Well Built: Simmie & Co Master Builders 1924 – 1978
RHSV Gallery Downstairs 239 A'Beckett St, MelbourneWeek of Events
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.
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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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
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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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.
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
