It was recently announced that the historic section of Leongatha Secondary College was placed on the Victorian State Heritage Register. The listing refers to the Sloyd Room, built in 1913 as a woodwork room, the 1934 building, which replaced a building constructed in 1912 and destroyed by fire in 1933, the Jubilee Park planted in 1937 to commemorate the school’s 25th anniversary and a famous oak tree planted in 1912. Read the rest of this entry »
On April 12th 2008 John Murphy’s latest book, “One Bag in Six” was launched at the Shingler Memorial Dinner.
Royal Historical Society of Victoria past president, Professor Weston Bate, officially launched the book and spoke very highly of John and the story of onion growing in Gippsland.
The Leongatha & District Historical Society’s February newsletter includes coverage of the recent South Gippsland history conference, held in Korumburra’s magnificent Coal Creek Heritage Park. The Society was well represented with three speakers: John Murphy, Ian Lester and Lyn Skillern all making presentations.
The day attracted a good number of attendees, and so impressed the South Gippsland Shire that the day may become an annual event.
The newsletter also includes a feature article by Pat Spinks on Peter Peterson, a fisherman-turned-knife maker, who worked from Port Welshpool, and whose workmanship was prized by many who used his tools. Lyn Skillern has contributed a feature article on early education, including mention of John Jeffrey, after whom Leongatha’s Jeffrey Street is named, who was the first permanent head teacher at the Leongatha Primary School.
The newsletter may be downloaded from the archives page.
Please join the South Gippsland Historical Societies at their conference on Saturday, February 23, 2008, at Coal Creek, Korumburra - 10am to 4pm.
Come and learn more about South Gippsland’s unique history.
The South Gippsland Historical Network, together with the Leongatha Historical Society, will be running a history conference at Coal Creek, Korumburra.
The theme of the conference is “No History, No Culture”, and the speakers will be telling those present about a number of fascinating topics related to the development of South Gippsland and its special cultural identity. Read the rest of this entry »
People wishing to contact the Leongatha and District Historical Society electronically can now send emails to our secretary, Mrs Lyn Skillern, at the following address: secretary@leongathahistory.org.au.
Correspondence can be sent to:
The Secretary
Leongatha and District Historical Society
P.O. Box 431
Leongatha 3953
The society’s phone number is:
03 5662 2492
Newsletters published quarterly by the Leongatha and District Historical Society over the last four years are now online in our newsletter archive.
South Gippsland has very little in the way of remnant vegetation due to the effects of fire and farming, but efforts are being made to regrow a diversity of indigenous plants through Landcare and other revegetation programs.
Native plants specialist, Ian Starkey, told the Leongatha and District Historical Society’s September meeting that remaining stands of remnant vegetation were being well looked after, but the efforts of farmers through Landcare and similar programs were seeing sensitive areas, such as river banks, revitalised under new plantings of native vegetation.
No Parallell: The Woorayl Shire 1888 to 1988 – $20
The Meeting Place: The Leongatha Memorial Hall 1924 to 2004 – $15
The Leongatha Labour Colony – $10
Leongatha Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library 1891 to 1991 – $6
Knox’s Rockhill Farm – $5
Faith of Our Fathers – $10
Town Water – $15
The First Century : 100 Years of the Leongatha Butter Factory – $15
“The Pioneering of South Gippsland” is a major component of this website. It is the work of Lyn Skillern, the secretary of the Leongatha and District Historical Society, and a teacher at the Leongatha Secondary College, built up from class work and originally presented as a Word document.
