” It may not seem it, but the modest façade of Mrs Purnell’s Hotel at 12 Bourke St is a symbol of one man’s failure and his wife’s strength in providing financial security for herself and her family.
” It represents the outcomes of their failed family life. When this photograph from the Royal Historical Society’s images collection was taken in about 1868, Margaret Purnell had just become the licensee and Thomas Purnell had been gone from the scene for four years, leaving the future of their family in his wife’s hands.
” The hotel was home to Mrs Purnell and her five children for the following two years. To understand how they got there it is necessary to go back to the days before self-government, when Melbourne was part of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, before the gold rush transformed Victorian society. ”
So begins Cheryl Griffin’s latest article in CBD News. You can read the full article (and see the charming photo) here:
https://www.cbdnews.com.au/mrs-purnells-hotel-a-small-feminist-statement-of-the-1860s
239 A'Beckett Street Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 
03 9326 9288 
office@historyvictoria.org.au 
Office & Library: Weekdays 9am-5pm
