Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Specialist History Tour: Sharing the Universe at Melbourne Observatory
2020-02-28 20:00 - 21:30 (Australia/Melbourne) | Melbourne Observatory, Birdwood Avenue, Royal Botanic Gardens, VIC, 3004, Australia
Last year this event booked out in less than 24 hours! It is an RHSV members-only tour.
This is a VIP tour of Melbourne Observatory, formally acknowledged as a place of outstanding national scientific, architectural, historical, astronomical and cultural significance, and a potential nomination for UNESCO World Heritage listing.
Historians and astronomers of the Astronomical Society of Victoria (ASV) including past President, Perry Vlahos, and Dr Barry Clark will attend and show and guide you in the Melbourne Observatory site. Depending on the weather you may see Venus, the moon’s craters,mountains and valleys, the Orion nebula, the Cat’s Eyes binary and the beautiful blue and orange colours in the binary star in Canis Major.
Melbourne Observatory was one of only four nineteenth century observatories in the Southern Hemisphere, and provided critical infrastructure for the functioning of the colony and the wider scientific world. The Photoheliograph and South Equatorial House were constructed to allow observations to be made of the Transit of Venus in 1874, part of a concerted, world-wide project that yielded information new to science.
In 1875, the Astronomer Royal praised the Melbourne Observatory for its production of “the best catalogue of stars of the Southern Hemisphere ever published”. The Observatory also played a vital role in the exploration of Antarctica in the early twentieth century by providing the basis for magnetic surveys.
During the nineteenth century the Great Melbourne Telescope at the Melbourne Observatory generated great community pride and was then a symbol of the city’s sophistication and achievement. In its time it was recognised internationally as one of the best telescopes employed in pursuit of new discoveries in the sky.”
Melbourne Observatory is now on the National Heritage List (early 2018).
Important information about the tour:

Each tour consists of a max of 12 people. If there is sufficient interest we will book two tours which will occur simultaneously.
The tour is conducted at night and are not suitable for wheelchairs due to narrow entrances and staircases. This tour includes entry into confined spaces and climbing stairs, therefore requires a moderate level of physical fitness and mobility
The tour will not be cancelled due to overcast or inclement weather conditions. Our guide will conduct an informative tour although the use of telescopes for observation in these conditions will not occur
This program is not suitable for children under the age of 8 years. Children 8 years and above must be accompanied by an adult.

This is both an indoor and outdoor activity. Please wear appropriate clothing for weather conditions and appropriate footwear.

Box Hill Cemetery Tour
2020-02-29 10:00 - 12:00 | Box Hill Cemetery, 395 Middleborough Road, Box Hill, VIC, 3128, Australia
To coincide with the beginning of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day in March, our tour will focus on women in Box Hill cemetery. We will visit the graves of a variety of women, from nurses, teachers and artists to pioneers of women’s organisations. Come along and learn about the part that some women have played in Victoria’s history.

Scoresby Steamfest 2020
2020-03-07 - 2020-03-09 | National Steam Centre, 1200 Ferntree Gully Road, Scoresby, VIC, 3179, Australia
A unique experience with demonstrations and exhibits of Australian domestic, industrial and agricultural heritage. Our engines are impressive to see in action with some of Victoria’s best steam, diesel and engine displays. These operating engines form only part of over 500 engines and associated exhibits on display during our rally.
This event also provides a great opportunity for you to demonstrate and display your exhibits to thousands of our visitors that regularly attend the rally, and catch up with friends and acquaintances from across the state. A fenced arena will be available for mobile exhibits or fenced compounds can be used if more appropriate. Camping areas and showers are available at rally time for exhibitors, and complimentary spit roast dinner is offered to exhibitors on Saturday night. There is a new engine run for steam traction engines, steam rollers and vintage tractors tor provide an extra activity for drivers to put on a spectacular show!
More details are available on the website including Exhibitor Registration Forms.

Up from the vaults: As the River Flows
2020-03-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Old Quadrangle University of Melbourne, First floor, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia
The changing shape of Birrarung (Yarra River)
In the first outing of our ‘Up from the Vaults’ series for 2020, Dr Liz Dean from the School of Social and Political Sciences will explore the significance of Birrarung (the Yarra River).
In 2017 the Victorian Government implemented the landmark Yarra River Protection Wilip-gin Birrarung murron Act 2017; legislation which recognises the Yarra River as a living entity and acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as its traditional custodians, while also protecting the river for future generations.
‘Wilip-gin Birrarung murron’ translates as ‘keep the Birrarung alive’ in Woi-wurrung; and significantly, the act was the first legislation in Australia to be co-titled in a Traditional Owner language.
While largely overlooked, this Act can promote public discussions about Sovereignty. In granting the rights of the river, the boundaries of ownership are put into question. It also creates a focus on Indigenous representations of the Birrarung/Yarra River and on Indigenous knowledge of and care for the river, how rivers shape themselves and how the settler state altered the Yarra River. The early representations of this river help us begin to explore the diverse layers of the river and the spaces it occupies.
Image: George William Perry ‘Princes Bridge and the Yarra in flood, December’ 1863 albumen photograph The University of Melbourne Art Collection. Gift of the Russell and Mab Grimwade Bequest 1973

RHSV History Bookclub
2020-03-10 17:30 - 19:30 | RHSV, Gordon Moffatt Room, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
This will be the inaugural meeting of our History Bookclub. And the first book chosen is Chloe Hooper’s The Arsonist: A mind on fire.
The bookclub will focus on Victorian history but there may be little deviations. It will be moderated at first but it is planned for it to be self-sufficient. We will organise occasional author visits and guest speakers. The group size will be capped. There will be monthly meetings – currently planned for the 2nd Tuesday of each month. A bookclub is, of course, focused on the book but the word ‘club’ in the title is there for a reason – we want these gatherings to be fun.
If you have queries, please contact Rosemary / 9326 9288 / rosemary.cameron@historyvictoria.org.au
The Arsonist is available through the History Victoria Bookshop at the discounted price of $19
The Arsonist was awarded a Judge’s Special Prize in the 2019 Victorian Community History Awards. The Judges’ citation is:
“This powerful and suspenseful story of the 2009 bushfires in the Latrobe Valley is told from the perspectives of the police, the victims, the alleged perpetrator and his parents. The drama revolves around the accused, Brendan Sokaluk from Churchill, a social misfit with a cognitive disability. The author raises the issue as to what extent was he knowingly responsible for the inferno as she reflects on the nature of his disability and pyromania theories.
The backdrop is a disadvantaged community that experienced widespread unemployment after privatisation of the State’s energy grid and loss of community facilities at Yallourn and elsewhere owing to obeisance to coal mining.
Hooper uses a novelist’s skills to evoke the savage fury of the fire, a monster unleashed on a hapless little community, but her writing is anchored in fact; her sources are primarily the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission and court records. Her creative narrative represents a compelling way of telling the history of a catastrophe.”

2020 McIntyre Lecture: Nigel Lewis
2020-03-11 19:30 - 21:00 | Just Theatre, Kew Court House, 188 High Street, Kew, VIC, 3101, Australia
Nigel Lewis is a heritage architect who entered private practice in 1976. Early projects included the first urban conservation projects for many parts of inner Melbourne and rural historic site surveys. As a resident of Kew for a large part of his life, his knowledge and interest in contemporary architecture is long-standing.
The Kew Historical Society’s 2020 McIntyre Lecture will explore how modern buildings slip through the net due to formulaic application of planning controls. Street presentation of modernist buildings will be a major theme of the lecture.

Ceremony to unveil a plaque to the Sparrow family
2020-03-15 14:00 - 15:00 | Sparrow Farm, Lake Gorrie Road, Macarthur, VIC, 3286, Australia
Tony Wright wrote a terrific article in The Age on Saturday 7 March, The Sparrows fell, and the town won’t forget. It tells of the big flood of March 1946 when Hamilton, Casterton, Heywood, Portland, Port Fairy and Warrnambool and all the villages in between were engulfed by floods.
On Sunday 15 March at 2pm a ceremony will be held at the entrance to the Old Sparrow farm on Lake Gorrie Road, south of Macarthur, to unveil a bluestone plaque to mark the day when a whole family, the Sparrows, drowned.
Organised by the Macarthur & District Historical Society. (03) 55761221
Tony’s article can be read here

Hidden Melbourne: A Photographic Story of Melbourne Through the Ages with Barney Meyer
2020-03-16 10:00 - 12:00 | Monash Art Gallery, 860 Ferntree Gully Road, Wheelers Hill, VIC, 3150, Australia
A Photographic Story of Melbourne Through the Ages looks at two major events which took place in the 1800s: The birth of photography and the birth of Melbourne; the most liveable city in the world. One location in Melbourne is most remarkable from the perspective of the history of the city and of image-making technology. This is illustrated by four panoramic views of the city over 176 years, as captured from the spire of Scots’ Church on the NW corner of Collins and Russell Streets.
Barney will take you on a Virtual Tour of Melbourne, starting at the birth of Melbourne with a highly detailed 360° camera lucida view of the town from the top of the new Scot’s Church in 1841. Visit this site again in 1875 to see a 360° photographic view of Melbourne City from the spire through collodion glass plates. In 1963, the spire suffered severe lightning damage and was lowered 40 feet. In 1989, it was rebuilt and restored in height, at which time, 11 overlapping views of the city were captured from the spire, forming a 360° panoramic view. In 2017, a modern 360° view was captured from the spire by Hidden Melbourne using a CMOS sensor.
With Virtual Tour technology, you are able to stand on the spire as if you were virtually there. Barney will demonstrate Time Travel by allowing you to switch between the stages of Melbourne’s development and to see annotated landmarks. By linking old and new views into a timeline, this journey will tell the story of Melbourne’s growth and transformation as well as the development of image-making technology.
10:00am Morning Coffee
10:45am Talk begins
Bookings essential:
Friends of MGA $10 | $5 talk only
Non-members $12| $6 talk only

What the Little Bird didn't tell me
2020-03-17 17:15 - 19:00 | RHSV ZOOM by Invitation, Australia
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions we have regretfully decided to postpone this event and our other large events in April. We hope to reschedule later in the year.
Those who have already booked will receive a full refund.
Twenty years ago I wrote a book that documented a journey I had been on for over a decade. The book was A Little Bird Told: Family Secrets, Necessary Lives. This book represented a journey of discovery where I located my Aboriginal ancestors and answered a number of questions that had dogged my family for generations. Along the way, I discovered a story of secrets and lies, of madness, and refuge. In this talk, I will reflect on this book nearly 20 years later with a focus on the importance of women as the keepers and tellers of family stories. In so doing I will consider the reasons why I wrote the book, what impact it had at the time and its ongoing influence. I hope that these reflections might have something to say to other family historians. I want to question whether there are there some family secrets and necessary lies that should never be told?
Professor Lynette Russell AM is an award-winning historian and Indigenous studies scholar. In 2020 she is taking up an Australian Research Council’s Laureate Fellowship to examine Global Encounters and First Nations People: 1000 Years of Australian History.

‘Wings of Peace 1920-2020’ Centenary of Australia First Official Air Race, Serpentine Victoria
2020-03-21 | Victoria
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
In 1920 post WWI, the small village of Serpentine Victoria was selected to be the starting point of Australia’s first government sponsored aerial derby (as racing was often referred during that era). This was the first of numerous events to follow around the nation in the years after WWI.
The 1920 event was part of the promotion of the Second Peace Loan to raise funds to pay for the return, repatriation and care of the many soldiers and nurses to settle them back into community way of life after the Great European War.
The 2020 centenary event is of national significance for the benefit of aviators, airplane enthusiasts, historians and families who have an interest in airplanes, our community, our history. This event will raise awareness that there are still Veterans in need, as were First World War Veterans who benefited from money raised one hundred years ago. Legacy will be a beneficiary of the efforts of the ‘Wings of Peace 1920 – 2020’ commemoration to aid their continuing support for service men, women and their families.
The Air Race Centenary Committee will bring the roar of planes to Serpentine again to recreate the atmosphere of 1920. Biplane owners and aviators are invited to participate in a 70 mile air race across the region. Heritage/vintage airplanes are also invited to be part of a fly in and/or fly over with an opportunity to be part of a ground based display of airplanes and other modes of 1920’s transport i.e. vintage cars. Paul Bennet Air Shows will bring you an exciting aerobatics display.
Further information see Facebook pages: East Loddon Historical Society and Serpentine Air Race. Find all the days scheduled details and tickets on web page: https://serpentineairrace.com.au/ Come celebrate and commemorate the centenary of Australia first official air race Saturday March 21st 2020, Loddon Valley Highway, Serpentine, Victoria.

Gippsland Workshop 3: SCANNING FOR BEGINNERS
2020-03-21 09:30 - 12:30 | Federation University Gippsland Campus Library, Northways Road, Churchill, VIC, 3842, Australia
Bookings for this workshop are closed and it has been postponed until some time later in the year. We will keep our members informed as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds.
This workshop is the third in a series of six workshops on digitisation and cataloguing to be held at Federation University’s Gippsland Campus in Churchill. If you wish to purchase a discounted ticket to all six workshops click here.
This workshop is aimed at those who are new to scanning. It will cover some terminology relating to digital images, and how to prepare documents for scanning before participants scan some documents using flatbed scanners. Participants will compare the document to the digital image and learn basic image manipulation to have the best possible digitised version. Then, file naming and storage standards will be applied to the digitised documents. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to scan documents confidently.
The series of 6 linked workshops (three Saturday morning & afternoons over three months) cover aspects of cataloguing and digitisation. This series of workshops is progressive, starting with basic concepts and building in complexity.
Participants need to bring their own lap-top.
All workshops are limited to 20 participants and will be led by Sophie Shilling, our digital expert. They are all to be held at the library at Federation University’s Gippsland Campus in Churchill.
Tea and coffee are available throughout the workshop however participants staying for both workshops will need to bring their lunch.
INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOPS (HALF-DAY):
RHSV MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF RHSV AFFILIATED SOCIETIES: $30
NON-RHSV MEMBERS: $45
(ALL 6 WORKSHOPS (OVER 3 DAYS):
RHSV MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF RHSV AFFILIATED SOCIETIES: $150
NON-RHSV MEMBERS: $225)
QUERIES: +61 3 9326 9288 / OFFICE@HISTORYVICTORIA.ORG.AU
Check out the other workshops:
Workshop 1: Computer cataloguing for absolute beginners
Workshop 2: Using cataloguing software
Workshop 3: Scanning for beginners
Workshop 4: Digitising books and photographing objects
Workshop 5: Looking after digital files
Workshop 6: Making collections accessible

Gippsland Workshop 4: DIGITISING BOOKS AND PHOTOGRAPHING OBJECTS
2020-03-21 13:30 - 16:30 | Federation University Gippsland Campus Library, Northways Road, Churchill, VIC, 3842, Australia
Bookings for this workshop are closed and it has been postponed until some time later in the year. We will keep our members informed as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds.
This workshop is the fourth in a series of six workshops on digitisation and cataloguing to be held at Federation University’s Gippsland Campus in Churchill. If you wish to purchase a discounted ticket to all six workshops click here.
In this intermediate digitisation workshop, we will introduce participants to best-practice digitisation techniques and procedures. Participants will have the opportunity to digitise books using a book scanner, and to set up a site for object photography. Then, we will introduce some image manipulation techniques including making thumbnails and watermarks. This workshop is aimed at those who are comfortable using a flatbed scanner and would like to expand their digitisation and digital image manipulation skills.
The series of 6 linked workshops (three Saturday morning & afternoons over three months) cover aspects of cataloguing and digitisation. This series of workshops is progressive, starting with basic concepts and building in complexity.
Participants need to bring their own lap-top.
All workshops are limited to 20 participants and will be led by Sophie Shilling, our digital expert. They are all to be held at the library at Federation University’s Gippsland Campus in Churchill.
Tea and coffee are available throughout the workshop however participants staying for both workshops will need to bring their lunch.
INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOPS (HALF-DAY):
RHSV MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF RHSV AFFILIATED SOCIETIES: $30
NON-RHSV MEMBERS: $45
(ALL 6 WORKSHOPS (OVER 3 DAYS):
RHSV MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF RHSV AFFILIATED SOCIETIES: $150
NON-RHSV MEMBERS: $225)
QUERIES: +61 3 9326 9288 / OFFICE@HISTORYVICTORIA.ORG.AU
Check out the other workshops:
Workshop 1: Computer cataloguing for absolute beginners
Workshop 2: Using cataloguing software
Workshop 3: Scanning for beginners
Workshop 4: Digitising books and photographing objects
Workshop 5: Looking after digital files
Workshop 6: Making collections accessible

Back to Hastings
2020-03-21 14:00 - 17:30 | Hastings Club, 155 MARINE PDE, HASTINGS, VIC, 3915, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
We are planning a reunion of all those people who remember their time in Hastings or those people wishing to socialise with us and reminisce about life in Hastings prior to 1970.
Snacks provided. Drinks at your cost.
Please RSVP with numbers attending and contact details.
Memorabilia, newspaper clippings and photos very welcome, labelled with your name.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ABOUT THIS EVENT

Image caption:
Hastings Jetty, Rose Series Postcard P13936, c1950
Courtesy of Hastings – Western Port Historical Society

Fishermans Bend: an urban renewal project unlike any other in Australia
2020-03-21 14:30 - 16:00 | Mary Kehoe Community Centre, 224 Danks St, VIC, Albert Park, VIC, 3206, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
Want to know more about what’s going on with Fishermans Bend?
U3A’s Saturday seminar Fishermans Bend: an urban renewal project unlike any other in Australia is on 21 March from 2.30 to 4.00 pm at the Mary Kehoe Centre in Danks St. Speakers are Janet Bolitho, Bernadene Voss, Mayor and Councillor, and Rob McGuaran, local resident and director of MGS Architects. The moderator will be Max Nankervis who is with the Middle Park History Group.
All are welcome to this free seminar but rsvps are essential to 9696 3495.

Gippsland Art Gallery: tour and talk
2020-03-27 10:00 - 11:00 | Gippsland Art Gallery, 70 Foster St, Sale, VIC, 3850, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
Enjoy a guided tour of the Gippsland Art Gallery led by Director, Simon Gregg, and hear about the learnings and successes of the 2018 redevelopment of the gallery.
Presented by AMaGA
AMaGA members free
Non-members $10
Bookings: www.amagavic.org.au/events
or call 03 8341 7344 (also call this number for disability access information / assistance)

Designing a Travelling Exhibition
2020-03-27 13:00 - 16:00 | Bairnsdale Library, 22 Service St,, Bairnsdale, VIC, 3875, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
This AMaGA workshop, targeted at small museums and volunteers will look at exhibition development, design principles, installation and display techniques for exhibitions that are easily transportable and can be displayed in a range of venues.
AMaGA members $35
Non-members $40
Bookings: www.amagavic.org.au/events
or call 03 8341 7344 (also call this number for disability access information / assistance)

Teasing women’s stories from the archives
2020-03-31 18:00 - 19:30 | Old Treasury Building, 20 Spring St, East Melbourne, VIC, 3002, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
In March the History Council of Victoria celebrates Women’s History Month, part of the context for annual celebrations of International Women’s Day on 8 March. In this seminar, three historians share their experience of researching women’s lives, as biographical dictionaries strive to increase their representation of women. From a medieval countess to Victoria’s female criminals, the stories uncovered range widely in both time and place, pointing to the richness the archives can yield ‘with a little more effort and research’.
This is a free event but bookings should be made through the HCV website
The presenters and their topics are:
Dr Carolyn Rasmussen, public historian
‘ “They just need a little more effort and research to track down”: addressing the gender imbalance in the Australian Dictionary of Biography‘
The Australian Dictionary of Biography was, from its inception, intended to include representative as well as significant Australians, but nevertheless women remained in the shadows with only 10 women to 565 men in volume one and 11 women to 596 men in volume two. The proportion has gradually increased to nearly one quarter of those who died between 1991 and 2001, but the challenge to redress the balance has now been taken up and the number of ‘recovered lives’ is testament to the effort and research of recent years. Plans are in hand to incorporate them into a revised Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Dr Kathleen Neale, Monash University
‘Looking for Elizabeth: locating medieval women in the archives’
In response to shifting community expectations, major biographical dictionaries are moving to include more women among their entries. How can medieval women be located in the archives of institutions from which they were largely excluded in their own time, and in which later archivists were often uninterested in noticing and listing them where their lives were recorded? This presentation reflects on my experience of researching the biography of one of the daughters of Edward I.
Dr Alana Piper, University of Technology Sydney
‘Freeing female prisoners from the archives: understanding “criminality” in context’
In his 1937 memoir about his career as a police detective in Melbourne, Alfred Stephen Burvett made a seemingly oxymoronic remark when he stated ‘It must be remembered that it is not always criminals who commit offences or crimes’. Historically not every individual who entered the prison system fitted popular conceptions of the ‘criminal’; this seems especially true of women prisoners. Using archival prison records, this paper will discuss the offending careers of 6,042 women incarcerated in Victoria between 1860 and 1920 in order to reveal the complexities behind the ‘criminal’ identity imposed upon such women.
Margaret Anderson, Director at the Old Treasury Building, will facilitate the discussion.

Our Chinese Community
2020-04-01 11:00 - 2020-07-30 15:00 | ECHUCA HISTORICAL SCOEITY MUSEUM, 1 Dickson Street, Echuca, victoria, 3564, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
Our Chinese Community Exhibition opens daily from 1st April 11am till 3pm at Echuca Historical Society Museum, 1 Dickson Street Echuca 3564
This exhibition tells the story of some of our earliest residents the Chinese. Find out why our first Chinese residents made Echuca home.
Chinese market gardeners arrived in Echuca in April 1865 and by 1892 there were seventeen different Chinese paying rates on land. Others had experience as bankers, storekeepers and interpreters, general labourers and even a river boat owner/captain.
There were many marriages between white women and Chinese men on the goldfields and then in towns to where the miners moved when the gold failed. Find out about the burning tower.

Heritage Festival & Antiques Sideshow, Geelong
2020-04-05 10:00 - 16:00 | Sacred Heart College Geelong, Retreat Road, NEWTOWN, VIC, 3220, Australia
All are warmly invited to attend SHC’s inaugural Heritage Festival, featuring an Antiques Sideshow on Sunday 5 April 2020, 10.00am – 4.00pm.
LEONARD JOEL – OBJECT VALUATIONS
We are excited to have experts from Leonard Joel who will be available for valuations on the day. Leonard Joel, established 1919, is Australia’s largest multi-department auction house, and they will be applying their expertise and specialist knowledge to value objects throughout the day.
Guests are welcome to bring items to be valued, at the cost of $5 per item (funds will be donated to the College’s 160th Scholarship program). For large items we request you bring a high definition, clear photograph, instead of the item itself. To register your item/s, please enter via Aphrasia Street (there will be signage). Alternatively, you can click this link to register your object/s prior to the day: https://www.trybooking.com/BIOJV
FAMILY TREE WORKSHOPS
Have you ever wanted to research your family tree, but were unsure where to start? We will have experts from Ancestry.com and the Genealogical Society of Geelong to help you start investigating your family tree.
ANTIQUES AND VINTAGE WARES MARKET
The event will have an antiques and vintage wares market, with stallholders from the Geelong area and beyond.
HERITAGE TALKS AND EXPERT PRESENTATIONS
A variety of presenters will provide expert knowledge on a wide range of heritage topics. Further details will be on the event website shortly.
RECITALS AND EXPERT TALKS IN THE CHAPEL
The College’s Chapel will be filled with the majestic sounds of the beautiful, 136-year old unaltered Fincham pipe organ, as renowned organist Frank De Rosso performs two recitals in the afternoon.
Ray Brown, from Ferguson and Urie (specialists in Colonial Victorian Stained Glass) will address guests on the magnificent David Relph Drape stained glass windows (1874) in the Chapel.
VINTAGE CARS
The Western District Historic Vehicle Club will have their historic motor cars on display. Members of the club will be here to answer questions about their vintage automobiles.
There will also be steam machinery on display.
VILLAGE GREEN
Sit back and relax in our ‘Village Green’, where you can enjoy a wide variety of food vans. There will also be entertaining live music from talented performers including local Irish Traditional Music/Celtic band Déardaoin.
REGISTER NOW
Guests are encouraged to book their free entry tickets online for an opportunity to win a National Trust membership for 2020: TryBooking: https://www.trybooking.com/BIOJV

53RD ANNUAL VINTAGE MACHINERY RALLY WARRACKNABEAL
2020-04-11 - 2020-04-12 | Wheatlands Agricultural Machinery Museum, 34 Henty Highway,, Warracknabeal, VIC, 3393, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event as we suspect it has been cancelled.
Working Vintage Tractors & Machinery
Wheatlands Agricultural Machinery Museum is located on the Henty Highway Warracknabeal and houses the most extensive collection of vintage agricultural machinery, tractors, stationary engines and other such equipment in Australia. Over three days of the Easter Rally, this unique collection is on display, plus restoration enthusiasts from many parts of Australia, exhibit their own collections of vintage cars, engines and machinery.
Featuring in 2020 – “Case” & “American Engines”
* Working vintage tractors and tractor parade
* Working vintage machinery
* Stationary engines
* Steam engine
* Axe handle lathe
* Vintage cars
* Shearing demonstrations
* Model aeroplanes
* Craft stalls
* Vintage and collectible displays
SPECIAL EVENTS
* Vintage Street parade down Warracknabeal’s main street on Easter Saturday from 11am
* Twilight Vintage Tractor Pull held Saturday night
FUN FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
* Hay Bale Maze
* Easter Egg Hunt
* Rocker Cover Racing
* “Wheatlands Walkabout” scavenger hunt
* Coloring competition
* Catering available all weekend
* BBQ, sandwiches, cakes, fruit salad and drinks
Exhibitors Welcome with camping available for exhibitors
Contact Rally Secretary Dale 0429 146 597
Entry to our Easter events begin from 10am daily.
We look forward to seeing you there!

ZOOM History Bookclub: Truganini
2020-04-14 17:30 - 19:00 | RHSV, Gordon Moffatt Room, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
We are thrilled that Professor Cassandra Pybus, author of our book this month, will be joining our bookclub for a discussion. Start preparing your questions!
Our History Bookclub is not taking COVID-19 lying down and we will be convening through ZOOM. Unfortunately we cannot pour you a glass of red wine through ZOOM but we can still chat. If you would llike to join us – sign up below and we will send you the link.
In normal times the bookclub meets monthly on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 5:30pm – 7pm at the RHSV and we ponder the big issues and the small over a glass of wine and some cheese. But you can start reading our next book in preparation for the temporary situation of ZOOMing in for discussions:
Truganini Journey through the apocalypse by Cassandra Pybus.
The haunting story of the extraordinary Aboriginal woman behind the myth of ‘the last Tasmanian Aborigine’.
‘For the first time a biographer who treats her with the insight and empathy she deserves. The result is a book of unquestionable national importance.’ – PROFESSOR HENRY REYNOLDS, University of Tasmania

‘At last, a book to give Truganini the proper attention she deserves.’ – GAYE SCULTHORPE, Curator of Oceania, The British MuseumCassandra Pybus’s ancestors told a story of an old Aboriginal woman who would wander across their farm on Bruny Island, in south-east Tasmania, in the 1850s and 1860s. As a child, Cassandra didn’t know this woman was Truganini, and that Truganini was walking over the country of her clan, the Nuenonne.For nearly seven decades, Truganini lived through a psychological and cultural shift more extreme than we can imagine. But her life was much more than a regrettable tragedy. Now Cassandra has examined the original eyewitness accounts to write Truganini’s extraordinary story in full.Hardly more than a child, Truganini managed to survive the devastation of the 1820s, when the clans of south-eastern Tasmania were all but extinguished. She spent five years on a journey around Tasmania, across rugged highlands and through barely penetrable forests, with George Augustus Robinson, the self-styled missionary who was collecting the survivors to send them into exile on Flinders Island. She has become an international icon for a monumental tragedy – the so-called extinction of the original people of Tasmania.Cassandra Pybus is an award-winning author and a distinguished historian. She is author of twelve books and has held research professorships at the University of Sydney, Georgetown University in Washington DC, the University of Texas and King’s College London. She is descended from the colonist who received the largest free land grant on Truganini’s traditional country of Bruny Island.

The following bookclub at a time to be determined will be Jill Giese’s award-winning book, The Maddest Place on Earth.
And on Tuesday 9 June, Brenda Niall’s biography, Mannix.

Launch of Mike Rosel's 'A Rat of Tobruk'
2020-04-15 18:00 - 19:30 | Shrine of Remembrance, Birdwood Ave, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
Mike’s launch has been cancelled however the book will be in bookshops from early April, and available at
https://scholarly.info/book/a-rat-of-tobruk-a-diggers-lost-images-of-the-siege/
An invitation to the launch of Mike Rosel’s A Rat of Tobruk by Dr Mark Johnston at the Shrine of Remembrance (Auditorium).
RSVP: 0407 824 784 by 9 April.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the Siege of Tobruk in 2021, Melbourne writer Mike Rosel has chosen many photographs from his father’s WWII albums, notably those from Tobruk – many not seen before.
The tale of Lt John Rosel MC, and the 2/24th Battalion‘s odyssey from training in northeast Victoria to Tobruk, is complemented by never-before-published intimate and frank letters from Tobruk by Private Harry Frazer to his parents in Swan Hill.
“Lieutenant John Rosel won a Military Cross for displaying ‘calmness and outstanding leadership’ when his platoon became surrounded at a critical point in the siege of Tobruk. He led the defence of several vital outposts against numerous attacks by the troops of General Rommel. His son Mike has written not only a touching tribute to his father’s war service but also a perceptive and stylish account of the soldiering experience of a generation.
A Rat of Tobruk has many fascinating photographs – mainly taken by John Rosel –and is recommended to anyone interested in the Australian soldiers who risked all while making a substantial contribution to Allied victory in World War II.”
– Dr Mark Johnston, historian,
and author of 11 books on Australians’ service in WWII

GIPPSLAND WORKSHOP 5: LOOKING AFTER DIGITAL FILES
2020-04-18 09:30 - 12:30 | Federation University Gippsland Campus Library, Northways Road, Churchill, VIC, 3842, Australia
Bookings for this workshop are closed and it has been postponed until some time later in the year. We will keep our members informed as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds.
This workshop is the fifth in a series of six workshops on digitisation and cataloguing to be held at Federation University’s Gippsland Campus in Churchill. If you wish to purchase a discounted ticket to all six workshops click here.
This is a basic digital preservation workshop. The workshop will begin with brief project management skills including templates for policies and procedures. We will discuss digital storage, how to create backups, and how to check if files are damaged. Participants will learn how to describe an object using Dublin Core so that digital files can be discoverable.
The series of 6 linked workshops (three Saturday morning & afternoons over three months) cover aspects of cataloguing and digitisation. This series of workshops is progressive, starting with basic concepts and building in complexity.
Participants need to bring their own lap-top.
All workshops are limited to 20 participants and will be led by Sophie Shilling, our digital expert. They are all to be held at the library at Federation University’s Gippsland Campus in Churchill.
Tea and coffee are available throughout the workshop however participants staying for both workshops will need to bring their lunch.
INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOPS (HALF-DAY):
RHSV MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF RHSV AFFILIATED SOCIETIES: $30
NON-RHSV MEMBERS: $45
(ALL 6 WORKSHOPS (OVER 3 DAYS):
RHSV MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF RHSV AFFILIATED SOCIETIES: $150
NON-RHSV MEMBERS: $225)
QUERIES: +61 3 9326 9288 / OFFICE@HISTORYVICTORIA.ORG.AU
Check out the other workshops:
Workshop 1: Computer cataloguing for absolute beginners
Workshop 2: Using cataloguing software
Workshop 3: Scanning for beginners
Workshop 4: Digitising books and photographing objects
Workshop 5: Looking after digital files
Workshop 6: Making collections accessible

GIPPSLAND WORKSHOP 6: MAKING COLLECTIONS ACCESSIBLE
2020-04-18 13:30 - 16:30 | Federation University Gippsland Campus Library, Northways Road, Churchill, VIC, 3842, Australia
Bookings for this workshop are closed and it has been postponed until some time later in the year. We will keep our members informed as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds.
This workshop is the sixth and final workshop in a series of six workshops on digitisation and cataloguing to be held at Federation University’s Gippsland Campus in Churchill. If you wish to purchase a discounted ticket to all six workshops click here.
Objects need to be accessible, whether that is to people managing a collection, to visitors, or to the public. This workshop will introduce themes of copyright and privacy that relate to historical collections. Participants will learn how to optimise catalogue records for discovery, how to write for social media, and create digital exhibitions.
The series of 6 linked workshops (three Saturday morning & afternoons over three months) cover aspects of cataloguing and digitisation. This series of workshops is progressive, starting with basic concepts and building in complexity.
Participants need to bring their own lap-top.
All workshops are limited to 20 participants and will be led by Sophie Shilling, our digital expert. They are all to be held at the library at Federation University’s Gippsland Campus in Churchill.
Tea and coffee are available throughout the workshop however participants staying for both workshops will need to bring their lunch.
INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOPS (HALF-DAY):
RHSV MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF RHSV AFFILIATED SOCIETIES: $30
NON-RHSV MEMBERS: $45
(ALL 6 WORKSHOPS (OVER 3 DAYS):
RHSV MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF RHSV AFFILIATED SOCIETIES: $150
NON-RHSV MEMBERS: $225)
QUERIES: +61 3 9326 9288 / OFFICE@HISTORYVICTORIA.ORG.AU
Check out the other workshops:
Workshop 1: Computer cataloguing for absolute beginners
Workshop 2: Using cataloguing software
Workshop 3: Scanning for beginners
Workshop 4: Digitising books and photographing objects
Workshop 5: Looking after digital files
Workshop 6: Making collections accessible

Victorian Collections Workshop
2020-04-21 10:00 - 15:00 | Ballaarat Mechanics Institute, 117-119 Sturt St, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
AMaGA presents a hands-on workshop which will guide you through the process of cataloguing on the Victorian Collections system and cover basic principles of collection management, object handling and digitisation
AMaGA members $10
Non-members $20

Law, Lawyers and La Trobe
2020-04-21 18:30 - 20:00 | RHSV ZOOM by Invitation, Australia
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions we have regretfully decided to postpone this event and our other large events in April. We hope to reschedule later in the year.
Those who have already booked will receive a full refund.
In 2020 we are delighted to announce that the A G L Shaw lecturer will be leading legal history scholar, Dr Simon Smith AM FRHSV, who recently published Solicitors and the Law Institute in Victoria 1835-2019: Pathway to a Respected Profession.
Alan George Lewers Shaw AO, FAHA, FASSA, FRAHS, FRHSV (1916 – 2012) was an RHSV Councillor from 1965 to 1971 and President from 1987 to 1991. He is also a Benefactor of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. He was President of the C J La Trobe Society as well and the two organisations, the C J La Trobe Society and the RHSV, have jointly presented the annual A G L Shaw lecture since 2002 as a tribute to a great historian.

Simon Smith is an Adjunct Professor with the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre at Victoria University. He was Vice-President of the RHSV in 2009-2011. In 2016 he edited Judging for the People: A Social History of the Supreme Court in Victoria 1841-2016.
His other recent published works include Barristers Solicitors Pettifoggers: Profiles in Australian Colonial Legal History (2014) and Maverick Litigants: A History of Vexatious Litigants in Australia 1930-2008 (2009).
As a Monash University law undergraduate in the 1970s, Simon helped establish Australia’s first community legal centre, the Springvale Legal Service. In that context he was a founding editor of a leading practice text, the Lawyers Practice Manual (Vic). After completing his legal training in Oxford, he was admitted to practice in 1975. In 1978 he became the first full-time clinical legal education academic in Australia, based at Springvale.
Through that clinical programme, for a decade, he helped introduce Monash undergraduates to the practice of law in a supervised poverty law setting. Over 40 years of that programme, the power of ‘first impressions’ on those future practitioners has contributed to the better practice of law in Australia.
In the 1980s, Simon was a pioneer in alternative dispute resolution and was the first Ombudsman in the Australian financial services sector. In 1991 he helped establish the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business (SOCAP). He was President in 1996. Later he was Senior Counsel with a top-500 insurance company and a curator of the nationally significant insurance archive, the Suncorp Insurance Archive, now in the hands of the State Library of Victoria.
Simon holds the degrees of B Juris. LL M and PhD from Monash University. In the 2019 Australia Day honours he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the law particularly in consumer affairs, to higher education, and to history.

Art Handling & Installation
2020-04-23 13:30 - 16:30 | Art Gallery of Ballarat, 40 Lydiard St North, Ballarat Central, VIC, 3350, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
In this AMaGA workshop, join Joseph Dawson from TITLE UNTITLED to gain practical insights from a professional Gallery Technician, preparing two and three dimensional art works for display, safe handling of artworks and installation techniques. This event is aimed at curators, collection managers, installation staff at small -to-medium organisations and gallery and museum studies students.
AMaGA members and students $70
Non-members $130

ANZAC DAY
2020-04-25 | Victoria
Message from the RSL
At 6 am on Anzac Day, the RSL is asking all Australians to walk outside, and stand in their yard, driveway, or on their balcony and observe a minute of silence in respect of our current service personnel and veterans.
Australians are encouraged to take a candle, a torch or phone with them, to help Light Up The Dawn and to celebrate that Anzac spirit.
We may be physically isolated, but the Anzac spirit unites us.
Lest We Forget.
For those wanting to pay their respects while safely staying at home, the service from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra will be broadcast live on the ABC from 5.30 am. https://iview.abc.net.au/show/abc-live-stream
ABC local radio Victoria: Listen to Melbourne’s Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance. The service will begin at 6.10am and finish at 6.30 am.

AMaGA Masterclass: Inclusive Text
2020-04-29 10:00 - 16:00 | Heide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Rd, Bulleen, VIC, 3105, Australia
Please contact the organiser before attending this event in case it has been cancelled.
This full-day masterclass will explore writing engaging content, considering diverse audiences and employing inclusive language in all communications – from writing exhibition labels to marketing.
Members $135
Non-members $225

The Queen Victoria Market, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Heritage and Emotion
2020-04-29 17:00 - 19:45 | RHSV, Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
Sadly, bookings for this event are cancelled for the moment due to COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings. It may be rescheduled later in the year. Those who have already booked will receive a full-refund.
Royal Historical Society of Victoria, QVM Stallholders Traders Action Group and Friends of Queen Victoria Market present
The Queen Victoria Market
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Heritage and Emotion
Two linked events:
(1) The Queen Victoria Market: Social Value and Preservation. A conversation between Graeme Davison and Charles Sowerwine
5.00-6.30 pm at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, 239 A’Beckett Street, Entry $20 (RHSV Members $10) includes drinks 5:00-5:30. The RHSV is a short 5 min stroll from the Queen Victoria Market.
Graeme Davison AO is Emeritus Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor of History, Monash University, and a former Chairman of the Heritage Council of Victoria.
Charles Sowerwine is Emeritus Professor of History, University of Melbourne, and Chair of the Heritage Committee of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
(2) Presentation by the artists of Isobel Knowles and Van Sowerwine’s short animation, Out In The Open, in the historic sheds of the Queen Victoria Market.
6:45-7:45 pm at the Queen Victoria Market, Franklin Street Heritage Box Hire storage shed, 190 Franklin St, Entrance from QVM car park between Franklin St car park entrance and Peel St. Entry by gold coin donation. This event has been produced in association with STAG (Stallholders and Traders Action Group).
Out In The Open is a moving film created as part of a City of Melbourne public art program at the Queen Victoria Market by collaborative duo Isobel Knowles and Van Sowerwine. Using stop motion animation and sound, it explores a hidden side of the market and tells the story of a trader’s deep relationship with the market. It raises the question of the emotional and social value of this heritage site. The screening will be introduced by the artists and followed by a short talk about its making and a Q & A session.
A link to more information on Friends of Queen Victoria Market
