ARCHERY – No bullseye in Geelong. There were several attempts to establish an Archery Club in Geelong in the early 1860s. In October 1861, John Gatliff, describing himself as Honorary Secretary of the Belmont Archery (more…)
ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS. It was a big year for the Ancient Order of Foresters in Geelong in 1863. Three new branches (called Courts) were established that year – at Belmont, Breakwater and Ashby. The Order (more…)
From the pages of the Geelong Chronicle: ALL SAINTS CHURCH, NEWTOWN All Saints Church, on the corner of Noble and Talbot Streets, Newtown, was opened for Divine worship for the first time on Sunday, 8 (more…)
Sydney investor, briefly owner of Osborne House By Daryl Wight Andrew Sutherland Low (1831-94), was a Sydney factory owner, mining investor and real estate developer, who owned Osborne House, Geelong, for a brief period in (more…)
Transcribed and edited by Daryl Wight This letter is a rare example of a female correspondent writing about squatting life in early Victoria. Unsentimental in tone, Mary Jane Muirhead, wife of squatter, Robert Muirhead, describes day-to-day (more…)
of Yarram Yarram and Osborne House By Daryl Wight Robert Muirhead (1813? – 1862), shepherd and squatter, was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland, son of John Muirhead. He was already ‘accustomed … to the management of sheep’ (more…)
Did you know that Queenscliff had a Grammar School in the 1860s? It was certainly operating in 1864 when an advertisement in the Geelong Advertiser announced that the Queenscliff Grammar School would be re-opened after (more…)
The Wesleyans Arrive in Stieglitz In 1865, Steiglitz was in the midst of its latest gold rush. The locality was home to over 2,000 inhabitants (predominantly male), many mining claims, at least five hotels, a (more…)
The Geelong Chronicle By Daryl Wight This is an edited version of an address to the Geelong Historical Society given by the author in November 2019. It was published in the Investigator in September 2021. (more…)