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| Little
Zion Chapel in its original location near the creek, 1866. Original held by the Essendon Historical Society. |
The above image of Little Zion is a detail from an 1866 photograph taken by Nettleton from the Moonee Ponds Creek, looking north. The chapel is identifiable by the rounded windows along its side wall. During flooding of the creek, the chapel was subject to inundation, and in time it was put on wheels and moved up the hill in Mt Alexander Rd to a position behind the Wesleyan Church. The original location of the chapel was described as on the corner of Pitt St and Flemington Rd, though by Flemington Rd most likely Mt Alexander Rd was meant.
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| Detail of MMBW plan from 1900 showing Pitt St on the right and Mt Alexander Rd on the left. In this plan Pitt St continued right through Debney's Park until it met up with Mt Alexander Rd. Moonee Ponds Creek ran just below this part of the plan. State Library of Victoria, MMBW plan, 1900. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/121268 |
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| Little Zion chapel. Source: The Newsletter, Essendon Historical Society, Issue 179, page 8, Jun-Jul 2005. |
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| | Marked on the map detail above is the approximate location of the children when the photo was taken, looking to the right. Behind them is the school building. The Sunday School building is seen over their left shoulder. Little Zion sits between the Church and the Sunday School, with perhaps only a bump of the roof visible in the photo of the children. State Library of Victoria, MMBW plan 1900, http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/121252 |
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| Photo: courtesy of Warren Delbridge. |
A Training School is one which takes student teachers for training (as opposed to a Teachers' College) and they get to train on real pupils. The girl on the right of the photo is Grace Adams, who was born in 1915, grand-daughter of the Morgans of the
Cross Keys Hotel,
Essendon. In this photo Grace appears to be eight or nine, which would
make the date of the photo about 1923-24. This photo depicts the grounds of the
older
Flemington school on the west side of the road, where the Mt
Alexander College is currently situated. The new Flemington school was officially opened in November 1923.
(FLEMINGTON STATE SCHOOL. (1923, November 24). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 27. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1991151)
The young scout standing at the back on the right may have belonged to the
6th Melbourne Scouts, if his scarf is anything to go by. If you know any of these young people, please let us know.
On the left is the Flemington school building, on the right is the Sunday School, and somewhere in the centre is the Little Zion Chapel. The building in the background to the right is the Sunday School,
erected facing Bignell St at the rear of the Wesleyan Church on Mt
Alexander Rd, Flemington.
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| From the above aerial photo taken in 1945, Little Zion appears to have been moved for a second time to make room for a new building of a similar size beside it. Courtesy of Alex Bragiola. |
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| The Wesleyan Sunday School, facing Bignell St, Flemington. Source: Souvenir of the Flemington Methodist Sunday School Centenary Celebrations, 1858-1958. |
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| At the back of the school, looking east. The children were photographed standing in front of the section on the left. Courtesy: Alex Bragiola |
