Newsletter

Kilmore Connections

Our quarterly newsletter is free to members and $3 a copy to non-members.  Past issues have featured the following feature articles as well as current events within the Society, research enquiries etc. These are available for sale by direct deposit for $4.10, which includes postage and handling. Contributions to the newsletter are welcome.

September 2023

• Seymour Bridge Future Secured
• William Rutledge and the Kilmore Inn on the Sydney Road, by Martin Williams
• Marked and Unmarked WWI Graves in Kilmore Cemeteries, by Grahame Thom

June 2023 (Issue 96)

• The Seyours of Lackamore, and the beginning of the Australian Story, by Bernadette Speirs
• Wedding Dress Donation  – Lois Cruikshank
• Past Kilmore Publicans

March 2023 (Issue 95)

• Hudson Park, Memorial Park, Moore Park, by Martin Williams
• We have had just one very wet year by Brian Clancy
• Catholic education in Kilmore with and without State Aid by Brian Clancy

December 2022 (Issue 94)

• The Old Police Barracks by Brian Clancy
• Old Post Office 160th Birthday
• The Naming of Hudson Park by Grahame Thom

September 2022 (Issue 93)

• The Lincolns of Kilmore by Grahame Thom
• Some Kilmore Snake Stories
•  The Old Post Office turns 160!

June 2022 (Issue 92)

• A wonderful Preservation
• Richard and Jane Bannister – transportees who settled in Kilmore by Kevin O’Reilly
• William Rutledge’s Kilmore Special Survey by Heather Knight

March 2022 (Issue 91)

• A sad end to an old building (38 Sydney Street)
• The short-lived Special Survey System by Heather Knight

December 2021 (Issue 90)

• Early Settlers in the Township of Kilmore, the first five years 1841 – 1846 by Heather Knight
• Who was Pretty Sally, review by Grahame Thom
• Budd’s Station
• Charlie (Galen Cashmere) 

September 2021 (Issue 89)

• The Well being of a past and present Kilmore by Brian Clancy
• Wallan Avenue of Honour by Grahame Thom
• Leonard and Jane Stimson part 2 by Heather Knight
• A Birthday Book from 1892

June 2021 (Issue 88)

• Emily Beaven part 2 by Lynette Nunn
• Leonard and Jane Stimson part 1 by Heather Knight
• A tragic incident in Kilmore General Cemetery

March 2021 (Issue 87)

• 37 Sydney Street
• Kilmore’s Postal Service by Liz Dillon-Hensby
• Kilmore Town Band compiled by Heather Knight

December 2020 (December 86)

• Macsfield
• Jane Copeland – an early pioneer at Sorrento and Hobertown by Barbara Wilson
• The Kilmore Robinsons, part 2 by Harley Dadswell
• A minor mystery solved
• Does anyone have and further information on these (two) photos?

September 2020 (Issue 85)

• Hugh Mitchell (farewell certificate)
• Kilmore Clock Reinstated
• Sydney Street Rejuvenation Project
• Introducing Emily Elizabeth Beaven, part 1 by Lynette Nunn
• The Kilmore Robinsons, part 3 by Harley Dadswell

June 2020 (Issue 84)

• The Catholic History of Kilmore: An Interesting Historical  Survey, part 2
• Demolition by neglect
• The Kilmore Robinsons, part 1 by Harley Dadswell
• 1881 letter by Harley Dadswell
• Kilmore Heritage Sites by Grahame Thom

March 2020 (Issue 83)

• The Catholic History of Kilmore: An Interesting Historical  Survey, part 1
• Reverend Robert Hunter 1837 – 1878 by Barbara Wilson
• “Past the point of no return”
• Seeking information on Robert Bowerman by Lindsay Sward

December 2019 (Issue 82)

• Leslie Vernon (Dick) Smith by Jim Smith
• The O’Deas of Kilmore by Christine Butterfield
• Does this ring a bell by Brian Clancy
• O’Grady’s Castle 

September 2019 (Issue 81)

• The Jamiesons of Kilmore by Christine Butterfield
• Review – “Charles Bonney and the Fertile Kilmore Plains” by Martin Williams
• John Wilson McDonald (WWI) by Grahame Thom
• History of the Deeves and related families in Victoria by Vincent O’Donoghue

June 2019 (Issue 80)

• Chinaman’s Bridge
• Kilmore Shire Clock
• William Hartnell – An early Kilmore Settler
• Kilmore’s pillar box to be restored
• The Clancy family achieve their sesquicentenary in Kilmore by Brian Clancy
• Centenary of the end of World War One – Lest we forget, by Grahame Thom.
• William Ernest Robinson WWI 

March 2019 (Issue 79)

• History’s Mysteries (Mostly) Solved – Who were they? (Kilmore State School 1947)
• A Forgotten Kilmore Dentist and his Connections
• A Brief History of the Kilmore Cordial Factory
• Larry Kelly Bridge
• The constant danger of fire

December 2018 (Issue 78)

• History’s Mysteries – who was in this School Photo? (Kilmore State School 1947)
• Kilmore Creek Heritage Art Walk 
• An “Irish Letter”
• From the Golden Vale to the Goulburn Valley by Terry Howard
• The Nissen Hut

September 2018 (Issue 77)

• A Personal Journey to Villers Bretonneux by Phillips Robins
• A History of the Astor Theatre, Kilmore by Mike Trickett
• Glenalbion Hotel
• The Convict – Michael Donahue of the Guildford by Vincent O’Donoghue

June 2018 (Issue 76)

• Heritage Roundup: Whitburgh Cottage Site; presentation to Mitchell Shire Council
• An early reference to Kilmore
• Open House Tour
• History’s Mysteries!
• New light on the date of number 37 Sydney Street

March 2018 (Issue 75)

• Heritage Roundup: Quinn Cottage at Walnarring
• Open House – Historic Homes of Kilmore Tour for 2018
• Sister Jessie Valentine Wortley by Liz Dillon-Hensby
• Who was John Wheeler, Esquire of Kilmore? by Dean Wheeler
• Quillinan Road by Jim Quillinan
• Progress on our new building
• Donations

December 2017 (Issue 74)

• Heritage Roundup: Walnarring/Quinn Cottage
• A Pioneer Sister of Mercy: The first Australian born nun by Barbara Wilson
• On Marketing History
• Petty Sessions project Completion
• Can anyone put a name to these people?
• Kilmore Historical Society on Pandora
• Local School Records Acquired
• Vale Allan Knight
• Pip, Squeak and Wilfred?

September 2017 (Issue 73)

• Heritage Roundup
• Father Timothy O’Rourke; Kilmore Parish Priest by Barbara Wilson
• From Tulla via Cobh and Sydney (New South Wales) to Kilmore (Victoria, Australia) by Julie King
• History’s Mystery Solved
• A Farewell to Mrs Maclean’s Pie Shop

June 2017 (Issue 72)

• Heritage Roundup: Quinn’s Cottage and Number 37 Sydney Street
• Open House Tour
• Hamilton Hume; Our greatest explorer by Robert Macklin: Book Review by Barbara Wilson
• Conscription during World War One (Part Two) by Grahame Thom
• Looking for information on Quillinan/Bylands
• RHSV Seminar – a great success

March 2017 (Issue 71)

• Heritage Roundup: Is this Kilmore’s oldest structure?
• Don’t be late for the cemetery!
• St Patrick’s School visit
• Conscription during World War One (Part One) by Grahame Thom
• History’s Mysteries!

December 2016 (Issue 70)

• Heritage Roundup
• A Corner of Scotland by Barbara Wilson
• Kilmore’s Colourful politician
• History’s Mysteries!

September 2016 (Issue 69)

• WW1 Nurses on the Island of Lemnos
• The Red Lion Hotel by Francis Payne
• Kilmore’s Lone Pine Descendant
• Kilmore Advertiser Saturady 17th November 1888 – Wallan Notes From Our Correspondnet, Wallan, Friday
• Seeking Assistance to Sove a Mystery by Denis James Johnston
• Research Roundup

October 2015 (Issue 66)

• Kilmore Private Hospital by Liz Dillon-Hensby
• “Lost Relations” by Graeme Davison – book review by Grahame Thom
• Can you help?
• Current Research for KHS by Grahame Thom

September 2015 (Issue 65)

• Preserving Wallan’s History
• Tragic Accident – Kilmore’s First Inquest
• Making Soldiers (Part 2), The Kilmore Free Press, Thursday April 20, 1911

June 2015 (Issue 64)

• Past Kilmore Publicans
• Making Soldiers (Part 1), The Kilmore Free Press, Thursday April 20, 1911
• A Short Account of the Origins of Kilmore – Victoria’s First Inland Town by Jan Hanslow

March 2015 (Issue 63)

• Top Secret Aircraft Crash at Bylands by Liz Pidgeon

December 2014 (Issue 62)

• William Winnell 1914 – 1888 by Bev Wilson

September 2014 (Issue 61)

• 100th anniversary of the commencement of World War One (including KHS project to research and write up local enlistments in partnership with Broadford Historical Society, Wandong History Group and North Central Review)
• Harold Valentine Wortley (Lieutenant)
• Articles from historical newspapers including  report on “greatest fire in Kilmore” 1892 and trip to the Dividing Range – Lancefield and Kimore 1912.

June 2014 (Issue 60)

• John Angus Sutherland
• Dearth of old time coach driver Kilmore Free Press Thursday 23 July 1908 (Frank May)

March 2014

• The Burston Family of Kilmore complied by Liz Dillon-Hensby
• Commonwealth of Australia – District Register of Old-age Pension Claims 1909

June 2013

• The Tail to the Century: Kilmore 1937 – 1953, Part 2 (Kilmore Free Press, 5 March 1953)
• Elsie May Downing nee Marsh by Elizabeth Dillon-Hensby

December 2012

• William Crilley 1861-1940 by Laele Pepper
• Melbourne General Cemetery Tour

September 2012

• An old time rider: Kilmore distinction (Kilmore Free Press 28 March 1935)
• Men Poodles (Kilmore Free Press 27 April 1865)

March 2012

• Development of local government in Kilmore by Grahame Thom

December 2011

• The Life of James Crossley ny Jennifer Penman
• The Easter encampment at Kilmore, 1911 (reprinted from The Kilmore Echo 1911 St Jospeh’s College school magazine) by Agnes Tobin

September 2011

• Kilmore’s birth certificate by Francis Payne

June 2011

• A. Skehan & Co. Funeral Directors
• Tour of Mt William stone axe quarry
• Vale Mary Clancy
• History on the Net – Australian Newspapers, an update

March 2011

• George Wilson (1811-1896) and the Merriang Shire Council by Allan Wilson
• The First Inland Town in Victoria – a response by Graham Thom

December 2010

• The First inland town in Victoria? Further reflections on the Kilmore claim to primacy by Geoff Hewitt MA

September 2010

• James Warren – Watchmaker and pawnbroker c.1833-1877 by Heather Knight
• Kilmore Public Cemetery Memorial Garden

June 2010

• Glossary of Kilmore Hospital Day Book diagnoses by Francis Payne

March 2010

• The Kilmore Hospital in the newspapers
• The Origins of Kilmore Hospital by Laele Pepper (Descendant Thomas Roberts)
• Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Kilmore Hospital
• The Kilmore Hospital by Athmos
• Robin Droogleever; Guest speaker
• ‘That Ragged Mob’
• History on the Web by Liz Pidgeon
• Letters of a Nation Project by Liz Pidgeon

December 2009

• Kilmore Public Cemetery – Crane and Hammond by Grahame Thom
• The National Directory of Victoria; Kilmore Alphabetical Directory 1866-1867
• Ask before it’s too late by Liz Pidgeon

September 2009

• The Early Church in Kilmore Kilmore Free Press, Thursday 5 February 1914
• Subscriptions Paid towards the Rev Father O’Rouke’s Monument Names of subscribers Kilmore Free Press 18 October 1866
• Kilmore Dairy Company Lyn Boyd
• Women and the vote in Victoria
• The Missing soldiers of Fromelles Lambis Englezos and Tim Whitford

June 2009

• The Semple Family by Barbara Wilson
• Matron Mary Mackenzie Finlay by Liz Pidgeon
• She Oak Hill to Lighwood Crossing

March 2009

• The Old Doctor Dr William Henry Semple by Barbara Wilson
• Thomas Vincent Hunt KIlmore’s connection to Pheasant Wood, Fromeliles, France
• The Willomavin Road Board by Grahame Thom
• The medical side of Family History by Liz Pidgeon

December 2008

• Lazarus (Jacob) Berlowitz 1827-1902 by Laele Pepper
• Private Timothy Leydon 5057 by Barbara Wilson

September 2008

• 7 Gipps Street – the home of Kilmore cordial by Joanne McFadyen & Maxine Shea
• Newspapers on the Web by Elizabeth Pidgeon (For an update see blog post “Kilmore Newspapers on the Web“, 24 Jan 2015)

June 2008

• A Plea for judicial clemency  – including signatories to the petiton for clemency for David Gedge 1863,  from the Bylands, Kilmore and Wallan Wallan Districts by Anne Hanson

March 2008

• Colonial Bank of Australasia – Kilmore Branch : a brief history of the bank at 1 Powlett Street: 1858-1882 by Heather Knight
• Finding “lost” ancestors by Ken Joiner
• Evans Family by Yvonne Parker
• Wallders – Proudly 100 years old

December 2007

• Thomas Roberts: resident of Kilmore 1848-1868 by Laele Pepper
• Kilmore Directory September 1944

September 2007

• What happened to Pretty Sally by Grahame Thom
• Kilmore – those that came before amended speech by Heather Knight at the launch of the publication in July 2007

June 2007

• Kilmore Town Hall by Bill Hannan
• Patrick Hickey’s shop and residence – 83 Sydney Street by Heather Knight

March 2007

• The Joiner family in Kilmore by Ken Joiner

December 2006

• Early Victorian settler Joel Cooper of Kilmore by Jenny Cooper
• Local Directory 1928 (Office bearers of local clubs and institutions)

September 2006

• There could not be a better place for making good beer: a history of brewing in Kilmore by Andrew T.T. Bailey

June 2006

• Historic Kilmore photographs sold at auction in London
• James and Isabella Thom: a Kilmore schoolteacher and his family by Grahame Thom
• Kilmore Telephone Exchange List of approx 150 names published in the Kilmore Advertiser April 1928

March 2006

John Mitton – Kilmore Resident 1840-52 by Lorri Seats                                 Legal Deposit by Helen Voogt                                                                                           Not for the faint-hearted

December 2005

• Lauriston – a grand old dame by Heather Knight

September 2005

• Thomas Huddlestone Slater by Jason Harley
• Beavan Alfred Spurzherim : chemist, druggist, printer, journalist and editor by Lyn Nunn

June 2005

• William Rutledge 1806-1878 by Liz Dillon-Hensby

March 2005

• Fryerstown and its Kilmore connection by Elizabeth Pidgeon
• Kilmore road names – updates/corrections by Elizabeth Pidgeon and Heather Knight
• Visiting the new Victorian Archives Centre – by Barbara Wilson
• British and Scottish wills online by Graham Thom

December 2004

• Mitchell’s Town – the first inland town in Victoria? by Geoff Hewitt

September 2004

• The Reverend William Singleton by Reverend Jennifer Inglis M.A
• Little Boy lost : another family myth, blarney or the truth? by Roslyn Livingston-Schubert

June 2004

• The Ryan Family : Pioneers Of Pyalong by Elizabeth Pidgeon

March 2004

• Reminiscences of Kilmore (probably written about 1920)
• Why 1837? (a discussion on Kilmore’s settlement) by Grahame Thom
• Kilmore: Victoria’s Earliest Inland Town by Heather Knight

December 2003

• Helms Bros by Harold Ross
• Kilmore House

September 2003

• Archibald and Elizabeth Thom by Grahame Thom

June 2003

• Edward White & the survey of the SA – Vic border by Alan J. Middleton
• The murder at Sutton Veny by Peter Burness
• The Durkin family of Kilmore by Heather Knight

March 2003

• Tantaraboo Selector : the story of William & Caroline Knights by Heather Knight

December 2002

• Kilmore in the past : article written for “The Kilmore Advertiser” by Finlay McNab in 1908
• Maps on the internet
• Dipping into the archives: Victorian benevolence (Kilmore Hospital)
• A Walk down Kelly’s lane.
• Patrick Kelly and Margaret Reddan

September 2002

• The Victorian inquest index 1840-1985 : with a glimpse into inquest files.
• Dipping into the Archives : in the beginning.  The Kilmore Hospital and history of medicine and nursing.

June 2002

• Roderick McLeod: No Godless Goat of Wallan

March 2002

• Richard Cooke (1898-1916) Fallen Soldier Of World War 1. (This article was the basis for a speech presented at the Pyalong Anzac Day Service in 2003.)
• Kilmore and District World War 1 Soldiers and Nurses.

December 2001

• Kilmore Rate Book 1901 – Kilmore Division (i.e. the township) –  Reproduced from the original book held in the Society’s collection.

September 2001

• What’s in a name? Origins behind Kilmore’s street names.

June 2001

• Roy William Johnston – a short autobiography

March 2001

• Lest We Forget – Kilmore’s Adopted Sons: the story of Richard and his son Dick Camm, settlers in Kilmore in the 1930s who were both to perish during WW2, includes extracts of letters from a soldier.  (Updated 6th April 2004)

December 2000

• Federation: the birth of our nation
• Extracts pertaining to Federation from the The Kilmore Advertiser and Kilmore Free Press.

September 2000

• The Beveridge’s of Kilmore and Swan Hill
• M. K. Beveridge

June 2000

• Kilmore Research Centre opens in Kilmore Courthouse
• The last to leave: Reuben Ernest Knights

March 2000

• A tribute to “Bunny” Harrington
• Kilmore Anglican Parish, 1849-1999
• The Reverend William Jones Singleton (1806-1875)

December 1999

• The Boer War and the Districts’ forgotten soldiers
• Kilmore and District Boer War soldiers
• Extracts from The Kilmore Advertiser pertaining to the Boer War

September 1999

• St. Patrick’s, Kilmore
• Gems from The Kilmore Advertiser