The Olney Family of Whittlesea – WW1 by Gayle Thwaites I am not sure if my great grandfather Allan Murdoch “Murdie” Olney had been allowed to enlist in World War One (WW1), whether or not I would be here today to tell this story. I take it as a blessing that he was not allowed […]
Category: Whittlesea
The Shire of Whittlesea: the Outbreak of War
According to the Municipal Directory of 1918, the Shire of Whittlesea comprised Arthur’s Creek, Bruce’s Creek, Bundoora, Doreen, Eden Park, Epping (population 625), Mernda, South Yan Yean (700), Merriang, Morang (South, 725), Nutfield, Scrubby Creek, Tanck’s Corner, Thomastown (283), Whittlesea (800), Woollert, Woodstock (275) and Yan Yean. All of the place names today remain with […]
Memories of Lalor Library
I started in the “pink” era, the furniture was pink, shelves, desks and even some walls. We only had about 8 public pc’s, and of course, this was the pre –internet era. There was a community language collection, but as Lalor always had a large migrant population, we had the largest and most diverse collection […]
Whittlesea War Memorial
BROWN, Donald – Pte 6971 14 Bn.AIF ` Died: 26 September 1917 – Belgium BUTLER, Henry – Pte 2941 8 Reinforcements, 22 Bn. AIF Died: 14 July 1915 CHETTLE, Thomas – Pte 1581 14 Bn. AIF Died: 7 August 1915 – Dardenelles COOK, Phillip Edward – Cpl 4470 46 Bn. […]
First World War and education
An Education Department 1920 publication commemorating teachers and staff that had served in the First World War had appendices showing how much each school had raised for the Department’s War Relief Fund. This was Metropolitan District Area 4; the complete list is given as an indication of the schools and their approximate size during the […]
Chinese Market Garden in Whittlesea
Arthur Yong discovered the Chinese Market Garden in September 1998 whilst planning his first book on Chinese history in the City of Whittlesea. In the course of his research, he stumbled upon a picture of the market garden, dated around 1910. It depicted a waterwheel used to irrigate the garden. This led him to contact local residents, to investigate […]
Chinese from the North
Since June 2010, a number of individual residents, volunteers and workers of Chinese descent and persons who work closely with the Chinese community and assist with many issues with this community in the Northern Metropolitan Region of Victoria, have been working to establish a Chinese From The North (Association). A Steering Committee held a meeting […]
Duplicating the Reservoir railway (1912)
Many that have browsed WikiNorthia will be aware that the railway line through Northcote and Preston and then on to Whittlesea opened in 1889, then linking for just south of the Merri Creek to the west and via North Fitzroy and North Carlton to eventually terminate at Spencer Street. Initally just sixteen trains a day […]
Wallace (Champion Thoroughbred Sire)
Wallace, one of the Australia’s greatest thoroughbred sires of the first twenty years of the twentieth century commenced his stud career at Bundoora Park in 1896. By the champion Australian racehorse and sire Carbine from Melodious (by the imported Goldsborough), Wallace was a good but not exceptional two-year old, being placed in several leading juvenile […]
Lalor Fire Station
Originally built as the Mentone Fire station on the corner of Brindisi Street and Mentone Parade, Mentone in 1906, the building was relocated to 24 Vasey Ave, Lalor in 1957 to become the Lalor Fire Station. The Station was opened 30 January 1958 and was closed in 1997 and now served by the Epping Fire […]