City of Boroondara Heritage Collection

Travel back in time and listen to stories of Deepdene's past along Whitehorse Road. Interviewees in this episode are: Charles Hansen & Jack McLean Bruce Steele   Boroondara Library Service presents : Street Stories This Oral History project was edited in 2026 from the City of Boroondara Library Service Heritage Collection Local History Archive. Interviews were conducted by Geraldine McFarlane in t...

Travel back in time and listen to stories of riding horses through Camberwell Junction. Interviewees in this episode are: Bob Partington Lillian Brockway Gil Muling Frank Mason Joan Thorn Dorothy Prestegar Frank Mason Charlie Cuzens   Boroondara Library Service presents : Street Stories   This Oral History project was edited in 2026 from the City of Boroondara Library Service Heritage Collection L...

Travel back in time and listen to stories of Ashburton's past forest and picnics. Interviewees in this episode are:  Dorothy Prestegar Harold Oakford Gil Muling Frank Mason Sid Dodman   Boroondara Library Service presents : Street Stories This Oral History project was edited in 2026 from the City of Boroondara Library Service Heritage Collection Local History Archive. Interviews were conducted by...

Travel back in time and listen to stories of Kew's past market gardeners and dairies. Interviewees in this episode are: Mavis Nickell Frank Mason   Boroondara Library Service presents : Street Stories This Oral History project was edited in 2026 from the City of Boroondara Library Service Heritage Collection Local History Archive. Interviews were conducted by Geraldine McFarlane in the years 1993...

Travel back in time and listen to stories of Hawthorn's true crime past. Interviewees in this episode are: Charlie Cuzens Doreen Dixon   Boroondara Library Service presents : Street Stories This Oral History project was edited in 2026 from the City of Boroondara Library Service Heritage Collection Local History Archive. Interviews were conducted by Geraldine McFarlane in the years 1993 and 1994 as...

Travel back in time and listen to stories of Balwyn's past of farms and creeks. Interviewees in this episode are: Gil Muling Esmond Kinnear Leila St John Edna DeClifford   Boroondara Library Service presents : Street Stories This Oral History project was edited in 2026 from the City of Boroondara Library Service Heritage Collection Local History Archive. Interviews were conducted by Geraldine McFa...

Stories From The Archive: Early History of The Hawthorn Football Club Mayblooms & Cherrybobs Oral History Collection, 1985.  Boroondara Heritage Collection. Oral History Interviewees: Mabel Holzer, Billy Wallace, George Martin, Ernest Dixon, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Lawrence, Walter Jona. Music courtesy of The Hawthorn Brass Band This project was made by the Boroondara Library Service Local History Tea...

'Glenferrie Sounds' was compiled for the new Hawthorn 'Open Space', 2024. It is a collaboration between Boroondara Library Service and Boroondara Capital Projects. The Oral History excerpts were taken from interviews by the Hawthorn City Library Oral History Project "Mayblooms & Cherrybobs" conducted in 1985. The Oral History archive is housed within the Boroondara Library Service Heritage Collect...

Air Raids and the War Years The shock of the First World War impelled Hawthorn's residents to join forces and prepare for the worst together. Amidst rationing and suburb-wide blackouts, the community united with the Red Cross to help the war efforts - knitting socks, sending parcels, and constructing splints in the basement of the Hawthorn Town Hall. Listen to the residents' stories as they reflec...

Memories of the Glenferrie Junction The junction at Glenferrie and Burwood Road has historically remained a bustling thoroughfare, with bicycle stores lining the shopping strip and horse-drawn vehicles populating the roads delivering the necessary goods and services to families at home. Listen to the residents' stories as they reflect on growing up around the junction and hear how they playfully i...

Events at the Hawthorn Town Hall Over the decades, the Hawthorn Town Hall hosted various events to entertain, delight and celebrate. From formal piano concerts to Friday night community singing, Saturday Vaudeville days and fancy-dress parties, the Town Hall has attracted many eager crowds. Listen to the resident's fond memories of visiting the Town Hall and enjoying cultural festivities. Particip...

Spanish Flu and Hawthorn When the Spanish Flu pandemic reached Australia's shores in early 1919, it became rapidly apparent to the population how swift and severe the outbreak would be. In Hawthorn, residents experienced the loss of neighbours, friends and loved ones to pneumonic influenza. Schools closed for months, and the community donned masks with concoctions of eucalyptus and menthol to comb...

The Great Depression Years The Great Depression was a period of hardship and suffering for many throughout Hawthorn. Widespread unemployment and lack of work left families in financial strife. Soup kitchens were set up to feed those in need, and welfare payments of seven shillings and sixpence were distributed from the Hawthorn Town Hall. Listen to the resident's stories to hear what it was like t...