Heritage Collection

The Surrey Hills Heritage Collection is a significant collection, which includes photos, documents, memorabilia, advertisements and ephemera relating to the history of Surrey Hills and Mont Albert. Concerned individuals began collecting material during the 1970s and from the time the Neighbourhood Centre was opened, there was a ‘History Nook’. The Centre has supported the collection ever since. It owes much to the efforts of many individuals, including Jocelyn and Ken Hall, Alan Holt, John Reaburn, Jean Boucher and Daphne Wisewold, and to the generosity of many in the community who have donated photos and other information to it.

There are over 2000 photos in the collection including many of early residents, sporting teams, shopkeepers and local primary school grades. The collection is not static; some of the photos are relatively recent and document for the future some of the many changes in the built environment of our suburb over recent decades.

During 2007, photos in the collection were scanned, so the collection now contains digital images as well as hard copies. This project was facilitated by a grant from the City of Boroondara Community Grants Scheme and additional funds from the Canterbury Surrey Hills Bendigo Bank.

The current focus of work on the collection is cataloguing it onto the specialised computer database, DbTextworks (‘In Magic’), which is used by many small museums and repositories in Victoria. Purchase of this program was made possible through a Public Record Officer (PRO) Local History Grant. Cataloguing the collection will be an ongoing project for a number of years and we are seeking new volunteers with an interest in history to assist with this project.

As items are catalogued, details are uploaded to the Local History Database of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria (RHSV). The Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre Heritage Collection is one of 18 local history collections in Victoria whose records contribute to this valuable database. Anyone can access the information on the database through the RHSV website - www.historyvictoria.org.au

Phil Voutier was a pupil at Chatham Primary School in Weybridge Street from 1927, the year the school opened, until 1932. He is one of a number of pupils who posed for an enterprising photographer who visited the school with his pony early in 1929.	John Butler Maling, pictured as 1st Mayor of Camberwell in 1905/06, was an early resident who leased but then bought a parcel of 13 acres in the 1860s. The land bound by Weybridge Street and Whitehorse Road, had a small creek lined with willows running through it. Maling named his rambling home The Willows. It was demolished after he died in 1931.
44 Guildford Road, Surrey Hills - This Edwardian style home was relatively newly-built when this photo was taken in 1913. Its owner, Mr B Offszanka poses on the veranda and his cart can just be seen on the left of this picture. No 44 is a modest home with simple detail in the picket fence and fretwork and coloured patterned glass in the windows rather than more ornate leadlight. Later the main window to the street was replaced with a bay window, and in more recent years the home has had a second storey added.	‘Spenceycroft’, 654 Canterbury Road, Surrey Hills - Today this home is hidden behind a large fence sheltering it from the noise of traffic along Canterbury Road, however it dates back to the very early days of settlement in this area. Canterbury Road was then known as Delany’s Road. ‘Spenceycroft’ is thought to incorporate part of the original farmhouse built on the site by George Klepper, who planted a vineyard in the area. George’s family was one of a number of German families who settled in Surrey Hills during the later part of the 19th century. Later, the land associated with ‘Spenceycroft’ was worked as a dairy farm by James and Elizabeth Rayment.

Sue Barnett is the Coordinator of the Surrey Hills Heritage Collection. Sue is assisted by a small group of dedicated volunteers; new volunteers are always welcome.

Please contact the Centre during term time, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm if you:

• are interested in volunteering to work with the heritage collection
• have a query regarding the collection
• are willing to share aspects of your family’s history with the public through this collection
• donated material to the collection in the past – as we wish to update our records regarding past donations.