New publication: Aborigines in the Yarra Valley and Northern Dandenongs

New publication from the Mt Evelyn History Group. Aborigines in the Yarra Valley and Northern Dandenongs - $15

Email: historygroup@mountevelyn.vic.au to order.

What do we do?

Mount Evelyn History Group members are interested in the collection, preservation, research, writing and publication of all aspects of history relating to our town. We hold displays at local events and provide speakers and information on request. Our newsletter, Things Past, is published monthly.

Click here for Things Past from January 2012

Click here for Things Past from December 2011

Click here for Things Past from November 2011

Click here for Things Past from October 2011

Click here for Things Past from September 2011

Click here for Things Past from August 2011

We hold committee meetings on the fourth Thursday evenings of even months at the Old Community Link, Wray Crescent, Mt Evelyn. In alternate months we meet at Mt Evelyn Station House on fourth Saturday afternoons. There are guest speakers on these occasions. Visitors are welcome at meetings and lectures.

The history of the History Group

An informal group of enthusiasts convened in the 1990s to produce a history of Mt Evelyn. This group amalgamated with the Mt Evelyn Environment Protection & Progress Association (MEEPPA) and functioned as a MEEPPA sub-committee for some years. Tracks to Trails: A History of Mt Evelyn was published in 1997 and the second (Centenary) Edition in 2001.

In October 2007 the decision was taken to re-establish the independent History Group. The Mount Evelyn History Group incorporated on 6th March 2008.

Aims of Mount Evelyn History Group Inc

1.To be an independent group whose sole focus is history.

2.To encourage a high standard of research, writing and history-related skills.

3.To encourage historical appreciation and activities in the community.

4.To maintain and catalogue a collection of historical information.

Our masthead photo

Can one picture sum up the history of a town, or capture the flavour of a whole era?

Our masthead photo shows members of the O’Connor and Schultz families outside Ada O’Connor’s holiday house at Billygoat Hill about 1927. Ada is the woman in the hat at left. The boy sitting at front right is her son, Vic O’Connor (1918-2010), who became a noted Realist artist.  
The man seated at centre right holding a bunch of heath is Harold Schultz, Ada’s brother-in-law. A jeweller from Clifton Hill, Harold was known as ‘The Mayor of Billygoat Hill’. He used to organise community activities such as Christmas parties, cricket matches (where Billygoat Hill holiday makers took on Mt Evelyn locals) and yabbying competitions in the station dam.

The photo touches on many aspects of Mt Evelyn’s history: the colourful characters; the distinct communities that made up the township; the holiday shacks and weekend visitors of the inter-war period; water supply or lack of it (the tank); the lure of the bush and the endearing dagginess of the town and the era.

History is many-faceted and no single account or picture can tell it all. But if one image could represent the Mt Evelyn story, this photo would have to be a contender. 

Want to find out more? Click here for our publication list

Naming of Mt Evelyn - an ongoing mystery

The township we now call ‘Mt Evelyn’ grew up around the highest station on the Lilydale to Warburton railway line (opened 1901). Originally ‘Olinda Vale’, the station name was changed to ‘Evelyn’ in 1907, as part of a state-wide push to shorten station names. The prefix ‘Mount’ was added in 1919-20 to promote the town’s attractions and healthful ‘mountain’ air.

One question has never had a definite answer: why was the name ‘Evelyn’ chosen in 1907?

The town is in the County of Evelyn, named in 1849 for William John Evelyn (1822-1908), MP for Surrey West in England 1849-1857. The state electorate of Evelyn was so named because originally it coincided with the County.

It’s most likely that Evelyn Station too was named after the County, with the added advantage that ‘Evelyn’ sounded not unlike ‘Olinda Vale’. This would mean our town was named indirectly after William Evelyn, the British MP. Unfortunately we’ve never found proof of this explanation or any other. 

For a history of the Evelyn family and biography of William Evelyn, see: http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofevelynf00eveluoft#page/8/mode/2up

Some people persist in claiming that the town was named after Evelyn Heales, daughter of Richard Heales (Premier of Victoria 1860-61 and namesake of Healesville). Rubbish! Whatever the origin of its name, Evelyn station was NOT named after the daughter of Premier Richard Heales.  How do we know? Because Premier Heales didn’t have a daughter named Evelyn!

Colouring Mt Evelyn

Download our colouring book based on the Timeline Fence Panels along the Warburton Trail in Mt Evelyn.

Click here to download (4.3mb)

Publications available from Mount Evelyn History Group Inc.

Aborigines in the Yarra Valley and Northern Dandenongs Tracks to Trails: A History of Mt Evelyn (2nd Ed.) History of the Supermarket Site Gwen Hardy: a Tribute The First Selectors of Mt Evelyn Tourists, the Dam & Depression  1920s &1930s From Holiday to Home   WWII & 1950s The History of Guiding in Mt Evelyn The Mt Evelyn Aqueduct History of the Mt Evelyn Fire Brigade Naming Mt Evelyn Street Names of Mt Evelyn The Mt Evelyn Tennis Club The Hut at Mt Evelyn Christian School The Water Race History of the Melba Centre  1971-1997 Flower Farming in Mt Evelyn & District

$15.00 $25.00 $2.00 $5.00 $4.00 $6.00 $6.00 $3.00 $4.00 $5.00 $2.00 $4.00 $4.00 $2.00 $4.00 $2.00 $4.00

Contact us

Postal address
P.O. Box 101 Mt Evelyn VIC 3796.  
Email
historygroup@mountevelyn.vic.au
                            
Enquiries, membership & book sales
Paula Herlihy (President), herlihy@alphalink.com.au
              
Newsletter
Karen Phillips (Secretary), karen.m.l.phillips@gmail.com

Click here to download our membership form (12k .pdf checked and clear of viruses)