Lexie Luly Collection

Between 1986 and 2006 Miss Lexie Luly progressively donated material to Museums Victoria, totalling 264 items. The collection includes World War II Air Raid Precautions items; booklets from a similar era; sewing samples; lantern slides; woodwork samples; badges; photographs; and domestic items.

Lexie Luly was born in 1924, grew up in Altona as a child and lived most of her life in the Preston/Reservoir area, in Melbourne's inner north. She attended Presbyterian Ladies College, and was awarded a scholarship in 1941 to attend Emily McPherson College to undertake a diploma in needlecraft. She also studied at RMIT and attended night school at Preston Tech, adding both art and dressmaking to her studies. She later became a teacher at Presbyterian Ladies College, and was Head of PLC Art 1956-1983.

Her extensive travels included a trip to England in 1948 and returning in 1950, and a 1956 world trip to the United States (where she visited Central High School, Omaha, Nebraska), Indo-China, Burma, India, Israel, Egypt, England, Germany and Japan.

Gwendolen Luly (1898-1988), likely Lexie's paternal aunt, is depicted in some of the photographs in the collection. Gwen attended the University Practising School (later University High School) from 1911 to 1913, became a nurse and established St Clement's Private Hospital in Southey Street, St Kilda. In 1939 she cancelled the hospital's registration and spent the war years running the Altona Air Raid Precautions.

In 2010 Miss Luly was interviewed by Darebin Heritage, recalling life in war-time Melbourne. She explained that during the war the daughter of one of her neighbours, Vera Lugton, was also an Air Raid Warden.

Miss Luly donated a significant collection of photographs of Melbourne to the University of Melbourne taken by her father in the 1950s-1970s. Evan Luly (1895-1985) was born in Preston in 1895 and lived there all his life. He worked for the Victorian Lands Department, and was a keen traveller and photographer.

Miss Luly donated items to other collections including the State Library of Victoria (her photographs), National Gallery of Victoria, Victorian Arts Centre collection, Australian Sports Museum, Australian War Memorial and PLC Melbourne Archive.

References

Luly Collection https://melbourne.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Luly_Collection/11691861/1