On Monday 4 December, Tuesday 5 December and Wednesday 6 December 2023 the RHSV History Victoria Bookshop will stay open late for Christmas shopping.
The bookshop is stuffed to the gills with great books on every and all aspects of Victorian history – there is something for everyone.
We’ll be serving some Christmas cheer and there will be free wrapping service too. Come and join us.
Check out books on shipwrecks or crime.
read more...A reminder that the RHSV will be closed for Melbourne Cup Day.
We will also be closed for 2 weeks between Christmas and New Year – closing on Friday 22 December and reopening on Monday 8 January 2024.
For any emergencies whilst we are closed please phone 0400387877: Rosemary Cameron.
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We look forward to welcoming as many members as possible to the SGM and AGM. To register for the SGM or AGM or to record your apologies please click here. You can use the same link to book for the Weston Bate Oration.
On Tuesday evening, 27th June 2023 at 5pm the RHSV will be holding a Special General Meeting followed by its 113th Annual General Meeting at 5:15pm.
read more...The Birchip Regional Seminar last weekend (May 19th – 21st) was a great success!
The weekend began on Friday with a warm welcome from the Nullawil Historical Society Heritage Museum, where visitors were treated to a carefully curated display of their museum and collection, along with afternoon tea and a marvelous dinner attended by Helen Laffin and historical society representatives from as far as Geelong. The evening included an ‘overall positive’ discussion of the Nullawil Silo Art project,
read more...The RHSV is seeking a part-time Archivist to work on project for 89 days, across 2023.
In late 2022 the RHSV took ownership of a large social history collection, the Jones Collection. It is a wide-ranging, deeply rich collection that documents a century of one family’s life in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg from the 1920s as well as from earlier generations. Its significance centres around the unusual survival of a relatively intact collection relating to the day-to-day lives of a family of modest means,
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The RHSV will close for 2 weeks over the Christmas / New Year period.
We close on Friday 23 December at 12 noon and reopen on Monday 9th January.
Bookshop – order on-line before Friday 16th of December for delivery by Christmas or by Wednesday 21st December if you opt for Express Post. Click and collect or just browsing the bookshop at 239 A’Beckett St is available until 12 noon on Friday 23 December.
read more...The next stage in the seemingly endless attempt to rob the Queen Victoria Market of its character and role as a traditional fresh food market has surfaced. Following the approval of a 21 storey building at 432-450 Queen Street, the City of Melbourne has applied to Heritage Victoria to use half the historic 1878 fruit and vegetable sheds (A-E) for hospitality, loading docks and a fenced-off area for storage. Further, the application requests the addition of modified shipping containers or ‘pods’ 2.4m wide by 2.6m high and either 3m or 6m long ‘painted monochromatically in one of three colours: cream,
read more...The RHSV is looking to appoint a new book-keeper as soon as possible. We’d like the new book-keeper to start by Monday 9th May 2022.
We are seeking a motivated, experienced, part-time book-keeper to work in a small team. Life is never dull or repetitive at the RHSV and this position would suit someone who has worked in small business.
Although we are small, the RHSV is a complex organisation in terms of the range of activities in which we are involved.
read more...We are back working in the Drill Hall and open to the public who want to see our exhibition Tales from the MacRobertson International Air Races, buy books in the bookshop (always available online), use our collection for research or attend an event.
However, in line with government restrictions, masks must be worn within the building and it is mandatory that everyone checks in with our QR code. There are also social distancing rules which limit us to one person per 4 sqm.
read more...Cheryl Griffin’s latest splendid story about Bourke St and the Coles Book Arcade at the turn of the 20th century can be found in the August CBD News here (scroll down to P16). And Ashley Smith’s pungent article on the docks and fish markets can be read in Docklands News here (also scroll down to P 16).
read more...The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald newspapers (17 July 2021) published Richard Broome’s plea for Australian History to be given a ‘fair go’ but was unable to fit in this important paragraph:
“Fifteen teachers, academics and Cambridge University Press mounted a rescue mission, creating a four volume series, Analysing Australian History (2021), to provide texts for the new Year 12 Victorian Study Design in 2022. Some proceeds go to the Indigenous Reading Project.”
You can read Richard’s article below or by clicking on this link to The Age.
read more...Grants of up to $2,000 are available for the publication of any specific or general local history or natural history in rural and regional Victoria. The Grant is intended for small organisations with an interest in publishing works of historical value, even where the organisation has little or no experience of self publishing work. Joint projects encompassing several groups or annual/special edited journals incorporating submitted historical articles from a wide community are encouraged.
For guidelines and an application form visit our website: https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/programs/holsworth-local-heritage-grants/
Closing date: 31st July 2021
read more...NOTICE OF RHSV AGM
On Tuesday 18th May at 5pm the RHSV will hold its 111th AGM for the financial year ending 31st of December 2020 at 239 A’Beckett Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
AGENDA
1 Attendance and apologies
2 To confirm the minutes of the 110th Annual General Meeting.
3 To confirm the minutes of the RHSV Reconvened Annual General Meeting.
4 To receive the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2020.
read more...On Thursday night, 15th April 2021, Dr Barry Jones launched the Portable Buildings World Heritage Nomination Task Force, which aims to persuade Australian governments, state and Commonwealth, to seek world heritage listing for the more than 100 19th Century prefabricated or ‘portable’ buildings still standing in Australia. The RHSV supports this exciting bid. We are represented on the Task Force committee by RHSV Heritage Committee Chair, Emeritus Professor Charles Sowerwine. The proposal contains terrific photos of these buildings.
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239 A'Beckett Street Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 
Office & Library: Weekdays 9am-5pm
03 9326 9288 
office@historyvictoria.org.au