Metamorphosis of a gold town : Stawell 1900-1940 : a study in local history

Examines the experience of the Wimmera town of Stawell as being representative of the early settlements created by gold rushes, and then threatened with extinction as the industry declined. Attention is paid to the role of community in Stawell's struggle to survive in the period between Federation and the Second World War. Reviews the economic and social processes involved in the eventual recovery. Argues that the forces of Stawell's historical legacy can be detected in the town's reaction to adversity after the closure of the last major mine in 1920.

The Corio Oval tribe: Geelong Football Club in colonial times

Geelong, Victoria’s second city, has an AFL football club whose culture and identity is closely tied to the city itself. An analysis of its playing group for the colonial period demonstrates that this local tribalism began early. As football became professionalised towards the end of the nineteenth century, country Victoria lost power in relative terms to metropolitan Melbourne: for example, Ballarat’s three main clubs lost their senior status. But Geelong, with its one remaining senior club, prospered and was admitted to the VFL ranks in 1897. The Geelong players were the sons and nephews of the Western District squattocracy and so had access to networks of power and influence. Many attended the prestigious Geelong Grammar School and the worthy Geelong College (in surprisingly equal numbers). They pursued careers both on the land and in professional roles, and maintained the social connections they had built through the club and other local institutions. Despite their elite standing, however, they continued to be regarded by the supporter base as an embodiment of the city and a defence against the city’s Melbourne critics that Geelong was a mere ‘sleepy hollow’.

The quick and the dead : Stawell and its race through time

Examines the history of the Stawell Easter Gift from its beginnings in 1878 and, in doing so, tells the story of an Australian country town, its inhabitants, its visitors, its troubles and its traditions.

Riot or revolution: the Eureka Stockade 1854

The story of the Eureka stockade told through re-enactment style monologues.

Soldier settlement after World War One in south western Victoria

This thesis addresses the physical aspects of farming on soldier settlement blocks in south west Victoria. The undeveloped land, high establishment costs, stock losses through animal diseases and lack of managerial skills all contributed to the settlers' inability to meet their financial commitments. These factors are analysed, as are the effects of declining rural commodities prices during the 1920s and 1930s. In addition, the relationship between the settlers and the successive administrative agencies is examined. The scheme was administered by the Closer Settlement Board from its inception until 1932 and much of the discussion during this period concerns the interaction between settler and inspector. Soldier settlement after World War One represented one of the last attempts to create a large body of 'yeoman' farmers. From the early 1920s there was an increasing dichotomy between the 'yeoman' and the 'managerial' ideologies. This dichotomy placed additional pressure on soldier settlers who were expected to be 'efficient' without adequate finances. In the post C.S.B. era, the focus shifts to the attempts by the Closer Settlement Commission to salvage the scheme and its greater understanding of the problems faced by the settlers. While this part of the thesis necessarily becomes more political, the physical and financial environment in which the soldier settlers worked was still an important factor in their success or failure. Unlike the C.S.B. which tended to blame soldier settlers for their situation, the Commission acknowledged that settlers' ability to succeed was often constrained by circumstances beyond their control. Under the latter administration, instalments were written off, additional land was allocated and finally the blocks were revalued to guarantee the men at least some equity in their farms. Those settlers who had survived until these changes were instituted received a 'successful outcome of their life's work'.

The 1859 election on the Ovens

The Victorian general election of 1859 occurred during a time of social transition and electoral reformation, which extended the vote to previously unrepresented adult males. Gold discoveries, including those on the Ovens, triggered the miners’ insistent demands for access to land and participation in the political process. The thesis identifies issues, which emerged during the election campaign on the Ovens goldfields, surrounding Beechworth. The struggle centred on the two Legislative Assembly seats for the Ovens and the one Legislative Council seat for the Murray District. Though the declared election issue was land reform, it concealed a range of underlying tensions, which divided the electorate along lines of nationality and religion. Complicating these tensions within the European community was the Chinese presence throughout the Ovens. The thesis suggests the historical memory of the French Revolution, the European Revolutions of 1848 and the Catholic versus Protestant revivals divided the Ovens goldfield community. The competing groups formed alliances; a Beechworth-centred grouping of traders, merchants and the Constitution’s editor, ensured the existing conservative agenda triumphed over those perceived radicals who sought reform. In the process the land hungry miners did not gain any political representation in the Legislative Assembly, while a prominent Catholic squatter who advocated limited land reform was defeated for the Legislative Council seat. Two daily Beechworth papers, Ovens and Murray Advertiser and its fierce competitor, the Constitution and Ovens Mining Intelligencer are the major primary sources for the thesis.

"Our fingers were never idle" : women and domestic craft in the Geelong region, 1900-1960

This thesis is an exploration of women's domestic crafts in the Geelong region, between 1900 and I960, Through analysing oral testimony and the women's handicraft artefacts, the nature of the domestic production of handicrafts and the meanings the makers have constructed around their creations and their lives is illuminated. The thesis is organised around the themes of work, space, the construction of femininity, memory, time and meaning. The thesis argues that until recently, the discipline of history has privileged the experiences of men over those of women. It challenges the trivialising of women’s handicrafts. It also argues that within the restrictive social structures around them and within the confined nature of their situations, the women of my study asserted themselves to transform their environments and to improve their situations through labour in the home. In ‘making do’, recycling materials and creating functional and decorative needlework items for their homes and families, the women were often finding solutions to pressing practical and economic problems. Doing handicrafts was rarely just a passive way of filling in time. Rather, making and creating was for these women a multi-layered activity that similtaneously fulfilled a complex range of needs for themselves and their families. A multiplicity of deeply personal, aesthetic, familial, social, practical and economic needs were met in the making of domestic craft artefacts, whose symbolism reflected the values and meanings of the women's cultures, homes and families.

Tariff protection and politics : Castlemaine 1870-1901

This study, set within the contextual background of Victorian politics, ‘seeks to identify the economic, political and social implications of tariff protection for the Castlemaine region from 1870-1901. The introduction of the Victorian tariff in 1865 precipitated a reversal of earlier attitudes towards protection by politicians and their constituents. Reasons are sought for changes in the perceptions of the Castlemaine electorate and its political representatives towards the tariff between 1870 and Federation. An examination has been made of the role of the tariff in the creation of employment in the region’s primary and secondary industries together with its influence on politicians, primary and secondary industry leaders and workers. Also explored is the relative impact of the tariff on the economic performance of Castlemaine industries, whether producing for export or domestic markets.

Master of Montsalvat

A study of the creation by the charismatic artist and architect, Justus Jorgensen, of an artists' colony at Montsalvat, Eltham, in the early 1930s. A comprehensive examination of this enterprise had not previously been attempted. The research unexpectedly revealed the community's close but clandestine association with psychoanalysis, which had intruded into every aspect of the artists' lives.