The first issue of The Young Englishwoman was published in December of 1864 and was directed toward a young, female, middle-class audience and treated mostly household matters such as needlework, recipes, house-hold management tips and fashion. The Young Englishwoman started out as a weekly magazine but, as editors and publishers changed over time, it became a monthly periodical.This items is used to illustrate the popularisation of fashion styles in the 19th centuryFramed fashion plate - 'The Newest French Fashions': modelled for the Young Englishwoman. fashion illustration, young englishwoman

In 1868, with the laying of the foundation stone, a time capsule was placed containing four newspapers of the day (Saturday 25 January, 1868 - The Age, The Argus, The Sun and The Telegraph: St Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra Guardian), the first Annual report of the Victorian Asylum and School for the Blind (1867), 11 coins from the Victorian regency and an illustration of the proposed building at St Kilda Road. An undated note also describes a piece of parchment in the time capsule, which contained a list of names of committee members and relevant people involved in the construction of the building, such as Crouch & Wilson; however no image of this has been located. In 1991, this time capsule was opened as part of 125 year celebrations and the contents were put on display. The capsule was the size of a house brick and buried underneath the foundation stone. It was made of metal and had to be sawn open to reveal the contents. These images are of the items found inside the time capsule. Additionally there are low res images of these items plus some photographs taken on the day: Brian Howe, Minister for Health, holds the time capsule whilst Trent Willard and Janice Johns, current RVIB students, stand by during the raising ceremony; Miss Molly Miller, the oldest surviving student, and Mr Percy Raufer, great grand nephew of Mary-Ann Raufer who was pupil number 6 and enrolled in the school in January 29th, 1866 look at the items found in the time capsule. In 2005 a new time capsule was buried, including an electronic copy of the 1867 report and drawing of St Kilda Road from the 1868 time capsule.Photographs and scans of items found inside the time capsuleroyal victorian institute for the blind, brian howe, trent willard, janice johns, molly miller, percy raufer, time capsule