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Burnley Ex-Students' Association preparing for Garden Week display, South Melbourne

The Age (Melbourne, Vic.: 1854- )April 1933

Scope and contents

Female gardeners from the School of Horticulture, Burley, preparing an exhibit for Autumn Garden Week located at Wirth's Park on the site of the current Melbourne Arts Centre.

A horticultural training establishment commenced at Burnley in 1891. Women were allowed to attend from 1899 under the enlightened leadership of Charles Luffman. By 1934, following the tragic impacts of World War One, women were both required and determined to earn a living and to be paid landscape architects, designers and managers. Wearing trousers and overalls was an outward indicator that should they wish, they could be horticulturalists, not just gardeners.

Garden Week was billed as one of the most important floral displays held in Australia, showcasing flowers, fruit and vegetables, bulbs, succulents, garden ornaments, practical appliances and garden literature. There were large display halls and model gardens - designed to provide inspiration to the amateur gardener and showcase Victorian producers.

Featured in "Newsworthy: Melbourne in photographs 1933-1936" exhibition at East Melbourne Library, October to December 2023. Exhibition caption by project volunteer, Louise McKenzie.

Record details

Title:

Burnley Ex-Students' Association preparing for Garden Week display, South Melbourne

Creator:

The Age (Melbourne, Vic.: 1854- )Bull, Hugh Jones, 1897-1993

Collector:

McKenzie, Ian, 1939-2014

Date of work:

April 1933

Reference number:

MCK049

Level of description:

Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)

Type of materials:

Graphic materials

Part of:

Sub-sub-collection: McKenzie Collection of glass plate negatives (SC_MCKENZIE)

Access restrictions:

UnrestrictedOpen access

Use restrictions:

Refer to individual item records for Use Restrictions.Please contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images. High resolution files may be available on request. Users must acknowledge City of Melbourne Libraries when reproducing images.

General notes:

Photographer notations on slide: B21Published: 10 April 1934Published title and caption: Preparing for Garden WeekReference: PREPARING FOR GARDEN WEEK. (1934, April 10). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved February 2, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203840965Caption: "Garden Week, which opens to-day at Wirth's Park, will present the best of the Autumn flowers, together with seasonal shrubs and trees, grown by Victorian Horticulturists. Girl students are here seen preparing one of the exhibits. The display will continue until Saturday inclusive.".Description:Female gardeners from the School of Horticulture, Burley, preparing an exhibit for Autumn Garden Week located at Wirth's Park on the site of the current Melbourne Arts Centre..A horticultural training establishment commenced at Burnley in 1891. Women were allowed to attend from 1899 under the enlightened leadership of Charles Luffman. By 1934, following the tragic impacts of World War One, women were both required and determined to earn a living and to be paid landscape architects, designers and managers. Wearing trousers and overalls was an outward indicator that should they wish, they could be horticulturalists, not just gardeners..Garden Week was billed as one of the most important floral displays held in Australia, showcasing flowers, fruit and vegetables, bulbs, succulents, garden ornaments, practical appliances and garden literature. There were large display halls and model gardens - designed to provide inspiration to the amateur gardener and showcase Victorian producers..Featured in "Newsworthy: Melbourne in photographs 1933-1936" exhibition at East Melbourne Library, October to December 2023. Exhibition caption by project volunteer, Louise McKenzie..In January 2026, volunteer Fiona Collyer contacted Burnley Campus Archives at University of Melbourne to share the image. Jane Wilson, Manager of the Burnley Campus Archives, University of Melbourne, supplied the following information:."I find that we actually have that photograph as a newspaper cutting, sent in from a former student. This is some additional information: Students are: Evelyn Yule (1932), Betty Holmes (1932), Margaret Doherty (1932) and Alice Glascodine (later Mrs. Tucker) (1933). Alice sent us the newspaper cutting.".Alice didn't specify who was who in the photograph but noted: "An earlier cataloguer had thought Alice was the one on the right, but I’m not sure.".References:PREPARING FOR GARDEN WEEK. (1934, April 10). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved February 2, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203840965.https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/604ef24d1b68728908e39ab1This is the original cutting donated to Burnley Campus Archives by one of the former students, Alice Glascodine (later Mrs Tucker).GARDEN WEEK OPENS TO-DAY. (1933, April 4). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved February 2, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204884201

Topics:

Gardening1930-1939Clubs and associationsExhibitsClothing and dressSouth Melbourne (Vic.)WomenArts Centre Melbourne (Southbank, Vic.)

Form/Genre:

Glass negatives

Record types:

Images, maps and artefacts

Record number:

1534339

Bookmark link:

https://librarysearch.melbourne.vic.gov.au/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/OPAC/ARCENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=1534339