Calendar of Events
M Mon
T Tue
W Wed
T Thu
F Fri
S Sat
S Sun
1 event,
Well Built: Simmie & Co Master Builders 1924 – 1978
Simmie & Co was a prominent building company in Melbourne (1924-1978) and in Canberra (1926-1969). In Melbourne the company was highly successful and built many iconic buildings, churches, monasteries, schools, housing, factories, defence works, the Shrine forecourt (1939-45), offices and theatres including some heritage-listed constructions (one designed by Robin Boyd). The founders were three Victorian brothers, all born in the last decade of the nineteenth century and all worked at the Sunshine Harvester factory before World War One – William, Jock & George. All were World War One veterans (two were Gallipoli veterans). All were wounded and survived. Two were closely involved with the Master Builders Association in Melbourne. Discover their story of a pioneering building company of the early to mid-twentieth century, of World War One veterans, of courage and a willingness to take a risk, of the beginning of the capital city of Australia and the workers, the unsung heroes, who made it all happen.
3 events,
HISTORY WRITERS GROUP
HISTORY WRITERS GROUP
Dr Cheryl Griffin leads this group which has been meeting since 2020. Most of our events are open to the public but, because of the limited number of people that can participate in this group, we have limited it to RHSV members only. This group is for people who are tackling writing a history project
Read More...
Granville William Chetwynd Stapylton
Granville William Chetwynd Stapylton
A Hotham History Project event ... Learn from the true journals of the story behind an early land surveyor of what colonial Australia was like in the 1830s. Chetwynd Street in North and West Melbourne was named in Granville's honor. Granville William Chetwynd Stapylton (1800-1840), surveyor and explorer, was, in November 1828, appointed an assistant
Read More...
4 events,
A celebration of the former Dunach School building and the people who have been associated with it
Extensive work has recently been done to restore the 1874 former Dunach School building, which is now part of Talbot Museum. This is almost finished and Talbot Arts & Historical Museum is planning a celebration and re-opening event for the morning of Saturday 4th March 2023, with the Museum to be open all day. We're particularly hoping to welcome people with personal or family ties to the building during its different phases of life - as the Dunach school but also serving that area as a local hall and church, as "Dunach" at Maryborough High School where it served as a stand-alone classroom, as part of the Talbot annexe of Maryborough Knitting Mill and also its more recent roles in the town and the museum. We're asking people to bring any related memorabilia with them on the day.
Kilmore Historical Society: Secondhand book sale
Kilmore Historical Society is having a large pre-loved book sale this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday.
Eltham South Farms Walking Tour
Eltham South Farms Walking Tour
For the Eltham District Historical Society's excursion on Saturday 4th March they intend to walk around the area that was the earlier location of the Eltham South Farms, which is now parkland and residential subdivisions. It will include views of the Diamond Creek valley from Porter Street, the parkland known as Barak Bushland and a traverse of the perimeter of the former Fabbro farm land in Bell Street. They will discuss the former farmers such as the Falkiners, Wests, Fabbros and Bollas and note the locations of their houses. Maurie Fabbro was the last of the family members to use their land for market garden purposes. Some people may remember him in the fields tending his rows of artichokes and other plantings.
3 events,
Altona Homestead Devonshire Tea
Altona Homestead Devonshire Tea
The Altona-Laverton Historical Society members and volunteers invite you to drop into the Altona Homestead on the first Sunday of the Month (February to December) to enjoy a serve of our famous Devonshire Tea or Cream Tea or Cornish Tea, anyway you look at them they are delicious.
2 events,
Balwyn Historical Society: Professor Richard Broome speaking on “The Making of Melbourne 1835 – 1890”
Balwyn Historical Society: Professor Richard Broome speaking on “The Making of Melbourne 1835 – 1890”
This presentation is about the rise of a modern metropolis of the times before its fall in the 1890s. Professor Broome will also discuss the creation of the book, ‘Remembering Melbourne’. Richard Broome is Emeritus Professor of Australian History at La Trobe University and President of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. He is the author of sixteen books, including Aboriginal Australians (5th edition 2019). His most recent book is As Cedars Grow (2023) with David Brown, a Lebanese Australian migration story.
2 events,
Jessie Webb Society Morning Tea
Jessie Webb Society Morning Tea
At this Jessie Webb Society event, we are delighted that Richard Simmie has agreed to talk to our members about his passion for history and philanthropy.
Richard is the grandson of Jock Simmie, one of the founders of Simmie & Co in the 1920s. Simmie & Co were builders responsible for many of the buildings we know and love in Melbourne and Canberra. The RHSV is currently hosting a wonderful exhibition about Simmie & Co and their legacy. At the launch Richard spoke very movingly about his growing understanding of the importance of recording stories and history and how this led him to preserve his own family's history but also, through philanthropy, to create scholarships in perpetuity which honour his grandfather's life's work.
2 events,
CATALOGUING CLINICS 2023
CATALOGUING CLINICS 2023
Join Jillian Hiscock, the RHSV Collections Manager, each month is this informative and easy-going Zoom forum on all aspects of cataloguing collections for historical societies. 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. This is an
Read More...
3 events,
Labassa Women: at war
Labassa Women: at war
Labassa’s women lived through two world wars and the social upheaval of the Vietnam War. Take a walk through time and experience some of their stories as told through imagery, object and special tours. Guided house tours will also be available on the hour from 11am to 3pm. The tower tours conducted will be at
Read More...
La Trobe’s Cottage Samplers
La Trobe’s Cottage Samplers
Dr Catherine Gay will enlighten us on how the samplers on display at La Trobe’s Cottage reflect the importance placed on the development of home-making skills in the education of young ladies during the 1840s and 1850s. You are invited to bring along a family sampler for us all to see. As it is La Trobe's Birthday celebration sparkling wine and cake will be served in the Cottage garden.
2 events,
MARKETING FORUMS
MARKETING FORUMS
Christina Browning, the RHSV Marketing Officer, leads these forums which each month tackle a different aspect of marketing for historical societies - they tend to concentrate on social media as it is very available and is free to use, however, Christina will tackle any aspect of marketing which you want to raise. Christina will prepare
Read More...
2 events,
Flos Greig, Australia’s first woman lawyer with Iola Mathews
Flos Greig, Australia’s first woman lawyer with Iola Mathews
When Grata Flos Matilda Greig walked into her first law school class at the University of Melbourne in 1897, it was illegal for women to become lawyers. But though the legal system did not even recognise her as a person, she won the right to practice and helped thousands of other women access justice. In defying the law, Greig literally changed its face. The first woman to be admitted to legal practice in Australia, Greig was at the vanguard of 'the graceful incoming of a revolution' as described by then Chief Justice Sir John Madden, as he presided over the ceremony granting her admission to the Victorian bar in August 1905 (The Advertiser, 1905). Remarkable, courageous, adventurous, involved and articulate, Flos Greig stands as an important trail-blazer for Australian women.
3 events,
An evening with the author of The Simonsens of St Kilda
An evening with the author of The Simonsens of St Kilda
An event presented by Theatre Heritage Australia in association with Arts Centre Melbourne, is bound to be of interest to St Kilda history buffs. Roger Neill is a UK-based arts historian. His new book, The Simonsens of St Kilda, tells the fascinating true story of a family of singers and their pioneering opera company. Extraordinarily, twelve of
Read More...
Connecting With Boeing’s Australian Heritage
Connecting With Boeing’s Australian Heritage
Speaker: Annie Flodin Boeing Historical Services is responsible for preserving and promoting Boeing history. The team oversees the Boeing Archives and supports a number of teams and individuals both within and outside of Boeing. Boeing’s archives include two repositories, and they incorporate the heritage of companies which Boeing has absorbed over its long history. The
Read More...
4 events,
National Trust Vintage Clothing Sale 2023
Shop vintage and designer clothing from the late 1800s to the present day. It’s time to mark your Melbourne fashion calendar, the iconic National Trust Vintage Clothing Sale is returning to our new space. We’re bringing a huge range of genuine vintage and designer garments and accessories to an even more spacious venue, with exceptional
Read More...
Oral history interviewing for beginners: training
Oral history interviewing for beginners: training
Learn the basics of oral history interviewing from two of Australia's most experienced oral history trainers, Sarah Rood and Al Thomson
This is an online workshop, conducted via Zoom.
SEMINAR DAY: MAXIMISE OPPORTUNITIES Strengthen your work within and beyond your society
SEMINAR DAY: MAXIMISE OPPORTUNITIES Strengthen your work within and beyond your society
The seminar days resume in 2023 with the first being held in Melbourne ‘in person’ and ‘by Zoom’. The program is based on information gleaned from calls to societies during lockdowns along with more recent communications. In a day that seeks to strengthen the best of existing work and inspire fresh approaches, all RHSV members are invited to learn from informed speakers and share their society’s successes.
3 events,
Polish Museum and Archives in Australia: 30th Anniversary Celebration
Polish Museum and Archives in Australia: 30th Anniversary Celebration
In March the Polish Museum and Archives of Australia celebrates its 30th anniversary (slightly delayed because of COVID!) and all are welcome to join in Entry is free and food, entertainment and speakers are included. No BYO but drinks can be purchased at the bar. Bookings essential: polishmuseumarchivesaustralia@gmail.com or Barbara Capewell on 0402 002 429
Read More...
3 events,
WRITING HISTORY GROUP
WRITING HISTORY GROUP
Dr Cheryl Griffin leads this group which has been meeting since 2020. This group is for people who are tackling writing a history project or two and want a sounding board / source of information / guidance and HELP! Each month from February to November Cheryl convenes the group via Zoom for 90 minutes and
Read More...
Harold Holt: Always One Step Further a presentation by Dr Ross Walker
Harold Holt: Always One Step Further a presentation by Dr Ross Walker
Camberwell Historical Society hosts this event. Harold Holt: Always One Step Further, details Holt’s life as both a person and a politician. The story is told in three sections: Holt’s life from childhood, leading up to his prime ministership, his first year as prime minister, and his second and tragic, final year. Harold Holt is
Read More...
2 events,
Writers on Campus series – Writing the Past
Writers on Campus series – Writing the Past
‘Good history is a high-wire gravity-defying act of balance and grace,’ Tom Griffiths wrote recently, describing historians as writers who, ‘have to forsake their own world for a period – and then, somehow, find their way back.’ In our first session of Writers on Campus for 2023 we speak with two historians who are adept at walking that high-wire, and at time travel. Come hear two of La Trobe’s most acclaimed historians, Judith Brett and Katie Holmes, discuss why they do what they do, and how they approach the work and craft of making history, in conversation with Kelly Gardiner
2 events,
Vera Deakin – Search for the Missing by Carole Woods
Vera Deakin – Search for the Missing by Carole Woods
Vera Deakin, daughter of former Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, rallied to the British imperial cause in 1915 by assuming a leadership role in the fledgling Australian Red Cross Society. Aged only 23, she became founding secretary of the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau, first in Cairo and then in London. The bureau’s
Read More...
2 events,
Oral history interviewing for beginners: training
Oral history interviewing for beginners: training
Learn the basics of oral history interviewing from two of Australia's most experienced oral history trainers, Sarah Rood and Al Thomson
This is an online workshop, conducted via Zoom.
2 events,
Altona Homestead Devonshire Tea
Altona Homestead Devonshire Tea
The Altona-Laverton Historical Society members and volunteers invite you to drop into the Altona Homestead on the first Sunday of the Month (February to December) to enjoy a serve of our famous Devonshire Tea or Cream Tea or Cornish Tea, anyway you look at them they are delicious.
239 A'Beckett Street Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 
03 9326 9288 
office@historyvictoria.org.au 
Office & Library: Weekdays 9am-5pm
