Pioneer women of Victoria
Are you researching: women in Victoria? the lives of Victorian settlers? Aboriginal/settler interactions? women’s experiences of migration?
Such was life
Clunes – the golden town
Cities & towns, Such was life:
Sitting in a steep valley surrounded by extinct volcanoes lies Clunes, a historic gold mining town located in the central goldfields region of Victoria, north of Ballarat. The Djadja Wurrung… Read More ›
Bella Guerin: first female university graduate in Australia
People & professions, Such was life:
Julia Margaret Guerin, known as Bella Guerin, became the first woman to graduate from a university in Australia, when she graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1883.
Memories of the Great Depression
Social life & customs, Such was life:
An interesting and amusing memoir of a Melbourne boy growing up during the Depression is the book The Palace of Signs: memories of hard times and high times in the… Read More ›
Albert Purchas: architect, soldier, inventor
People & professions, Such was life:
A common question we get asked at the Library is where can I find information about a particular person?
Skiing Marnong
Thousands of years before alpine resorts, chalets and four-wheel drives, Victoria’s Mt Buller was inhabited by Aboriginal tribes, in particular the Taungurong people (also spelt Taungurung). A Taungurong woman is quoted… Read More ›
Telling time in early Melbourne
Social life & customs, Such was life:
In 1853 Melbourne was developing rapidly and the need for consistent, accurate time across the burgeoning colony saw the first observatory built in Williamstown. Time was communicated… ‘by dropping a… Read More ›
Origins of Australian football: Victoria’s early history
Good footballers are often described as ‘dangerous players’, but none more so than Alex Bruce who had a prosthetic hook on one arm, which made him very dangerous indeed! Less… Read More ›
Bendigo or Sandhurst? History through newspapers
Cities & towns, Such was life:
Did you know that Bendigo used to be called Sandhurst? And then changed its name back to Bendigo?
Melbourne’s feral dogs
Social life & customs, Such was life:
In the 1840s and 50s, Melbourne had an unregistered dog problem. Initially the stray dogs were only a nuisance, but they soon became aggressive and threatened the safety of Melburnians.
