Summary Daughters of John Ross with their Aunt Jane McMahon is believed to have been taken around when the youngest was around five years old. That would date the photo as circa 1902. From left to right, it is believed to be Barbara Christina Ross (6), Helen Mary Ross (10), Jane Curtain McMahon (33), Mary […]
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Wikinorthia is managed by the Local and Family History Librarian at Yarra Plenty Regional Library
Joseph Cleeland
Joseph Cleeland, Epping was born in County Down, Ireland, and arrived in Melbourne, in June 1840, with his parents. In 1852 he was on most of the prominent goldfields – Forest Creek, Castlemaine, and for a number of years was a councillor in the Darebin Shire Council. From Victoria and its Metropolis: Past and Present […]
Busy Bee Quilt
In 2019, early 2020, Heidelberg Historical Society held their very successful exhibition on Heidelberg’s Busy Bee Signature Quilt. Constructed in 1895-6 by members of Heidelberg’s Scots Church as a fundraising project, contributors came from far and wide to participate in the project. 213 hand-embroidered squares record almost 140 legible signatures as well as dozens of […]
James Clark
James Clark was born near Whittlesea in 1844, and first started farming there in 1862. After farming for two years, he was engaged in the butchering trade at Glenvale for eight years, when he returned to Whittlesea, and has resided there ever since, carrying on his trade as a butcher. He is married, and has […]
Preserving the story of Black Saturday
The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009 and were among Australia’s all-time worst bushfire disasters. Areas within the City of Whittlesea and Shire of Nillumbik were directly impacted including Kinglake West and Strathewen.Local historian and photographer Matt Dickinson took […]
Michael Brennan
Early pioneer at Hazel Glen, now known as Doreen, Michael Brennan ‘was born in 1830 in the county of Kilkenny, Ireland, and arrived in Australia in 1855, landing in Queensland, whence he drove sheep to Victoria. He reached the Sand Hills towards the end of 1856, and went thence to the Bendigo diggings, afterwards visiting […]
YPRL: A Moving Story
The team at Yarra Plenty Regional Library’s Library Support Services are no strangers to packing crates, de-cluttering and moving on. “Headquarters” first operated from the top of Ivanhoe Library which was given over to the administration side of the library service in 1965 when Heidelberg Regional Library was established. The book chute was in heavy […]
Robert Laidlaw, J.P.
Laidlaw, Robert, J.P., Heidelberg, is a native of Scotland, who came to Melbourne in 1839, and went to Boroondara, on the Kooyong Creek, where, in partnership with Mr. Kerr, he purchased a station from Messrs. J. and W. Wood for £15. The partnership lasted for eighteen months. They bought sheep at £1 16s. per head, […]
William Rank
Rank, William, (1834-1920) Heidelberg, is a Yorkshireman. In 1854 he left England for America, where he landed at Portland, and going thence to Montreal, worked for the Grand Trunk Railway Company and assisted to construct the first locomotive engine for British North America. He also worked at Hamilton, Ontario, for the Great Western Railway Company […]
Kalparrin
In 1974, three mothers of children with disabilities decided that they and their children would benefit from regular meetings with each other, gaining comfort and support and sharing their experiences. Within a short time several other parents had joined this group. After first meeting in each other’s private homes the decision was made to search […]