Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

A new ABC TV program on tracing the history of your house will commence in August 2011. This show will no doubt be as popular with family history buffs as the show "Who do you think you are"? ...this is the Next Big Thing! The show will be presented by Melbourne-based archaeologist and cultural heritage expert Adam Ford. This eight-part series will be supported by a website which will give viewers tips and tricks to trace the history of their own homes. The history of homes is one of the most popular questions that we receive at the Sam Merrifield library, people love to know if there is something special about their home. On a personal level I am looking forward to any new clues or tips on this topic.

"Mar Lodge" was built in 1860 and was originally the residence of James Robertson, a wealthy pastoralist who used it as his hunting lodge and later owned by his son Francis Robertson. In 1888 the McCracken Brothers purchased "Mar Lodge" and it became a gathering place for the parties and dinners for the colony's elite. By 1919 the entire estate was sold to the Todd family however by 1929 the entire property was sold and on the 18th November, 1929 the Mar Lodge Estate was officially created, with 316 allotments available from 90 pounds.

Many mansions built in Essendon in the 1880's and 1890's later became schools. One being Ave Maria the former home of the Ramsay family. The house was built in 1889 in the Victorian Italianate style, and previously known as "Clydebank". Home of noted artist Hugh Ramsay who studied at the National Gallery of Victoria and in 1899 left Australia to study painting in Paris, where he contracted tuberculosis and returned to Australia in 1902 where he died four years later. The National Gallery of Victoria holds a number of his paintings. Since 1963 the home as been the administrative functions of the Ave Maria College , Vida Street, Essendon.