Category: Society News

This is a summary of some of the articles taken from the newsletters sent to the Secretary from SEHA Groups and Societies, March 2021. Compiled by Heather Arnold.

Balnarring & District Historical Society
• The February 2021 Snippets has an article on Torcroft, formerly Westlea, by Tim Patkin. The property is situated in Clarke Street, Balnarring and was originally part of the Coolart run and later a part of smaller subdivisions. The original house was built in the 1910s. From the 1930s it was on around 60 acres and was operated as a sheep farm by Henry George Parker. The land was sub-divided again in the 1960s and 1970s and the original house replaced in the mid-1970s. The newsletter also has an article by Sarah Hale on Clare Major’s Ballet School, which was established in Balnarring in February 1973 and closed in 1988.

Brighton Cemetorians http://www.brightoncemetorians.org.au/
• The Cemetorian has many interesting articles on the people buried at the Brighton Cemetery. The March 2021 issue includes Frank Wisewould (1858-1926), father of Trentham doctor, Dr Gweneth Wisewould, who wrote that interesting book about her experiences in Outpost: a Doctor on the Divide; George Jane Ruse (1876-1963) First War veteran; Thomas Samuel Harrison (1862-1933) who established the Commonwealth note printing branch in 1912 and Mary Fisher (nee Hickling 1871-1934) State President of the Western Australia Country Women’s Association.

Chelsea and District Historical Society
• The Society have been working with a consultant to get their collection onto Victorian Collections.

Friends of Cheltenham & Regional Cemeteries http://www.focrc.org/
• Raves from the Graves December 2020 includes more memories of Fairlie Taylor and life in Cheltenham and Beaumaris from early times. There is an article on Dr Vera Scantlebury Brown (1889-1946) by Sue Beazley. Dr Scantlebury studied Medicine at Melbourne University, served in a Military Hospital in London during the War and on her return to Melbourne was appointed the Medical Officer of the Baby Health Centres Association. She was a pioneer in the area of infant welfare training and pre and ante natal care. Another article by Sue Beazley looks at the lives of John and Mary Booker, who came out to Victoria to work on Henry Dendy’s property at Brighton in 1842.
• The March 2021 Raves from the Graves has an article by Rosemary Reddick on Harriet Rowell (1852-1902, also called Harriet Elphinstone-Dick). Harriet was a champion swimmer and with her partner, Alice Moon, conducted swimming lessons, a Ladies Gymnasium and a restaurant, the Central Luncheon Tearooms, in Elizabeth Street.

Friends of Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands https://www.edithvale-seaford-wetlands.org/
• Glimpses: a history of FESWI. The Friends Group was formed in 1988 to protect and rehabilitate the Edithvale, Chelsea Heights, Carrum, and Seaford wetlands. They form an important part of our eco-system and are home to over 100 species of birds.

Hastings Western Port Historical Society http://www.hwphs.org.au/
• The December newsletter has a reminder to all of us that it is Western Port and not Westernport. It was named by George Bass in January 1789. The March newsletter has a history of the Hastings Boy Scouts, written by Lance Hodgins. The troop was established in February 1924.

Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society
• The Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society newsletter from December 2020 has an article looking at fierce storms in the area including a cyclone which hit Bayles in 1928 and lifted the roof of the butter factory and carried it half a mile away. The February 2021 newsletter looks at what happened in Koo Wee Rup in 1921 and the March newsletter has part one of a visit to the Koo Wee Rup region in 1886, an interesting look at the Swamp before drainage works started in 1889.
• The Museum has re-opened on the first and third Sundays from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.

Lang Lang & District Historical Society http://www.langlang.net/historical.html
• The January 2021 newsletter has an article on Thomas Cole (1810-1889) a founding member of the Horticultural Society of Victoria in 1861; family members took up land south of Lang Lang and operated pear orchards. There is also a short look at the history of local branch rail lines.

Mornington & District Historical Society https://morningtondistricthistory.org.au/
• The February/March newsletter has a short biography of David Shepherd, who was born in Somerville in 1926 and who is a local orchardist.

Mornington Peninsula Family History Society https://www.mpfhs.org/
• The Peninsula Past Times newsletter of February 2021 has an article by Leonie Marshall on Dr James Bathe (1815-1885) who owned land in the Pakenham area (Garem Gam and Toomah runs) and in 1856 formed the Victorian Jockey club. There is also an account of a tragic boating accident in Western Port, written by Marj Knight. Twelve-year-old Thomas Bell and his father Richard Bell were drowned when their boat overturned in June 1894. They lived on French Island.

Narre Warren & District Family History Group http://nwfhg.org.au/
• The February 2021 Spreading Branches has some highlights from their Casey Cardinia Remembers website http://www.caseycardiniaremembers.org.au/ and articles written by members of their family history discoveries. Their Research Room at the Cranbourne library has now re-opened. Bookings are essential, see their website for details.

Phillip Island & District Genealogical Society http://piadgs.org.au/
• The November 2020 Reflections includes the article 7 Family History Activities for when you can’t focus by Amy Johnson Crow. They are – lable photos; scan photos; share with family; interview family members; journal your experience; index records for Family Search and lastly, use the WANDER method – What do you want to find; Analyze what already have; Note what is missing; Discover new records; Evaluate everything and Repeat as Necessary.
• The February 2021 Reflections has a report on their Australia Day BBQ, a good chance for everyone to catch up after a year of lock-down.

Rye Historical Society http://ryehistoricalsociety.weebly.com/
• The Whitecliffs newsletter January-March has a comprehensive history of Pier Store or Stringer’s Store at Rye, which was established in the 1890s. The article was written by Ann and Noel Erbs.

Somerville Tyabb & District Historical Society http://home.vicnet.net.au/~stdhs/
• The December 2020 newsletter has a newspaper report of the June 1922 marriage of Norman Houfe and Edith Woodhouse at All Saints Church, Tyabb. There is also a lovely photo of the bridal party. Another article looks at the pioneers of Boes Road, Tyabb. As well there are some reprints of historic newspaper reports of local activities and obituaries.

Wonthaggi and District Historical Society http://www.wonthaggihistoricalsociety.org.au/
• The December 2020 Bulletin lists the January program of short talks on the history of Wonthaggi. Each talk went for 15 minutes and was held in the local park. The essay in the February 2021 Plod looks at two interesting items in their collection – a wheelchair and steel frame. They were donated by Mary Mabin whose twin uncles were polio victims. The boys, John and William McFarlane, spent two years in hospital. The boys had to sleep upright in the steel frame as it was hoped this would strengthen their legs, however John never recovered the use of his legs and spent his life in a wheelchair. It is a great article by C. L. Landon and a reminder of the impact of those childhood illnesses before vaccinations. The March Plod essay is by Sam Gatto and he talks about his first day in Australia – he arrived in January 1951 with his mother, brother and two sisters. His father had arrived 18 months previously. After spending the day in Melbourne, they took the train to their new home in Wonthaggi. Great story.
• The Society’s annual report lists some achievements including revamping the museum and updating the Inmagic catalogue and due to Covid 19 moving all communication on-line. They recorded 2,348 hours of volunteer time over the year. The 15-minute history sessions were very successful with a satisfactory attendance.
• The Society is hosting the launch of Tony Hughes’ book Two Rivers Run: the story of Gippsland’s first pioneer-settler, Samuel Anderson on May 1st, 2021.

This is a summary of some of the articles taken from the newsletters sent to the Secretary from SEHA Groups and Societies, November 2020. With Covid 19, our groups have had to close their Museums and Research rooms, and some have also stopped producing newsletters, but there are still some coming through. We are all doing the best we can under unusual circumstances. Let’s all hope we can get back to ‘normal’ in 2021 and re-open to the public and share our history in person again. Compiled by Heather Arnold.

Bass Valley
• The History of the Bass Valley area is recorded in the Western Port Times, a monthly on-line newsletter. You can access it through the Granville history website http://www.grantvillehistory.com.au/

Brighton Cemetorians   http://www.brightoncemetorians.org.au/
• The Cemetorian has many interesting articles on the people buried at the Brighton Cemetery. The September issue includes Sir Henry Cecil Colville (1891-1984), honorary paediatric surgeon at the Alfred Hospital, 1924-1951; Joseph Wolfenden (1850-1922) resident surgeon at the Dunolly hospital for 40 years and George Peter Desailly (1823-1876) Riverina pastoralist. The December issue includes John Plisch (1864-1933) Prahran baker; John Joseph Coffey (1871-1957), coachbuilder; Jan Learey (1820-1900) early East Brighton resident and Charles Brewer (1856-1925) Anglican Minister. All articles are written by Lois Comeadow.

City of Moorabbin Historical Society http://home.vicnet.net.au/~cmhsbcm/
• The Society turned 60 this year. Celebrations were limited due to the Covid 19 restrictions, but they had an interesting write-up in the Glen Eira News of October 2020. More information https://seha.org.au/moorabbin-historical-society-turns-60

Dandenong & District Historical Society http://ddhs.com.au/
• Their Annual report from 2019/2020 includes the following facts – their volunteers worked the equivalent of 253 days with 2,025 hours contributed by volunteers for the year. It would have been more, but the Research Room was closed from March 11, 2020 due to Covid 19 restrictions.

Friends of Cheltenham & Regional Cemeteries http://www.focrc.org/
• Raves from the Graves October 2020 includes more memories of Fairlie Taylor and life in Cheltenham and Beaumaris from early times. Sue Beazley has written an article on Charles William Morrison (1899-1943) a POW who died at the Hainan Island Prison Camp. He has a memorial plaque at the Cemetery. Sue has also written an article on Hector St Clair (1898-1932) English comedian, who died of consumption and is buried at the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery. Another comedian buried at Cheltenham is ‘Lucky’ Grills. His ashes were placed in his parent’s grave at the Cheltenham Memorial Cemetery.

Hastings Western Port Historical Society http://www.hwphs.org.au/
• The September 2020 newsletter has an article, by Linda Tredwell, on Dr Robert Dane, descended from a Tyabb family, who invented an unmanned surface vessel (USV) or sea-going drone. The drone is solar, wind and wave powered, and it can travel vast distances. His company, Ocius, was granted $5.5 million by the Australian Defence Department to test and develop a fleet of 6 USVs. This article is a reminder to us all that history is now, not just 100 years ago.

Heritage Hill, Dandenong
• Words of Wisdom Exhibition Curator’s Talk – this presentation explores the narratives of life as told and recorded through the printed word and features material from the City of Greater Dandenong Civic and Cultural Heritage Collection, Dandenong and District and Springvale and District historical society collections as well as private collections. You can view it on YouTube here https://youtu.be/ZlhVzhDCLnE

Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society
• The September 2020 newsletter has part three of Henry Boxshall’s history of Yallock. It was written in 1957 and published in the Koo Wee Rup Sun in July 1968. The October newsletter takes a light-hearted look at the use of potatoes in health and beauty. The Koo Wee Rup Swamp used to be a major potato growing area. The November newsletter looks at Cora Lynn in 1907, the year the State School opened. It was written by Heather Arnold.

Mornington Peninsula Family History Society https://www.mpfhs.org/
• The Peninsula Past Times newsletter of November 2020 includes pages of useful genealogical resources as well as an article by Mary Vanderfeen on Robert Smith, a convict sent to Van Diemen’s Land who later became a publican at Geelong.

Narre Warren & District Family History Group http://nwfhg.org.au/
• The November 2020 Spreading Branches has an article by Lynne Bradley on the fall of Rabaul and the sinking of the Montevideo Maru, our greatest maritime disaster when over 1,000 lives were lost in 1942. Marianne Rocke has written an article on some of the interesting facts she gleaned from the Berwick State School registers.

Phillip Island & District Genealogical Society   http://piadgs.org.au/
• In the August 2020 Reflections newsletter Duncan McPherson writes about the 1919 Spanish Influenza epidemic which took four members of his wife’s extended family – Ada Spink and three of her children, 16-year-old Ada, 14-year-old Joshua and 13-year-old Herbert. The family lived at Salford, near Manchester.

Rye Historical Society    http://ryehistoricalsociety.weebly.com/
• The Whitecliffs newsletter October – December has a history of the Rye jetty, first constructed in 1866, written by Noel Erbs. Noel has also written a history of the tea-rooms on the Rye foreshore.

Wonthaggi and District Historical Society http://www.wonthaggihistoricalsociety.org.au/
• The essay in the October 2020 Plod is titled Thoughts on the Origins of the Street Names in the Old Part of North Wonthaggi and is written by Sam Gatto. Sam writes that the ‘suburbs’ of North Wonthaggi, Edgartown, Dudley and Hicksborough were not part of the State Model Town project of 1909/1910. They were private subdivisions, outside the boundaries of the proposed State Model Town’. Interesting read. The essay in the November Plod is an account of life on the Powlett River coal field from The Argus, 31 December 1909