OUR EARLY HISTORY
Introduction
In the early days (mid-twentieth century), and in many decades thereafter, there were two separate Sub Branches – Montmorency and Eltham. Montmorency developed from the Greensborough RSL during the mid 1940s when locals thought that there were sufficient Greensborough members living in the Montmorency & Briar Hill areas to begin their own Sub Branch. The Eltham RSL developed independently and began soon after the end of WW1. During 2010-11, the Eltham Sub Branch was closed and its membership was invited to join an expanded and re-named Montmorency Eltham Sub Branch.
The background to the development of the Montmorency Sub Branch over the decades since its inception has been more fully researched than that of Eltham, so is described in some detail in the sections below (similar details about Eltham would be gratefully received – use email address below – for incorporation in this 'History' section). There are also two books about the history of both Sub Branches by the late Max Dimmack, an Eltham local who was also a returned veteran. The works are titled The Club in the Park (about Montmorency RSL) and We Will Remember Them (about Eltham RSL) – copies of both books are held in the club's book collection as well as in the Eltham Library.
The historical details about Montmorency RSL, while researched independent of the work by Max, will necessarily cover similar events and developments to those he described.
Montmorency RSL Sub Branch
The following is a summary of a more detailed history of the Montmorency RSL Sub Branch. An in-depth account (a 33-page pdf file) of the early and more recent history is contained in a document which can be viewed here. It contains not only the history of Sub Branch and club developments, but also a collection of extracts from the committee Minutes book, and some comments of some general issues arising from an analysis of administrative and other areas over the decades.
Beginnings
The Sub Branch began in the mid 1940s, many members having already been members at Greensborough. A group soon began meeting in the Montmorency Community Hall which was constructed in the mid 1930s on a large block of land at the corner of Rattray Rd. and Wellington St.
The Hall was the centre for Montmorency social functions and other activities. Its operation was administered by the Hall Committee, and its activities were overseen by a group of three Trustees. The Trust Deed which determined their responsibilities was officially signed by the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1936. The driving force for the Hall's construction (and much else in the district) was Albert Price. The initial trustees for the Hall were Albert Price, Charles Brodie and Jack Shallard.
By the time the Sub Branch began meeting in the Hall, Mr. Price's health was suffering, and the other two trustees had been performing their role for many years. There was an agreement made whereby the operation of the Hall was handed over to the RSL Sub Branch and a transfer of trustees was arranged, again with the consent of the Supreme Court. Subsequently the RSL acquired the Hall and its various assets in 1948 and the new Trust Deed was signed by George Guymer, Robert Macdowell and Walter Timms (see original Trust Deed here; That Deed was changed whenever trustees changed, the latest which is still in MERSL records was in 1981 when the trustees were Robert Barling, John Brennan and Kevin Shanhun). The Price family name was permanently connected to the Hall through the names of Albert and his wife, who was also a significant contributor to local organizations. Its name was (and still is) The Albert and Janet Price Hall and a plaque was made to that effect.
Cr Albert Price
Early Days of the Montmorency RSL
The Sub Branch met regularly and organized many functions partly for their social benefit and partly to raise funds to support the welfare of returned servicemen. Minutes of those meetings were kept for many years in a large 'Minutes Ledger' (the first entry was made in 1954), and that enabled much of the history of the Sub Branch to be known in recent years. Although many of the details of minutes were summarized from that record, unfortunately the ledger itself became lost sometime around 2013, probably when assets were temporarily stored elsewhere during a significant renovation of the building. As a result, the details of meetings from the later 1960s to the early 1980s (when the books records were concluded) are no longer known.
Sale of the Hall
Fortunately, however, the details of a significant event related to the Sub Branch's assets have been summarized and stored prior to the loss of the book. In 1965, the Hall's location became of interest to a petrol company as a useful place to build a Service Station. An offer was made to the RSL and, while the Sub Branch was considering the offer, another offer was tendered by a different petrol company! Over a few months, there were further offers with a final bid of 18,500 pounds being accepted – a very significant sum in those days. There was also a second smaller block of land adjacent to the Hall's property and it was sold separately a couple of years later for a further 6,000 dollars. The Hall was finally vacated in July 1965.
A New Premises
A local family (the Petrie Family) had a small farm property in Mountain View Rd. It was originally owned by Henry D.W. Petrie snr, but ownership transferred to his son, also Henry D.W. Petrie (both were widely known as 'Jock'), when his father died in 1961. In the mid 1960s, the Petrie family offered to hand over the farm land to the Shire of Eltham for use as public land, provided that an area was set aside for the construction of a new RSL premises.
According to the official Trust Deed, the trustees who held the funds from the sale of the Hall, arranged for the construction of a new building in 'Petrie Park', and also gave the council $10,000 to assist in the construction of a second hall, adjacent to the new RSL club rooms. To mark the connection to and continuity with the previous building in Rattray Rd, the brass plaque which recognized the contribution made by Albert & Janet Price was transferred to the new building. The formal link between the two buildings was the Trust Deed that originally applied to the Rattray Rd building and which was then applied to the new premises under the stewardship of the same trustees and Trust Deed. That Deed also referred to the original building as The Albert and Janet Price Hall, and the original plaque was affixed to a wall in the new premises.
Land East of Mountainview Rd prior to conversion from Petrie farm land to Petrie Park. The beginnings of the Bowling Club can be seen in the background, along with the already established Pigeon Club.
The building was opened in the middle of 1967. A formal lease agreement was made with the Shire of Eltham in 1967, and the renewal of that lease was first made in 1974 (that lease can be viewed here). The overall arrangements included an agreement that the RSL would pay the Council a token annual amount of $20 as rent (later increased to $118 during the 1980s as specified in the 1981 lease) for the land set aside for their building as stipulated by Mr Petrie, in recognition of the financial assistance provided by the RSL in the construction of the second hall (the Henry Petrie Community Centre) adjacent to the new RSL premises.
Beginning with the earlier Rattray Rd Hall, the Montmorency RSL Sub Branch had legally appointed Trustees authorized to oversee the operation and, if necessary, the disbursement of its total assets which included any buildings it owned, in accord with the instructions in the Trust Deed, should the Sub Branch be wound up for any reason. It is thought that such an arrangement was unique among Victorian Sub Branches (it was a Sub Branch which owned its assets, under the supervision of its own trustees ... most Sub Branches have the State Branch as trustee).
The Later Years of the 20th Century – Building Re-Developments
The Montmorency Sub Branch had three trustees since the early days when it took over the ownership of the Rattray Rd Community Hall.
These trustees obtained their authority from the previous trustees who held the property and assets on behalf of the people of Montmorency. The formal Trust Deed was approved by the Supreme Court of Victoria. Over time, other trustees (a less formal group in a legal sense) were appointed separately to oversee the day-to-day accounts and general operations. Unfortunately, the recording of changes in these personnel in the Sub Branch minutes became somewhat confused so that it wasn't always clear, when new trustees were appointed, with which trustee body they were associated. The changes to the formal group were very few, with Bob Barling being one of the first members and remaining in the group until he died in the early 2000s, to be replaced by Paul McColl. There was never any doubt in Bob's mind as to who were the trustees of the building, as he had been trustee of the original building in Rattray Rd, and he understood the legal and community significance of the connection to the origins of the premises. So there was a continuity in trustees since the early days, but the official and legal requirements for noting any change in trustees (formally-called meetings with specified attendance requirements and so on) weren't always followed to the letter.
At the time, that didn't seem to be of any concern, but it became a greater issue when municipal councils were amalgamated in the early 1990s. The earlier Shire of Eltham understood the arrangements between them and the RSL, particularly in connection to the donation of the parklands to the Shire by Jock Petrie in the mid 60s. However during the council amalgamations, their records were misplaced or lost (and only an incomplete set were on file at the Sub Branch), and so the historical connection between the two organizations disappeared. One of the results was a cessation of the 'peppercorn' rental which was paid annually to the Council. The Sub Branch's application for the then new poker machine licensing opportunities in the early 90s meant that the new Banyule Council no longer recognized the background to the Sub Branch rental arrangements and took the position that any new arrangements should be made on a competitive commercial basis. This was despite the fact that Consumer Affairs Victoria still considered the organization as one which was administered largely by volunteers, and it retained a tax-free entity.
The resulting arrangement wasn't all 'bad news' as it included an agreement between the Sub Branch and the Council to establish a mutually contributed fund to assist in supporting various local sporting, social, educational and other community groups.
The current premises bears no similarity to the original building in the mid 60s. Initially, there was a single-story building consisting of an entrance (see photo below – including photographer!) opposite the entrance to the Community Hall . Another photo shows many members in a slightly expanded version of the original premises in the park.
The Council agreement with the RSL was to pay a nominal annual rent for this land, partly because of the financial assistance given by the RSL towards the construction of the new Community Hall adjacent to the RSL.
The original construction only included part of that allocated area. The external entrance to these new clubrooms was immediately opposite the Community Hall. A small entrance area opened into the bar area with the actual bar on the left, and windows providing a view to the park land on the right. At the far end was a second room separated from the bar area by a partial dividing wall. Among other purposes, the latter room was the billiards room where the two tables which were originally in the Rattray Rd hall were now located. A small but dedicated group of members continued to use those facilities for many years, and played competitions against other RSL teams.
Initially, the hospitality was largely in the form of a 'bar fridge' where members brought their own bottles and kept them cool in the fridge. Later arrangements included an opportunity to purchase 'beer tickets' which could be exchanged for a drink from bottles which the club had purchased from local publicans – liquor licensing laws were the determining factor for how RSLs, football clubs and other groups could provide liquor to members. For many decades, John Brennan was a trustee, committee member and stalwart of the club. It was fitting that that first bar was named the John 'Steptoe' Brennan bar (he was more often known simply as 'Steppie').
Various minor building changes were made in the late 80s and early 90s. One area of change was that far end of the main bar where a room was added as an 'admin room'; another additional area was directly opposite the bar where a door was constructed in the wall facing the park and an 'outdoor fenced-off area' for barbecues and other informal functions was created and named after another trustee and his wife – the Barling Family Outdoor Area. That gave recognition not only to the contribution to the club's establishment by Bob Barling but also by his wife, Margaret. This extension took place in the early 90s.
The introduction of Gaming Machines to Victoria and their subsequent approval for the RSL meant that building renovations were required once again. Initially, the far end of the main bar was rearranged to accommodate the new developments. This was soon extended further with the construction of upstairs rooms for admin, billiards and committee business. In addition, there was a significant increase in the dining area, kitchen and adjacent toilet facilities, partly because of the need to have appropriate bistro-type facilities as part of a Gaming Machine venue.
On completion, the footprint of the premises now took up almost the entire area of land allocated by 'Jock' Petrie and the Council. All these alterations were carried out as a result of initiatives promoted by then President, Bill McKenna. The result was that the Barling Outdoor Area was a comparatively short-lived arrangement, but the overall result was a significant improvement to a now larger club in terms of membership numbers.
Despite all of these developments and renovations, Bill McKenna was always insistent that we needed to 'go over the top'. And so it eventually came to pass that a major extension provided a much larger space for members, dining, memorabilia, and poker machines. It was completed in two stages – the first being opened in 2006, and a later expansion to allow for the additional membership expected with the inclusion of Eltham RSL members after the re-naming of the Sub Branch in 2010-11. The size and layout of the upstairs main bar was such that 'sub-spaces' could easily be produced with the use of portable dividers to accommodate small and medium sized functions to be held without completely taking over the members bar area. These new arrangements also provided for a new committee meeting room and an outdoor area upstairs over-looking the park and producing a pleasant environment for small groups during many warm spring, summer and autumn afternoons. These new extensions (and the earlier ones) were the result of the tireless work in many directions and over many years by President Bill.
The financing of the extensions during the 1990s was difficult to arrange with any bank due to the fact that the Sub Branch didn't own the land on which the building stood, and so the existing building was of little value to a bank as a form of collateral supporting any loan – that is, should the bank need to take over the premises, they wouldn't be able to sell it as an unencumbered asset as the land would still belong to the Banyule Council (originally, the council to which the RSL was attached was the Shire of Eltham; after the council amalgamations in the early 90s, the suburbs west of Bolton St were included in the Banyule Council precinct). The financing problem for building extensions was partly overcome by the Committee issuing debentures to members and this resulted in the raising of many thousands of dollars and therefore requiring much less to be borrowed from the bank.