Happy New Year!

Welcome to a New year with the MIV! There was a piece in this morning's Age about the Athenaeum.

Yet More Wesson Photos identified

All these shots can be found in Pam's book. Click on the image to get a closer look.

More Wesson photos identified

We've been making great progress. Thanks very much to everyone who has helped.To have a larger clearer picture of the institutes, just click on the picture.

Catalogue of Vanished Objects

Every little town has it's local museum, but unfortunately Bendigo, with all it's celebrated gold history, has no museum. Now.
It's not generally realised that Bendigo at one time had a museum of international repute, attracting 20,000 visitors a year in the 1880's.
The museum was at the Bendigo School of Mines, which was founded by the Sandhurst Mechanics Institute in 1872.
It had an incredible geological collection, as well as flora, fauna, and many artefacts of local aboriginal tribes, gold miners, and all sorts of miscellany.
It's exact contents have been a mystery - until now. A microfiche has been discovered of a handwritten catalogue of exhibits, running to hundreds of pages.
Below is an excerpt detailing aboriginal implements found on local properties.
I'll post updates as the catalogue is examined.Now the search is on for the original!

Update on the Wesson Photos

There has been a lot of good work accomplished on identifying the Wesson photos (see post of 13th October).
As well as Judith, Pam and Peter, Linda Barraclough, Lorraine Huddle, Janette Hodgson, and Joan Hunt from RHSV have all pitched in as well.
The identified ones are as below



Cowwarr, Gippsland 1960's

And now,(photo from Janette Hodgson)

Sale, Gippsland

Illabarook, Ballarat district

Smythesdale, Central Victoria


Trentham 1960's

Trentham today (photo courtesy Peter Pereya)

Andrew Carnegie Legacy

Here's and interesting article on the role Andrew carnegie played in the endowment of Institute and public libraries

Speaking of interesting information on the title pages of books (see previous post), this copy of Balthazar, by Balzac indicates that it was recatalogued no less than five times in the space of twenty years. The book is from the Sandhurst Mechanics Institute.