For the last Jigsaw Puzzle of the year, Don has selected an early photograph from the corner of Fitzroy and Corio Streets in about 1862. It captures the reality of the post-gold rush Geelong, with the Gaol rising formidably over the streetscape.
Hello Members, In 2025, under the leadership of our President Harry Roberts, the Society set a new direction captured by the phrase Looking Forward and Outward. This vision rests on three pillars: Communication, Community, and Participation. We have made strong progress on the first two; improving our communications both internally and with external partners, and…
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 of Foresters was a friendly society, first established in Yorkshire, England, in the 1700s. Its purpose was to support members and…
Hello everyone. Happy New Year! I hope you are well and looking forward to many exciting and interesting events in 2025. I am pleased to inform you that Michael O’Donnell has been appointed to fill the role as Secretary. This was announced at our December monthly meeting. You may know him from his outstanding work…
Ben Petkov – Beating the Bounds You can listen to a reading of the report by clicking the following link: Senior Heritage Officer Ben Petkov joined the Society to present a lively and engaging exploration of Beating the Bounds, a once‑routine civic ritual that has left only a handful of physical traces across Geelong. Ben…
A century-old trophy leads to the rediscovery of a young woman’s life along Cowies Creek. An email from New Zealand and the photograph of a single silver cup, awarded at a school fair in 1916, opens a window onto a world now largely vanished: the rural settlements along Cowies Creek, the wartime communities of North…
Geelong’s soccer story has always been a story of people: of newcomers finding their footing, of workplaces and ship crews forming teams, and of a city learning to welcome a game that arrived with its migrants. In this revised and expanded account, Roy Hay traces the spirited, good‑humoured and often improvised world of inter‑war soccer…
