Como House of Discovery: Traces of Girlhood
Como House & Garden Corner Williams Rd & Lechlade Ave, South YarraWeek of Events
Como House of Discovery: Traces of Girlhood
History has left only traces of the experience of girlhood. Yet traces do remain, poignant and important. They tell the stories of girls and young women who grew up in 19th and early 20th-century Victoria and the central role they played in our society. This exhibition at Como House in South Yarra will illuminate these
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Tracing Madame Brussels: A public figure with an elusive background
Tracing Madame Brussels: A public figure with an elusive background
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.
Rare Book Week: Noted Donations to the Melbourne Public Library
Rare Book Week: Noted Donations to the Melbourne Public Library
From its beginning the Melbourne Public Library supplemented its book stock with donations. In 1873, the library published a catalogue of these gifts, listing an array of donors from emperors and kings to more humble colonists. In part a celebration, in part an appeal for more gifts, the catalogue provides an insight into the literary culture
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History of the PMI Victorian History Library
History of the PMI Victorian History Library
📜 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 itself into existence in on the 1st of May 1854. The challenges of the early years, including how the Committee dealt with a squatting Secretary
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