Post Tagged with: "melbourne"

Burke and Wills and Strutt.

Burke and Wills and Strutt.

August 18, 2021

Such was life, Victorian history:

William Strutt’s painting of the Burke and Wills expedition captures the daunting task facing the explorers.

Canvas Town: ‘a floating city, devoured by the sun’

Canvas Town: ‘a floating city, devoured by the sun’

March 31, 2021

Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:

It was November, 1852, when almost overnight, a strange sight sprang up, near Princes Bridge, in Melbourne. Canvas Town, as it came to be known, was a large tent city, set up to accommodate people on their way to the goldfields…

Melbourne’s first newspaper

Melbourne’s first newspaper

January 1, 2021

Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:

On New Year’s Day, 1838, pioneer John Pascoe Fawkner published Melbourne’s first newspaper. Printing presses were scarce in the colony, so Fawkner handwrote the newspaper himself…

Melbourne celebrates Victory in the Pacific Day

Melbourne celebrates Victory in the Pacific Day

August 14, 2020

Social life & customs, Such was life, War:

Melbourne has likely never seen such an outbreak of spontaneous rejoicing and mass celebration, as it did on Victory in the Pacific Day, August 15 1945.

The Crossley Building: past, present and future

The Crossley Building: past, present and future

July 17, 2020

Buildings & streets, People & professions, Such was life:

The Crossley Building on Bourke Street holds the history of one of Melbourne’s earliest, pre gold-rush retail and residential developments. For 60 years it was home to the iconic haberdashery business, Job Warehouse, which closed in 2012. Untenanted ever since and significantly run-down, where to next for this important piece of Melbourne’s built heritage?

Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part two

Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part two

June 21, 2020

Buildings & streets, People & professions, Research guides, Research tips & tricks, Social life & customs, Such was life, War:

The second and final part of a blog about flâneurs and research in the time of covid-19 As you can read in part one, this blog was inspired by daily… Read More ›

Time travelling with Sands & McDougall

Time travelling with Sands & McDougall

June 16, 2020

Buildings & streets, People & professions, Such was life:

Bell hangers and nightmen, leech merchants and lightermen; these are just some of the nineteenth century characters you may find lurking within the pages of a Sands & McDougall directory.

Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part one

Discovering Diener’s Ice Works: part one

June 8, 2020

Buildings & streets, People & professions, Research guides, Research tips & tricks, Social life & customs, Such was life, War:

This is the first of a two-part blog about flâneurs and research in the time of covid-19 A daily walk has become an essential part of many people’s routines in… Read More ›

The marvellous and macabre Waxworks, part two: sideshow magic and human curiosities

The marvellous and macabre Waxworks, part two: sideshow magic and human curiosities

May 4, 2020

Social life & customs, Such was life:

Part two of the story of the Melbourne Waxworks, featuring a water nymph, the Chinese giant and the ‘half lady’ illusion.

On the ‘shick’ in Little Lon

On the ‘shick’ in Little Lon

April 16, 2020

Buildings & streets, Social life & customs, Such was life:

Of all the slums in inner Melbourne, ‘Little Lon’, was the most notorious. But there was more to the precinct than met the eye…