NEWSBOYS CLUB

The latest RHSV article in CBD News has been published and can be read in full here (scroll down to P20). Written by Julie Bevan

The man in his coat and stovepipe hat drives his cart away from us down the empty street towards the nothingness at the centre of the image, leaving only the newsboy to stare towards us sentinel-like defending his territory. And defending his territory was a necessary skill. In the hierarchy of hard times newsboys were the poorest of the poor, using their meagre earnings to support themselves and often their families. So, although they took care of one another, a man needed to be able to stand his ground.
Late 19th-century Melbourne was tough times, and this brought out the best and the worst in people. The shoeless newsboys were seen by some as an “obnoxious annoyance” with a council by-law allowing them to be fined or jailed for the “violent outcry” with which they attracted business. But they had their champions too, who, like the founders of the Ragged Schools, thought all the boys needed was a chance. So, they gave them one … read more