The J.F. Costa Collection.
A stunning collection of 19th & early 20th century photographs of Geelong is now available on the members section of the Geelong Historical Society website. The collection was originally donated by Ms Barbara Walker in honour of Joseph Francis Costa.
Joseph was an Industrial Chemist with the SEC, an amateur radio enthusiast, a pioneer in amateur television and during WW2 he was lecturer in the theory of flight. Another interest was the history of our region and, over the years, he collected slides of photographs from its earliest times. The society is excited to take them from storage and make them accessible to a wider audience.
The entire collection comprises nearly 300 images of Geelong and of visiting sailing vessels. So far 96 slides have been digitised and over the coming weeks it is expected that the other images will become available. Viewers will recognise some of the images from the State Library’s collections but others will surprise and delight.
The complete collection will progressively become available to members of the Geelong Historical Society but we have chosen to show you a selection from the collection. Membership of the Geelong Historical Society Inc costs $35 annually and gives members a subscription to the society’s quarterly magazine Investigator and complete website access. You can join here.