City of Canada Bay Heritage Society

City of Canada Bay Museum

City of Canada Bay Museum

Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital (Rivendell) photo

Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital (Rivendell)

Walker family at Yaralla photo

Yaralla Estate

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Yaralla Estate
Open Day

Sunday, 27th October, 2024

10:00am – 1:30pm

Open Days 2025

Dame Eadith Walker Estate (Yaralla)
and
Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital (Rivendell)

use the Open Day tours tab below to sign
up and be notified of the dates

Use of Yaralla grounds

To enquire about the use of the Yaralla grounds for commercial or any other use, please contact:

The Manager
Sydney Local Health District

  • To foster interest in and inform the community of the heritage – historically and culturally – of the City of Canada Bay LGA.
  • To promote the preservation, restoration, conservation, maintenance and use of all places, buildings, monuments, etc., of historic, architectural, cultural and environmental significance within the area.
  • To acquire and preserve for the Society, books, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, oral histories, etc., as may be considered to have a bearing on the history of the area.
  • To establish and conduct a social history museum.
  • To foster interchange of information among members of the Society and any other interested people, by talks, readings, discussions, exhibitions of heritage, historical and archival material, and excursions.
  • To affiliate and co-operate with other Societies and Institutions having objects similar to those of this Society
Map-of-Suburbs-of-CCB drawing
Map of Suburbs City of Canada Bay

Open Days are subject to Covid restrictions and may be cancelled.

Tours of the Yaralla Estate (Dame Eadith Walker Convalescent Hospital) are usually held on the last Sunday in April and October.

Tours of “Rivendell” (The Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital) are usually held on the last Sunday in July.

Link to more information on Open Days at Yaralla and Rivendell

If you would like to add your name to our waiting list to be notified of the next tour of these estates, complete the form (right).

You will be notified approximately two months prior to the date of the tour.

City of Canada Bay Heritage Society Inc.

Our monthly newsletter “Nurungi”, keeps members and others advised of coming speakers or activities as well as news of the society and it contains interesting articles and snippets of historical information that have been added to the web site during the month.

Complete the “Subscribe to Nurungi” form (right) to be added to the mailing list and receive the latest “Nurungi” monthly newsletter sent at the end of each month).

City of Canada Bay Heritage Society Inc.

Vale Lois Michel 1931 – 2024

It is with great sadness that we bring you the news that we have lost our oldest and most valued member. Lois passed away peacefully on Sunday 1st December aged 93. Lois dedicated 55 years to the City of Canada Bay Heritage Society being a foundation member and Secretary of the Concord Historical Society that…

Lois Michel, her legacy and her wedding dress

Lois Michel OAM is a living treasure of the City of Canada Bay Heritage Society. Lois has been the Secretary of the Society since the inception of the Concord Heritage Society in 1969 only stepping down this year due to poor health. The City of Canada Bay Heritage Society was formed by the amalgamation of…

Mayoral minute: Tribute to Lois Michel

Correys Ave and Correys Gardens

Correys Ave runs between Major’s Bay Road and Concord Road. It is named in honour of Thomas Obed Correy Junior in recognition of his contribution to the community over many years. He served on Concord Council and, in fact, was an Alderman on the first Concord Council, set up in 1983. He was also mayor…

True stories: Strange Case of Private Donald Miller

How would you feel if you were told that you do not exist? Owing to a razor left behind at a gruesome crime scene being identified as his property, Private Donald Miller, of the 19th Battalion, fought for four years —fighting through asylums and convalescent homes— to prove that he was alive. One morning, a…

Ernest Stephen Lukeman

Adrian Boothman’s great grandfather, Ernest Stephen Lukeman, father, Richard Stephen Boothman and his family lived at 75 Formosa Street Drummoyne for more than 100 years. Ernest Stephen Lukeman was prominent in soccer circles in the late 1920s until his passing in 1936. He was the Secretary/Manager of the Australian Soccer Football Association and hosted visits…

Frontline of the Pandemic

Frontline of the Pandemic is based on the 1919 Spanish Flu pandemic that devastated Australia over a century ago. It features letters, rare documents and reports from doctors, nurses, patients, ambulance, drivers, chaplains and reporters whose stories and memories are recorded in our national archives. I wrote this book as a tribute to the frontline…

What’s new at the Museum: Vintage Hammersley tea and coffee set (early 1900’s)

This Hammersley tea and coffee set was a wedding present to my parents (Betty and Doug Robertson) who were married in 1947. It had pride of place in my mother’s China cabinet, in our formal dining room, being saved for good, but never used! I loved this tea and coffee set, only allowed to peek…

Halloween at Yaralla

We always think of Halloween as a recent addition to the Australian cultural landscape, but the tradition was alive and well back in 1913, with a large celebration, the Halloween Ball, being held at Yaralla on the 31st of October. Guests travelled up the Parramatta River on the SS Bronzewing, leaving from Fort Macquarie (Bennelong…

History of Halloween in Australia

Halloween finds its beginning as a Celtic Pagan festival called Samhain about 6000 years ago. The festival marked the end of Summer and the harvest season. It was believed that the veil between the living and the dead was very thin at this time of year. A huge bonfire would be lit to herald the…

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