha.org.au/event/talk-at-nwdfhg-ellis-rowan-flower-hunter
• The next day, November 20 they are presenting a talk Researching Military Ancestors https://seha.org.au/event/talk-researching-military-ancestors-with-emphasis-on-world-war-2
Phillip Island & District Historical Society https://phillipislandhistory.org.au/
• The November 2025 newsletter reports on Society events such as their Annual General Meeting held in September. Doug Waugh is the President and Pamela Rothfield the Secretary.
Rye Historical Society https://ryehistoricalsociety.au/
• The third White Cliffs newsletter for 2025 reports on their 25th Anniversary celebrations. The From Our Collection article highlights the Rye State School Roll of Honor 1914-1918. The names listed on the board are E. Myers, J. Albress, G. Carlton, J. Connop, O. Cain, W. Darley, P. Edmonds, N. Edmonds, S. George, J. Hayes, W. Hill, R. Myers, J. McMeikan and R. Perrin. There is also an article – Rye Memories 1955 to 1970 by David Trunfull.
Wonthaggi and District Historical Society http://www.wonthaggihistoricalsociety.org.au/
• The September 2025 Plod essay is from Tent Town to Model Town by Linda Cuttriss, a look at the development of the town of Wonthaggi. The October Plod essay is The ‘34 Strike & The Emergence of a ‘Real Community’. The November Plod essay is Snippets from the newspaper archives of W&DHS focussing on the Wonthaggi State School Mothers Club compiled by Nola Thorpe.
• Their Annual Dinner is on Friday, November 28. Details here – https://seha.org.au/event/wonthaggi-district-historical-society-annual-memorial-dinner-2