Society News

2012 Calendars for sale $20.00
The Society has available a number of 2012 calendars. A different enhanced sepia photograph of historic Bendigo is displayed each month, representing a sample of our collection .

The society provides annual history awards to Bendigo Students
The 2011 Annual Fred Smith Award for the best history student at Weeroona College has gone to Tori Barnes.

The Catholic College history award has gone to Eboni Brennan.

Walking Tours
The Shamrock Tours continue to be most successful and the Walking Tours of Bendigo will be a feature of the January Summer in The Parks.

Red Ribbon Rebellion
The regular re-enactment of the Red River Rebellion will be conducted in August 2012.

Forthcoming Meetings:

February 3: Sale of Crown Lands - Ralph Birrell.
March 2: The Benefits of Conviction – The Hon. Howard Nathan Q.C.
April 13: The Irish in Bendigo - Bob Rossiter
May 4: War time nurses – Dr. Kirsty Harris
June 1: Short Talks by BHS Researchers

Society Accommodation
The Society is currently housed in part of the Bendigo Regional Archive Centre (B.R.A.C.) where it has its volunteer working space and collection storage. Unfortunately, because B.R.A.C. is a secure facility the general public is not allowed to visit. However, people can contact us via phone or email.

Our large and 3-D collection items are currently stored in shipping containers at the B.R.A.C. site. This is far from satisfactory but the Society continues to work with the Bendigo city council and hopefully the containers are only a temporary solution.

Activity at the Bendigo Regional Archive Centre
Cataloguing and research are continuous tasks being undertaken at B.R.A.C. The use of Mosaic software has been increased by the addition of multiple-licence capability. A large scanner has been added to assist with the cataloging of photographs.

Members and volunteers are working on various items in the Society's Collection. These include, the Elliott Post Card, the Basil Miller, the Lydia Chancellor, the McColl Rankin, the Stanistreet and the Map Collections. In addition to photograph digitization and cataloguing, early slides of Bendigo are also being processed.

Specific Topics of research are also being undertaken. These include; Victoria Hill, Bendigo Railways 150 th , Mining Companies of Bendigo , Early Bendigo Land Sales. These are progressing towards publication.

Weekly articles for Bendigo Readers
Our dedicated volunteers are continually researching and writing stories for local newspapers and periodicals. These regularly appear in The Bendigo Advertiser, The Bendigo Miner and publications such as Bendigo 175 Years.

Tony Robinson
We also provide assistance to special interest groups. This year we assisted Tony Robinson of Time Team fame with background and historical information to support a future program featuring quirky historical tales of Bendigo .

Masonic Hall, opened 1874 The hall underwent alterations in 1890 to house the Masonic Theatre. Later service as the New Britannia picture theatre and home of the Bendigo Operatic Society. Recently re- furbished and, as the Capital Theatre, it is now the centrepiece of Bendigo’s Performing Arts Centre.