Geelong Historical Society

Geelong Historical Society
Formation 1944
Type Historical Society
Headquarters 6 Balmoral Crescent, Rippleside
Location
  • Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Website Geelong Historical Society

The Geelong Historical Society is an amateur historical society, founded in 1944 to research and publish on the history of the town of Geelong, Victoria and the surrounding district.[1] The Geelong society is the third society of its type to be established in Victoria, is the largest regional archive and resource centre in Victoria,[2] and represents the state's second city both in size and period of establishment. It is also among the most prolific in terms of size of its collection, its research and number of publications,[3] and its role in preserving and documenting the history of Geelong was recognized in the Geelong sesquicentennial history.[4]

An earlier meeting aimed at establishing a historical society in Geelong was held in November 1923, when C. R. Long and J. A. Laird (Gordon Institute) called a meeting of prominent local citizens.[5] The minutes and financial records of the society have been preserved at the Geelong Heritage Centre, suggesting the society's origin may date back to 1920.[6] It was at this time that the mayor of Geelong, Howard Hitchcock, proposed that an exhibition of "relics and historical records" be staged at the Geelong City Hall. The exhibition was opened by anthropologist Sir Baldwin Spencer on 27 September 1921, and extended to 14 October. These items formed the basis of the later society's collection.[7] In 1938 a public meeting chaired by L. Bechervaise passed a motion to form the Geelong and District Historical Society.[8]

A local historian, Norm Houghton, was instrumental in helping organise the collection while its past president, the late Peter F. B. Alsop, was one of a number of members who published prolifically on local historical matters.[9] Other prominent members include Mr William James Morrow, DFC, who was awarded an OAM for service to the Geelong Historical Society and to historical research and prolific historian and writer Peter Mansfield, winner of the Victorian History Library Short History Prize.[10]

The society has organised presentations and excursions since the 1950s,[11] and has previously worked in conjunction with the Geelong Heritage Centre (formerly Geelong Historical Records Section), which holds the archival and historical records gathered by the society. It has also been involved in numerous commemorative events and dedicating monuments,[12] and is often cited as the authoritative source on early Geelong people and history.,[13][14] including the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Matthew Flinders exploration of the district and climbing of Station Peak.[15] It has also played a major role in the preservation of Geelong's Historic Monuments such as the Barwon Sewer Aqueduct.[16]

The society was instrumental in the establishment of the Geelong Historical Records Centre as an approved place of deposit for historic local government records, through a partnership with the Geelong local government and Public Record Office Victoria in 1979.[17]

The society publishes the quarterly magazine Investigator (ISSN 0021-0013) in March, June, September and December each year. There is a cumulative index for 1965 - 1984 and an updated digitised index on CD from 1965 up to 2009.[18][19]

References

  1. ↑ Australian Heritage links and resources
  2. ↑ Aussie Heritage Directory
  3. ↑ Carole Beaumont, Local History in Victoria: An Annotated Bibliography La Trobe University Library, 1 Jan 1980
  4. ↑ Begg, Peter (1990), Geelong - the first 150 years, Geelong Advertiser, ISBN 978-0-9592863-5-9
  5. ↑ "GEELONG'S MEMORIALS.". Geelong Advertiser (Geelong, Victoria: National Library of Australia). 10 November 1923. p. 5. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Geelong Historical Society (1920), Minutes & financial records, retrieved 27 March 2015
  7. ↑ Peter Mansfield, "The Multiple Births of the Geelong Historical Society", Investigator June 2012 pp.63-70.
  8. ↑ Geelong Advertiser 23 & 24 August 1938
  9. ↑ Geelong Advertiser tributes - Peter Alsop
  10. ↑ Suzie Zada, Geelong & District, Winner of 2011 PMI Short History Prize, 3 December, 2011
  11. ↑ Geelong Historical Reference Centre, "Geelong Historical Society Members at Brearley's Tannery, c.1950"
  12. ↑ Geelong Sesquicentenary plaque, Monument Australia
  13. ↑ see for example - Body at the Melbourne Club: David Burke Bertram Armytage, Antarctica's Forgotten Man Wakefield Press, 2009 pp. 32, 151
  14. ↑ Heritage Victoria, SAILORS’ REST ELECTRIC SIGN, 5 June 2014
  15. ↑ Talk of the Town. (1952, May 5). Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49242872
  16. ↑ S. Sánchez-Beitia, C. A. Brebbia Structural studies, repairs, and maintenance of historical buildings, Computational Mechanics Publications, 1997 p.28
  17. ↑ Geelong Historical Records Centre
  18. ↑ Janet Fyfe, History journals and serials: an analytical guide, Greenwood Press, 1 Jul 1986
  19. ↑ Carolyn Farquhar Ulrich, Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, Volume 1; Volume 26, Parts 1-2 Bowker., 1987 p.828

External links