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,
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
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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
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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
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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.
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
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4 events,
Tahbilk Winery: Explorers Way tourist drive launch
Tahbilk Winery: Explorers Way tourist drive launch
Tahbilk Winery has generously offered their Wetlands View Restaurant to host the launch of the Explorers Way tourist drive and brochure, a project of Nagambie Historical Society, in collaboration with the Strathbogie Shire. The Explorers Way revives the Major Mitchell Bicentennial Trail through the Shire, from Mitchellstown to Violet Town. It then travels, in reverse, the tracks of Hume and Hovell, returning through Euroa and Longwood to Avenel. The drive visits every cairn and memorial to the explorers in those areas, and the map brochure details other points of interest in each town. Roads less travelled have been used for the drive to highlight the beauty of the Shire, away from the freeways; long arching tunnels of eucalypts, golden pastures with stands of ancient trees, wooden bridges and tree-lined creeks, with the blue of the ranges always in the distance.
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...
Law and Order Under La Trobe: The First Prisons of Port Phillip
Law and Order Under La Trobe: The First Prisons of Port Phillip
The Royal Historical Society of Victoria, in partnership with the C J La Trobe Society, presents the annual A. G. L. Shaw lecture delivered by Dr Ashleigh Green, the current La Trobe Society Fellow at the State Library of Victoria. Dr Green's fellowship topic is very interesting and, until her current work, little researched. Dr
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2 events,
East Melbourne: The Men who went to War
East Melbourne: The Men who went to War
In 2014, Major-General Mike O’Brien gave us a list of men with a connection to East Melbourne who had volunteered for the 1st World War. As a result of enthusiastic volunteers, we now have an archive of around 600 war records, some of which we would like to share with you at our April meeting.
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2 events,
Thomas Bent, Francis Bradford and electric tramways in Melbourne 1904-1909
Thomas Bent, Francis Bradford and electric tramways in Melbourne 1904-1909
In 1904, electrical and mechanical engineer Francis Edwin Bradford (1869-1927), a recognised American electric tramways pioneer, was controversially contracted directly by Thomas Bent, Victorian Minister of Railways, and Premier, to report on and progressively electrify Melbourne’s suburban railway system. But Bent postponed work on the report, and instead requested Bradford design and supervise the construction of an electric tramway from St.Kilda to Brighton, as a first stage of electrifying the railways. Bent's instructions did not sit well with the Railway Commissioners.
3 events,
Walking tour: Princes Hill, Carlton
Walking tour: Princes Hill, Carlton
Historical Walks in Carlton These walks are run by the Princes Hill Community Centre in conjunction with the Carlton Community History Group. To register, contact Princes Hill Community Centre: www.princeshill.org.au Email: enquiries@princeshill.org.au Phone: 9387 7740. This tour takes you around an interesting and historic part of Carlton to hear its history and the history of
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Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900
Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900
In a foreign climate and environment, how did European women adapt to living in rural Victoria and the emerging suburbs of Melbourne? Explore and delight in the opulent tastes and styles adopted by women through nineteenth century gowns from the fashion and design collection of the Kew Historical Society. Mary Ann Henty came with her
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2 events,
Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900
Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900
In a foreign climate and environment, how did European women adapt to living in rural Victoria and the emerging suburbs of Melbourne? Explore and delight in the opulent tastes and styles adopted by women through nineteenth century gowns from the fashion and design collection of the Kew Historical Society. Mary Ann Henty came with her
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2 events,
Immigrant Women in the Age of Elegance: A lecture by Dr Liz Rushen AM
Immigrant Women in the Age of Elegance: A lecture by Dr Liz Rushen AM
During the 1830s and 1840s, thousands of women were encouraged to migrate to the Australian colonies. Liz will describe how they managed the translocation process and created settled, sometimes elegant, lives for themselves in what were often frontier homes. Dr Liz Rushen AM is on the Editorial Board of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, and
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6 events,
Pioneer Palaces of Rhyll Bus Tour
Pioneer Palaces of Rhyll Bus Tour
Phillip Island and District Historical Society in partnership with the Bass Coast Branch of the National Trust and supported by the Bass Coast Shire Council will be holding two guided bus tours of the nine remaining historic cottages of Rhyll. There will be a choice of morning or afternoon tours on offer with the former
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Historical Walks in Carlton – Melbourne General Cemetery (Southern Part)
Historical Walks in Carlton – Melbourne General Cemetery (Southern Part)
These walks are run by the Princes Hill Community Centre in conjunction with the Carlton Community History Group. To register, contact Princes Hill Community Centre: www.princeshill.org.au Email: enquiries@princeshill.org.au Phone: 9387 7740. Melbourne General Cemetery is the oldest and most historic of our existing cemeteries. On this tour you will learn about its history, and about
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Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900
Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900
In a foreign climate and environment, how did European women adapt to living in rural Victoria and the emerging suburbs of Melbourne? Explore and delight in the opulent tastes and styles adopted by women through nineteenth century gowns from the fashion and design collection of the Kew Historical Society. Mary Ann Henty came with her
Read More...
3 events,
Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900
Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900
In a foreign climate and environment, how did European women adapt to living in rural Victoria and the emerging suburbs of Melbourne? Explore and delight in the opulent tastes and styles adopted by women through nineteenth century gowns from the fashion and design collection of the Kew Historical Society. Mary Ann Henty came with her
Read More...
Renowned Gardeners walking tour of St Kilda Cemetery
Renowned Gardeners walking tour of St Kilda Cemetery
Friends of St Kilda Cemetery Renowned Gardeners tour led by Claire Barton on Sunday 30 April. The tour is offered at 1.00 pm and again at 3.00 pm. This event will introduce participants to gardeners who designed many of Melbourne's famous gardens. Visit the graves and hear the enthralling stories of renowned gardeners: Baron Ferdinand Jacob
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239 A'Beckett Street Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 
03 9326 9288 
office@historyvictoria.org.au 
Office & Library: Weekdays 9am-5pm
