Britain’s First Olympic Champion who later came to live in Whittlesea.            By Gwen Hawke and Maureen Doyle Launceston Elliot was born in India on 9th June 1874, but his parents,who married in Carlton in 1873, chose his name because he had been conceived in the City of Launceston. Launceston was the son of Gilbert Wray Elliot and his third...

Horse Trough by Wendy Lowry. How many times have you driven along High Street, Epping near Park Street and not noticed the concrete horse trough  on the side of the road? Well I am sure there would be lots of people who did not know it was there. It turns out it was one of many scattered around Victoria as...

Faye Thomas Collection by Wendy Lowry. At the end of January 2016, several members of the Whittlesea Historical Society were invited to attend the display at the Whittlesea Shire Offices of a cross section of the Fay Thomas Archival Collection. Heritage Coordinator , Colleen Lazenby in conjunction with the Executors of Faye Thomas presented a mixture of photographs, letters, maps...

Euphemeral Objects by Wendy Lowry The word “euphemeral” relates to items that are short lived or transitory in nature. I have come into the possession of an euphemeral object of a Train Timetable for June 1949. This Timetable is for Melbourne to Keon Park , Thomastown and vice a versa. In 1949 there were first and second class fares available...

Dyson’s Moving with the Times by Wendy Lowry. As part of the Whittlesea Cultural Heritage Program in October 2017, Dyson’s Bus Company allowed a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes and learn more about this iconic local, Australian family owned  and operated business. The family business started out  in Melbourne’s north in 1952, beginning in Reservoir and East Preston....

DRYSTONE WALLS By Wendy Lowry abridged from an article by Robert Wuchatsch The City of Whittlesea adopted in 1991 a Heritage study that saw some of the drystone walls protected under the City’s planning scheme. However much greater effort is required to identify and record our heritage walls, especially in an area where increasing residential development is seeing many of...

CHEERS AND BEERS by Wendy Lowry and John Waghorn The origins of Pubs and Hotels are often a forgotten aspect of local History. It seems strange because the hotel is looked upon as a hub venue in any town. People congregate there to gossip, to bet and certainly to relax and tell stories. The City of Whittlesea has many old...

Part of the Whittlesea Cultural and Heritage Program saw a tour of the Donnybrook Cemetery which was conducted  and led by Historian David Weatherill. On the 10th September 1857 a request was made to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Victoria for land to be set aside for a proposed Cemetery at Donnybrook. Following this request and a favourable response from...

The Castle Hill farm was originally owned by John Bear who had bought the land on the 24th November 1842, under a “Deed of Grant Purchase”. Section 20, Parish of Yan Yean, County of Bourke, lot 52 consisted of approximately 932 acres. John Bear died in 1851 and in 1855 John’s son, Thomas Hutchings Bear entered an indenture under which...