My first home was in Glenroy. I was taken home from the Royal Women’s Hospital in Carlton to a brand new, sparsly furnished home in Glenroy. Most of the houses in the surrounding streets were white or pale lemon, double-fronted weatherboard with red tiled roofs. Our house was different. It was rectangular, blonde brick with […]
William Sweetingham – The Epping shoemaker
Tucked away on the northern fringe of the Aurora development at Epping is Sweetingham Lane. I found it on Google Maps from my desk here in England whilst researching my family history. I was sure the lane was named after my ancestor but could I prove it? William Sweetingham was born in Southampton in 1811 […]
Growing up in Glenroy
I grew up in Glenroy. The suburb and the community seemed to be growing with me. The pocket of new housing where we lived was filled with lots of children similar in age. In hindsight, we had lots of freedom to wander about. As long as we were home for lunch or tea, or before […]
History of Mernda Bakery Cafe, Mernda
This unique and small bakery with its Scotch oven was built in the early 1890’s by Charles and Stephenson Turner, two brothers who moved from Preston to Mernda Vic. to bake and supply bread to the Little Plenty River Flour Mills and the surrounding district for approximately sixty years. Their brother- in- law and others […]
Diamond Creek : truck accident kills sheep : Ryan Brothers Butchers
Hurstbridge Advertiser, 18th March 1932. SHEEP KILLED BY MOTOR TRUCK. CLAIM FOR DAMAGES SUCCEEDS. Claiming £11/4/4 for certain sheep alleged to have been killed by a motor truck on the Diamond Creek road near Greensborough Park on September 9 last, Ryan Bros, butchers, of Diamond Creek, brought an action against Henry Hardy, of Bentleigh, contractor, […]
Living in Whipstick Gully in the 1970’s
Whipstick Gully is smack bang in the middle of Warrandyte but in 1970’s once you headed down the Gully it was so quiet, dank and remote,you felt you were in a forest far from anywhere. Warrandyte in 1975 was a smaller village than it is today, and Whipstick Gully had a total of 2 houses […]
Rosanna Library Lovers
Next year my family have lived in Banyule for 50 years. I am now 80 years and have been an avid reader since childhood, my family share this passion. The library has been an important focus from school projects, special interests, reference, discussions and leisure. I love books, the jacket, capturing your interest, the design, type face, margins, […]
Burying my baby at Heidelberg Cemetery 1951
I was thinking about Philip the other day and trying to remember where exactly we buried him. Mary rang the council and the next day a lady from Heidelberg Town Hall sent her a photo of his grave and the exact location of his plot. Marvelous thing, emails. ‘There is no headstone’ The lady from […]
History of Montmorency
Montmorency takes its name from a town in France. Settlement of the area dates from the mid 1800s. The population was minimal in the area until the early 1900s. The population rose in the 1920s, when the township was established, following the opening of the railway line. Originally the area was used for orchards, poultry […]
Reminiscences of Hurstbridge in the 1970’s
Hurstbridge in the 1970’s was a small town which felt a little bit ‘separate’ and different from the creeping urban sprawl for a number of reasons. People were attracted to the area in the move to ‘the land’ as the ‘back to earthers’ moved into farm houses and rental cottages in the area. These properties […]