Each year, to celebrate Women’s History Month, the RHSV offers our Women’s History lecture, part of our Distinguished Lecture series.

For 2026, we are delighted to have Roslyn Otzen presenting on Hester Hornbrook, whose work in creating 1850s Melbourne’s first social supports saved thousands of people from lives and deaths in misery, and formed the basis of future social support systems in Victoria.

Who? Hester Hornbrook and her ladies: Melbourne’s first social carers in the 1850s and 1860s

Roslyn Otzen completed her PhD on the 1854 origins of the Melbourne City Mission, and its founders, who included a woman named Hester Hornbrook. While researching Hester, and the many other women who worked with her, Roslyn uncovered a trove of unknown information, not only about the women, but the essential work they did in caring for gold-rushing newcomers to Melbourne who were entirely unsupported when they fell on hard times. Together, the women created Melbourne’s first social services. No one has heard of any of them. History has ignored them. Roslyn had to find out why — and introduce them firmly into the story of Melbourne.

About Roslyn Otzen
Roslyn Otzen, an educator and former Principal of Korowa AGS, completed her PhD thesis on the early Melbourne City Mission, and served a term on the MCM Board. She became the inaugural Chair of the Hester Hornbrook Academy Board, and continues as a Director. She still studies the MCM’s early days, and especially the work of its women, whose own lives have been a closed book, until on-line access to records of the past have enabled their recovery. She has published several histories, including a biography of Dr John Singleton, another founder of the MCM. Other publications include Grace and Strength: Calisthenics in Australia (2011) and To Begin The World Anew: How Particular Nobodies Made Australia (2022).

House-keeping

The Zoom log-in details will be sent, 24 hours before the event, to all those who have booked – please check your Spam or Junk Mail folder if you cannot find the email in your in-box. The Zoom event will start at 6pm (30 mins later than the in-person event).

As with all RHSV lectures, refreshments will be available from 5:30pm until 6pm when the lecture will commence.