Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Well Built: Simmie & Co Master Builders 1924 – 1978
2023-02-02 - 2023-06-30 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
Simmie & Co was a prominent building company in Melbourne (1924-1978) and in Canberra (1926-1969). In Melbourne the company was highly successful and built many iconic buildings, churches, monasteries, schools, housing, factories, defence works, the Shrine forecourt (1939-45), offices and theatres including some heritage-listed constructions (one designed by Robin Boyd).
In Canberra, Simmie & Co was responsible for building a wide range of iconic constructions, including the first Northbourne Avenue shops on London Circuit, Albert Hall, the Australian War Memorial, St Andrews Cathedral, Institute of Anatomy (now the Film and Sound Archives), US Embassy, several other embassies, R G Menzies Library, a range of housing from heritage listed homes in Forrest to worker’s cottages in Narrabundah, schools, halls, theatres and commercial sites.
The founders were three Victorian brothers, all born in the last decade of the nineteenth century and all worked at the Sunshine Harvester factory before World War One – William, Jock & George. All were World War One veterans (two were Gallipoli veterans). All were wounded and survived. Two were closely involved with the Master Builders Association in Melbourne.
Discover their story of a pioneering building company of the early to mid-twentieth century, of World War One veterans, of courage and a willingness to take a risk, of the beginning of the capital city of Australia and the workers, the unsung heroes, who made it all happen.
ABOUT THE R J SIMMIE COLLECTION
The R J Simmie Collection has been put together over many years by Dr Richard Simmie, a grandson of Jock Simmie, one of the principals of Simmie & Co. The Collection contains records of the Simmie family connected to Simmie & Co and also historic farm Harpsdale. These comprise an extensive collection of photographs, construction and farm business records, artefacts and ephemera, even historic farm machinery. The R J Simmie Collection is the major sponsor for this exhibition, both in Melbourne and Canberra.
ABOUT THE CURATOR AND AUTHOR
Dr Andrew Kilsby, is an independent historian (www.connect-history.com), and published author. He holds a PhD in history from UNSW. Dr Kilsby has a background in military and diplomatic service, public relations and corporate communications both in Australia and in Asia-Pacific. Recent publications include The Big Garage: 65 Years of Motoring History; The Case of Eichengruen-Edwards and Continental Tyres (Commendation Community History Awards 2019); The Forgotten Cruiser: HMAS Melbourne I, 1913-1928; The Riflemen: A History of the NRAA 1888-1988 and as co-author, A Reputable Set of Men: The Sandringham Club 1913-2013 and Sigma Pharmaceuticals 1912-2012. His new publication Family Business: The Simmies of Simmie & Co and Harpsdale, will be launched at the exhibition opening.

WRITING HISTORY GROUP
2023-05-23 11:30 - 13:00, 2023-06-27 11:30 - 13:00, 2023-07-25 11:30 - 13:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | ZOOM, Join from anywhere in the world
Dr Cheryl Griffin leads this group which has been meeting since 2020.
This group is for people who are tackling writing a history project or two and want a sounding board / source of information / guidance and HELP! Each month from February to November Cheryl convenes the group via Zoom for 90 minutes and they will attack a particular aspect of writing history and also be a sounding board for members problems / queries. Cheryl also has guest writers drop in to talk about their work and how they’ve dealt with thorny issues.
This writing group has a cap on the numbers who can join as we don’t want it to get too unwieldy where questions can’t be answered nor feedback given. Ongoing attendance is encouraged. The group dynamic doesn’t work if you can only drop in to a couple of sessions or you don’t have a current project on which you are working.
So, if you are a newcomer and are interested in joining, please RSVP for the Feb session and we’ll let you know if we have reached the limit of the group or not.

Tue 28 Feb, 2023 11:30 – 1pm AEDT
Tue 28 Mar, 2023 11:30 – 1pm AEDT
Tue 18 Apr, 2023 11:30 – 1pm AEST (a week early to avoid Anzac Day)
Tue 23 May, 2023 11:30 – 1pm AEST
Tue 27 Jun, 2023 11:30- 1pm AEST
Tue 25 Jul, 2023 11:30- 1pm AEST
Tue 22 Aug, 2023 11:30- 1pm AEST
Tue 26 Sep, 2023 11:30- 1pm AEST
Tue 24 Oct, 2023 11:30 – 1pm AEDT
Tue 28 Nov, 2023 11:30 – 1pm AEDT
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Monthly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZAkcO-rpjgjE9xC-Djyq2jCCSkdiwv1SZNl/ics?icsToken=[REDACTED] Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84976383998?pwd=[REDACTED] ID: 849 7638 3998
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Books and Readers: An Author’s Perspective on the world of Publishing
2023-05-31 19:00 - 20:00 | 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC 3181, 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC, 3181, Australia
We have the pleasure of hosting Author Stuart Kells who has written several volumes in the category of ‘books about book’ (our personal favourite being his one titled “The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders”).
His most recent book is a history of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious university press, Melbourne University Publishing. He also wrote a major history of Penguin Books, ‘Penguin and the Lane Brothers’. In this PMI talk, Stuart shares stories and insights from his research and from his own career in the book world. His focus is on the attractions of books, publishing and libraries as subjects for writing.
📚 MUP: A Centenary History will be available for purchase on the night.
Bookings are essential with a gold coin donation for entry.

Altona Homestead Devonshire Tea
2023-06-04 10:00 - 14:00, 2023-07-02 10:00 - 14:00 | Altona Homestead, 128 Queen Street, Altona, Victoria, 3018, Australia
The Altona-Laverton Historical Society members and volunteers invite you to drop into the Altona Homestead on the first Sunday of the Month (February to December) to enjoy a serve of our famous Devonshire Tea or Cream Tea or Cornish Tea, anyway you look at them they are delicious.
Our Devonshire tea comes with two freshly made scones, home-made mixed berry jam, whipped cream and your choice of a pot of coffee or a pot of tea. We also have fresh lemonade available (and hot chocolate in winter). All in the surrounds of the heritage Altona Homestead building within the beautiful Logan Reserve, Altona

The Altona Homestead provides visitors of all ages the opportunity to take a step back to the time of our early settlers to the region of Altona. Located overlooking the tranquil Logan Reserve in close proximity to the Altona foreshore, the homestead is a unique and treasured part of Altona’s heritage. On display are objects, pictures, paintings and collections that reflect everyday life from 1840 through to the mid 1900s. The property has been used by a number of families as a residence, was used as holiday accommodation, was the council office and meeting place for the Altona Shire before Altona gained city status and moved to new chambers, and was used by a number of community organisations as well as Altona Historical Society.
Restoration works commenced in 1988 and through careful planning and funding provided by the then Altona City Council, ensuring preservation of the homestead for the people of Altona and visitors to enjoy and learn about Altona’s, and the western suburb’s, past.

Book launch at Elwood: Enchanted Beneath the Bluff
2023-06-04 14:00 - 16:00 | Elwood Bowls Club, 170 Glenhuntly Road, Brighton, VIC, 3186, Australia
Authors Heather Arnold and Isaac Hermann invite you to the launch of their book, Enchanted Beneath the Bluff, Agnes & Geraldine’s Pursuit
of Elwood’s Elusive Black Diamonds.
Within a place of love, sorrow and salvation, where Elwood’s Swamp met St. Kilda’s Red Bluff, two ardent women – Agnes Simmons and Geraldine Minet – with their Victorian Coal Mining Company, challenged providence and geology.In the days of Suffrage and Spiritualism, these two daring Theosophists sought to bring prosperity to Colonial Victoria of the 1890s in the midst of the Depression. Their engine, ‘Helena’ was fired up to bore deeper for their black diamonds, than any other coal exploration in the world! Thousands of feet of drilling were shrouded in secrecy and suspicion. Their spirit world’s prophecies plummeted to earth, revealing through cold hard facts and bitter disappointment that the only flawless diamonds of their quest lay within their own altruism. It happened here, by Typhus Road shadowed by Slaughter Yard Creek on its swamp bound journey to the restless sea?

Elwood local historian and author, Isaac Hermann has frequented Point Ormond for near to six decades savoring its silence, taking in its views and more recently giving voice to its rich and diverse stories. Author of Kingsley, Our House & Home, A History of the Elwood and St Kilda Neighbourhood Learning Centre, and A Labour of Love, the Public Works of Carlo Catani, Victoria 1876 -1918.
Heather is a Local Historian, President of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society and Secretary of the South Eastern Historical Association. A Librarian for over 40 years and the Local History Librarian at Casey Cardinia Libraries from 2005 – 2021, Heather is passionate about local history and is the author of three blogs – Koo Wee Rup Swamp History, Victoria’s Past: Rescued and Retold, and Carlo Catani, a tribute to Victoria’s Engineer-in-Chief.

Bookings: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/enchanted-beneath-the-bluff-book-launch-tickets-622139414737

Book signing and sales from 2pm, launch at 3pm and tea and coffee provided.
Some on-site parking.

‘Springtime for hymn singing: the growth of congregational singing in the 19th Century’
2023-06-04 14:00 - 16:00 | Auburn Uniting Church, 81 Oxley Road, Hawthorn, VIC, 3132, Australia
Rev. Dr. D’Arcy Wood will explore a phenomenon that began with the large open-air rallies held by the Wesley brothers in the mid-18th century and developed into the stirring tunes and expressions of devotion that became the bedrock of congregational singing in the nineteenth century. Here is your opportunity to sing along with a guest choir to the accompaniment of pianist Bruce Macrae.
Venue: Auburn Uniting Church, 81 Oxley Road, Hawthorn. You can attend in person or by Zoom. Free to all. Non-members welcome. Please register your interest with Ken Barelli at ken.barelli@bigpond.com to receive the Zoom link.

MARKETING FORUMS
2023-06-05 12:00 - 13:00 | ZOOM, Join from anywhere in the world
Christina Browning, the RHSV Marketing Officer, leads these forums which each month tackle a different aspect of marketing for historical societies – they tend to concentrate on social media as it is very available and is free to use, however, Christina will tackle any aspect of marketing which you want to raise. Christina will prepare a topic each month and she welcomes questions and feedback and suggestions for future topics – these sessions are relaxed and interactive. Bring your queries / issues etc. The forums are free and delivered via Zoom. There are always extra documents and links that are sent to you after each forum and it is for that reason we ask attendees to register – otherwise we can’t contact you.
The same Zoom log-in is used for all 1o forums across 2023

Mon 5 Jun 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEST (Mon 12 is a public holiday)
Mon 10 Jul 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEST
Mon 14 Aug 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEST
Mon 11 Sep 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEST
Mon 9 Oct 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEDT
Mon 13 Nov 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEDT

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82571257942?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 825 7125 7942
Passcode: [REDACTED]

‘Love of a crowd, a band, and “a gardens’’’: Music, Recreation, and Gardens at Nineteenth-Century International Exhibitions
2023-06-06 18:00 - 19:00 | ZOOM, Join from anywhere in the world
Australian Garden History Society presents
‘Love of a crowd, a band, and “a gardens’’’: Music, Recreation, and Gardens at Nineteenth-Century International Exhibitions
Winter online lecture by Sarah Kirby
International exhibitions were some of the most significant cultural events of the nineteenth century, drawing together displays from across the world that (supposedly) demonstrated the breadth of human achievement. These vast events, held in enormous buildings and filled with objects to dazzle the spectator had, from their inception, been designed to combine education, entertainment, and spectacle. While their educational aspects generally remained confined to the inside of the buildings, by the 1880s the gardens that surrounded them had become hives of entertainment. These outdoor spaces inherited the traditions of earlier European ‘pleasure gardens’, combining fountains, walkways, grottos, and spectacular lighting effects with a wide variety of refreshments and carnival amusements, including music. These gardens became, for many, the main drawcard of the exhibitions; as George Bernard Shaw declared in 1885, the success of International Exhibitions overall lay in the public’s ‘love of a crowd, a band, and “a gardens”’.
This talk explores the role of music and gardens in the experience of nineteenth-century international exhibitions, considering questions of passive and active experience, ‘rational recreation’ and ideas of public health and wellbeing, and popular vs. ‘high art’ music and entertainment. While it explores many exhibitions and their gardens across the British Empire, its particular focus is on the exhibitions held in Melbourne in 1880 and 1888, and the music heard in the Carlton Gardens that surround the Royal Exhibition Building.
Sarah Kirby is a musicologist and cultural historian, specialising in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Australian and British music history. She is a recent doctoral graduate of the University of Melbourne, where her thesis explored music at international exhibitions in the British Empire. She is currently working as the Grainger Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Grainger Museum. Sarah has published widely on music in Britain and Australia, colonialism, women in music, and music in museums, and her first monograph, ‘Exhibitions, Music and the British Empire’, is out now with Boydell & Brewer. She lectures in undergraduate music history at the Melbourne Conservatorium and at the University of New England, is associated editor of the journal ‘Musicology Australia’, and was the 2022 Nancy Keesing Fellow at the State Library of NSW.

DATE: Tuesday 6 June 2023
TIME: 6.00 start – log in from 5.45
LOCATION A Zoom link will be provided with reminder email before the session.
COST: $10 members AGHS, $10 Friends RBG, $15 non-members
BOOKINGS: https://www.trybooking.com/CHCCX
ENQUIRIES: LYNDA ENTWISLE – Mobile: 0466 925 370

The Wilson History Oration INUNDATED: FLOODS, HISTORY AND HIGH WATER An oration by Dr Margaret Cook
2023-06-08 17:30 - 19:00 | ZOOM, Join from anywhere in the world
Join the Professional Historians Association to hear eminent environmental historian Dr Margaret Cook at the second annual Wilson History Oration, environmental historian, Dr Margaret Cook will explore the ways history can engage with the public, the media, other professions and policy makers. In discussing her work on floods, she will highlight how her
role and training as a public historian shapes her scholarship and historical practice. Join us as we consider these themes during one of our greatest crises in history: the climate emergency.
FREE EVENT ONLINE VIA ZOOM
For bookings and Zoom link: Professional Historians Association (Victoria and Tasmania) – Wilson History Oration: ‘Inundated’ by Dr Margaret Cook (wildapricot.org)
More info:
historians.org.au/wilson-history-oration

Book launch: Failed Ambitions Kew Cottages and Changing Ideas of Intellectual Disabilities
2023-06-13 17:30 - 19:00 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
La Trobe University and
the Royal Historical Society of Victoria invite you to the launch of

written by Lee-Ann Monk and David Henderson
With Christine Bigby, Richard Broome and Katie Holmes
Published by Monash University Publishing

to be launched by Dr Colleen Pearce
The Public Advocate, Victoria
A gripping history, both topical and timely
The history of Melbourne’s Kew Children’s Cottages (1887–2008) is the challenging story of an institution that failed its residents – and it is vividly relevant to today, when the rights of people with disabilities are the subject of a royal commission.
Those with an intellectual disability were historically the most vulnerable in our society and the least protected. Governments continually failed them by underdelivering on ambitious promises of reform. Failed Ambitions traces the development of Kew Cottages and the broader themes it gives rise to, including changing social ideas about intellectual disability. Australia saw a shift from a belief that those with intellectual disabilities were educatable to a view, which took hold in the 1920s, that the ‘feebleminded’ were unreclaimable and a menace to society. It took until the 1980s to formally recognise the rights of disabled peoples, and demanded dismantling institutions like Kew and associated ideas of disability.
Throughout Kew Cottages’ history, a cohort of journalists, parents, activists and residents fought for and finally gained greater rights and respect. This is a moving and powerful story that deserves to be read by all policymakers so we can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
The RHSV Gallery Downstairs is a fully-accessible venue.

CATALOGUING CLINICS 2023
2023-06-15 11:00 - 12:00 | ZOOM, Join from anywhere in the world
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 each month and is happy to be guided by those who attend as to what they would like covered in upcoming clinics. This is an interactive space where questions are encouraged. The RHSV does not endorse any particular cataloguing software – we believe it is horses for courses – and Jillian will talk about issues that impact on cataloguing whether you are using cataloguing cards or software.
The one-hour clinics are free and the Zoom log-in below is used every month in 2023, however, we do ask you to register each month as this enables Jillian to send you extra material / links etc after each session.
The remaining Cataloguing Clinics 2023 will be held at

Thu 15 Jun 11am – 12noon (AEST)
Thu 20 Jul 11am – 12noon (AEST)
Thu 17 Aug 11am – 12noon (AEST)
Thu 21 Sep 11am – 12noon (AEST)
Thu 19 Oct 11am – 12noon (AEDT)
Thu 16 Nov 11am – 12noon (AEDT)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86065204468?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 860 6520 4468
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Monthly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZItceyqrj8uHNyeZRXkEGbD7ZUBvzw25bH8/ics?icsToken=[REDACTED]

Sludge: Water Supply and Pollution in the Gold Rush
2023-06-15 17:30 - 19:00 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
We are delighted to welcome distinguished Professor of Archaeology, Susan Lawrence, to deliver this co-presentation between Engineering Heritage Victoria and the RHSV.
This is a fascinating examination of how water supply led to a troubling legacy of the gold rush.
Everyone knows gold made Victoria rich. But did you know that gold mining was disastrous for the land, engulfing it in floods of sand, gravel and silt that gushed out of the mines?
Or that this environmental devastation still affects our rivers and floodplains?
Or that the problem had its origins in the sophisticated water supply systems built for the mines?
Victorians had a name for the mining waste: ‘sludge’. Sludge submerged Victoria’s best grapevines near Bendigo, filled Laanecoorie Reservoir on the Loddon River and flowed down from Beechworth over thousands of hectares of rich agricultural land. Children and animals drowned in sludge lakes. The traditional country of many indigenous peoples was smothered. Mining effluent contaminated three-quarters of Victoria’s creeks and rivers.
Sludge is the compelling story of the forgotten filth that plagued nineteenth-century Victoria. It exposes the big dirty secret of Victoria’s mining history – the way it transformed the state’s water and land, and how the battle against sludge helped lay the ground for the modern environmental movement.
Susan Lawrence is acting Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of the Inland and a Professor in the Department of Archaeology and History at La Trobe University and has spent thirty years studying the goldfields. In 2019, with Peter Davies, she published “Sludge: Disaster on Victoria’s Goldfields”, that was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Her expertise is in the physical evidence of the recent human past and she is internationally recognised for her research on mining, rivers, and British colonisation.
In her work Susan emphasises the importance of collaborative relationships and inter-disciplinary approaches, and she works with environmental scientists, ecologists, visual artists, heritage professionals, historians, Aboriginal Studies scholars and Traditional Owners. For the past decade Susan’s work has focused on long-term human interaction with the Victorian environment.
She is currently lead Chief Investigator of the ARC funded Discovery Project ‘Rivers of Gold: the Legacy of Historical Gold Mining for Victoria’s Rivers’ <https://rivers-of-gold.com> and the ARC funded Special Research Initiative ‘Fire, Flood and Food: People and Landscape Change in Northern Victoria’.
Susan is also working with Djaara women on the co-designed “Yam Paddock Project”, a philanthropically-funded program to use cultural fire and digging sticks to return yams and other traditional foods to Country in central Victoria. Susan’s research has also actively addressed the archaeology of gender, urban development, extractive industries and material culture studies

Like most of our events, this event is hybrid – offered in person at the Drill Hall, 239 A’Beckett St, Melbourne 3000 or via ZOOM.
For those attending in person, refreshments are served between 5:30pm and 6pm when the lecture starts. The Zoom session will open at 6pm. Zoom log-in details are sent 24 hours prior to the event.
Members discount is available to both members of the RHSV and members of Engineering Heritage Victoria.

Guided walking tour along Chapel Street
2023-06-24 14:00 - 15:30
North and West Melbourne have streets that are made for walking; During the Covid pandemic as we walked the streets for the good of our health (and the health of our dogs) many of us came to a fresh appreciation of the life around us.
We became familiar with the diversity of building shapes and sizes and the influence of time on our neighbourhoods; Our HHP members tell us, they are now wanting to know more.
This event a walk in Capel Street with Lawrence Angwin is a response to that wish. Come and take the opportunity learn about a particular street and see how it differs from or is familiar to others that you know.
Become a member of HHP, Find our books, Search historic local family names on our local streets index on our website.
Discover more about the Capel Street story on melbournestreets.com.au.
Want to help? Volunteer to transcribe Sands & McDougall records, contact us today.
Walking tour time: June 24th, 2pm starting near corner of Capel and Dudley Street, West Melbourne
Participants: strictly limited. Bookings on Eventbrite required.
HHP requires all participants to be vaccinated (at least three doses) against COVID-19 or have a medical exception. Participants who do not meet these vaccination requirements will not be permitted to attend this event. Contact Hotham History Project via the website or info@hothamhistory.org.au

AGM + WESTON BATE ORATION
2023-06-27 17:00 - 19:30 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
Protected industries, protected men: the dilemmas of wartime service, 1939-46
The 2023 Weston Bate Oration will be delivered by distinguished historian, Dr Bart Ziino in what is a thrilling first for the RHSV. Bart was the recipient of our inaugural study grant, generously funded by our magnificent philanthropist, Gordon Moffatt AM. Bart, assisted by Dr Brad Underhill have been researching protected industries in Australia during WWII. This lecture reflects on their findings.
The RHSV AGM will run from 5pm – 6:15pm, followed by the Weston Bate Oration at 6:30pm.
The management of human resources in Australia during the Second World War was founded on an awareness that modern war required strong government direction and control. The implementation of that control, and individual responses to it, varied with the immediate demands of war, perceptions of one’s own place in the war effort, and evaluations of others’ commitment to it. This oration examines the dilemmas that confronted those Australians employed in reserved occupations between 1939 and 1945, protected – not always happily – from military roles. For if there was an ‘all in’ war effort in Australia, it was beset also with an inherited complex of attitudes from the experience of the First World War, in which men who were not in military service became suspect as shirkers, while ex-service organisations demanded privileges for their members not only in social esteem, but in government services and employment. In such an atmosphere, workers in reserved occupations ultimately found themselves largely excluded from recognition of their wartime work – and the restrictions that came with it – both during the war and in the years after 1945.
Dr Bart Ziino is Senior Lecturer in History at Deakin University. He has published widely on Australian experiences of war including various modes of remembrance and commemoration over the past century. He is author of A Distant Grief: Australians, War Graves and the Great War (UWA Press, 2007), and editor of The Heritage of War (with Martin Gegner, 2011), Remembering the First World War (2015), and Museums, History and the Intimate Experience of the Great War (with Deborah Tout-Smith and Joy Damousi, 2021).
Dr Brad Underhill is a tutor, lecturer and research assistant at Deakin University. His doctoral thesis, The New Deal on the Ground in Papua New Guinea, examined the post-war development and decolonisation of Papua New Guinea and jointly received the Hank Nelson Memorial award for best PhD, internationally, on any aspect of Papua New Guinea’s history. His research has most recently appeared in the Australian Journal of Politics and History, and he is currently guest editing a special issue of Australian Historical Studies on ‘Remembering Papua New Guinea’. In 2017 Brad received the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for academic excellence at Deakin, and previously was awarded the Bowater Trust medal, for best all-round undergraduate student.

The RHSV AGM always precedes the Weston Bate Oration and the timetable for the night should be:
4:30pm refreshments
5:00pm Special General Meeting
5:10pm Annual General Meeting & RHSV awards
6:15pm Refreshments
6:30pm Weston Bate Oration
7:30pm event ends

This is a hybrid events and members and friends have the option of attending either in person or via ZOOM. Zoom details will be sent out 24 hours prior to the event.
Members will be sent much documentation for the AGM in the weeks leading up to the AGM and Weston Bate Oration. This documentation will also be available on this website for download.

Robert Burns Festival Lectures Program
2023-07-01 10:30 - 15:30 | Killara Centre, 210-212 Manifold Street, Camperdown, Vic, 3260, Australia
As part of the Robert Burns Festival held over three days, the Camperdown & District Historical Society offers a lecture program with four experienced presenters on Saturday 1st July.

Stories from ASIO’s files
2023-07-04 13:00 - 14:30 | National Archives Australia Victoria, Victorian Archives Centre, 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne, VIC, 3051, Australia
A doctor, teacher, gardener and spy.
These are just four of the real-life individuals from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) files. But who were they and why was ASIO interested in them? Come along to find out about their fascinating stories!
This will be a hybrid (in-person and ZOOM) session presented by the National Archives of Australia in collaboration with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and Genealogical Society of Victoria. Those who attend in person will also have a special guided tour of the Spy: espionage in Australia exhibition, which is on display at the Victorian Archives Centre until 7 July 2023.
Image NAA: A432, 1963/2272
Please book via the NAA on their website Here: Stories from ASIO’s files | naa.gov.au

The Quack and the Charlatan
2023-07-06 08:00 - 19:00 | The Royal Society of Victoria, 8 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
The nineteenth century saw many miraculous advancements in the field of medicine. Unfortunately, with them came hordes of quacks and charlatans eager to take your money at the expense of your health. Join Dr Jo Clyne and Dr David Waldron as they reveal the deceptive practices of this era through a hybrid history lecture/magic show.
7.00pm Thursday July 6
The Royal Society of Victoria, 8 La Trobe St, Melbourne (Please note that the location is the Royal Society of Victoria NOT the Royal Historical Society of Victoria)
Members of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria are eligible for a discounted ticket price of $22.00 when they use the special promotional code HISTORY23 at the checkout.
Click here to book your tickets
Proudly presented as part of the 2023 Melbourne Magic Festival

MARKETING FORUMS
2023-07-10 12:00 - 13:00 | ZOOM, Join from anywhere in the world
Christina Browning, the RHSV Marketing Officer, leads these forums which each month tackle a different aspect of marketing for historical societies – they tend to concentrate on social media as it is very available and is free to use, however, Christina will tackle any aspect of marketing which you want to raise. Christina will prepare a topic each month and she welcomes questions and feedback and suggestions for future topics – these sessions are relaxed and interactive. Bring your queries / issues etc. The forums are free and delivered via Zoom. There are always extra documents and links that are sent to you after each forum and it is for that reason we ask attendees to register – otherwise we can’t contact you.
The same Zoom log-in is used for all 1o forums across 2023

Mon 10 Jul 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEST
Mon 14 Aug 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEST
Mon 11 Sep 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEST
Mon 9 Oct 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEDT
Mon 13 Nov 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEDT

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82571257942?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 825 7125 7942
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Approaching the Voice: a four part lecture series
2023-07-10 14:00 - 15:30, 2023-07-17 14:00 - 15:30 | Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre
Our friends at U3A Melbourne City have put together a 4 part series, Approaching the Voice, in partnership with the Indigenous Unit at The University of Melbourne.
Later this year you will be asked to vote in the Referendum on a Voice to Parliament and in the coming months you will be bombarded with opinions from all political perspectives. In this Approaching the Voice series we bring you voices that you won’t regularly hear on radio and television: the voices of people who work continuously in this area and who are willing to share their expertise with us.
The 4 sessions are:

Contemporary Conversations about Treaty and Voice

Monday, July 10, 2.00-3.30pm at the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre, University of Melbourne
Speaker: Professor Sarah Maddison is Director of the Australian Centre at the University.
Sarah has published widely in the fields of reconciliation and intercultural relations and her most recent book is The Colonial Fantasy: Why white Australia can’t solve black problems Allen and Unwin 2019.

Politics, truth-telling and history-making: a non-Indigenous person’s reflection

Monday, July 17, 2.00-3.30pm at the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre, University of Melbourne
Speaker: Dr. Rachel Standfield is a Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Studies, Culture and Communication.
Rachel is a historian of Indigenous societies and colonial histories in Australia and New Zealand. She works as a historical consultant for Melbourne’s Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Community and has also
worked in public policy and supporting Indigenous activism for human rights.

Taking Indigenous knowledge seriously – a grounded account of listening to Indigenous voices

Tuesday, July 25, 12.30-2.00pm at the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre, University of Melbourne
Speaker: Dr. Matt Campbell lectures in the area of Treaty and agreement making.
Matt spent more than two decades in Northern Australia, working with Indigenous people, seeking to find ways to ensure that his work appropriately centred Indigenous knowledge and governance.

Indigenous Voice: Uluru as pathway to Australian social reconstruction

Tuesday, August 1, 12.30-2.00 at the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre, University of Melbourne
Speaker: Professor Barry Judd is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) and Director of the Indigenous Studies Program.
Barry is a member of the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and has worked in the support of Indigenous activity in Australian higher education for over 30 years. He is widely published with particular expertise in race relations in Australian sport.

In the Chair for all sessions will be Professor Russell Goulbourne, Dean, Faculty of Arts. Russell is a noted scholar in French literature having published extensively on major figures in French intellectual culture including Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau.
Our thanks to Russell for facilitating this cooperative venture.
The 45 minute presentations will be followed by an audience Q@A session.
All four presentations are in the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre, University of Melbourne Parkville campus, Level B1: Arts West – West Wing, Street address: Professor’s Walk

Extra directions: Room B01. Enter either east door (opposite Old Arts building) or west door (opposite Genetics). Take stairs to basement. Theatre is at the foot of the stairs. Lift access: Ramp on left side of east door (opposite Old Arts building). For main lift turn right then left. Otherwise go straight ahead to use open lift next to the far staircase.

You can book below for individual sessions or all 4 sessions. They are free-of-charge. These will not be offered via Zoom. These sessions are sure to be popular to please don’t book unless you know that you can attend.

Launch: Garryowen's Melbourne
2023-07-13 17:30 - 19:00 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
Richard Broome, President, and Councillors
of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria
invite you to the launch of our exhibition,

to be launched by Councillor Nicholas Reece
Deputy Lord Mayor, City of Melbourne
on Thursday, 13 July from 5:30pm – 7pm
at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria,
239 A’Beckett St Melbourne VIC 3000

Garryowen’s Melbourne has been curated by Dr Liz Rushen AM

This project was supported by a grant from The English-Speaking Union (Victoria Branch)

Seminar: People and Personalities
2023-07-18 11:00 - 13:00 | ZOOM, Join from anywhere in the world
Delivered in partnership with AMaGA, this workshop is designed to provide practical guidance about fostering and maximising historical societies biggest asset – their volunteers.
Our main speaker, Paul Fearon, will provide a ‘primer’ on principles and techniques in leading and retaining effective teams of volunteers. We have all had experience of volunteers who can be both a society’s biggest asset but also their biggest liability.
Throughout the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions, share their experiences, and learn from one another. By the end of the workshop, participants will have the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively manage volunteers and the different personalities within their historical society.

PAUL FEARON FAICD FCPA FIPAA (Vic) joined the RHSV Council following a 40-year career in the energy industry and as a government regulator. He has also held director roles in two small volunteer-based charities; has arts, business and finance degrees; and, has commenced a PhD in History.
This seminar is delivered on Zoom. Those registering will be sent an email with the Zoom log-in details 24 hours prior to the event. On registering you’ll be sent an automatic email confirmation – if you can’t find this email in your In-box, please check your Spam or Junk Mail folders as often these automatically generated emails go astray.

CATALOGUING CLINICS 2023
2023-07-20 11:00 - 12:00 | ZOOM, Join from anywhere in the world
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 each month and is happy to be guided by those who attend as to what they would like covered in upcoming clinics. This is an interactive space where questions are encouraged. The RHSV does not endorse any particular cataloguing software – we believe it is horses for courses – and Jillian will talk about issues that impact on cataloguing whether you are using cataloguing cards or software.
The one-hour clinics are free and the Zoom log-in below is used every month in 2023, however, we do ask you to register each month as this enables Jillian to send you extra material / links etc after each session.
The remaining Cataloguing Clinics 2023 will be held at

Thu 20 Jul 11am – 12noon (AEST)
Thu 17 Aug 11am – 12noon (AEST)
Thu 21 Sep 11am – 12noon (AEST)
Thu 19 Oct 11am – 12noon (AEDT)
Thu 16 Nov 11am – 12noon (AEDT)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86065204468?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 860 6520 4468
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Monthly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZItceyqrj8uHNyeZRXkEGbD7ZUBvzw25bH8/ics?icsToken=[REDACTED]

GARAGE GIRLS @ LAMAMA COURTHOUSE THEATRE
2023-07-21 19:30 - 21:30 | La Mama Courthouse Theatre, 349 Drummond Street, Carlton, VIC, 3053, Australia
JOIN THE RHSV ON FRIDAY 21 JULY @ 7:30pm
We are hosting a group booking for members and their friends.

Imagine…1920s Melbourne-the advent of the motorcar! Society reels from the aftermath of war and a second wave of Spanish flu wreaks havoc on the streets. Theatres buzz with vaudeville hacks and men with an eye for enterprise seize every opportunity to weasel wealth. Meanwhile, one small woman defies convention and makes her mark…
Part history, part farce, part who-done-it, Garage Girls shines a light on one remarkable young woman’s short but eventful life. Who was Alice Anderson? Why did she drive her baby Austin all the way to Alice Springs? Who were all those women, dressed in greasy dungarees… and don’t they look a little bit like men? Sparked by actual events and a healthy dose of magic realism, breathtaking sound design and many colourful characters, played by five actors-Garage Girls is a rip-roaring ride celebrating a Victorian icon.
Welcome to Miss Anderson’s All Girl Garage!
“Sharp as a razor, very witty, very funny and beautifully directed with much visual humour.” – Stage Whispers
“Superb performances, an outstanding ensemble…This is first class storytelling..” – Theatrepeople
Inspired by “A Spanner in the Works: The extraordinary story of Alice Anderson and Australia’s first all-girl garage” by Loretta Smith 2019.
Content Warnings: Adult themes and loud noises
Producers: Three Birds Theatre and The Shift Theatre
Writers: Candace Miles, Madelaine Nunn and Anna Rodway (Three Birds Theatre) in collaboration with Carolyn Bock and Helen Hopkins (The Shift Theatre)
Directed by: Janice Muller
Performed by: Carolyn Bock, Helen Hopkins, Candace Miles, Madelaine Nunn and Anna Rodway

THE VENUE
The La Mama Courthouse is located at 349 Drummond Street, Carlton, behind Lygon Court and the Nova Cinemas, and close to Elgin Street.
Finding parking near La Mama can be very difficult, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, so if you need to drive, make sure you allow plenty of time to find a park.
CONTENT WARNING
Note that most productions at La Mama are new works, usually being seen for the first time on opening night. The RHSV has not seen this play and we are attending in the spirit of fringe theatre – it is live, it is bold, it is about Melbourne’s history and we like to support new works.
LOCK OUT!
Please note that because of the intimate space, it is not possible to admit late-comers. We lock the doors at show time and in most cases are unable to transfer the tickets. Please ensure you leave plenty of time for traffic and parking. Our bar opens an hour before show time and we always have free tea and coffee so come early and relax.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Trams
1 & 6 Stop #112 Lygon St / Elgin St Walk east along Elgin St and turn right on to Drummond St, it will be on your right (4 mins)
1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 Stop #1 Melbourne University / Swanston St Walk east along Faraday St and turn left on to Drummond St, it will be on your left (7 mins)
Buses
200, 207 Lygon St / Elgin St Walk east along Elgin St and turn right on to Drummond St, it will be on your right (2 mins)
250, 251 Elgin St / Rathdowne St Walk west along Elgin St and turn left on to Drummond St, it will be on your right (3 mins)
Train
Melbourne Central Station, followed by a tram or bus ride above
ACCESSIBILITY
La Mama Courthouse has recently undergone extensive renovations, which has significantly improved audience facilities, as well as making the venue fully accessible for everyone. This means that we are wheelchair accessible for both audience and artists. However, the building is Heritage listed which means there are some things that are outside of our control. The doorway to the theatre is approximately 1 metre wide if you are a wheelchair user with a mobility device wider than this please get in touch before the show so we can try to meet your access requirements in the most comfortable way for you myf@lamama.com.au or (03) 9347 6948.

Rare books from the RHSV collection
2023-07-24 12:30 - 13:30 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
We are thrilled that Rare Book Week and its fair are back after a three-year COVID hiatus!
The Royal Historical Society of Victoria has had a very active collecting policy both in Australia and back ‘home’ in the UK since its creation in 1909. In the 1920s, when the Victorian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society closed, their archive and library were absorbed by the RHSV. Whereas our collection is concentrated on the history of Victoria, the RGS collection is much broader, covering exploration across Australia and the Pacific and, because of this ‘misfit’, the RGS collection was not catalogued until very recently.
Jillian Hiscock, our Collections Manager, will speak about three items from the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia: two first-edition explorers’ journals and the Moll Atlas published in 1719: A new and complete map of the whole world shewing the situation of its principal parts. Viz the seas, kingdoms, rivers, capes, ports, mountains, woods, trade-winds, monsoons, variation of the compass climats [sic] &c.
This event will follow, in the same venue, a Rare Book Week event at 11am from the Ephemera Society of Australia. Morning tea is available before, between and during both events. For more information about the Ephemera Society event click here. Edwin Jewell will be speaking about material from Australian internment camps.

Herman Moll (c. 1654-1732) was one of the most important London mapmakers in the first half of the eighteenth century. Moll was probably born in Bremen, Germany, around 1654. He moved to London to escape the Scanian Wars. His earliest work was as an engraver for Moses Pitt on the production of the English Atlas, a failed work which landed Pitt in debtor’s prison. Moll also engraved for Sir Jonas Moore, Grenville Collins, John Adair, and the Seller & Price firm. He published his first original maps in the early 1680s and had set up his own shop by the 1690s.
Moll’s work quickly helped him become a member of a group which congregated at Jonathan’s Coffee House at Number 20 Exchange Alley, Cornhill, where speculators met to trade stock. Moll’s circle included the scientist Robert Hooke, the archaeologist William Stuckley, the authors Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe, and the intellectually-gifted pirates William Dampier, Woodes Rogers and William Hacke. From these contacts, Moll gained a great deal of privileged information that was included in his maps.
Over the course of his career, he published dozens of geographies, atlases, and histories, not to mention numerous sheet maps. His most famous works are Atlas Geographus, a monthly magazine that ran from 1708 to 1717, and The World Described (1715-54). He also frequently made maps for books, including those of Dampier’s publications and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Moll died in 1732. It is likely that his plates passed to another contemporary, Thomas Bowles, after this death.

FOR THE FULL RARE BOOK WEEK PROGRAM CLICK HERE

Approaching the Voice: a four part lecture series
2023-07-25 12:30 - 14:00 | Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre
Our friends at U3A Melbourne City have put together a 4 part series, Approaching the Voice, in partnership with the Indigenous Unit at The University of Melbourne.
Later this year you will be asked to vote in the Referendum on a Voice to Parliament and in the coming months you will be bombarded with opinions from all political perspectives. In this Approaching the Voice series we bring you voices that you won’t regularly hear on radio and television: the voices of people who work continuously in this area and who are willing to share their expertise with us.
The remaining two sessions are:

Taking Indigenous knowledge seriously – a grounded account of listening to Indigenous voices

Tuesday, July 25, 12.30-2.00pm at the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre, University of Melbourne
Speaker: Dr. Matt Campbell lectures in the area of Treaty and agreement making.
Matt spent more than two decades in Northern Australia, working with Indigenous people, seeking to find ways to ensure that his work appropriately centred Indigenous knowledge and governance.

Indigenous Voice: Uluru as pathway to Australian social reconstruction

Tuesday, August 1, 12.30-2.00pm at the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre, University of Melbourne
Speaker: Professor Barry Judd is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) and Director of the Indigenous Studies Program.
Barry is a member of the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and has worked in the support of Indigenous activity in Australian higher education for over 30 years. He is widely published with particular expertise in race relations in Australian sport.

In the Chair for all sessions will be Professor Russell Goulbourne, Dean, Faculty of Arts. Russell is a noted scholar in French literature having published extensively on major figures in French intellectual culture including Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau.
Our thanks to Russell for facilitating this cooperative venture.
The 45 minute presentations will be followed by an audience Q@A session.
All four presentations are in the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre, University of Melbourne Parkville campus, Level B1: Arts West – West Wing, Street address: Professor’s Walk

Extra directions: Room B01. Enter either east door (opposite Old Arts building) or west door (opposite Genetics). Take stairs to basement. Theatre is at the foot of the stairs. Lift access: Ramp on left side of east door (opposite Old Arts building). For main lift turn right then left. Otherwise go straight ahead to use open lift next to the far staircase.

You can book below for individual sessions or all 4 sessions. They are free-of-charge. These will not be offered via Zoom. These sessions are sure to be popular to please don’t book unless you know that you can attend.
