Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Royal Historical Society of Victoria A significant collecting organisation that focuses on the history of Victoria and umbrella organisation for some 350 historical societies across Victoria.
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A membership-based charity. We have a large public events program, publish books and enjoy history. The Society provides a full program of activities for the benefit of its members and the general public. This includes the publication of a newsletter, a peer-reviewed journal and books of historical interest. Its activities are available to all Victorians.

09/09/2026

What if Melbourne had canals like Amsterdam, an underground railway decades before the City Loop, or orbital transport connecting suburbs without travelling through the CBD?

Throughout the city's history, planners, engineers and civic leaders imagined bold futures that promised to transform Melbourne – but many never progressed beyond the drawing board.

View the current Hoddle Grid exhibition and then join historian Aaron Magro as he explores some of Melbourne's most fascinating unbuilt plans and asks what these forgotten visions reveal about how those before us imagined our city's future. Drawing on historic maps, engineering drawing and archival material, 'Imagined Melbourne: The City That Might Have Been' uncovers the ambitions, ideas and unrealised possibilities that continue to shape Melbourne’s urban story.

📍 239 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne
🗓️ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm, Tuesday September 15
🎫 Bookings $10-20 at https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/event/imagined-melbourne-the-city-that-might-have-been/

We invite you to discover the Melbourne that might have been. Share with a friend who would love this.

Do not let the name "Melbourne Walking Club" fool you. It was named for where they originated, not for where they went -...
04/09/2026

Do not let the name "Melbourne Walking Club" fool you. It was named for where they originated, not for where they went - and they sometimes travelled very far afield.

Take this photo, for example, which was snapped on one of the club's walks in the 1930s.

It depicts some of the walkers and their trusty packhorse taking a rest in front of the crumbling remains of an old stockman's hut at Cowombat Flat, just across the Victorian border, at the source of the Murray River in New South Wales.

The stockman's hut has clearly seen better days, with the wooden shingles of its rough roof shedding like fish scales. The chimney, however, appears sturdy and well preserved. It remained standing to become part of another story: some twenty years after this picture was taken, the stone chimney would provide shelter for folks in need.

It was August 1954 and a military plane (Douglas C-47 Skytrain) with a crew of four men was making a transport trip from Sale to Bathurst, Richmond, and Canberra before returning home.

On the final leg of the journey from Canberra to Sale, the plane lost altitude, leaving the only option to attempt a forced landing. The manoeuvre did not go to plan, killing the co-pilot and wounding the remaining three crew members.

Carrying the body of their deceased comrade, the surviving men found shelter in the ruins of an old stockman's hut nearby where they huddled in the chimney until help arrived. Fortunately, this came soon: a little over an hour after impact they were located by an RAAF search plane, which had been alerted by a distress signal sent as the plane began falling.

The three survivors were rescued, having sheltered in the same ruined hut where the Melbourne Walking Club had once stopped to rest and take a photograph.

If you've been in Melbourne for more than a few days, chances are you've heard of the "Hoddle Grid." You've traversed it...
02/09/2026

If you've been in Melbourne for more than a few days, chances are you've heard of the "Hoddle Grid." You've traversed it, been stuck in traffic on it, maybe even have blurry recollections of learning something about a "Mr Hoddle" in school.

But you've never seen the Hoddle Grid quite like this.

Our current exhibition, 'The Hoddle Grid: The Great Land Grab', takes a look at the first colonial land auctions in Melbourne, when Wurundjeri land was cut up into pieces and sold to the highest bidder.

Come along to learn more about these buyers - some of whom went on to amass considerable fortunes; others lost everything.

We invite you to join exhibition curator, historian and author Dr Liz Rushen, as she takes us back to where it all began, 1 June 1837.

📍 239 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne
🗓️ 2pm – 3pm, Wednesday September 9
Bookings $5–$10: https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/event/curators-talk-hoddle-grid-the-great-land-grab-sept/

Discover the stories of Melbourne's first land-buyers. Share with a friend who would love this.

Dr Merav Carmeli’s Tuesday night lecture, "The Mysterious Dr David Hailperin" presented a fascinating look at the true h...
27/08/2026

Dr Merav Carmeli’s Tuesday night lecture, "The Mysterious Dr David Hailperin" presented a fascinating look at the true history of one of the most interesting characters of 1850s Melbourne. The event was a partnership between the RHSV, the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia, and the Australian Jewish Historical Society - Victoria, one that we hope will be the first of many such collaborations.

Educated and charismatic, Dr Hailperin was an "old world" rabbinic scholar-turned-Kabbalist mystic and "quack" physician whose previous work history included "merchant" and "clairvoyant who claimed magical powers". Dr Carmeli took us through Hailperin's eclectic and at times dubious life story, from a time when anyone could reinvent themselves without worrying over minor details like the particulars of one's birth, marital status or possible lack of a medical license getting in the way of living one's best life.

Hailperin spent time in both Melbourne and the Bendigo Goldfields, where he made use of the rare and mystical texts he brought with him. Some of these texts were already hundreds of years old when Hailperin acquired them, and included a variety of spells, such as a spell to bind a woman to her husband (the version shared by Dr Carmeli in the picture is an illustrated translation of the original Hebrew), and a spell to locate gold, which was, unfortunately, unsuccessful when he gave it a try on the goldfields.

Toward the end of his life, Dr Hailperin found himself struggling financially, leading him to pawn his beloved books. Though it was a sad end to their time with Hailperin, the books found their way to the Melbourne Public Library (now State Library Victoria), where they remain to this day. Today, the David Hailperin Collection collection is internationally recognised for its incredible rarity, featuring codes on Jewish law, Kabbalah, and unique medieval manuscripts.

History Month is a celebration of Victoria's many histories, told through the places that hold them.From walks and talks...
25/08/2026

History Month is a celebration of Victoria's many histories, told through the places that hold them.

From walks and talks to exhibitions and open days, we invite historical societies, museums, archives, libraries, and other history-loving organisations to host a History Event in October and list it on the History Month website for everyone to find and enjoy.

To submit an event, visit https://historymonth.org.au/register/

We hope you'll join us.

One of the more unconventional characters to try his fortunes in the Victorian goldrush of the 1850s was a man by the na...
21/08/2026

One of the more unconventional characters to try his fortunes in the Victorian goldrush of the 1850s was a man by the name of Dr David Hailperin.

An "old world" rabbinic scholar-turned-Kabbalist mystic and "quack" physician whose previous work history included "merchant" and "clairvoyant who claimed magical powers", he arrived in 1855 and quickly established himself as a man of some renown in both Melbourne and Bendigo.

Though his time in Australia proved short (he died only five years after his arrival), he left behind a rich documentary trail that reveals an eccentric and complex personality.

Join us for an intriguing journey into colonial Victoria, Jewish mysticism, and the life of a man who brought Black Magic and controversy to the streets of Melbourne and to the goldfields.

🗓️ Tuesday 25 August | 5.30pm–7pm
📍 In person at the RHSV or online via Zoom
Tickets at https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/event/the-mysterious-dr-david-hailperin/

On Friday 14 August, community history leaders came from all over the state to take part in our annual seminar event in ...
18/08/2026

On Friday 14 August, community history leaders came from all over the state to take part in our annual seminar event in Melbourne. During this session, we discussed topics such as priority setting, heritage advocacy, legal responsibilities, and how to manage conflict and recovery.

This year's summit was particularly well attended, and it was great to see so many leaders of historical societies in one place. We share our thanks to everyone who attended or presented, and a particularly enthusiastic note of gratitude to head of the Historical Societies Support Committee, Craige Proctor, who organized the event. Feedback has been glowing, and we’re already looking forward to running our next dedicated event for historical societies, which will be taking place in October in Kilmore and Lancefield. Learn more about this next event here:
https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/event/exploring-the-foundations/

This beautifully coloured map was produced in about 1920. It shows a portion of the area that is now known as Reservoir ...
14/08/2026

This beautifully coloured map was produced in about 1920. It shows a portion of the area that is now known as Reservoir in Melbourne’s north, between Glasgow St and Mahoney's Road, east of Edgar's Creek. It was part of marketing collateral produced to promote sales of lots in the newly created Merrilands "Garden Suburb".

Those familiar with this area of Reservoir may recognise that this map does not align to cardinal north. Mahoney's Road, shown on the right-hand side of the map, is the northernmost locale depicted. By turning the map, the maker has chosen to emphasise the creek as a key landmark of the area.



(Image: M24-0372. The Royal Historical Society of Victoria has more than 100,000 licensable items in its archives. For a high-resolution copy of this image or others, contact Royal Historical Society of Victoria)

Hugh Anderson, one of the most prolific of all Australian historians, had a special interest throughout his long career:...
12/08/2026

Hugh Anderson, one of the most prolific of all Australian historians, had a special interest throughout his long career: popular folk songs, ballads and comic songs from the earliest colonial times through to the twentieth century.

Held in honour of Hugh Anderson, you are invited to join Dr Andrew Lemon as he looks back at some of these colonial works and explores the theme of what these songs and verses continue to tell us about real life as lived in Australia. In particular, Andrew will revisit colonial musical theatre and the goldfields songs and performances of Englishman Charles Thatcher, the man Anderson dubbed 'The Colonial Minstrel'.

📍 In-person and online
🗓️ Tuesday 18 August, 5.30 – 7pm
🎟️ RHSV members $10; non-members $20
More information and bookings at https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/event/hugh-andersons-many-minstrels/

This image from our collection has long been a favourite of many – but until now, it was only known as, "Unknown woman r...
11/08/2026

This image from our collection has long been a favourite of many – but until now, it was only known as, "Unknown woman riding horse on Exhibition Street".

Today, we are pleased to share that the woman has been identified – she is unknown no more!
Meet Isa Taylor.

She was the daughter of Joe Taylor, who traded in the CBD from around 1906 as Joe Taylor the Tailor. The photo was probably taken in the early 1920s, rather than 1929 as we had previously thought.

A well-known businessman and master of self-promotion, Joe Taylor had businesses in Bourke Street and Swanston Street with branches in Brunswick, Footscray, North Melbourne and Richmond until the mid-1920s. Isa Taylor, we were told, would often ride into town.

Thanks to Cheryl Griffin and Sally Guerin for the ID.

Image: S-25

Address

239 A'Beckett Street
Melbourne, VIC
3000

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+61393269288

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