Beechworth History & Heritage Society, 16 Camp Street, Beechworth (2026)

27/05/2026

𝗚𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦

Our thanks to 30 walkers and park advocates who on 23 May celebrated the centenary of Beechworth's Gorge Road opening and ninetieth anniversary of its second Spring Creek bridge opening.

The team at Beechworth Bakery, with the generous support of Jo and Marty Matassoni, made a delicious almond-decorated cream sponge for the occasion, commemorating the opening of the Gorge Road and its first timber truss bridge on 26 May, 1926, and the second steel and concrete bridge on 14 May, 1936.

Board of Works chief engineer Carlo Catani, who planned out the road up Mount Buffalo, provided guidance in 1908 about the proposed route around Beechworth's scenic gorge.

The steel and concrete bridge was closed after floods in October 2022. Parks Victoria is working on concepts for a replacement, including options for a pedestrian-only bridge and a dual pedestrian and single lane traffic bridge. The community's looking forward to another update about the next steps.

See more at https://www.beechworthhistoryandheritage.com/post/walkers-mark-bridge-birthdays

19/05/2026

𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗚𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗞𝗘!

Join us on Saturday morning to commemorate the May centenary of Beechworth's Gorge Road opening and 90th anniversary of its second bridge opening. It's quite a story!

With early guidance about the route from famed Board of Works chief engineer Carlo Catani in 1908, building the road and first bridge - a timber truss type - from 1916 to 1926 became a major engineering and financial challenge. The truss bridge then had to be replaced with a concrete span, opening in 1936. And now it needs replacing again so full public access to Beechworth's five-kilometre key walk can be restored. Explore what you can do to ensure Parks Victoria delivers.

Thanks to the generous support of Jo and Marty Matassoni and Beechworth Bakery, there'll be cake. So wear your walking shoes and hat, bring water and come along.

When: Saturday, 23 May, 2026
Time: Gather at 10:15am to walk to the (closed) bridge from 10:30. Ends 11:30am.
Where: Gunpowder Magazine entrance to Gorge Road (lower Camp Street)

Images:
Rose Series postcard P10555: The Bridge, Gorge Road, Beechworth Vic. Rose Stereograph Co (1920-1954). State Library of Victoria.
Carlo Catani. Sourced from https://beechworthhistorytimeline.com.
Rose Series postcard. The Bridge, Gorge Road, Beechworth Vic. (c.1936)

17/05/2026

Our sincere thanks to all who dug into Beechworth and supported and participated in our National Trusts' Australian Heritage Festival events across April-May.

𝗣𝗲𝗻, 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 - the last of these - was sold out on Saturday (16 May) with 15 people joining our guided walk through Beechworth's art history. This included an acknowledgement of our Dudhuroa Waywurru people's ancestors and the thylacine-like and snake-like ochre-trace rock art figures at Yeddonba below Mount Pilot.

Participants were invited to think on 'boomtown Beechworth' before it was named, with Edward Bateman drawing the tented government camp at 'Mayday Hill, Ovens' in December 1852, accompanied by Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood sculptor Thomas Woolner. We talked about the significant contribution of Chinese migrants to Beechworth's cultural heritage; the photography of Walter Woodbury (1856) and Charles Bayliss (1876); the work of colonial government botanist and inveterate correspondent Ferdinand von Mueller, whose botanical studies and plant collector networks led to the Burke Museum and Beechworth Historic Precinct holding two folio editions and Stanley Athenaeum one of his 𝘌𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘦, and his relationship with police officer and explorer Robert O'Hara Burke; the lives, works and friendship of Austrian-born painter Eugene von Guerard and his Russian-born colleague Nicholas Chevalier; James Bray's photography of suffrage campaigners and the Kelly Gang's Glenrowan siege; the Beechworth childhood of Hilda Rix (Nicholas) who went on to become a leading painter in the first half of the twentieth century; the poetry and books of writer and social observer Ada Cambridge; the gift by clergyman Charles Phillip Greene to Beechworth's Anglican Christ Church of important Cox and Son textiles in 1885; and modern artworks by leading regional artists and makers presented by Nina Machielse Hunt in her Beechworth Contemporary art space.

We're grateful to Hotel Nicholas hosts Lorraine and Ross Lucas for guiding participants through 𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. - their extraordinary photographic collection of historic Beechworth; Col Gladstone and Jan Milhinch for setting out notes and walking route among our significant trees for 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘆𝘀; Burke Museum and Beechworth Historic Precinct curatorial and visitor staff for enabling us to view the Burke memorial window designed by Beechworth headmaster John Cuzner in 1864 and created by Urie and Ferguson glassmakers in 1874, and the Burke's marvellous Chinese ceremonial banners; and Freeman On Ford's Heidi Freeman for opening the Star Hotel's salon and for its view over Ford Street.

You can check in on Beechworth History and Heritage Society's activities at https://www.beechworthhistoryandheritage.com/blog

14/05/2026

𝗣𝗘𝗡, 𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘
Come, join us, and unearth some of Beechworth's fascinating tales during the National Trusts' Australian Heritage Festival 2026. Step into this Victorian-era gold rush town's art story, the last in our Beechworth History and Heritage Society festival program:

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟭𝟲 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
Where: Fountain, Town Hall Gardens, corner Ford and William Streets, Beechworth VIC 3747
Times: Arrive 10:15am for 10:30am start. Ends 12:00pm.
What: Take a guided walk and glimpse the lives, backgrounds and relationships of artists who sketched, painted, photographed and recorded Beechworth's landscapes, streetscapes and people, and one who gave a fine work of art to the community. Find out about the child who grew up here and became a leading Australian artist.

BOOKING
Tickets, free for young people, and $20-$25 for adults. Go to https://www.trybooking.com/DKWIW

Call / text 0409 912 967 for information.

Please wear walking shoes and bring a hat and water bottle. This walk will take you from Town Hall Gardens into Loch, Ford and Camp streets, to Church Street and then to the lookout above the gorge just below the Stone Bridge.
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Images:
Eugene von Guerard: View (Mount Buffalo) between Wangaratta and Benalla c. 1859-1863. Mr Louis Chevalier's Mill Beechworth 1862 (State Library of NSW Dixson Galleries). Mr Eugene von Guerard (photographed by John Botterill, Collins Street, East Melbourne c. 1871-1900 State Library of Victoria).

02/05/2026

What a sterling show of vintage and veteran vehicles today at Beechworth's former railway goods shed and station for this weekend's Beechworth Old Cranks Motor Club's 2026 Drive Back in Time.

The line-up, from an early Triumph and Chevrolet to later makes of Morris, Studebaker, Dodge, a very smart Jaguar, Citroen and 1970s Ford Fairlane, Holden and Rover, is drawing a crowd, including enthusiasts from the NSW Illawarra.

Our History and Heritage Society is grateful to the motor-powered Old Cranks for their recent vote of support for our HORSEPOWER! proposal, seeking temporary housing here for significant horse-drawn vehicles built and used in Beechworth, North East and Border communities while we work on a permanent home for this important collection. Thanks to all Old Cranks' members.

The Drive Back in Time this afternoon (Saturday, 2 May) includes a welcome barbecue, tractor trek, afternoon street cruise, and demonstration of the historic Crossley Engine in Wallace Park. It continues tomorrow on Ford Street and in the Police Paddock from 8:00am to 3:00pm.

01/05/2026

𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.

It's 1 May, the birthday of 'Beechworth's Grand Old Man': James Ingram senior, born at Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in 1828.

He emigrated to Victoria in December 1852 and came to Beechworth with his wife Margaret (née Robertson) in 1855, where he was appointed on the Ovens goldfield as agent for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘨𝘦, a newspaper then in its infancy. He went on to become a prominent newsagent and bookseller and his name remains above NewsXpress Beechworth's Camp Street facade to this day.

Victoria's press in Ingram's lifetime remarked his generosity, compassion for others and civic leadership. He was instrumental in the development of Ovens District Hospital, Ovens Benevolent Asylum and Mayday Hills Pyschiatric Hospital, involved in numerous schools, and became Beechworth Cemetery Trust secretary for 70 years.

Ingram was among those described by St Andrew's Presbyterian minister Robert Kirkwood Ewing as 'Men of the mountain': public spirited, energetic, determined and far-sighted, as Carole Woods wrote in her 1985 book 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩: 𝘈 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥.

Betty Ingram, his great-great granddaughter, recently presented historic pieces from her family's collection to our Society for the community. These also included family photographs, including some by Beechworth colonial photographer James Bray (1832-1891). Some of these are shown with this post.

James Ingram died in March 1928, a few weeks short of his one hundredth birthday.
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Images: Presumed Great War-era photograph of bearded James Ingram (front left), servicemen and others, perhaps at the Ovens Benevolent Asylum. Bray portrait of Ingram (undated). Margaret Ingram with her granddaughter, also Margaret c. (1890-91). Postcard portrait of Ingram (1922). If anyone can identify the location of the crowd in the top photograph please comment.

27/04/2026

It was a fillip for our HORSEPOWER! campaign and our team to meet Sandra Garoni and other family members descended from Upper Gundowring farmers George and Hannah Larkin.

Beechworth's carriage collection, that once numbered more than 20 vehicles and has been in the custody of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) for almost 60 years, includes an exceptional piano box buggy made by Albury coachbuilder James Higgins in his Townsend Street workshop in 1907. Higgins had a high reputation for the quality of his carriage work.

The buggy, now in storage as our Society works with the Trust's support to find a temporary home for locally-significant Beechworth, North East and Border carriages from the collection, was bought new by George and Hannah Larkin, used by the family into the 1920s, and donated to the Trust by Nell Bateman, George and Hannah Larkin's daughter and Sandra's mother, in 1985.

George, whose father John was a Beechworth teamster, was born in Beechworth in 1865 and Hannah at Spring Creek in 1866. They married in Beechworth's Newtown in 1891, and farmed at Upper Gundowring.

Nell Bateman told The Border Mail in 1988: 'There's a lot of fond memories in this old buggy. My father took me to school in it every day.'

Find out more about HORSEPOWER! and how you can support us at https://www.trybooking.com/au/donate/horsepower

Thank you.

--
Images: 1. Sandra Garoni (right) with family member Jill Findlay and Society members Sandra Williams (left) and Lorraine Lucas in front of the Larkin piano box buggy; 2. Larkin family descendants with the buggy; 3. Hannah and George Larkin at Elouera, their Upper Gundowring farm, selected in 1874; 4. Nell Bateman with the buggy when it was moved with other vehicles from Beechworth's Coach House museum to the town's former railway goods shed on 21 August, 1988 (The Border Mail); 5. Nell (right) and Les Bateman with their daughter Sandra and grandson Tim Garoni and the buggy.

24/04/2026

Beechworth RSL sub-branch today conducted a moving ANZAC Day dawn service to commemorate the one hundred and eleventh Australian and New Zealand expeditionary force Great War landing at Gallipoli in Turkiye.

At our Town Hall Gardens' cenotaph, before a hushed crowd, the solemn recitation of the traditional dedication, ode and sounding of last post, reveille and New Zealand and Australian anthems were broken only by kookaburras welcoming the sun through the crowns of the gardens' historic trees.

We remember all those who served and lost their lives in this and later wars, including Henry Norman Rothery, killed at Lone Pine in November 1915, and his sister and nurse Elizabeth, who died in Beechworth in June 1918. We also remember those who fought, survived and returned, including ship's fireman Ernest Masenhelder, who enlisted in June 1916, served in France, and who is also honoured in Beechworth cemetery.

Thank you to RSL sub-branch president John Eldrid, vice-president Alison Williams and members who maintain this and other important annual commemorations.

Lest we forget.

24/04/2026

Walkers enjoyed a guided tour among Beechworth’s historic trees on Sunday, with Beechworth History and Heritage president Jamie Kronborg recounting stories of botany and science along the way.

He described for participants how the town's exceptional tree-lined streets and colonial-era parks were planned and planted.

The group also ‘met’ Ferdinand von Mueller, colonial-era government botanist, saw his gifts to Beechworth, including a row of massive Sequoiadendron giganteum, or redwoods, in Town Hall Gardens, and heard about his 1890 address to the town in which he described Beechworth’s beauty.

The society’s next event, a walk exploring Beechworth’s art history, will be held on 16 May. Please go to www.trybooking.com/eventlist/digbeechworth for tickets. All funds support the Society’s heritage advocacy work.

Images: Beechworth's Ford Street, photographed by James Bray (1832-1891) who worked from a studio in Camp Street from about 1870.

18/04/2026

Thanks so much to Hotel Nicholas hosts Lorraine and Ross Lucas for guiding us through their packed collection of historic Beechworth photographs this morning. This 𝗗𝗶𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 event was the first in our National Trusts' Australian Heritage Festival 2026 local program that runs mid-April to mid-May.

We heard about many of the Beechworth plateau's 61 hotels - a good number of which are shown on the Nich's walls - offering stabling, food, drink, a possible bed and entertainment at the height of the Ovens goldfield rush in the 1850s.

Lorraine also described the beautiful and poignant historic photographs of Waywurru and Dudhuroa people at Wangaratta and elsewhere in the North East taken by Thomas Washbourne in 1865-66 that have recently come into hotel's collection with advice from Waywurru researcher, historian and storyteller Megan Carter. Ross spoke about an image on a glass positive plate that is thought depict men outside Chevaliers Mill at the top of Beechworth gorge. He found it in a local property clearing sale.

Our next event takes place tomorrow: Sunday, 19 April, starting from Christ Church Anglican churchyard at 10:15 for 10:30am. Treestoreys guided walk takes in Beechworth's historic trees, treescapes and parks on a 1.4km route. Book at https://www.trybooking.com/eventlist/digbeechworth

Beechworth History & Heritage Society

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