By Tyler Wright
At the centennary Shire of Ferntree Gully in 1989, local groups gathered over a weekend to show displays of the area to mark the occasion.
But to then councillor Peter Marke’s dismay, while there were historical groups in the area, there were none is his riding or in the south riding of the municipality.
Two years later, the South Riding Group, which would later be known as the Southern Sherbrooke Historical Society, would be formed, beginning a 30-year stint of collecting and sharing the history of the Belgrave, Belgrave Heights and South, Selby, Menzies Creek, Lysterfield and Narre Warren East areas.
“To begin with, we’d have a person each month talking about their history in the area, and we always recorded those,” Southern Sherbrooke Historical Society president Susan Heywood-Downard said.
“We’ve got about 170 tapes of those records, including one of the very elderly lady who was at the primary school in the First World War, so that when the school centennary occurred, they asked us if we’d write the history, and we had tape recording talking about sewing handkerchiefs to send to the soldiers,” Ms Heywood-Downard said.
While the landscape has shifted since 1992, the group has remained a stronghold in the community and was recently involved in the 125th anniversary of the opening of Menzies Creek Primary School.
The group was also involved in a push in 2018 against Yarra Ranges Council’s decision to sell what was an old grammar school on 1632 Burwood Highway in Belgrave.
While the plea wasn’t successful, Ms Heywood-Downward was still pleased with the outcome.
“[The owners] found it was also an infant welfare centre at one stage, and they found panels with Disney characters on it… they had to remove those, so they asked us if we would like them and we have the historical society now,” she said.
“Although we lost the battle, we won the war.”
She said local history happens in various ways; through community groups, schools, and even new people who move into, or are curious about, the area.
“People link their local history to their family history, and if they buy an old house, they want to know more about it, and and that leads to ‘well, what was the place like?’ so we spend quite a bit of time talking to people.”
The society is also looking to take photos of the Belgrave shops to track how they have changed throughout time.
The digitised information is available though Victorian Collections, and the group also has information stored at their site at 127 Colby Drive in Belgrave Heights.
“I would want [people] to look on history as not being something dull or boring, but a part of everyday life, and something that’s a really important part of the way we all live,” Ms Heywood-Downward said.
“And it’s fun.”
The Southern Sherbrooke meet at the Original St Martin’s Church Hall, with new members are always welcome.
For further information email:
sthnsherbrookehs@yahoo.com.au, call: (03) 59683762 or find the group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthernSherbrooke?ref=hl
