In 2008, Melbourne joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network when it was designated the first and only City of Literature in Australia, and the second in the world after Edinburgh.
The network of Cities of Literature has grown considerably since then and one of the wonderful initiatives between these cities is to arrange virtual residencies for writers. This is the first year the RHSV has taken part and we are thrilled to host Bria Cotton,
read more...History Month 2023 saw us launch a new History Month website and a record number of events and exhibitions and social media happenings across Victoria – all highlighting the great work that happens in the history sector and especially that generated by the 350 historical societies across Victoria. I hope all the organisations that took part in 2023 are dreaming up more exciting events for October 2024.
Many thanks to our co-ordinator, Susannah Beardsell and a huge thank you to The Vera Moore Foundation which funds the RHSV to produce History Month.
read more...The Robur Tea Building, 28 Clarendon St, Southbank, a Victorian Heritage Registered site, was refused a development permit in May this year by Heritage Victoria. But now the applicant for the development permit has requested a review of the determination and has requested an appeal hearing (see grounds below). The permit review hearing will be scheduled to take place in the coming months. The RHSV submitted a successful objection earlier in the year and will be following the review process too.
read more...The Councillors, staff, volunteers and members of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria note with great sadness the death of our friend, Gordon Moffatt, on the 27th July 2023.
Gordon had been an active member of the RHSV since 1983 and, for three years 1983-85, served on Council. He was also a most generous supporter of the Society ensuring that Victorian history was valued and preserved.
We send our condolences to Gordon’s family on their loss.
read more...The RHSV is very pleased to announce our second Historian-in-Residence, Dr Fiona Gatt, who has begun work on her project: The forgotten class? Shopkeepers of nineteenth-century Melbourne. Fiona explains: ‘Shopkeepers were important agents in the effective functioning of nineteenth-century Melbourne society. Yet the realities of that role in the community remain considerably under-researched. This project will illuminate the role of shopkeepers in nineteenth-century urban Melbourne, and it will prompt a question not adequately engaged with as yet: are they in fact the forgotten class of Australian history?
read more...The Royal Historical Society of Victoria welcomes the celebrations of NAIDOC week 2-9 July. The theme for this year is ‘For our Elders’ which celebrates the importance of Elders to the strength of families and communities across the generations. There is a continuity of Elder wisdom and knowledge in Aboriginal society that has stretched across 2000 generations.
All of us should pay heed to this respect shown by Aboriginal people to Elders. We should recognise the importance of elders in our own lives and our own families.
read more...We look forward to welcoming as many members as possible to the SGM and AGM. To register for the SGM or AGM or to record your apologies please click here. You can use the same link to book for the Weston Bate Oration.
On Tuesday evening, 27th June 2023 at 5pm the RHSV will be holding a Special General Meeting followed by its 113th Annual General Meeting at 5:15pm.
read more...The Council of the RHSV stands for the principle of diversity. It affirms the RHSV’s continuing efforts to reflect the diversity of cultures in our contemporary society through our various collections and their catalogues, our publications, our events and other aspects and endeavours of our Society.
The Council acknowledges Indigenous Australians as Traditional Custodians of Country; is enhancing our Indigenous history in our catalogues, lectures and publications; supports the aspirations in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) and the Uluru Statement from the Heart (2017) and believes Australia’s First Peoples should be recognised in the Constitution.
read more...We loved this review of our History Victoria bookshop from Lachlan in Google: “Great selection of books at their quaint bookstore. Staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. What’s more is they were conveniently located opposite the Flagstaff Gardens – perfect place to sit down and read your new book!”
Our bookshop focuses on Victorian history and has 800+ titles. We try to stock all Victorian history books whilst they are still in print and we are the only stockist for many titles.
read more...Each year the RHSV engages a project officer/s to work on History Month (October) and the Victorian Community History Awards (the key event of History Month). Both projects require similar skills and the fee is $5,000 per project. Both projects could easily be worked concurrently by one person or they could be handled by two different individuals.
The closing date for applications is 5pm Monday 24 April 2023. With a mooted start around Monday 15 May 2023 –
read more...Today, 8 March, is International Women’s Day. The RHSV honours the contributions of women to Australian society and to our history. Women are extraordinary volunteers across all spheres and in particular within the community history movement. At the RHSV, women form a majority on our Council, committees and amongst the volunteers. All of our paid staff are also women. This is Women’s History Month and to celebrate that we have a distinguished lecture by Iola Mathews on Flos Greig,
read more...The RHSV is seeking a part-time Archivist to work on project for 89 days, across 2023.
In late 2022 the RHSV took ownership of a large social history collection, the Jones Collection. It is a wide-ranging, deeply rich collection that documents a century of one family’s life in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg from the 1920s as well as from earlier generations. Its significance centres around the unusual survival of a relatively intact collection relating to the day-to-day lives of a family of modest means,
read more...We were thrilled to see that a large number of people associated with history, community history and historical societies were the recipients of Australia Day honours.
We send our warmest congratulations to the following award recipients:
For distinguished service to tertiary education, to political and social commentary, to public affairs, and to the Indigenous community.
For significant service to education and public debate,
read more...In mid-January Rosalie Triolo and I accompanied VCE Australian History teachers to some of our key national cultural institutions in Canberra hunting for resources for their students. Most institutions were managing on very tight budgets due to an ‘efficiency dividend’ placed on all cultural institutions by recent governments. Only the Australian War Memorial seem to be in good health and expanding massively in three directions on its site.
Of most relevance to the history sector is the National Library of Australia.
read more...An article in The Age on 14 Jan 23 was critical of Maribyrnong City Council’s implementation of an interim heritage overlay in December 2021 on about 900 properties across eight precincts in West Footscray and surrounding areas to protect interwar and postwar-period homes. Home owners were distressed about the loss of value in their properties.
“Royal Historical Society of Victoria’s heritage committee deputy chair Ian Wight said introducing interim controls without consultation was a strategy sometimes used by councils to minimise the risk of home owners rushing to redevelop.
read more...
239 A'Beckett Street Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 
Office & Library: Weekdays 9am-5pm
03 9326 9288 
office@historyvictoria.org.au