A collection of articles written over the years by various members of the Whittlesea Historical Society.
Thomastown’s 19th Century Irish Families By Rob Wuchatsch The Germans and Wends who settled at Westgarthtown in 1850 were one of four different groups to settle at Thomastown during the 19th Century. The other nationalities represented at Thomastown were the English, Scottish and Irish. Thomastown’s most prominent Irish settlers were the Devine, Larmer, Lewis, Mahoney, McCoy and Perry families. The...
Gwen Hawke – Her Story By Bev Moore Dedications Photo / Articles from her loving Daughter Alicia Hawke, Mrs Beryl Patulo, Mrs. Wendy Lowry, Mr. Bruce Batten & Robert Wuachatsch This story is a dedication to a warm and wonderful individual Mrs. Gwen Hawke, of whom I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time at the Whittlesea Courthouse...
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....
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 them disappear....
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 Pubs and Hotels...
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...