The life and art of Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, The master from Marnpi
2023-10-03 19:00 - 20:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC 3181, 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC, 3181, Australia
🖌️ The life and art of Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, The master from Marnpi
How did a non-Indigenous man write the authorised biography of a Western Desert artist he never met?
Author Dr Alec O’Halloran talks about Namarari’s life and art to reveal the 19-year journey of reconciliation, challenges and the rewards he experienced. What happened in my first meeting with his widow, Elizabeth Marks Nakamarra, at the remote Pintupi settlement, Kintore, deep in the south-west of the Northern Territory? How was I able to visit isolated Aboriginal sites that appear in Namarari’s paintings? How did Namarari’s voice convince me to study his life and art more closely? I could never have predicted how this project would unfold or how grateful I would be to the many Pintupi people who became my teachers.

This is a History Month event

St John The Baptist: Centenary of Consecration and Book Launch
2023-10-08 11:00 - 12:30 | 61 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill
Centenary of Consecration and Book Launch
When: 8 October 2023 at 11.00am
Where:61 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill
RSVP: Contact John Andrews 0439 614 461
On Tuesday 3 October and Sunday 8 October 2023 the church of St. John the Baptist, Queens Parade, ClIfton Hill celebrates its consecration centenary. It was the second Catholic parish church in Melbourne to be consecrated. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in Melbourne.
The Consecration took place on 3 October 1923 with Archbishop Daniel Mannix, Melbourne’s fiesty and sometimes politically controversial archbishop officiating at the elaborate overnight and daytime ceremonies. On Sunday 7 October the parish came together for a celebratory Mass with Mannix and former parish priest, John McCarthy and then Bishop of Sandhurst (Bendigo) officiating. It was followed by a parish celebration and a students’ picnic on the Monday.
The church is an architectural and artistic gem. It took 31 years (1876-1907) to complete, and was heavily influenced through its architect, John Bunn Denny by the ideas of Augustus Pugin, the leader of the Catholic Revival Movement in England. It is equally remarkable that such a grand church should be built in the poor Irish Catholic suburb of Clifton Hill, aided by parishioner and printer, Thomas Edmund Verga who contributed about half of the cost of the building and its interiors. This included its front and rear stained-glass windows, manufactured by John Hardman and Company of Birmingham. Other stained-glass windows on the side walls followed in 1928-29. The church also contains the second largest interwar Fincham organ in Victoria.
A photographic exhibition of the church’s and parish’s history is viewable, 24 September- 29 October when the church is open.
Sunday 8 October will be witness to a concelebrated Mass. It will be followed by the launch of St. John the Baptist’s: a church and its community, written by author and historian, Dr. John Andrews and published by Coventry Press. Proceeds will aid an art restoration fund for paintings in the church. A parish celebration will be held afterwards.
For further information, contact the Consecration Centenary Committee on 0439 614 461 or register your attendance at office@olsc.org.au.
Photo: Queens Parade, July 1893m, Museums Victoria Collections, Item 773214

MARKETING FORUMS
2023-10-09 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 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]

This is a History Month event

My Grandfather's Clock
2023-10-10 14:00 - 15:00 | 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC 3181, 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC, 3181, Australia
This is a joint Family History Connections and PMI Victorian History Library event.
Join us for a story of an ordinary family’s journey from frontier warfare and dispossession through economic turmoil and emigration to modest prosperity. At each step, we are led to reflect on the puzzles of personal identity and the mystery of time. Based on a lifetime of creative scholarship, My Grandfather’s Clock is a moving testament to the power of family history to illuminate the present.
Graeme Davison is Emeritus Sir John Monash Professor of History at Monash University. He has written widely on Australian history. His previous family history, Lost Relations: Fortunes of My Family in Australia’s Golden Age, won a Judges’ Special Prize in the Victorian Community History Awards.
Bookings are essential with a gold coin for entry.

CURATOR'S TOUR OF GARRYOWEN'S MELBOURNE WITH DR LIZ RUSHEN
2023-10-10 14:00 - 15:30 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
THIS EVENT HAS BOOKED OUT BUT THERE IS ANOTHER SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY 28 NOVEMBER AT 2PM. BOOK HERE
Historian Dr Liz Rushen will take you behind the scenes of our current exhibition, Garryowen’s Melbourne which Liz curated. The exhibition grew out of the research Liz had done for her book, Garryowen Unmasked: The Life of Edmund Finn, which was launched earlier this year and was aided by her deep knowledge of the RHSV collection and its treasures.
The tour will be followed by afternoon tea.
Edmund Finn (1819-98), Irish immigrant, journalist, raconteur and eyewitness to the development of the Port Phillip District, is best known as ‘Garryowen’, author of The Chronicles of Early Melbourne 1835-1852. His lively writing, essential to any appreciation of pre-separation Victoria, brings to life this often-neglected period and place. Yet little has been written about the man himself, his actions or attitudes, or the influences that shaped him.
Finn’s exposure to troubled times in Ireland during his youth was a major influence on his later politics and world view. Migrating to Melbourne in 1841, this well-educated man lived for more than fifty years in colonial Melbourne, passionate about his religion, actively engaged with his community while never forgetting the home he had left behind. This book explores the life of this talented man and the ways in which he contributed to the creation of a new society in Melbourne through his writing, his speeches and his leadership of the St Patrick’s Society.
“An important chronicler of early Melbourne, the Irish journalist Edmund Finn has been unjustly neglected. A detailed study of his life and work is overdue, and therefore Dr Rushen’s book is to be welcomed.” Professor Elizabeth Malcolm, FASSA, FRHistS, University of Melbourne

This is a History Month event

Chapel Street Walks
2023-10-11 14:00 - 15:00, 2023-10-25 11:00 - 12:00 | 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC 3181, 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC, 3181, Australia
🏛️ Meet at the PMI Victorian History Library then step into a charming adventure. Discover the tales of yesteryear’s department stores on Chapel Street, Prahran. An all-inclusive experience, perfect for everyone – families, individuals, and even your beloved pets!
The tour will be led by Steve Stefanopoulos OAM, architectural historian, former Mayor of the City of Stonnington and President of the PMI Victorian History Library.
Image: https://stonnington.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/WPAC/ARCENQ/59432044/22945613,1?FMT=IMG
This is a History Month Event

Emerging Historians: The element of surprise in historical research
2023-10-17 17:30 - 19:00 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
As part of History Month we partner with Professional Historians Association (Victoria & Tasmania) to host an event where three historians talk about a moment of amazing coincidence or serendipity in their research – it could be coming across a vital piece of information or finding just the right contact or network, seemingly by chance. It is always a great night to hear from young historians who research a remarkably wide range of subjects.
The hosts for the evening are Andrew Lemon for the RHSV and Sophie Couchman for PHA.

Speakers:

Kylie Andrews – Searching for the ABC’s ‘lost’ women producers

What was it like to work at the ABC in the 1950s and 1960s? More specifically, what was it like to work at the national broadcaster if one was an ambitious, outspoken woman? In this presentation Kylie Andrews will share some insights into what she discovered when writing her book, ‘Trailblazing Women of Australian Public Broadcasting, 1945-1975’. Drawing on voices from the past, Kylie will discuss how certain methods proved vital in unearthing surprising evidence, evidence that resuscitates women’s forgotten contributions to radio and television in Australia in the post-war decades.
Kylie Andrews is a consulting historian and researcher whose work spans a range of historical fields and formats. She writes about Australian media and communications and produces commissioned histories for corporate, industry and philanthropic organisations. With a passion for studying media, gender and production cultures through biography, Kylie has recently written a women’s history of the ABC, titled ‘Trailblazing Women of Australian Public Broadcasting, 1945-1975’.

Nicole Davis – In Arcadia: Finding the Owners of Nineteenth-Century Arcades in Australia

Although nineteenth-century arcades in Australia are often viewed as feminine spaces for women to gather and shop in comfort, it is usually men that are identified as those who built and owned these buildings. However, deeper investigation into a variety of archival records reveals that a number of these were the inspiration of or funded by women. At times their ownership is fully acknowledged in print media but, more often, their husbands, relatives or other men are credited as the entrepreneurs inspired to build and who ran them. In this talk, Nicole Davis will discuss some famous and some forgotten arcades in Australia, the women that owned or ran them, and the ways that archives can reveal unexpected stories of women’s involvement in business and property ownership.
Nicole Davis received her PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2023. Her research interests centre on urban history and heritage, with a particular focus on Australian urban spaces and their connections to the wider world. She has a Masters in Museum Studies from the University of Sydney, has worked as a curator in Sydney and Melbourne museums, and has taught Heritage & Museum Studies at Masters Level. Nicole is a research assistant in School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, part of a team working on the ARC LIEF, Time Layered Cultural Map of Australia (LE230100079), and Research Fellow at Melbourne Graduate School of Education at University of Melbourne, investigating the archiving and sharing of qualitative research data.

Miranda Francis – Footscray High School creche – oral histories and archives.

In this presentation, Miranda Francis will use the micro- history of the Footscray High School creche to illuminate women’s changing experience of work and family life in the 1970s. Comparing archival documents and oral history interviews she will reveal the complex interconnections between novel ideas and conservative resistance, and local action and public policy. (Image: Footscray High School Crèche, 1978. Photograph courtesy Jillian Hargreaves.)

Miranda Francis received her BA in History from the University of Melbourne in 1994 and MHist (focused on oral history and heritage) from Monash University in 2010. She is in the final stages of a PhD thesis at La Trobe University (Mothers Remember: An Oral History) which uses oral history to explore how mothers in suburban Melbourne in the second half of the twentieth century remembered the emotions and experiences of motherhood. She has been an academic librarian for over twenty years, in Melbourne (RMIT and Monash universities) and in Morocco (Al-Akhawayn University, Ifrane). She has published widely in journals such as Provenance, Oral History (UK), Victorian Historical Journal and Oral History Australia Journal and a book chapter in Feminist Perspectives on Young Mothers and Young Mothering.

Housekeeping
This event will be hybrid – both delivered in person at the RHSV’s Drill Hall home and via Zoom. For those booking Zoom tickets, the log-in details will be sent to you 24 hours prior to the event.
From 5:30pm to 6pm, as with most RHSV events, we’ll be serving refreshments before the lecture starts at 6pm.
An automatic confirmation email is sent to you on booking – please check your Spam or Junk Mail in-box as these emails often go astray.
This is a History Month event

Surrey Hills Historical Society: Dr Madonna Grehan
2023-10-17 20:00 - 21:00 | Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre, 157 Union Road, Surrey Hills, VIC, 3127, Australia
Maternity Attendance in the County of Bourke, Melbourne, Victoria, 1848-1880
In a field of work that was largely unregulated until 1915, evidence that highlights the context of maternity attendance and midwifery practice is thin. In this presentation, I will highlight sources of evidence that offer a window on this intensely private realm and discuss the limitations of that evidence. Focussing on examples of practice in the County of Bourke during the years 1849-1879, inclusive, I will discuss what the available evidence tells us about maternity attendance in mid-nineteenth century Victoria.
Madonna Grehan OAM is an independent historian. A Registered Nurse and Midwife, she has a PhD in history (Melb.) and is Honorary Fellow in the Melbourne School of Health Sciences. Madonna’s research interests centre on the history of women and society in Australia since its occupation by Europeans, particularly maternity care.
Madonna is an interviewer for the National Library’s Oral History and Folklore Collection. She is a Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine, Immediate Past President of the Medical History Society of Victoria, and in her 16th year of volunteer social-history tour-guiding at Melbourne’s Abbotsford Convent.
Surrey Hills Historical Society AGM from 7 – 8pm
Madonna’s talk will be followed by supper ($4.50 for non-members)
Chandler Room, Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre, 157 Union Road
Parking in Union Road and in the new section of railway car park recently part-opened in nearby Bedford Avenue.

Image caption: Cat. 27 Harvie & Sutcliffe (Melbourne, active c. 1890s–1908), Operating theatre, Women’s Hospital, c. 1897, photograph, mounted; 25.4 × 30.4 cm. MHM00406, Medical History Museum, University of Melbourne.

CATALOGUING CLINICS 2023
2023-10-19 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 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]
This is a History Month event

Making It Here: Stories of Four Enterprising Immigrant Engineers.
2023-10-19 17:30 - 19:00 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
Much has been written about the halcyon days of manufacturing in Fishermans Bend during the post-war period. This talk explores its antecedents through the lives of four, largely forgotten, engineers who made significant contributions to the rise of manufacturing there during the first half of the 20th century: Otto Schumacher, Alfred Harman, Albert Longoni and Fred David.
They learnt their craft in America, Britain, and Europe respectively before making their mark in Port Melbourne. Two founded manufacturing businesses here while the other two made pivotal contributions to existing firms. The innovative machines they designed and developed ranged from steam-powered winches and excavators to flour milling and food processing equipment, from large cranes and systems for handling bulk materials to designing an urgently needed fighter aircraft.
The talk aims to evoke a sense of what it means to engineer. The emphasis is on people and place as much as it is on technical matters. The story of each engineer includes their family background and formative years. Their engineering achievements are set against the prevailing social, cultural, and geopolitical context and major events in their personal life.
Although the locus of the stories is Port Melbourne encompassing Fishermans Bend, the matters covered, and the issues raised around manufacturing, are universal. Themes that run through the stories of these four engineers speak to education and industry policy today.
David Radcliffe is a Professor Emeritus at Purdue University where he was the head of the School of Engineering Education. A mechanical engineer, his scholarly interests over a forty-year career in Australia and the US centred on the nature of engineering as a profession, its history and practice, and how engineering knowledge and identity are formed. Since retiring, David has undertaken local history investigations in the Port Melbourne area. He published Changing Fortunes in 2021, a social history of a precinct within the suburb and has written articles on the engineering heritage of the district. His new book, Making it Here, is due for release later this year.
The RHSV is delighted to co-present this event with Engineering Heritage Victoria.

Housekeeping
When you book a ticket you will be sent an automatic email confirmation – these emails often go astray, ending up in your Spam or Junk Mail in-box – please check there.
If you have booked to attend via ZOOM, we will send you the ZOOM log-in details about 24 hours prior to the event.
As with most RHSV events, we serve refreshments from 5:30pm – 6pm when the lecture starts.
This is a History Month event

The Art of Forgery
2023-10-19 20:00 - 21:00 | Purves House, 303 High Street, Ashburton, Victoria, 303 High Street, Ashburton, Victoria, 3147, Australia
John Shawley, the Chairman of the Expert Committee will be will present pages from the Royal Philatelic Society’s stamp Forgery Collection.
Some forgeries, such as the Western Australia 1854 4d “Inverted Frame” illustrated, were designed to defraud collectors. Others, such as the New South Wales 1888 2d Emu “Takuma” forgery was produced to defraud the post office.
All will be revealed for an entertaining evening of forgeries…

Inverleigh Historical Society Open Day
2023-10-22 13:00 - 16:00 | VIC
Inverleigh Historical Society Open Day
Drop in and have a look at old photos and documents, school photos, videos of recent events, newspaper articles, and historic mechanics institute.
Please bring along Inverleigh related photos and documents for us to copy.
When: Sunday 22nd October 1-4pm
Where: Inverleigh Public Hall, 71 High St, Inverleigh VIC 3321
Contact: Christine Windle 0403 267 286

WRITING HISTORY GROUP
2023-10-24 11:30 - 13:00 | 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]

Bushrangers, bushfires and possum pies: the archaeology of the Old Bridge Inn, Mernda
2023-10-24 19:00 - 20:00 | 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC 3181, 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC, 3181, Australia
🥧 Bushrangers, bushfires and possum pies: the archaeology of the Old Bridge Inn, Mernda
In 2015, the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) commissioned Dr Vincent Clark & Associates to carry out cultural heritage investigations for the Mernda Rail Extension Project. In the course of excavations the team came across the Old Bridge Inn. This is one of the earliest commercial structures outside of Melbourne. It was granted a hotel license in 1841, and this business is still in operation today as The Bridge Inn Hotel. Dr Michelle Negus Cleary will share with us the trials and joys discovered along the way with this cultural investigation.
Michelle is an Archaeologist with specialist expertise in ancient and historical archaeological survey and excavation, remote sensing, photogrammetry and more. She has also been a member of the library board since 2018.

This is a History Month event

WESTERN TREATMENT PLANT TOUR
2023-10-25 08:30 - 13:30 | Royal Historical Society of Victoria, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
Experience the Western Treatment Plant at Werribee, and discover the historical and environmental importance of this fascinating site. The Western Treatment Plant was added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2021, recognising its historical, archaeological and technical significance. The historic Western Treatment Plant in Werribee is a world leader in environmentally-friendly sewage treatment, and one of Victoria’s most unlikely hidden treasures.
Roughly the size of Phillip Island (covering an area roughly from Avalon Airport to Werribee Open Zoo), the vast site is home to more than just sewage treatment facilities – doubling as a working farm and internationally-recognised bird habitat. Here, agriculture and biodiversity meet resource recovery, education and ecotourism, supporting Melbourne’s renowned liveability.
The Western Treatment Plant’s variety of natural habitats provide a refuge for wildlife, including some of the world’s rarest bird and frog species – such as the critically-endangered orange-bellied parrot and growling grass frog. In 1983, the site was declared an internationally-significant wetland for waterfowl under the Ramsar Convention. More than 300 bird species have been recorded at the plant, attracted to the water and food in its permanent wetlands, making it one of Australia’s best places for birdwatching.
The Wadawurrung People lived on the land for thousands of years, making it a place of spiritual importance. The plant was also key to Melbourne’s early development – established in the early 1890s to combat the spread of disease, as open sewers emptied into rivers and bays.
Originally known as the Werribee Sewage Farm, the site included the township of Cocoroc (meaning ‘frog’), which housed sewage farm workers until the 1970s. Parts of it are still standing today, and now house our operations, administration and education facilities.

The RHSV has organised a tour of Melbourne’s Western Treatment Plant.
This is a really exciting opportunity.
We will have two brilliant guides for the day – firstly, whilst we drive from the RHSV to Cocoroc, historian Tony Dingle who has researched and written extensively about Melbourne’s water and sewerage will explain the historical importance of this treatment plant and then we’ll pick up a guide at the Treatment Plant to give us the contemporary information.
Tony Dingle teaches Economic History at Monash University. He has researched and published extensively in Australian and British history and his books include Settling, volume 2 of The Victorians (1984); Aboriginal Economy: Patterns of Experience (1988); and Vital Connections: Melbourne and its Board of Works (1991).
Wednesday 25th October 2023
8:30am – 9am Gather at RHSV, 239 A’Beckett Street, Melbourne
9am Bus departs for Cocoroc and the Western Treatment Plant with Tony Dingle as our on-board historian
10am Arrive Cocoroc and pick up treatment plant guide
12:30pm Tour finishes and we depart Cocoroc arriving …
1:30pm back at the RHSV
Important information
The Western Treatment Plant is a working sewage treatment plant. Before and during the treatment process, sewage contains many micro-organisms, including bacteria, viruses and parasites.
Visitors to tour sites are asked to strictly follow these safety rules while on-site:
• Wear long pants and a long sleeved top (Not allowed: shorts, skirts, open-toed shoes, high heels or sandals).
• Wear flat sole, enclosed shoes at all times – sandals and thongs are not permitted on-site.
• While on tour, stay with your tour guide at all times.
• Refrain from climbing on and/or over railings.
• Refrain from touching any machinery or equipment.
• Refrain from running.
It is vital that all visitors:
• Avoid contact with sewage and sewage related products, while on-site.
• Wash your hands before leaving the plant or eating.
• Refrain from eating or drinking during the tour.
• Wash any contaminated clothing separate to your normal washing.
• Ensure that any open wounds are covered.
• Report any minor cuts or abrasions that occur while onsite to Melbourne Water.
Image Captions

The Lake Borrie Wetlands
Heritage-listed water tank at the historic worker township of Cocoroc

(both courtesy of Melbourne Water)

This is a History Month event

St John the Baptist: It’s a wonder it was built at all
2023-10-28 13:30 - 15:00 | VIC
It’s a wonder it was built at all: Talk by author and photographic exhibition
When: 28 October 2023 at 1.30pm
Where: 61 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill
Entry: by donation
RSVP: Contact John Andrews 0439 614 461
On Tuesday 3 October and Sunday 8 October 2023 the church of St. John the Baptist, Queens Parade, Clifton Hill celebrates its consecration centenary. It was the second Catholic parish church in Melbourne to be consecrated. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in Melbourne.
The Consecration took place on 3 October 1923 with Archbishop Daniel Mannix, Melbourne’s fiesty and sometimes politically controversial archbishop officiating at the elaborate overnight and daytime ceremonies. On Sunday 7 October the parish came together for a celebratory Mass with Mannix and former parish priest, John McCarthy and then Bishop of Sandhurst (Bendigo) officiating. It was followed by a parish celebration and a students’ picnic on the Monday.
The church is an architectural and artistic gem. It took 31 years (1876-1907) to complete, and was heavily influenced through its architect, John Bunn Denny by the ideas of Augustus Pugin, the leader of the Catholic Revival Movement in England. It is equally remarkable that such a grand church should be built in the poor Irish Catholic suburb of Clifton Hill, aided by parishioner and printer, Thomas Edmund Verga who contributed about half of the cost of the building and its interiors. This included its front and rear stained-glass windows, manufactured by John Hardman and Company of Birmingham. Other stained-glass windows on the side walls followed in 1928-29. The church also contains the second largest interwar Fincham organ in Victoria.
A photographic exhibition of the church’s and parish’s history is viewable, 24 September- 29 October when the church is open.
On 28 October at 2pm in the church John will give a talk, ‘It’s a wonder it was built at all’ outlining the history behind the building of the church, its first stained glass windows and the subsequent growth of an active Irish Catholic community centred on their local church. The talk is open to all.
For further information, contact the Consecration Centenary Committee on 0439 614 461 or register your attendance at office@olsc.org.au.
Photo: Queens Parade, July 1893m, Museums Victoria Collections, Item 773214

SHADES OF HAUNTED MELBOURNE
2023-10-30 18:30 - 19:30 | RHSV Officers’ Mess Upstairs, 239 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
A special Halloween event – not to be missed!
Join historians Dr Jo Clyne and Dr David Waldron as they recount tales of haunted Melbourne through a highly original blend of historical research and magical stage illusion.
Tickets for this performance can be booked through Trybooking here: https://www.trybooking.com/CLKOD
Tickets: $20 for RHSV members
$25 for non members

Housekeeping:
Please note that this event is being held in our Officers’ Mess which is on the first floor and only accessible by stairs (there is no lift) so the venue is not fully accessible. It is an in-person event so not accessible on Zoom.

This is a History Month event

CHARTING A COURSE - REFLECTIONS ON 35 YEARS AT THE HELM
2023-10-31 17:00 - 20:00 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network (MMHN) is delighted to collaborate with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria in presenting this event.
Following the 5pm MMHN AGM, at 6pm the illustrious Patron of MMHN, Dr. Kevin Fewster, will speak on ‘Charting a course – reflections on 35 years at the helm’ during his extraordinary 35 year international career in Maritime Museums including Director of Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG), the world’s largest and most visited maritime museum precinct.
Closer to ‘home’, Kevin was the founding Director of the South Australian Maritime Museum; Director of the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) and of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. Kevin will reflect on what are essential elements to consider in a successful maritime museum today and the issues that face such cultural institutions.

Housekeeping
This event will be hybrid – both delivered in person at the RHSV’s Drill Hall home and via Zoom. For those booking Zoom tickets, the log-in details will be sent to you 24 hours prior to the event.
An automatic confirmation email is sent to you on booking – please check your Spam or Junk Mail in-box as these emails often go astray.

This is a History Month event

Collingwood History Walk
2023-11-02 08:00 - 17:00 | VIC
This year’s walk will examine the area bounded by Victoria Parade, Smith Street, Wellington Street and Peel Street. The area was subdivided early in the history of Melbourne’s colonisation and has seen many changes over the years. We will start outside one of Melbourne’s oldest surviving hotels, the Grace Darling, and return there at 4 pm for drinks.
$10 fee, cash only.

Altona Homestead Devonshire Tea
2023-11-05 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.

Upper Yarra Valley Historical Society: Ride into History
2023-11-11 19:30, 2023-11-12 19:30 | VIC
Join the Upper Yarra Valley Historical Society in their slow paced adults only bicycle ride from Warburton to Yarra Junction along the Warburton Rail Trail and experience snippets of their local settlement history come to life through vignettes performed by Mad Hatter Theatrics and projections of historical images by Little Projector Company. This unique storytelling experience is woven with local characters, events, and anecdotes that will transport you to a different time and place. After a short performance in Warburton you’ll ride to the first stop at Wesburn where a small vignette will take place. From here the ride continues to the Upper Yarra Museum in Yarra Junction where yo will enjoy the last performance followed by hot drinks and sweet treats while enjoying acoustic live music.
Dates: November 11 (Saturday) and November 12 (Sunday), 2023
Tickets: $10 plus ticketing fee of $0.19
Bookings via this link (takes you to Cog Bikes website).
​Start time & location: Meet at 7.30pm for 7.55pm start at Cog Bike Cafe site on the Rail Trail in Warburton
End time & location : Around 10 -10.30pm at the Upper Yarra Museum in Yarra Junction
​This event is offered on two consecutive nights on November 11 & 12, 2023 (same program on both nights). Further information & tickets https://www.upperyarramuseum.org.au/ride-into-history

MARKETING FORUMS
2023-11-13 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 13 Nov 2023, 12noon – 1pm AEDT

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

Middle Park Primary School in the 1970s and a proposal for a mega soccer stadium in Albert Park Reserve
2023-11-13 19:30 - 21:00 | Middle Park Primary School, 192 Richardson St, Middle Park, VIC, 3206, Australia
In an event for the Middle Park and Albert Park History Group, John Stirling will talk about Middle Park Primary School in the 1970s and a proposal for a mega soccer stadium in Albert Park Reserve

ROSS MCMULLIN ON "LIFE SO FULL OF PROMISE"
2023-11-14 17:30 - 19:00 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
An event with Ross McMullin is always much anticipated. Ross is an award-winning historian and biographer, a renowned storyteller, an entertaining speaker, and a longstanding RHSV member.
His multi-biography Farewell, Dear People was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History, and in his new sequel Life So Full of Promise, Ross has again combined prodigious research and narrative flair in a collection of interwoven family stories about forgotten Australians who had radiant potential.
The rich cast of characters in Life So Full of Promise includes a popular doctor, a brilliant cricketer (Ross played first-grade District cricket in Melbourne), and an exceptionally talented barrister who was a potential prime minister.
With their families and friends also conspicuous in the narratives, Life So Full of Promise is a revealing window into this defining era for Australia. It illuminates what the war was like at home and at the sharp end. Life So Full of Promise emulates Farewell, Dear People in providing insights into the experiences of Australians before, during and after the war, whether they were combatants or civilians, or soldiers’ wives or parents.
Life So Full of Promise has been shortlisted for the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award. Barry Jones reviewed the book in The Age: “His scholarship is impeccable, he writes like an angel … and his narrative gift is Blaineyesque”.
Ross’s books, including Life so Full of Promise, are available through the RHSV bookshop.
https://rossmcmullin.com.au

Housekeeping
This event will be hybrid – both delivered in person at the RHSV’s Drill Hall home and via Zoom. For those booking Zoom tickets, the log-in details will be sent to you 24 hours prior to the event.
From 5:30pm to 6pm, as with most RHSV events, we’ll be serving refreshments before the lecture starts at 6pm.
An automatic confirmation email is sent to you on booking – please check your Spam or Junk Mail in-box as these emails often go astray.

A Night with Elizabeth Macarthur: Hidden Figure in Australian History
2023-11-14 19:00 - 20:00 | 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC 3181, 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran, VIC, 3181, Australia
🐑 A Night with Elizabeth Macarthur: Hidden Figure in Australian History
Do you enjoy finding out about people history has hidden? So does Michelle Scott Tucker.
She is the author of Elizabeth Macarthur: A Life at the Edge of the World – an engaging yet meticulously researched biography of the woman who established the Australian wool industry, even though her husband got all the credit (Text Publishing 2018). Michelle is also the co-writer, with Torres Strait Islander actor and film producer Aaron Fa’Aoso, of Aaron’s memoir So Far, So Good (Pantera Publishing 2022).
Michelle is renowned as an entertaining and informative speaker. She will talk to us about who Elizabeth was, what she did and why she should be far more well-known as an important Australian historical figure.

Emigration, Dress and Australian Colonial Society, 1820s – 1860s
2023-11-15 13:30 - 15:30 | Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens, 66 McCrae St, Dandenong, Select a State or Province:, 3175, Australia
Join us for this talk as we consider the nature of colonial society and the immigrants experience through the lens of dress. What clothes did people bring with them to start a new life in Australia? How did this match with what they found on arrival?
Presenter Laura Jocic, is a curator and dress historian with expertise in nineteenth and twentieth century Australian and international fashion and textiles.
This event is being run in conjunction with the Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens exhibition Yesteryear: a glimpse into Greater Dandenong’s Past.
An afternoon tea will be provided following the presentation.
Image Credit: Three Women, one in center seated and wearing long dress, other two standing on either side of her and wearing three-quarter-length dresses. c1880-1900, State Library of Victoria.

CATALOGUING CLINICS 2023
2023-11-16 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 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]

CONVICTION POLITICS: A DIGITAL INVESTIGATION OF THE CONVICT ROOTS OF AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY
2023-11-18 13:30 - 16:00 | RHSV Gallery Downstairs, 239 A'Beckett St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
This event is organised by the Descendants of Convicts Group Inc (DOCS) together with the RHSV.
Conviction Politics is an international digital history project exploring the impact of radicals and rebels transported as political convicts to Australia on their place of exile, and the patterns of collective resistance by the mass of unfree convict women and women to the exploitation of their forced labour.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, thousands of democratic reformers, rural labour protestors, Irish freedom fighters and revolutionaries were exiled as political prisoners to Britain’s Australian colonies, where Indigenous people opposing dispossession joined them as prisoners. As convicts, they resisted exploitation through inventive solidarity in the face of coercion, and in turn changed the political direction of the colonies.
Conviction Politics traces how these convicts and their ideas helped lay the foundations of egalitarianism, political and social democracy, unions and workers rights and national self-determination in Australia and the UK. Through archival research, data analysis and visualisation, documentary, animation and song, the project is producing an innovative suite of digital content exploring these stories and their contemporary resonance.
Based at Monash University, Conviction Politics collaborates with researchers from universities in Australia, the UK and Ireland, and is partnered with a range of museums, archives, and unions. Join us for the documentary screening and panel discussion afterwards
Project leader, Associate Professor Tony Moore from Monash University, will take us through the project’s discoveries, media and exhibition, including screening a selection of short documentaries. Tony will explain how Conviction Politics overturns the orthodoxy of how we think about convict Australia. The project reveals how Australia’s first ‘unfree’ workforce resisted exploitation and subordination through inventive solidarity in the face of coercion, while a vanguard of rebels, liberal pamphleteers, industrial protestors and radical agitators changed the political direction of the Australian colonies.
Tony Moore is author of Death or Liberty: Rebels and Radicals Transported to Australia 1788-1868 (2010), adapted as a television documentary of the same name (2015), Dancing with Empty Pockets: Australia’s Bohemians since 1860 (2012) and The Barry McKenzie Movies (2005). Tony has had previous careers as a documentary maker at the ABC and academic commissioning editor at Pluto Press and Cambridge University Press.
Afternoon tea will be served at 3pm.
On booking you will be sent an automatically-generated confirmation email – these sometimes go astray so please check your Junk Mail or Spam Mail folder. For those attending on ZOOM you will be sent the ZOOM log-in details 24 hours before the event.
