The RHSV is delighted to co-host with the Genealogical Society of Victoria this ZOOM conversation with Emeritus Professor Graeme Davison AO about his latest book, My Grandfather's Clock.  A great-aunt's bequest - a 200-year-old grandfather clock - sends historian Graeme Davison on a journey deep into his father's family's past. From their tribal homeland in the Scottish Borders he follows them to the garrison town of Carlisle, from industrial Birmingham to Edwardian Australia, and from the Great War to his own suburban childhood. This is the story of an ordinary family's journey from frontier warfare and dispossession through economic turmoil and emigration to modest prosperity. At each step, we are led to reflect on the puzzles of personal identity and the mystery of time. Based on a lifetime of creative scholarship, My Grandfather's Clock is a moving testament to the power of family history to illuminate the present.

Join Jillian Hiscock, the RHSV Collections Manager, each month is this informative and easy-going Zoom forum on all aspects of cataloguing collections for historical societies. Jillian has a different topic
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We are thrilled that distinguished historian, Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick will deliver the 2nd RHSV Hugh Anderson Lecture. Sheila turns her historian’s gaze to the block of flats where she grew up and where most other residents were European Jewish refugees. 

For History Month, the National Archives of Australia are partnering once again with the RHSV to present, Off the Drawing Board, where members and friends can discover more about the history of their local community through Victorian architectural drawings. Did you know that National Archives holds thousands of architectural drawings for public buildings across Australia and Victoria? Dating back as early as 1849, these drawings document not only famous Melbourne landmarks but also humbler suburban and rural facilities, such as local post offices and drill halls. This makes these drawings an invaluable resource for anyone researching local history and heritage. Many of the drawings are also beautiful works of art in their own right.