Author: Heather A.

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 December 7, 2025 participants were invited to give a short talk about a favourite Christmas gift they had received in the past.

Brighton Cemetorians https://www.brightoncemetorians.org.au/
The December 2025 issue of The Cemetorian has profiles of some of the people buried in the Cemetery including Margaret Ellen ‘Nell’ Crook (nee Scott, 1898-1963). Nell taught swimming to a very large number of people of all ages and occupations, from small children to the nuns from Star of the Sea Covent; Sisters – Sarah Simonson (1864-1923), Isabella Grant (1867-1928) and Hannah Monash (1869-1931, the wife of General Monash) were daughters of a convict. An article by Paul Richards looks at the lives of some of the jockeys and horse trainers buried in the Cemetery. There are also photographs of the 170th anniversary function held at the Cemetery on October 19, 2025.

Chelsea and District Historical Society
The December 2025 newsletter has three family stories from their Archives – the memories of Les C. Williams, O.A.M., J.P., whose family moved to Lochiel Avenue, Edithvale in the 1950s; Aileen Johnston (nee Serpell) and her family who came to live in the Chelsea district in 1933 and Alexander Ogden Johnston, a blacksmith, who came to Chelsea in 1913.

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.
For other events and news, subscribe to their newsletter https://www.greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/heritage-hill

Dandenong & District Historical Society
The November 2025 issue of the Gipps-Land Gate has a history of Laurel Lodge by Christine Keys, based on the research of Colin Skidmore; Christine has also written an article on the early years of the Dandenong Show. There is also a history of Dandenong West State School, No. 4217, which opened in 1925.
Events for 2026 – meeting April 19, 2026 – Seventy years of St Gerard’s Catholic Church, Dandenong North by Andrew Vaccaro. Annual Luncheon July 18, 2026

Dromana & District Historical Society
The December newsletter has an article on the event to mark the centenary of the Red Hill Hall; the Society has started the process of moving their collection to Victorian Collections from DB Textworks and Filemaker PRO.

Friends of Cheltenham & Regional Cemeteries https://www.focrc.org/
The December edition of Raves from the Graves has profiles of people buried in the Cemetery. There is an article by Heather Arnold on William McClure, of Tootal Road, Springvale, who died in 1917, after being accidently shot while at work at the London Bank in Koo Wee Rup. Rosemary Reddick has written an article on 25-year-old, Constable George Howell who was shot at point-blank range in 1952, whilst trying to apprehend a thief. His funeral was attended by 6,000 people. Rosemary has also written an article on the St Albans old General Cemetery in NSW.

Hastings – Western Port Historical Society https://www.hwphs.org.au/
The December 2025 newsletter has a report on the Morning Coffee held on October 9, 2025, where Samuel McLennan, the owner of Heart, the Rubbish Boat, was guest speaker. This is his website – https://projectinterrupt.com/ In September, John Woolley gave a talk at the Hastings Library on the History of Esso and BHP in Western Port.

Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society
The December 2025 newsletter has an Acrostic History of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp, a look at some themes from the local history, where the first letter of each theme spells a seasonal greeting (MERRY CHRISTMAS). The February 2026 newsletter article is What happened in Koo Wee Rup 100 years ago in 1926. Both articles by Heather Arnold.

Mordialloc & District Historical Society
The December 2025 Bulletin notes that the editor, Graham Whitehead, has stepped down from the role due to medical reasons. The newsletter is full of news from the Society including a report of two history walks led by Peter Ratcliff which were organised in conjunction with Mordialloc Rotary and Heart Health. Wayne Imlach has written an article on the 1976 plans to concrete Mordialloc Creek.

Mornington and District Historical Society https://morningtondistricthistory.org.au/
The November newsletter looks at the life of Frederick Luplau (1859-1936) of Kent Street, Mornington, in an article written by Val Wilson.

Mornington Peninsula Family History Society https://www.mpfhs.org/
The guest speaker at the February 7, 2026 meeting is Christine Leonard – Convict Lives: Mothers’ trials and triumphs. Christine will talk about researching her ancestor, Ann Simmons, who arrived in Tasmania as a convict in 1825.

Narre Warren & District Family History Group http://nwfhg.org.au/
The November 2025 Spreading Branches has a report on the Lang Lang Cemetery walk held in October; an article by Lynne Bradley is on Cemeteries in Victoria and the communities which they serve. Marianne Rocke has researched the history of the Beaconsfield Tip, which operated from 1938 until 1979, and how the land was used before it became the tip. Penny Harris Jennings is the guest speaker at the February 18 2026 on the history and meanings of surnames.

Phillip Island & District Historical Society https://phillipislandhistory.org.au/
The December 2025 newsletter has an article by Pamela Rothfield – Christmas in Rhyll, a Hundred Years Ago. There is also a report of the Christmas function where guest speaker, Gary Vines from Biosis, spoke on the Phillip Island Chicory Kilns project. You can read more about this project here – https://www.biosis.com.au/biosis-completes-conservation-assessments-for-victorian-chicory-kilns/

Wonthaggi and District Historical Society http://www.wonthaggihistoricalsociety.org.au/
Fifteen Minutes of History program was held from January 3 to January 11, 2026. The topics covered by the different speakers were – Wonthaggi Cordial Factories; Childhood memories of living in a shop in McBride Avenue; Wonthaggi Ski Club; Wonthaggi State Coal Mine: An overview of mines and mining operations; The Amazon Shipwreck; Seed collecting, Wonthaggi Wetlands: A legacy of our mining history; Wonthaggi’s First Fitness Club; Bunurong Coast: Our underwater world and Wonthaggi’s Internationally Famous Axeman.
The February Plod essay, by Nola Thorpe and Fay Quilford, looks at the rich collection of material held in the Society’s archive including 4157 copies of the Sentinel Times dating from 1911 to now and 3,219 copies of the Powlett Express covering the years 1910-1979 and 1991-1992. Also, there are over 120 copies of other papers, e.g., Wonthaggi Sun, The Current, Wonthaggi – Inverloch Independent, The Criterion; all of which only lasted a little while.

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 19th meeting is Paula Taylor talking about the illustrator Ellis Rowan. The next day, November 20 they are presenting a talk Researching Military Ancestors

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.