150 Years Stories

Rain could not stop play at the opening of Amelia Elizabeth Smythe Cottage in March 1940. Opened by Sir Winston Dugan, accompanied by Lady Dugan, the cottage was adorned with bunting that had been donated by the Fitzroy Council.

Bunting flapped, flags flew, and everyone dressed in their best glad rags to welcome the Governor of Victoria Sir Reginald Talbot at the ‘homes’ to lay two foundation stones.

The much-acclaimed Berwick apartments were put up for the prestigious annual awards in program run by the Victorian Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 2000. They received an Order of Merit.

A plaque to mark the start of building a community room at Currie Park was unveiled during the celebrations to mark the Association’s 125th anniversary in 1994.

Currie Park in Euroa was the fourth village established by the Old Colonists’ Association of Victoria providing homes for the older citizens in Euroa. It was heralded as a model for other country towns wanting to provide similar services.

As word spread about the ‘model’ village in Euroa, so the interest from older people in the region grew. In 1996, eight apartments were added into the mix – specifically for people no longer able to manage independently.

Allan Kong Architect made the finals in the Housing Industry Association national award for their Currie Park Apartments in 1997.

Pioneering pastoralist Francis Edward Cobbold was an adventurous soul. He and his second wife Beatrice endowed two cottages at the Rushall Park village. The Cobbold Cottages were built in honour of his sister, Mrs. Jane Cain, the widow of well- known Melbourne identity William Cain, close friend and business partner of Cobbold.

Alfred Felton was a highly successful old colonist during the 1880s, and an extraordinary philanthropist who gave to hundreds of causes during his lifetime.

Helen Mallett was an independent woman who left home as a teenager to stay with friends, quite unheard of in the 1870s. She earned her living as a dressmaker and owned her own shop in Gippsland before returning to Prahran and then into Rushall Park in 1932.