News and Events articles

Whenever we meet and talk to people on open days or at events it is always interesting to hear about their family links and stories about how our area was when they grew up here, visited in search of family places or that they discovered they had links to the district after being drawn back […]

We publish our newsletter the Nillumbik Custodian each quarter for our members. Issues from 2021 and earlier are publicly available to view and read on Trove / National Library https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1552649449 Please feel free to browse through and read whatever you find interesting or become a member to receive each issue as soon as it’s published.

Nillumbik Cemetery is one of a number of Pioneer Cemeteries in the district with burials going back to its establishment in 1867.  The cemetery has been managed and maintained by Trustees since that time and it still is today.  The Trustees are volunteers who give their time to keep the cemetery in the condition they […]

The Nillumbik Shire Council website has a page dedicated to our Local History where you can find details and links for local history societies and groups, reconciliation group and others, plus the interactive Nillumbik Heritage Guide. Click on any highlighted words or add this link to a browser www.nillumbik.vic.gov.au/Council/About-the-Shire/Local-history

Original 1974 publication of The Diamond Valley Story by Dianne H. Edwards All copies are in brand new condition having been stored by our society since they were given to us by the author for our contribution of photographs and information   Contact Us to arrange your purchase   Collect from Ellis Cottage or arrange […]

On Sunday, 13th November 2022 we held a Remembrance Day Service at Ellis Cottage Lone Pine Memorial Garden. Following the service we dedicated panels commemorating servicemen from Diamond Creek District who served in WW1 that have been in place on the barn wall for over two years. We are very happy to have finally had […]

START YOUR FAMILY TREE FOR FREE There is a lot you can do to start your family tree without paying companies like Ancestry, Find My Past of My Heritage to do research. These companies have exclusive or non-exclusive access to millions of records, and eventually you may choose to subscribe to one of them. But […]

Be sure to visit us at the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival tomorrow. We are in the same location as last year – in the Allwood Neighbourhood House Inc gardens, just inside the gate opposite the end of the railway line.

In November, Nillumbik Shire Council installed two new informative panels on Watkins Street Reserve. They form the Diamond Creek section of the Heidelberg School Artists’ Trail and replace signs that were installed in a similar location along the creek about 25 years ago, that over time deteriorated and were removed. MAY VALE May Vale was […]

John Clarke, a descendant of Nathaniel Ellis who developed and worked on the farm around Ellis Cottage with his uncle William launched his book, Top House Blackawton Ashby Park, about the Ellis and Watts families in our barn on September 22. We had a cosy audience of Ellis family descendants and society members which made […]

For morning or afternoon tea at one of Nillumbik Shire’s oldest buildings, built in 1865.   Enjoy exclusive access to Ellis Cottage, our barn with historic displays and surrounding gardens.   Devonshire Tea & Talk with Tour – $18 per person or Tea, Coffee, Biscuits & Talk with Tour – $10 per person served with […]

Drop by and have a chat with us on our   Next Open Day   Sunday, 4th May 2pm – 4pm   Entry $3   covers both the cottage and the barn   Children Free