Tracing Madame Brussels: A public figure with an elusive background

RHSV Gallery Downstairs 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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.

$10.00 – $20.00

History of the PMI Victorian History Library

39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC 3181 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC, Australia

📜 Join our Collections Librarian Ellen Coates, on a journey through the fascinating history of Victoria’s second oldest library as they celebrate their 170th year. Beginning when the Library declared
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Gold Coin Entry

A Musical Ouroboros

39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC 3181 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC, Australia

🎶 A Musical Ouroboros - how the Hottest 100 both reflects and encourages the empowerment of Australian youth. For 30 years, triple j's Hottest 100 has been Australia's go-to countdown
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Gold Coin Entry

CATALOGUING CLINICS 2024

ZOOM Join from anywhere in the world

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 DRIVE-IN LANDSCAPE OF THE LUCKY COUNTRY

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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.

Free

Book Launch. The Story of Melbourne’s Lanes: Essential but Unplanned.

RHSV Gallery Downstairs 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Please join us for the launch of this re-imagined second edition of Weston Bate's history
THE STORY OF MELBOURNE'S LANES: Essential but Unplanned
Weston Bate, Richard Broome, Nicole Davis, Andrew May, Helen Stitt

Free

Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network: Presentation on 2024 International Congress on Maritime Museums Conference

RHSV Gallery Downstairs 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Jackie Watts will deliver an informal presentation on her short paper, entitled: “Capturing the past to inform the future”, and a discussion on issues arising from the 2024 International Congress on Maritime Museums conference. Worldwide, it seems that, regardless of assets, infrastructure or funding, many museums are dealing with emerging issues and struggling for relevance. The 2024 Conference of the ICMM, held in Netherlands and Belgium, has just ended and Jackie Watts, inaugural Chair of the Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network Board, was a speaker at the conference, delivering  the above paper.