"Johnsville", 74 McCracken St, Kensington

"A house named "Johnsville", location unknown".     Source: Leigh McKinnon posted this to "Australia - Vintage Photos of Cities and Towns in Australia Facebook Group", 10 April 2018.

The photo was later identified as being at 74 McCracken St, Kensington, and the woman and boy to be Jessie Douglas and her son John. 

The woman's dress dates to about 1880, and the boy appears to be around 12-14, so I am a little doubtful about the identification of the Douglas mother and son.  By 1880 John would have been 24, and Jessie 66, neither age applying to the two in the photo.

The house, on the other hand, does conform with the shape of the front of the house shown in the MMBW plan from 1901, detail below, though of course many others did.  I have not yet seen any other image of the house, so that is also open to question.  

The Douglases weren't in the house as early as 1880.  The 1884 Sands & McDougall Directory shows two houses between the school and the Wesleyan church, occupied by Charles Dalton and J Rossthorn.

See the Time Travellers website for further details about "Johnsville".  Please get in touch if you can shed any light on the house or the people in the photo.

UPDATE
Alex Bragiola advises that the house was built circa 1882 by James Rawsthorne a local builder, according to the rate books, before the Methodist church on the left was built.   Presumably the J Rossthorn mentioned in the Sands & McDougall directories was actually James Rawsthorne.

Ascot Vale State School 1928 Grade Prep

This photo of the Prep grade at Ascot Vale State School No 2608 has been added to the Time Travellers website.

Finsbury St, Newmarket and the Arnott family

45 Finsbury St, Newmarket, circa 1897.  Courtesy of the Sam Merrifield Library.

Two photos of 45 Finsbury St were recently acquired by the Sam Merrifield Library for their local heritage collection, and you will find them with the exploration of the probable identity of the woman and children in the two photos can be found on the Time Travellers website.

Mrs Windsor and the Essendon Public Library

This detail from a Charles Nettleton photo of the south end of the Essendon Town Hall, dated circa 1885-1887, shows “Public Library” and “Reading Room” painted on the glass of the upper storey windows.  Courtesy of the State

Library of Victoria Collection, H4521; LTAF 858.

Mrs Sarah Windsor was the first public librarian in Essendon.  She worked for the Council for a remarkable 56 years until her retirement in 1938, only a couple of years before the Council closed the library entirely.

The Time Travellers website carries the remarkable story of Sarah Windsor,  the daughter of a Van Diemen's Land convict, who became a well-known community figure in Essendon, retiring from her duties at the advanced age of 88.

Story featured in The Herald 30 March 1938 on Sarah's retirement.

Dr Thomson - A Name on a Certificate

Melbourne Medical School University of Melbourne. Archives Accession no: MHM00460

Taken in the courtyard of the Old Medical Building, c1880 with the students wearing academic

robes and mortar boards, and some are supporting human skeletons and skulls;

J R M Thompson is identified as seated in the middle of the front row.

John Rae Menzies Thomson was one of the first medical students at the University of Melbourne who did not go on to do further study overseas, being wholly trained in Australia.  He had many and varied professional and recreational interests, which Marilyn Kenny outlines in her article about Thomson.   

By 1889 "an advertisement in the Essendon Gazette announced that Dr J R Menzies Thomson, formerly Resident Medical Officer at the Melbourne Hospital had commenced practice at the Presbyterian Manse in Mt Alexander Road.  By 1890 the practice had moved to Rose St, Essendon, second in from the corner with Buckley.  In 1891 after Martha Thomson came to reside with the couple they moved to 2 Napier St, west side.  By 1900 they were living in St Ronan’s, Mount Alexander Road, next to St John’s".

 Read Marilyn Kenny's short biography of  Dr Thomson on the Time Travellers' website here. 
 

Mrs. Windsor’s life among books

Sarah as a young woman.  Courtesy of Jane Duckworth.

In 1892, in the days when library committees were determined to stamp out creative writing, Mrs Sarah Windsor became the first professional librarian in Essendon.


Local historian, Lenore Frost, will talk about Sarah's remarkable career. Free, bookings necessary.

Sam Merrifield Library, Mt Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds
Wednesday 15 August, 7pm-8pm
Book online or call 8325 1950

Old shop sign, Moonee Ponds

Old shop sign corner Bent and Fanny Sts, Moonee Ponds.  Photographer: Christine Laskowski

Bushells Blue Label was the tea of flavour.

 

Old shop sign corner Bent and Fanny Sts, Moonee Ponds.  Photographer: Christine Laskowski

 

Wedgwood meat pies and Cornish pasties

Skating in the Ponds

Looking into Puckle St from Pratt St.  Photo: Lenore Frost 2018

The ice skating rink in Pratt St.  Photo: Lenore Frost 2018.

Winter fun for kids in Pratt Street, Moonee Ponds in 2018 - but Time Travellers should grab their skates and Pierrot Costumes and take a little walk across the road to Puckle St, and turn to the left where Bonds outlet and the travel shops are now, to visit the Moonee Ponds Skating Rink - and it will only cost you one shilling.

Flemington, Bob Smith, carrier, 1927

Bob Smith, Duncan St, Flemington, carrier. Picnics, Parties, anything. 

It is not clear where this photo was taken, any ideas gratefully received.


Source:  Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/765583
Accessed 19 May 2018.

"Kelso", 23 Collins St, Essendon

The photo above shows "Kelso", 23 Collins St, Essendon, in its heyday, decorated to welcome home a family member from the war in 1919.   This, and other photos of "Kelso", including one of the stables,  have been added to the Time Travellers website, courtesy of Neil McDonald here.

Rainbow Home Made Cakes, Union Rd

Tonight I have begun to post a number of photos of business premises in the Essendon and Flemington area.  This one shows  the Rainbow Cake Shop in Union Rd, Ascot Vale.  Follow the link to find out more.

Note the profile of the buildings opposite, reflected in the window of the shop.  

Bring back shop girl uniforms, I say!   Nothing nicer than a starched collar and apron.

Essendon Boys' Lacrosse Team, 1934

Essendon Boys' Lacrosse Team, 1934.  Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/1688848  Accessed 24 April 2018

This team includes John Hawksworth in the top right hand corner.  If you can identify anyone else in this photo, please get in touch.  This photo has been added to the Essendon Lacrosse Club page on the Time Travellers website.  It has also been dropped into the webpage for the Dover Studios when it was operated by Frank Rider - the woolly rug, the lino and the studio backdrop give that away, though Museums Victoria didn't record that detail.

Essendon North State School, Depression years

This class at Essendon North State School shows a mix of pupils whose families are doing ok, and send their children to school clean and neatly dressed, and other families whose children are grubby and unkempt, and in some cases looking abused.  Some of their fathers would have been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after the war, potentially exacerbated by unemployment and alcohol abuse.  See other photos from Essendon North at the Time Travellers website. Photo courtesy of Greg Manderson.  Please get in touch if you can identify anyone in the photo.

The Shuter Estate, Moonee Ponds

Shuter St in the MMBW plan of 1905, from the State Library of Victoria Collection.

A previous article, That Ancient Question, the Moonee Ponds Post Office, 1854-1906, explored in some detail the long and sorry story of the relocation of the Moonee Ponds Post office from Mt Alexander Rd to the corner of Puckle and Shuter Streets. Council and community expected, wanted and needed the Post Office to continue in business in Mt Alexander Road or very near the Moonee Ponds Junction. Puckle St was just being developed in the late 1880s and the main business centre was Mt Alexander Road. In late 1889 it was learned that, despite several years of lobbying, the Post Master General’s Department had purchased land in Puckle St. How was it that the Puckle St site became available at all and who were some of the other players involved? This article offers some insights into the Land dealings during this Boom and Bust period which shaped the district.  See The Shuter Estate.

Dartford St, Flemington

Stock agent Donald McPhail with his wife Isabella, nee Urie, and their baby James in a perambulator.  They are standing in front of their residence at 16 Dartford St, Flemington.  The house is still standing.  See more on the Time Travellers website, link above.  Courtesy of Ian Jeanneret.

The Sherwood family of Flemington

 Left to Right, back row:  Elsie May, Arthur William, John Winsor Sherwood. Front row, left: Kate, William Henry & Hannah Elizabeth Sherwood. Photo courtesy of Heather Kennedy.

 

The above photo, taken in the early 1900s, of the Sherwood family of 46 Wellington St, Flemington, includes two librarians who worked at the Flemington and Kensington Free Library and Institute.  The undated newsclipping says that Elsie May took up the position of librarian after her father's retirement.   W H Sherwood was mentioned in the library committee minutes in 1929, and E M Sherwood was similarly mentioned in 1937. (See above link).

Arthur William Sherwood, centre back, served in the AIF during the Great War.

In the Electoral Rolls the three men of the family were always listed as clerks, and Elsie was always listed as a dressmaker, even while presumably working as a librarian, while Kate and Hannah had home duties.

The Sherwoods lived in various addresses in Flemington, including Wellington st, Waltham St and Lee St, but by 1963 had moved to 11 Lincoln Rd, Essendon. Of the four children, only John Sherwood married, the other siblings residing together throughout their lives.

North Essendon Methodist (or Presbyterian) Cricket Club

This team is thought to be either the North Essendon Methodist Cricket Club in the 1930s, or the North Essendon Presbyterian Cricket Club in the 1930s.  The three players named below played for both clubs.   The ground might be the Cross Keys Reserve.  Courtesy of Don Mountain.

Back Row, far right - Herb Sissons
Middle Row, third from right, Bert Scott; far right, Roy Mountain

If anyone can shed further light on the photo - the names of players, the year, the ground, please get in touch.  

See another North Essendon Methodist Cricket Club photo on the Time Travellers website.