Marysville & District Historical Society Inc in Marysville, Victoria | Community organisation

Marysville & District Historical Society Inc

Locality: Marysville, Victoria

Phone: +61 417 551 091

Address: 39 Darwin Street 3779 Marysville, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.marysvilletourism.com/things_to_do/marysville-and-district-historical-society

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• Community organisation
• Landmark & historical place
• Landmark
• Community museum

22.01.2022 With SPRING in the air, it seems appropriate to take a look back into the past at one of Marysville's best-kept gardens. Prior to Black Saturday, high on the hill on the old Melbourne Road, was Joy Gould's beautiful garden and thanks to her niece, Nancy Lesley, we have these photos of it to remember it by.

21.01.2022 The Argus, 3 Apr 1923 (Easter) MARYSVILLE.- Under ideal weather conditions a record crowd visited Marysville at the weekend. All accommodation available was taken, and hundreds of people were turned away. Traffic over the Black Spur set up a record. No accidents have been reported. A large number of picnickers visited the Cumberland Valley, where the camping grounds were overcrowded. There were hundreds of campers along the Stevenson and Taggerty rivers. Sportsmen secured good bags of quail and rabbits and trout fishermen had good sport. A cricket match between visitors and Marysville was won by Marysville with four wickets to spare. Tennis tournaments are in progress on the courts at Gallipoli Park between the various houses.

20.01.2022 Annie and Harry Oxlee took over The Falls Guesthouse in 1914 when they were in their 30s. Originally the Marysville Hotel in Pack Road, next to the Police Station, the 1866 building was made of split blackwood palings and survived until 1954. Annie was a fine cook and from her big, wood-fired oven at 'The Falls' came the best roast dinners, the lightest scones and the sweetest, fruitiest puddings. A typical day at 'The Falls' would begin with breakfast being served in the din...ing room, which was always good, generous and well cooked. After a morning bush walk, guests would then return for lunch and be treated to a fine meal that was appetising and catered to the guests varying tastes. If the weather turned cold guests could then spend the afternoon lazing by the open fire. In the evenings there were sing-songs around the piano or impromptu concerts, which were then followed by a late hot supper to round off the day. 'The Falls' bedrooms were furnished with candles and matches on a dressing table, a fine china jug and basin set and soft fringed Marcella quilts on the beds. Many of the guests returned year after year for their annual holidays. Annie managed her family and the guesthouse with the help of her loyal husband, Harry, until their retirement. Harry died in 1946 and Annie in 1950.

19.01.2022 Arriving in Melbourne in 1852 the Irishman, Maurice Keppel went to the Ballarat diggings and returned three years later to run the Old Governor Bourke Hotel in Spring Street. In December 1864 he bought land (Lots 19 to 23) in Marysville at the first land auction. On the 5th July 1865, he applied for a Publican's License for what was to become the Keppel's Australian Hotel. By 1888 the Keppel's Australian Hotel had 30 rooms, a bar, a parlour, writing and reading rooms, a mount...ain stream bathhouse, and extensive stabling. Maurice died in 1902 and his wife Mary continued to run the hotel until her death in 1918. It then continued to be run by their children, Kate & John, until it was sold. The hotel was then bought by Emma and John Fryday was renovated in 1928 and became a popular spot for both locals and tourists. Emma died in 1944 after a long illness and John Fryday continued his association with the Hotel until the 1950s, although the license by then was held by others. The Hotel officially became the Marysville Hotel in 1952 but sadly was burnt down in 2009 in the Black Saturday bushfires and has now been replaced by The Vibe, accommodation and conference complex. See more

19.01.2022 Within a year of the first Wimbledon Championships in 1877, the citizens of Melbourne enthusiastically embraced the new sport of lawn tennis. After the First World War, Australian tennis received a further boost with the two Wimbledon Singles victories in 1919 and 1922. As a result, Tennis became a game for everybody and courts could be found almost everywhere. Due to the generosity of Joe White, in 1922 the Marysville Progress & Tourist Association secured approximately 8 ac...res of splendid land in a convenient location for the creation of a combined tennis, bowling, cricket, and football ground. A working bee of 30 men cleared one acre of heavily timbered ground on the newly acquired site and this became the site of a tennis court. By the Summer and Easter of 1923 - "Tennis tournaments are in progress on the courts at Gallipoli Park between the various houses" - and a trophy, The Marysville Tourist Association Inter-House Tennis Challenge Cup, is up for the winning (trophy on display at the History Centre). Although the Tennis tournaments continued throughout the decades for some time, today only the tennis courts at Gallipoli Park now remain. See more

18.01.2022 Freshly picked from our Heritage Rose Garden. Why not take a stroll and come visit the beautiful garden and History centre. Open Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 12 - 3pm

17.01.2022 The Marysville Memorial Heritage Rose Garden at the History Centre is looking superb this November and is well worth a visit. The old-fashioned bourbon climbers are covering the previous tennis court fence amidst stunning clematis. There is also a long bank of rugosa roses alongside the climbers underplanted with a mix of perennials. On the other side of the pathway is a collection of old tea roses - the precursors to modern hybrid teas. These are prolific repeat-flowering roses, which are ideally suited to the conditions in Marysville. Here are a few examples. Credit: Shirley Yates

17.01.2022 In 1870, 150 years ago, the families in the new village of Marysville established the Rural School with the aid of a Government grant. The first Local Committee consisted of George Smith, Thomas Barton, and Maurice Keppel. Thomas Barton organised a cottage with a schoolroom to be built, and forms and desks were obtained. Frederick Sparke was appointed teacher on 24th October 1870 and early attendance averaged 20 pupils with 27 on the roll. In 1873 the school became State Scho...ol No.1273 and a wooden school building, on the corner of Pack Road and Kings Road was completed in September 1874. Frederick Sparke was Head Teacher until 1892. Early in the 1900s as gold was well gone and the town fell on hard times, the one teacher was shared with Buxton and at times Narbethong. It was not until Miss Frances Black came in 1922 that the school was back to full-time. Frances was a good teacher and stayed for 9 years. With numbers increasing the original school building could no longer hold all of the students, so when Narbethong School closed in 1932 its building was transferred to Marysville. In 1948 the school was moved to the present Falls Road site and an additional classroom was added to the old Narbethong building which was renovated. The school prospered with 150 students in 1960, the highest number to that date. More buildings were added over the years, extra classrooms, a library, and a craft room. The 21st century arrived and disaster struck with the Black Saturday Fires in 2009. The school was completely destroyed along with all of its records and memorabilia. By April 2010 a contemporary education complex had been built and re-opened on the original site. See more

17.01.2022 Introducing Selina Crocker the first wife of Thomas Barton. Selina was born on 17 March 1844 in Bideford, Devon to Roger and Mary Ann (nee Perry) Crocker. She arrived in Melbourne, aged 5, on 6 June 1849 onboard the ‘British Empire’ with her father and siblings, her mother having died during the voyage. Selina’s father Roger Croker first married Mary Ann Perry in England and they had seven children. He then went on to marry the widow Sarah Ann Wilson in 1851 at the St James ...Cathedral, Melbourne and they had a further 2 daughters and a son, who died as an infant. As a former innkeeper in England, Roger did fairly well with a farm in Alphington, growing grapes and making wine, which he sold in his Hotel. Thomas Barton was a butcher and storekeeper in Marysville when he married Selina Crocker on 28 December 1865 at St John's Church in Heidelberg, and brought her back to Marysville to his home, 'The Chestnuts'. Thomas and Selina went on to have six children - Mary Eliza, Alice Ada, Thomas Henry, William Roger, Ernest Cameron, and Selina Crocker Barton. Sadly Selina died on 18 October 1876, aged 32, at the time of the birth of her sixth child, Selina Crocker Barton. "Mrs. Barton was universally liked by all the residents in Marysville, and many a weary, hard-up traveler along the Wood's Point road has been assisted by this benevolent, kind-hearted woman. We are informed that nearly every resident in Marysville followed her remains to her last resting place and that the genuine grief felt found expression in many tears." The Society never had a photograph of Selina, so it was very exciting to receive a copy from Laurie Sparke when he recently visited the History Centre in February. Laurie is the great-grandson of two of Marysville pioneers - Thomas Barton and Frederick Sparke.

17.01.2022 LET IT SNOW - LOCAL LOVE We're sadly missing the snow season this year but our locals have got us covered! We thought we'd share some of their best sn...ow captures from the comfort of their own backyards around Marysville and Kinglake after some great snowfall yesterday! Wishing we all could have seen it with our own eyes this year. www.discoverdindi.com.au

14.01.2022 Tourists to Marysville in the 1880s & 1890s were able to buy these postcards as souvenirs and these are just a small selection of the Armstrong Collection of 28 postcards. Ian Armstrong OAM, one of the world's most prolific collectors, sent this facsimile set within months of Black Saturday 2009. Ian is a leader in the Antiques world and has an insatiable appetite for collecting from penny farthings, scrimshaw, postcards, tin soldiers through to Edwardian shoe buckles. You name it and he probably collects it. Some years ago he also provided 10,000 items for a display at Museums Victoria.

13.01.2022 Our Heritage Garden is possibly the only original garden to survive the 2009 Fires and with the generous donations and continuing support of the Heritage Rose Society - Peninsula branch it has become a valued attraction in Marysville. However, the ongoing maintenance and upkeep come at a cost and the Society is very pleased that the Upwey Community Bank Branch and Marysville Agency have generously come on board as sponsors of our beautiful Historical Gardens here in Marysville. Their support is with thanks to their customers, so if you are looking for financial services please consider the Marysville Agency and mention the Marysville Historical Society. #supportlocal #banklocal

13.01.2022 Marysville of 1920 was a town changing with the timber mills developing out of town and the gold miners long gone. The Bartons, Oxleys, Sister Bolam, and the current Constable, Arthur de la Rue, revived the Marysville Tourist and Progress Association and were busy promoting the town and clearing the tracks to the many scenic bush places. They wanted a cricket ground in town - it had to be flat. The land they wanted, section G, behind the existing Recreation Reserve was owned... by the stubborn Kirwan brothers and another. Arthur de la Rue was considered a persuasive person, so he was asked to have a chat with them. He got to know William and Gerald Kirwan and they agreed to sell. Now the money had to be found and a new face in town, Joe White was approached and Joe agreed to buy the land and donate it to the Marysville Tourist and Progress Association. Joe had one condition that the land be called Gallipoli Park to remember his late brother Lt Col Alexander Henry White and all the others who lost their lives at Gallipoli. See more

11.01.2022 Thanks to the efforts of our gardeners our History Centre gardens are once again becoming a picture of colour, but if that wasn't enough we also received a light dusting of late-season snow to make it even more picturesque. Even though the History Centre is still closed our gardens are open for everyone to enjoy. Photos by Alan Boyd.

06.01.2022 During the closure, we've been busy repainting the interior, improving our displays, and making sure our gardens are looking their best. So the next time you're in Marysville, come pay us a visit, we look forward to seeing you.

05.01.2022 The garden at our History Centre is hinting that Spring is approaching

04.01.2022 75 years since Victory in the Pacific - 15th August 1945 At the start of World War II Australian service personnel fought with our British comrades in Europe against the Germans. Then Japan entered the war and Australia's efforts had to turn to defend the Pacific region, including in Singapore, Borneo, Malaya, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Britain. Nearly 1 million Australians - one-seventh of Australia's 1945 population - helped with the war effort, with about... 500,000 serving overseas. Some 40,000 Australians didn't return home to their families. Over 17,000 of them lost their lives while fighting in the war against Japan, some 8000 of whom died in Japanese captivity. We commemorate those who served and particularly those who died in the war every ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day and on significant anniversaries such as this year. The Japanese ceasefire took effect on 15 August 1945, following the threat of invasion and Allied bombings. The official surrender ceremony, however, took place on 2 September 1945 on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. While Victory in Europe had been declared in May 1945. Jubilation erupted on the streets of the nation's cities on 15th August, when Prime Minister Ben Chifley announced over the radio at 9.30 am: "Fellow citizens, the war is over ... let us remember those whose lives were given that we may enjoy this glorious moment and may look forward to a peace which they have won for us." Two days' holiday was declared. People had been expecting the announcement Rejoicing broke out spontaneously when the surrender of Japan was announced. The war was over a week after the U.S. bombed Japan. The famous photograph of Betty Williams, Lois Anne Martin, and Carmel O'Connor was taken in Melbourne on 15 August 1945. They were identified in 1995 as workers from the Kodak factory. Lois knitted the red, white, and blue vest ready for VP Day and never wore it again. The vest is now on display in the Australian War Memorial's Second World War Gallery. See more

02.01.2022 In Washington, DC there is a treasured letter sent by Maurice Keppel to his nephew in America. Maurice arrived in Melbourne in 1852 and it was around this time that his elder brother David, went to America. David settled in Washington DC where he had two sons - John Aloysius Keppel and Timothy Aloysius Keppel - and these are the two nephews mentioned in the letter. From the letter we are able to deduce that Maurice was aware that the brothers had a stepmother, their own mothe...r dying when they were small children. Likewise, he does not ask about their father because he knew David had died in 1878. Maurice is also well read as he comments on the trial of President James A Garfield's assassin. The letter is in the possession of Kirsten Keppel, 3rd great granddaughter of David through his son John, and it is most likely that the letter was sent to John Aloysius Keppel who was 29 at the time. Transcription of Maurice Keppel's letter written on Keppel's Australian Hotel paper. Marysville, Melbourne April 15th, 1882 My Dear Nephew, I received your letter of Dec, 10th. I am glad to hear yourself and your family are well also your Brother and the rest of his friends. I hope you will all continue long to remain so. I am also glad to learn there is a fair prospect of getting settled with the government grant. Mother is still keeping in pretty good health but is lately getting weak. Aunt Ellen is in good health and so far there is no reason to complain thank God. [Page 1] I am sorry to say John McCarthy has done no good since he came to this country he has been here with me for a few months at different times but thought the place too rough and left. I got him employment in another part of the Colony but he did not seem to keep it long. He is at present at grandmothers in Melbourne doing nothing. It were better for him to staid in America. Myself and family are in good health thank God. Business about as usual. No change of any consequence in our part of the world. I could never fall across any one. [page 2] Could find no any information about the "Gormers". You did not say anything about your stepmother. I hope she is in good health. I am glad the times are improving in America. I have seen by the papers the assassin of great President has been found guilty and condemned to death. It was a sad affair his murdering such a popular Man. The trial seems at a distance a farce. Jury ought not take 10 minutes to find him guilty. I am sending you a paper. I will be glad to hear from you and your Brother at any time and I trust [page 3] you will get on well and be true to your Religion and Country. With kind love from all to yourself, family and friends. I am yours affectionly "Uncle" M Keppel Address M Keppel Marysville Melbourne Victoria

02.01.2022 What a beautiful day for a walk around the Historical Society’s garden today. Have a lovely weekend, wherever you are, and whatever you are doing. We are so excited to think that very soon we will be welcoming you back to visit inside. ... We will keep you informed

02.01.2022 Whilst we await re-opening on Wednesday 25th, we can still have a walk around the beautiful gardens and enjoy the Heritage Roses. My goodness we are grateful for these beauties

01.01.2022 This series of photos was recently donated by Helen Vine and show her parents trip to Marysville sometime in the 1920-30's. Clearly shown are St Ronan's Well, Mt Kitchener House, the Log Cabin at Mt Kitchener House and Steavenson Falls.

01.01.2022 It's 75 years this month that this flag finished its duty flying every day over Kooringa Guesthouse, in summer heat and winter snows, to honour the local men away fighting in World War II. Victory in the Pacific occurred on 15th August 1945 ending the War. Wilbur and Joyce Anderson first flew the flag, then in 1944, the guesthouse was taken over by Aubrey and Flo Cuzens, and their son Bill remembers taking the flag out to lower it to half-mast on every Anzac Day, Remembrance ...Day, and also on the Anniversary of the deaths of both Laurence Sparke (KIA 1943) and Ralph Gould (KIA 1945), who were residents of Marysville. Bill Cuzens had the flag in safekeeping for many years until he generously donated it to the Marysville RSL after the 2009 fire, they in turn passed it onto the Society for permanent display. Alexandra RSL generously helped in the flag's preservation and mounting. See more