Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

Have you heard about SODA? It stands for Stream of Digital Archives and was created by the National Archives of Australia to let people know about new images that are upload to their collection. The National Archives uploads between 50-1000 digital copies a day and upwards of 15,000 a month. All images are open and available to the public. What's different about SODA is that not only can you access and view these items, but you can share them through social media, export it as a PDF or email it a friend or family member.  Some of the things you can find on SODA include war graves records cards, cabinet minutes, enlistment photographs, reparation records and so much more. So have a look at SODA today. Visit: http://soda.naa.gov.au/

    On the 9 th   May 1901, Melbourne played host to the opening of the first Australian Commonwealth Parliament by the Duke of Cornwall and York, later to be King George V. The ceremony took place at the Exhibition Building and was witnessed by 12000 invited guests. A week of celebrations and festivities in Melbourne accompanied the opening of Parliament and included firework displays, sporting events and dinners. Federation arches were built in city streets and key buildings such as the Exhibition Building, were illuminated at night. The library has an original program detailing the events surrounding the opening along with invitations to various events celebrating the occasion.       These items are held in the archive collection and can be viewed by arrangement with library staff.

The archive collection at Sam Merrifield Library holds a number of unique items that form part of our Local History Collection. Most of the items are paper based and include books, manuscripts, cashbooks, ledgers, work catalogues and pattern books, but the archive also includes more diverse items such as dress making specimens and a boys woollen cap. Over the next few months we will be highlighting a number of these items and asking the public for any information they may have about the  businesses, families or events that we may mention.  Items in the archive are available to view by arrangement with library staff. W. E. Coutts Collection Our first collection of note are the records of local builder W.E. Coutts whose business ran from the early 1900’s to the 1970s. The records are an important source of information about local building trends over that time and include house plans and blue prints along with correspondence, books, ledgers...

The Public Record Office of Victoria has recently announced the list of newly opened records for 2013. The list of collections can be viewed at the PROV website or by clicking on the media release link below. PROV Media release

The Genealogical Society of Victoria has several interesting talks coming up in the month of May. Talks take place on Thursdays at Level B1, 257 Collins St Melbourne from 12.30 - 1.30pm. Cost is $5.50 for non-members and free for GSV members. May 3 Helen McLaughlin Geneological Gems at the University of Melbourne Archives. May 10 Ada Ackerley Community attitudes to Excile and Orphan immigration in the 1840s and 1850s. May 17 Margaret May Projects at VicHeritage (Registry of BDM's). May 24 Susan McLean The Scottish Census: a new angle.  May 31 David Weatherill Cemeteries in Victoria.

The Victorian Archives Reading Room in North Melbourne will closed for two full weeks at 4.30pm on Friday 26th March, 2010 and re-open on Monday 12th April, 2010. The Reading Room will continue to be closed on Mondays and Saturdays until April 2010. These closures will allow additional building improvement works to be undertaken. Further details about the Reading Room closure can be found at PROV website.

The Public Records Office of Victoria has launched a social network to promote research using records from Victorian state archives. Their blog will give the community the opportunity to ask questions, join a like-minded community and hear about events relating to history and place; as well as become a part of a network to share knowledge about family and history.

The Sam Merrifield Library has a collection of material that is fragile and of historic importance to the local area. At the moment we are scanning some images to make the items more accessible to the public. A collection of circulating books from the 1930's-1950's is part of this collection. Circulating libraries were a part of Melbourne life, the earliest being the Melbourne Athenauem in Collins Street founded in 1839 and still going strong today. At a more local level Eric Stinton established a subscription library to his newsagency in 1928, known as Stintons Hygienic Book Club in Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds. For more information on the history of circulating libraries in Melbourne go to The Latrobe Journal and the article ' Choose your author as you would choose a fri end ' : circulating libraries in Melbourne, 1930-1960.

Have you ever wondered where to go for information about keeping and preserving family heirlooms, treasures, photographs and objects that are part of your family history that you wish to preserve for future generations. The Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation , part of the University of Melbourne provides conservation services & advice on the care of collections for external clients within Australia. They specialise in the areas of Paintings, Paper, Objects, Textiles and Frames. The Centre has a range of products and kits available which include a Photo Survival Kit, Document Survival Kit and a Textile Survival Kit. These products may be ordered online or via one of the following: Fax: 1300 78 11 46 Email: info@archivalsurvival.com.au Post: PO Box 2394, Hawthorn Vic 3122

As part of this ongoing project the Registry is collecting photographs of Army personnel to add to this Army index. Photographs may be of the soldier, their grave, headstone or other memorial. You are invited to submit photographs and additional information to this database. For more details about submitting photographs visit Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

' Max Dupain on Assignment" This exhibition is a collection of photographs by Max Dupain from the collections of the National Archives of Australia and the Noel Butlin Archives Centre at the Australian National University. The exhibition explores works that Dupain created in the 1940's to the 1970's for the Australian Government and the Colonial Sugar Refining Company Limited, now known as CSR. For more information about this project the Moonee Valley Library Service has a copy of the book Max Dupain on Assignment Call No. F 779 DUP and several other books on Max Dupain's photography. The National Archives of Australia had no information about the young violinist used in the promotional materials, but Robyn Davies learnt her image was part of the exhibition when her brother saw it promoted in the Qantas inflight magazine. Robyn remembers the day well, the photograph was taken in 1971 at the Methodist Ladies' College in Burwood, Sydney. In 1987 Robyn moved to Pa...

Artist Domenico de Clario's has several projects one of which is with the National Trust-listed Bonegilla Migrant Camp in which he looks at notions of identity, global culture and minority voice. In this case De Clario is using objects such as photographs, suitcases, letters, clothing, bicycles as part of an installation that examines the many Australians who passed through the Bonegilla Migrant Camp between the late 1940's and 1971. De Clario's Ossuary is at Albury Regional Art Gallery until September 28th http://www.alburycity.nsw.gov.au/ For more information about Bonegilla Migrant Camp visit the Belongings Online Exhibition which tells the stories of people who migranted to Australia between 1945-1974 through personal mementos, photographs and memories visit the website http://www.belongings.com.au/