Glimpses of life in and around Pentridge Stockade
Our stories, Victorian history:
Pentridge Stockade housed men, women and children for nearly 150 years, as the suburb of Coburg developed around the bluestone edifice.
Victorian history
The people’s playground: Eastern Beach, Geelong
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
Wander down to Geelong’s Eastern Beach on a hot day over summer and you’ll be greeted by a huge crowd of sun seekers.
How to train your Santa
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
Have you spotted Santa in a department store lately? There’s more to being Santa than you might think! Let’s take a look at the history of department store Santas and explore what they learn at Santa School.
Journey through the collection: Ashton’s 19th century sketchbook
Collection spotlights, Victorian history, Visual arts:
A little sketchbook with a lot of stories. How did the newsworthy events of the 1880s go from pocket sketches to newspaper illustrations?
Australia’s own car
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
On 29 November, 1948, the first Holden motor car was unveiled at General Motors Holden (GMH). The launch of the Holden was a watershed moment for the nation: it represented the first time a motor vehicle had been wholly built in Australia.
When Spanish Flu came to Victoria
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
Spanish flu arrived in Australia in January 1919. With masks, closures, quarantine, inter-governmental squabbles and death, the events of a century ago resonate very keenly today.
Read all about it!
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories, Victorian history:
From as far back as the 1850s, newsboys were a common sight on the streets of Melbourne. Most were poor and many were illiterate. But they were not without their friends and allies…
Trim, the Aussie cat
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
Adventurous, fearless, bundles of joy, cats have always accompanied their humans on their endeavours and kept their spirits high. This is such a story – Trim, the fearless Aussie cat!
Burke and Wills and Strutt.
Such was life, Victorian history:
William Strutt’s painting of the Burke and Wills expedition captures the daunting task facing the explorers.
Robert Vere Scott’s photographic panoramas
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
Panoramic photographs have been around since the mid years of the 19th century when photographers strived to produce the arc of a wide vista in a single image. Check out some spectacular examples from the collection.
