New Victorian Anzac Centenary website

As Victoria gears up to mark the Anzac Centenary (2014 – 2018), the State Government has called on the public to "share Victoria’s stories" to help honour the contribution of local World War I service men and women.

A new website www.anzaccentenary.vic.gov.au has been established which includes historical information and photographs, resources to research family and community history, and links to other important websites.

A key feature of the website is an online portal where people can register local commemorative events and share their own connection to WWI.

“These shared stories form an important reminder to our community of the legacy of the Anzacs and the impact the war has had on so many lives,” Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Hugh Delahunty said.

“With less than 10 months until the Centenary officially starts, now is the time for all Victorians to look into their own history, to share their story and to become involved in commemorating the events that so heavily impacted our ancestors and the development of this State.”

Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.

Horses and history

Do you remember milk being delivered by horse and cart? If you've lived in Essendon awhile, it's not unlikely that you do. Remarkably, the Tighe family who ran the Lincoln Park Dairy, were still making milk deliveries in Essendon with a Clydesdale driven cart until 1987, decades after horse-drawn deliveries had ended in most suburbs!

The National Museum are now preparing an exhibition about horses in Australia that will feature the Tighe's yellow cart. And Essendon Historical Society members provided information and memories about the Tighe family milk delivery service that Museum staff found so fascinating they decided to make a documentary featuring them which will be part of the show.

Painting of Princess and Pat Tighe delivering milk in Essendon, by Susan Dowling, (from the Magic1278 blog).

You can read more about this story, and see a wonderful image of the Tighe's horse and cart, in the Moonee Valley Leader of 27th January 2014 (page 11).

Congratulations to the Essendon Historical Society for making such a wonderful contribution!

Julia

PS. If you have memories of these horse-drawn milk deliveries that you would like to share with the National Museum, email Martha Sear: marthasear@nma.gov.au

And of course if you'd like to share any memories or pictures of the Moonee Valley area with your local community, I'm always interested to hear from you. Send an email to librarian@mvcc.vic.gov.au, or call or visit the Library and ask for Julia.

The Wonderful Waratah of Ascot Vale

Once upon a time, in Ascot Vale, there was a cinema called "The Waratah". It was at the corner of Mt Alexander and Ormond Roads, and it first opened on June 25th 1925.

Image of the Waratah in 1944, from the State Library of Victoria.

The Waratah struggled. According to Grant Aldous' the Stop-over that Stayed, the Waratah suffered from competition with the nearby Moonee Ponds and New Ascot theatres, and soon the theatre was bought out by Hoyts.

Even worse than their financial troubles though, the Waratah also suffered from banditry. In November 1921, in Flemington, William Longley, a 21 year old employee, was hit over the head and robbed of the days takings (200 pounds) from the Waratah. Then in August 1937, shots were fired when the managers of the Waratah and the Ascot Vale Bank were attacked. Cinema goers "ducked and ran for shelter" and the bandits made a get-away with the days takings from the Waratah (down to 21 pounds this time) in a stolen car.

In 1935 Hoyts refurbished the Waratah, hosting a gala reopening of the Waratah as "The Hoyts New Plaza Theatre" in August (see the Essendon Gazette, 8/8/1935). The relaunched theatre was claimed to have "every modern embellishment without sacrifice to homely comfort", and also featured RCA high fidelity talkie equipment.

A highpoint in the life of the cinema was in 1938 when the star of the Essendon Football Club, Dick Reynolds, won the Brownlow medal for a third time and a celebratory party was held for him and his team mates at the Waratah (Essendon Gazette 15/09/1938).

Sadly, in 1959 the Waratah closed and was demolished, being replaced with a petrol service station (Essendon Gazette 25/02/1959).

Julia

PS. This post was written after I looked into the history of the Waratah for an inquiry from someone who remembered living near the Waratah. If you have memories of the Waratah, or any of the other theatres in Moonee Valley it would be fascinating to hear from you.

Lives of the First World War

The Imperial War Museum (in the UK) are looking for contributors from around the World for a new website that they are establishing called Lives of the First World War.

It looks like it will be a great resource once it is up and running, and if you've researched ancestors or others who were involved in WWI this could be the perfect place to share that information with a wide audience online.

Julia

Heritage walks in Moonee Ponds

This January the Essendon Historical Society will be conducting two free guided heritage walks in Moonee Ponds.

• Queens Park & the Civic Triangle, Saturday 11th January 2014, 2pm
• Vineyards & Back Lanes of Moonee Ponds, Saturday 18th January 2014, 2pm

Both will begin and end at the Moonee Ponds Courthouse Museum (corner of Kellaway Avenue and Mount Alexander Road). Afternoon tea is provided. No bookings are needed. Gold coin donations are appreciated.

I went on two of the Historical Society's heritage walks last summer and would highly recommend them to anyone interested in local history and/or architecture. (Plus the afternoon tea provided was delicious!)

For more information contact the Essendon Historical Society.

Julia