One of around 20 local volunteers that died before embarking for overseas. Most succumbed to the effects of disease contracted in camp, predominantly during an outbreak of cerebro-spinal meningitis in July and August of 1915, but Norman John Embelton met with a fatal accident when he fell from his horse in Epping-road, Preston just days […]
Tag: Preston
World War 1 Casualty : James Radford Dredge (Preston)
James Radford Dredge was from Wallace-street, Preston and appears to have been an uncomplicated soul who just got on with his job – until one night when the daily horrors of war may have become too much for him. The forty-year old Dredge was a cousin of other servicemen from the inter-related families that paid […]
World War 1 Casualty : Kennan Earl Christian
Rather than the infantrymen that made up the vast bulk of Darebin’s volunteers, “Ken” Christian was unusual in that he was one of just two locals from Northcote (the other William George Vincent Williams, the first Australian to be killed in World War One) to have served at sea, in his case with the British […]
World War 1 Casualty : William McCarthy Braithwaite (Preston)
Our image : The Braithwaite family, Colonel William Braithwaite, (wearing cap at rear), William junior on right with extended family and motor car, a 30 h.p. Hotchkiss imported from France, circa 1911. Braithwaite senior took a keen interest in new invention of the time. the motor car, competing along with another local, the nurseryman James […]
WW1 Casualty : Maurice Vincent Barry (Northcote)
Strangely by today’s standards, not a lot of the deaths of servicemen were reported in the Family Notices section of either the Melbourne dailies or the Preston Leader. One notable exception was Maurice “Mickey” Barry, whose sorrowful mother was still placing In Memoriam notices in The Leader some ten or twelve years after her son’s […]
WW1 Casualty : Lindsay Thomas Adams (Alphington)
When he volunteered in early March, 1915 from Alphington, the 19-year-old Lindsay Thomas Adams was one of just handful from the district listed as a student, in his case, Teaching at Melbourne University after completing his Matriculation at Scotch College. His military career was also somewhat unique in that he was one who died after […]
Darebin’s Great War
Today’s City of Darebin encompasses Northcote, Preston, Thornbury, Reservoir, Fairfield and Alphington, the latter two districts added to the original City of Northcote since the Great War. Extensive research since around 2003-4 has identified around 850 servicemen (add two women) closely associated with Darebin that gave their lives in service of their country during the […]
Darebin Libraries
Darebin Libraries was created in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Northcote and Preston library services. It has four library branches stretching from Fairfield in the south, to Northcote, Preston and Reservoir and serves an area of 153.4 km. History The Northcote Library was first established in 1891 and housed in a small office in […]
Darebin Community and Kite Festival
The Darebin Community and Kite Festival is an annual event held at Edwardes Lake and All Nations Park on a rotating basis. The first Darebin Festival was held in 1994 to celebrate the creation of the City of Darebin after the amalgamation of the former cities of Northcote and Preston. The following year the Annual […]
After the Deluge Project
Introduction In December 2003 the City of Darebin was hit by the “worst storm in 100 years”. While the whole of metropolitan Melbourne was affected, areas within Darebin were the worst hit with people’s homes, schools and businesses, severely damaged and even devastated by flooding. Residents described the Fairfield shopping strip in particular as […]