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P. 12

By
                       Ross King





            A Centennary In The Suburbs



             ome eight kilometres north-west of   football.  In 1897 at the age of 16 years   books of Victoria.  When in Kalgoorlie Mr
          Sthe Melbourne CBD along Mount     and 321 days, Harry played his first and   Gyles was invited to attend a meeting of the
          Alexander Road (so named as the    only senior game with the Carlton club,   A.N.A (Australian Natives  Association)
          route to the Mt Alexander goldfields) a   as Number 22, there-after holding the   branch there to sing White Australia and
          busy junction is reached where Mount   record for some 30 years as youngest to   was accorded a flattering reception.”
          Alexander, Ascot  Vale  and  Pascoe   ever play at senior level.
          Vale Roads intersect with Dean and                                    Prior to this at Carlton on the 16  April,
                                                                                                         th
          Puckle Streets.                    Other interests followed, and as he   1903, Harry married Eva Hope and
                                             developed, so did his baritone voice   eventually they had five children – four
          This is the centre of the suburb of   and musical ability - a life on the    sons and a daughter
          Moonee Ponds, where in days gone   stage beckoned.
          by at the (now) Queens Park pond,                                     Travelling biograph, variety and lantern
          gold diggers would camp and where   His performance took him interstate   shows had exhibited at the  Moonee
          the Burke and  Wills expedition made   and by 1910 he was touring with   Ponds Town Hall since the 1890’s.  By
          their  first camp on their ill-fated trek   the  Anderson Pantomime Company,   the end of 1910, Westonia Illustrated
          north.  As Dame Edna Everage, Barry   managed by Beaumont Smith (Smith   Moving Pictures were screening 5000
          Humphries has placed Moonee Ponds   became one of  Australia’s foremost   feet of ‘the most up-to-date pictures’ at
          on the world stage.                silent film directors).             the Town Hall.

          The  first established picture show to   In April 1910 the company was playing   In the same year a large barn-like
          open in the district was the  Moonee   in pantomime with Nat Clifford, as   theatre for the showing of moving
          Ponds Picture Gardens  on the 3    the “Dame” at the  Crystal Theatre,    pictures opened on the opposite side
                                        rd
          December, 1909. This was an open-air   in Broken Hill.                of town, in Chapel Street Prahran, the
          show on the site now occupied by the                                  first of the three Lyric picture-theatres
          Foxtel building.                   In notes of the Barrier Miner newspaper   to be established in Melbourne suburbs.
                                             it was reported “Mr. Gyles is a songwriter,   The success of this show was closely
          In keeping with the times, the program   and has written a patriotic song entitled   observed, by others keen to establish
          was a mixture of short films and variety   White Australia, which may yet become   purpose built suburban picture theatres.
          acts.  Roy Rene (Mo) performed there   the national song of Australia.  The words
          as did two popular vocalists, Robert   have been printed in the monthly school   In late March 1911 the Mayor of
          McLeish and Harry Gyles.  Both                                        Essendon Cr.A.F.Showers, was advised
          McLeish and Gyles had worked with                                     that a large block of land, the site of the
          travelling bioscope shows over a number                               dilapidated stables of the Puckle Street
          of years, and had seen the growth in                                  – Flemington Bridge horse-drawn
          popularity of this new medium.                                        omnibus service, had been purchased
                                                                                for 1,880 pounds by Mr. F. Hayes,
            Harry John Wilmot Gyles was born at                                 to erect a brick theatre including
               Carlton in 1880 and developed a                                  four shops fronting Puckle
                keen interest in sport, becoming                                Street to cost between 4000
                    very proficient at junior   Prahran Lyric                    and 5000 pounds.



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