Midland and Districts Historical Society Inc. | Community organisation

Midland and Districts Historical Society Inc.

Phone: +61 438 884 719

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• Non-profit organisation
• Community organisation

21.01.2022 The name Eddie Barron around Midland will be forever itched in history with his passion and dedication to the sport of cycling. WA Historical Cycle Club share Eddie’s story.

21.01.2022 FORMER WEXCOMBE RESIDENTS FACEBOOK GROUP Our Society has created a Facebook Group for past residents of Wexcombe from migrants through to WAGR employees to communicate, share memories and reconnect before a planned reunion in April 2021. If you resided in Wexcombe or your family members did, we invite you to join the group.

18.01.2022 Our Chairperson, Matt Pavlinovich visited the Historic Gingin Railway Station over the weekend and caught up with Mike Miller. Gingin played its part as a passenger stop and hub for transporting livestock and produce on the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia line from Midland to Walkaway. The 1891 station building was recently restored by the Lions Club of Gingin/Chittering and now serves as a museum, café and visitor information centre.... Next time you are up that way, call in and say hello. Midland's link to Gingin along with every other town along the Midland Railway Company of WA line is important.

18.01.2022 Our Society Committee . Thank you for working together to acknowledge and preserve our local history. Left to Right: Mark Richards, Jude Carr, Susan Butler, Matthew Pavlinovich, Judy Pavlinovich, Natalie Marshall-Brown, Dr Bruce Baskerville, Don Butler & Richi Barbarich. Absent: Lindon Timms

17.01.2022 125TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS Midland and Districts Historical Society together with the City of Swan and WA Historical Cycle Club celebrated Midland’s 125th Anniversary with a two day event on Saturday and Sunday at the old Midland Courthouse in Midland. Our Society showcased Midland’s past with an exhibition of photographs and artifacts while history buffs took up the opportunity of guided tours of the WAGR Workshops and Historical Heart of Midland learning their respectiv...e histories. Sunday officially marked 125 years since the Municipality and townsite of Helena Vale was proclaimed. We celebrated with a morning tea and presentation about the birth of Midland. John Dowson, son of the last General Manager of the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia, John Seymour Dowson and former Midland Railway Company of Western Australia employee, Neil Foster unveiled our Society’s newest additions, A model MRWA F Class 40 Locomotive and a name plate belonging to John Seymour Dowson. We are extremely grateful to John and Judith Dowson, children of the late John Seymour Dowson who donated the items to our Society which were part of their late father’s own collection. Neil Foster was a young apprentice with the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia in 1958 when he assisted with transporting the very locomotive back to Midland from Fremantle Harbour. The model train and name plate will now go on loan to the City of Swan in Midland to display until our Society is able to secure a permanent premises. A birthday party isn’t birthday party without a cake, Mayor of the City of Swan, Kevin Bailey, long time Midland resident, Kevin Mountain and Society Chairperson, Matt Pavlinovich cut the 125th birthday cake to honour the anniversary and the strong crowd sang happy birthday to Midland. It was a fantastic weekend, we would like to thank everyone who visited the event on Saturday and Sunday and attended the guided tours. We are so pleased with the turnout, the number of people it drew back to the historical heart of Midland and grateful that we were able to celebrate and acknowledge this important milestone for Midland. Our Society would like to thank all our volunteers over the weekend, City of Swan, City of Swan Libraries, John and Judith Dowson, WA Historical Cycle Club, Perth Airport, South Perth Historical Society, Wayne Phipps Smash Repairs, Garbin Estate Wines, Rustic Gallery, The Bellevue Darling Range Hotel, Infocus, Susan from Banksia St., Ray Cooper, Amy from Wildflower Home Kitchen, Daily Living Products, Echo Newspaper, News Talk 6PR 882, Terry Siva from Triple M Avon Valley, Centrepoint Pizza Midland, Tony’s Barber Shop, The Robot Bun Factory and RITZ CAFFE.

16.01.2022 HELP WANTED Another photograph by Charles Wilson. It appears to be a soccer team from the Swan Valley. Neven Smoje would appreciate any help with identifying the young gentlemen as well as the name and grade of the team and the year it was taken.

16.01.2022 THANK YOU FOR THE CAKE! Our Society would like to thank Amy from Wildflower Home Kitchen and Daily Living Products for the fantastic cake created to celebrate Midland's 125th Anniversary.

14.01.2022 When you are travelling around our great state be sure to visit one of the many museums in any of the suburbs, towns or cities. Dedicated groups and volunteers just like our Society doing a marvellous job at acknowledging and preserving local history. Our very own long term vision to have our own museum and interpretive centre right in the historical heart of Midland.... A place where the history of Midland and all the 6056 suburbs is celebrated, a place where you can research local history and a place the Midland and Districts Historical Society can call home.

14.01.2022 ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH TREVOR AND GEOFF WOOD Trevor and Geoff Wood sat down with our Secretary, Don Butler on October 3 to talk about their recollections of growing up in Midland and working at the Midland Abattoir. Thank you Trevor and Geoff for sharing your memories with us.

13.01.2022 NAIDOC Week 2020 - Always Was, Always Will Be. recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years. This country was criss-crossed by generations of brilliant Nations. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were Australia’s first explorers, first navigators, first engineers, first farmers, first botanists, first scientists, first diplomats, first astronomers and first artists.... For more information, visit www.naidoc.org.au

13.01.2022 Many of you would likely remember Fred Tedge who was a long time employee at Flash Cycles in Midland. WA Historical Cycle Club share Fred’s story.

13.01.2022 MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY OF WA AND JOHN SEYMOUR DOWSON CONTRIBUTION TO MIDLAND RECOGNISED Midland and Districts Historical Society is very pleased to announce two acquisitions to our growing collection, a Midland Railway Company of Western Australia F Class 40 Diesel Locomotive model train and a name plate belonging to the last General Manager of the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia, John Seymour Dowson. Both items come from the collection of the late John Seymour ...Dowson and were donated to our Society by his children, John and Judith. John Seymour Dowson was the General Manager of the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia from 1948 until 1964. During his tenure, John was instrumental in purchasing the first diesel locomotive fleet for the company, the F Class and played an important part during the negotiations with the Western Australian Government Railways for Midland Railway Company of Western Australia worker rights before the takeover of the company in August 1964. A total of seven F Class locomotives were built by English Electric in Rocklea, Queensland with the first F40 arriving in May 1958. Our own Society member, Neil Foster was a young apprentice with the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia and was lucky enough to be at Fremantle Harbour on the day the locomotive arrived and assisted with its inaugural trip from Fremantle to its home in Midland Junction. The name plate bearing John Seymour Dowson’s name hung on the wall of the company’s headquarters on St George’s Terrace in Perth. Both items will now go on loan to the City of Swan where they will displayed in a purpose built cabinet in Midland for the public to see until our Society is able to secure a permanent home in the future. Midland and Districts Historical Society would like to thank John and Judith Dowson for their contribution to the Society, the City of Swan for providing the Society with an opportunity to display the items and Ray Cooper for his restoration work on the locomotive.

12.01.2022 BANDY BIG MAN OF THE 11TH WITH VINCE CUSWORTH The Midland and Districts Historical Society Inc. wishes to invite you to their event on Sunday March 14, 2021 at the Old Midland Courthouse on Helena Street in Midland commencing at 2.30pm. Third generation Midland boy, Vince Cusworth will be giving a presentation about his great uncle, Benjamin 'Bandy' Turner’s remarkable journey from inaugural Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Champion of WA to the Big Man of the famous original 11t...h Battalion during the dark years of World War 1. Vince has written a book titled Bandy Big Man Of The 11th about his great uncle. Afternoon Tea will follow the presentation. Gold Coin Donation Appreciated. Please be advised that Covid 19 restrictions including venue capacity apply. Our Society would like to thank the City of Swan for their support.

12.01.2022 WEXCOMBE INFORMATION WANTED Midland and Districts Historical Society is currently researching historical information regarding the former suburb of Wexcombe within the Talbot Road Bushland Nature Reserve in Stratton. Our Society is putting a call out for anyone who may be able to assist with any information about a well-constructed pit that is still located within the reserve. We are trying to determine the original use of the pit.... If you have any information, please contact our Society: [email protected]

11.01.2022 The Bellevue Darling Range Hotel in Bellevue has a new mural. Built in 1905, the Bellevue Darling Range Hotel is remembered as a watering hole for soldiers training at the nearby Blackboy Hill in Greenmount. The new mural depicts an ANZAC theme to commemorate the soldiers who visited the hotel on their way to war or while they were training.... Artist, Jarrad Martyn has designed a mural that represents the history of the hotel during its time as a wet mess for the Blackboy Hill Military Camp. Thank you to Craig from the Bellevue Darling Range Hotel for keeping our local history alive and to Jarrad a job well done on the mural.

10.01.2022 Robyn McSweeney, Author of Albert Edmund Cockram - King Of The Racecourse 1870-1943 had a chat to Harvey Deegan on 6PR Radio's Remember When last weekend to discuss the story of her great-grandfather who owned Belmont and Goodwood racecourses until his death in 1943. Robyn was to join us tomorrow at the old Midland Courthouse for our February event, unfortunately we have had to postpone the event due to the Covid 19 lockdown. She will now join us on Sunday May 16 from 2.30pm at the old Midland Courthouse.

09.01.2022 AUSTRIAN PRE-FAB HOMES IN MIDLAND, MIDVALE & WEXCOMBE Back in 1950, the State Housing Commission of Western Australia signed a contract with London based company, Thermo Insulated Units Limited for the supply of 900 imported homes for Western Australia. Out of the 900 homes, 750 of them would become Commonwealth-State rental homes while the remaining 150 homes would be for Western Australian Government Railways employees.... Workers from England and Austria came to Western Australia to assist with the erection of the homes in selected areas without disrupting the building programme in Western Australia at the time. The homes were made from components supplied from England and Austria. The timber was Austrian softwood from Thermobau near Vienna in Austria, stumps and bearers were made from Jarrah while cement tiles formed the roofing. Midland, Midvale and Wexcombe were selected as locations for the Austrian pre-fab homes. Image from Edward & Johanna Ripp shows their home on Murchison Avenue in Wexcombe. We believe there are only 4 left standing in Midland today. Did you live in one of the homes? We would love to hear your story and if you have photos to share.

08.01.2022 The Shire of Swan held a function in the Baskerville Hall in August 1970 to announce Donald Ferguson as the first Freeman of the council. Mary and Donald Ferguson, Jack and Marge Williamson and Lady Grace and Sir Ernest Thorley Loton are pictured. Image from the City of Swan Local History Collection.

07.01.2022 The Midland Railway Company of Western Australia F Class 40 Diesel Locomotive was built by English Electric in Rocklea, Queensland and shipped to Western Australia arriving in May 1958. It was the first of a fleet of seven locomotives in its class for the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia and was used by the company on its line between Midland and Walkaway. Western Australian Government Railways purchased the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia in August... 1964. F40 was transferred to the WAGR where it continued to operate until it found itself in the hands of South Spur Rail and its traditional livery was replaced with green and gold. Today, F40 can still be found at the Hotham Valley Railway in Dwellingup servicing the tourist railway along with the steam locomotives. We would like to share with you a video of the F40 locomotive still in its traditional livery in action along the old MR line back in 2006. The latest addition to our collection was a concept model of this locomotive.

07.01.2022 At 11am on 11 November 1918, the Great War came to an end. More than 60,000 Australians were among the millions who had lost their lives. Since then, Australian men and women have continued to risk their lives serving in our defence forces. Lest We Forget.

06.01.2022 THANK YOU WAYNE PHIPPS Our Society Chairperson, Matthew Pavlinovich on Saturday night attended a staff function for Wayne Phipps Smash Repairs where Wayne Phipps presented two historical items to Matthew that he has generously donated to our Society. The two historical items are a framed Notice from the Municipality of Midland Junction advising the change of name from Helena Vale to Midland Junction on 13 April 1901 and Western Australian Government Railways Mailbag used to t...ransfer mail between the Station Master at Midland Junction Railway Station and the Chief Traffic Manager based out of Perth. Matthew also made a small presentation to Linda Phipps on behalf of our Society. Linda was our 125th member for this financial year and special year as Midland’s 125th Anniversary. We would like to acknowledge Wayne, Linda and Wayne Phipps Smash Repairs. Our Society is extremely grateful for their ongoing support since our inception.

01.01.2022 Happy 4th Birthday to our Society! Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the journey thus far.

01.01.2022 November 24 marks 5 years since we had significant changes to health care in our area. Swan District Hospital in Middle Swan closed its doors at 7am on November 24, 2015 for the last time after 61 years of operation. St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals opened its doors at the same time heralding a new era for health care in our area.