We are delighted that esteemed historian Barbara Minchinton will deliver our September lecture based on the research for her latest book. Madame Brussels was Melbourne's most vilified brothel-keeper of the nineteenth century, but little has been known about Caroline Hodgson, the woman who played the role. There were no Visitors' Books to reveal her networks, and few letters written in her own hand. Family material that came to light in 2018 provided some clues, and a German genealogist found others, but for her biography the details of her life in Melbourne were largely sourced from newspapers and government records. The story that emerged was the story of Melbourne's sex industry from 1871 to its criminalisation in 1908.

David Thompson will take you behind the scenes of our current exhibition, Melbourne's Storied Laneways which David curated. The exhibition was prompted by the upcoming publication of  The Story of
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Join Jillian Hiscock, the RHSV Collections Manager, each month in this informative and easy-going Zoom forum on all aspects of cataloguing collections for historical societies. In 2024's first Cataloguing Clinic for the year, Jillian will talk about collection management, what you keep or don’t keep, when you catalogue material as an archive or a collection and any issues around the actual collection. Jillian has a different topic each month and is happy to be guided by those who attend as to what they would like covered in upcoming clinics. Bring your questions (no matter the topic) - this is an interactive space where questions are encouraged. The RHSV does not endorse any particular cataloguing software - we believe it is horses for courses - and Jillian will talk about issues that impact on cataloguing whether you are using cataloguing cards or software.

The National Archives of Australia (NAA) and RHSV are proud to co-present this event with eminent historian, Professor Graeme Davison. Professor Davison, in response to the NAA's current exhibition, Reception this way: motels – a sentimental journey with Tim Ross | naa.gov.au , will discuss the motel which was the most popular of a suite of American-inspired innovations that transformed Australia’s towns and suburbs in the 1950s and 60s: the drive-in cinema, the service station, the drive-in bottle shop and hotel, the carport and the drive-in shopping centre. In his book, The Australian Ugliness, architect Robin Boyd decried the excesses of what he dubbed ‘Austerica’ but also hoped to civilise the form. Meanwhile ordinary Australians simply enjoyed the new possibilities of travel, leisure and convenience that the car and the drive-in world offered.