Hawthorn Historical Society

We still have a few spaces available. Love to see you there. Book here by clicking on the link.

Where Do You Begin? : A discovery workshop with PMI Victoria Hawthorn Historical Society and PMI Victorian History Library are delighted to present our first ever collaborative discovery workshop. Come along...

From Chris - photos of East Hawthorn.
This one was taken from the roof of a house at the corner of Toorak Road
and Avenel Road in Kooyong, looking North East across Gardiner's Creek.
I was particular interested in this, because it's the Southern part of
East Hawthorn - my old stamping ground, rarely photographed as early as
1918.

I processed the print digitally to a bit of an extreme, to legibly
reproduce the details adequately.

Both of these are in the Stringer family albums in the State Library of
Vic., labelled simply as being taken at "Nicholson's House". No
indication of locality.

By a bit of reverse trigonometry I worked out that this was from
somewhere in Kooyong on the East side of Glenferrie Road, somewhere near
the Sir Robert Menzies reserve.
The clincher came when I matched the house on an old version of google
earth, to when the house still stood on the North-East corner of Avenel
Road and Toorak Road in 2009 (see comparison photo). It was demolished
in about 2012. A massive block of apartments "Avenel" now stand on the site.

The locale's view presented a few surprises - of details like Auburn
Crescent off Burgess Street, which has long since vanished.

Every document tells a story. A birth certificate. A treaty. A handwritten letter from a soldier overseas. Archives are where those stories are kept safe—not just for historians, but for all of us.

June 9th was International Archives Day, a global observance dedicated to the professionals and institutions that preserve the records of human experience. It’s a day to recognize that without archives, we lose our collective memory. Legal rights go unprotected. History gets rewritten. Governments go unaccountable.

Every document tells a story. A birth certificate. A treaty. A handwritten letter from a soldier overseas. Archives are where those stories are kept safe—not just for historians, but for all of us.

June 9 International Archives Day, a day to recognize that without archives, we lose our collective memory. Legal rights go unprotected. History gets rewritten. Governments go unaccountable.

We are always looking to fill gaps in our gaps and add to our archives about Hawthorn history. How about popping into our rooms on Wednesdays 10am- 1pm in 25 Inglesby Road, Camberwell to learn more?

Today is International Archives Day, part of International Archives Week. This year's theme is one worth sitting with: : rights, memory and futures.

Archives aren't neutral because humans aren't neutral. People collect what they value, and what gets preserved (or doesn't) reflects the priorities, blind spots, and biases of those who came before us. An absence can be just as revealing as a presence. The gap where a community's story should be tells us something about how that community was regarded.

At RHSV, we care for hundreds of thousands of items relating to Melbourne and Victorian history - documents, manuscripts, photographs, books - donated by individuals over many decades. Our role is to ensure what we've been entrusted with is preserved accurately, honestly, and accessibly. That means regular audits, updating records as new information comes to light, and restoring names where they've been lost or removed.

It also means recognising that how we interpret an object can change. The same photograph might speak differently to an architect, a social historian, a descendant. Archives don't fix meaning. They hold objects open for future audiences to bring their own questions and interpretations.

When we make our collection available to students, writers, researchers, and communities, we're sharing more than old pieces of paper: we're offering the tools to understand it, challenge it – and maybe even build something better from it.



(Object: "A child rummaging through a bargain sales box c. 1970"; object number; PH-990021. 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)

The Royal Historical Society of Victoria is currently showing a major exhibition - The Hoddle Grid: The Great Land Grab. It profiles the schemers, the dreamers and empire builders who were the first to purchase land in Melbourne in 1837.
We took particular note of two men who also had links to Hawthorn - Major Alexander Davidson, purchased Crown Allotments 6-9, and 12-14 which he called "Callantini" at Hawthorn near the junction of the Yarra River and Gardiner's Creek, and also John Hodgson who in 1840 took up a squatter's license east of the Yarra naming the property "Studley" and then to create convenient access he installed a punt across the river from St Helier's, Abbotsford. Later in 1857 he became the chairman of the Studley Park Bridge Company.

Winter is the perfect time to and explore Hawthorn’s history! ❄️

Check out our June, July and August events and find what sparks your curiosity.

Thursday June 18, 2026:
Where do I begin my research?

Tuesday July 28 2026:
Rallying the Irish: putting the spotlight on the Irish National Foresters’ Friendly Society

Sunday August 9 and Tuesday 18 August 2026:
Morang Road Heritage Precinct Walk.

Booking details and information: click on the link:

Events | Hawthorn Historical Society Coming Events Where do you begin?THURSDAY June 18, 2026 Hawthorn Historical Society and PMI Victorian History Library are delighted to present our first ever collaborative discovery workshop. Come along to learn about the intricacies of both collections, how to use them and what they can tell you......

The southern end of Yarra Street as it slopes down steeply to the river now ends in greenery. This was one of the very earliest tracks around Hawthorn marked on an 1843 map. This spot provided reasonable access to the river for water and was also a possible crossing for horses if the river wasn't in flood. It was on the boundary of Crown Allotments 18 (owned by Thomas Power) and 19 (owned by Sir James Palmer), and it was close to the site where Power had his boiling-down works. These works later probably became Treacey's Tannery but then the tannery closed after the railway to Hawthorn cut through the property in 1860.

Here is another of Hawthorn's Lovely Ladies. This one at 74 Elgin Street. It was built around 1877 -1879 and was originally one of three built by Henry Carter who lived at No 70.

Do you have an interest in local history and or pulling together those items and loose threads of your family history but don't know where to start or what resources may be available? Well this WORKSHOP is for you!
Join us on June 18th at 2.00pm.

Reserve your place and bring along a friend:

Where Do You Begin? : A discovery workshop with PMI Victoria Hawthorn Historical Society and PMI Victorian History Library are delighted to present our first ever collaborative discovery workshop. Come along...

Hawthorn is well known for its heritage architecture. which we often overlook when we drive or walk past in a hurry. It's always fun to look up to catch the details.
Where would you find this lovely feature?

This week - National Volunteer Week - we celebrate and recognise everyone who gives their time freely to the Society.

Whether it’s the volunteers who come in every Tuesday and Wednesday to scan and upload materials to our archives, or who answer the many emails from people wanting information on all matters Hawthorn; or who develop and run events; or our committee which makes sure the Society is governed well, we thank them all.

We are a true team.

If you would like to become a volunteer or learn more about what it means, please email us: [email protected]