Early Days in Chadstone
Sofitel’s palatial Chadstone Hotel opening in November, resides on land formerly held by the Convent of the Good Shepherd (1883-1981) which stood on 55 acres of paddocks, complete with grazing cattle.
Articles by Editor
Ballyshanassy
In 1858 the area bounded by Warrigal and Highbury Roads, Burwood Highway (Ballyshanassy Road) and Gardiners Creek (Damper Creek) was named Ballyshanassy in honour of then Victorian Premier, John O’Shanassy.
Nancy Weir – pianist and spy
Nancy Mary Weir was born in Kew on 13 July 1915; a child prodigy, she knew the piano keyboard at 18 months and when four sneaked out to a nearby convent for lessons from a nun. At 13, she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 with the Melbourne Symphony under conductor Fritz Hart following which Melbourne’s lord mayor launched a public subscription for her to study in Europe.
Romance, Rebellion and a Free Ireland
Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Victoria performs Dublin-born Victor Herbert’s only Irish themed operetta, Eileen (1917), at Forest Hill College November 15-18, 2018.
A teenager’s war
Two years before she died in 1984 for a history assignment I interviewed my mother Iris from the perspective of a ‘Melbourne teenager during World War II’. I was often surprised by her comments about life at the time.
Les Knight: Dambuster
Leslie Gordon Knight, DSO (7 March 1921 – 16 September 1943) was a Royal Australian Air Force pilot who served with the RAF’s Bomber Command during World War II. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1943 for taking part in Operation Chastise while flying with 617 Squadron.
Yooralla – one hundred years
One hundred years ago, Evangeline Ireland (Sister Faith) found a young disabled girl left inside a chicken coop while her parents were at work. That incident led to her establishing Victoria’s first free kindergarten for disabled children: ‘Yooralla’ (an Aboriginal word meaning ‘place of love’).
Guarding the Shrine: the Burrells of Burwood
William Burrell and his wife Francis (née Turner) were among the earliest settlers in Burwood. William, a blacksmith and farrier, conducted his business in Toorak Road. Of their eight children, Doug, Jim, and Wilfred served during WWI. Born in 1891, Doug was the first to enlist and joined the 1st Signal Corps Australian Light Horse, arriving in Egypt for further training before going on to Anzac Cove on 12 May 1915.