April Meeting (Newsletter No. 227, Apr. 2016) At this meeting we are pleased to have as our guest speaker Jane Woollard, who has just published a book titled ‘Laughing Waters Road: Art, Landscape and Memory in Eltham.’ Jane was the local history officer at the Shire of Nillumbik so has a detailed knowledge of the history of our area. She has an extensive background as a writer, theatre director and teacher. As well as directing over 50 productions Jane has been a tutor and guest director at the Victorian College of the Arts and La Trobe University and was Artistic Director of the Union House Theatre at the University of Melbourne. Since 2001 more than eighty artists have been in residence at Laughing Waters in Birrarung House and Riverbend. In her book Jane has woven together their experiences and art making, together with Wurundjeri, European and family histories to create an evocative account of a very special place in Eltham.AGM 0:21:48 duration Digital MP3 File 29.9 MB Jane Woollard 0:47:13 duration Digital MP3 File 66 MB audio recording, birrarung house, eltham district historical society, jane woollard, laughing waters, riverbend, shire of nillumbik, society meeting, wurundjeri

Her Majesty’s has been a central part of the cultural life of Ballarat since it first opened its doors in 1875. Australia’s best preserved theatre building, it has been continuously used as Ballarat’s home of live performance ever since. It has been owned and operated by the City of Ballarat since 1987 and functions as Ballarat’s premier performing arts centre. The Theatre was first known as the Academy of Music, a name calculated to overcome religious and temperance scruples against patronising a “theatre.” The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat’s Theatre Royal (1858), which stood around the corner in Sturt Street, near where the Myer Department store sits today. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies. The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000. The building of Ballarat’s handsome new theatre was supervised by Clarke’s architect, George “Diamond” Browne. It was ready ahead of schedule, and opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, “La Fille de Madame Angot,” presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia’s first opera impresario. Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.Colour photograph of interior detail at Her Majesty's Theatre, Ballarat.her majesty's ballarat, theatre, performing arts, her majesty's theatre, academy of music, george browne

Herbert A. Leighton was an actor and elocution teacher known widely in the eastern states of Australia where he perforomed with his wife, Tracy Hamilton. However all was not as it seemed. In 1903 he was arrested in Perth after suspicions were raised when he purchased expensive clothes and jewellery for his wife. Subsequently, six thousand pounds in banknotes was found under his bed. Another fellow from his theatre group was also arrested and charged with bank robbery. Leighton was charged with receiving money knowing it was stolen. Investigations by the Perth police showed that Leighton was really Norman Campbell, born in Gippsland. He had worked as a bank clerk in the Victorian Savings Bank in Melbourne and in the same role at the Sydney Savings bank in NSW. During this time he amassed large sums of money by forgery, a crime he spent 7 years in prison for. He then emerged as the newly minted H. A. Leighton, actor and elocution teacher in Bendigo.Large format scrapbook collated by H.A. Leighton. Contains photographs, flyers, ribbons, banners, programs, invitations, newspaper clippings, posters, promotional photos of performers between 1901 and 1904. The material includes items from theatrical performances and programs from Bendigo and other cities. Includes information about Bendigo performers including Alex J Hamilton. Includes information about performers who visited Bendigo. Many of the items overlap others. The scrapbook has a heavy brown cover with black tape binding on the spine and the corners with brown paper pages. Written on the front cover Musical & Dramatic Notes in red and black ink plus a drawing of a standing woman in a long black dress with arms outstretched. Paper items have been glued onto the pages with several loose items. H A L. Fecit. In One Day. 29.11.00. Bendigo. Written inside the front cover on a drawing of an artist's palette.leighton, theatres, performers, music

Illustrated book with green cover. Title and authors name are printed in white and black ink on front cover and spine. The VPNG logo is also printed on the front cover and spine. On the front cover is a black and white photo: "The theatre sister" by Julian Smith FRACS (1873-1947). On the back cover is information about the author, a summary of the book and the VPNG logo.non-fictionA history of the first fifty years of the Victorian Perioperative Nurses Group, as specialty group of the ANF and its aims to promote the professional, educational, recreational and economic interests of its members.victorian perioperative nurses group-history, operating room nurses-victoria-history, operating room nursing-history

Illustrated book with orange toned photograph of Miss Jane Bell (Lady Superintendent 1910-1934) with her nursing staff on retirement in 1934, with handwriting overlay on cover. Title and author's name appear in white print on front cover and spine. Hospital crest on base of spine.non-fictionThe story starts in the 1840's when Melbourne was a small settlement, and funds were raised to care for the sick and poor and interweaves the theme of nursing with the history of Melbourne and Victoria over more than 150 years. It also includes an appendix of all nurses who graduated (RMH and MSN - Melbourne School of Nursing) in the formal training years of 1890-1993.royal melbourne hospital-history, royal melbourne hospital-nursing-history, nursing-victoria-history, hospitals-victoria -history, melbourne school of nursing-history

Illustrated book with dustjacket. Book is bound in dark blue fabric with hospital crest on front in gilt. title and publisher's mark printed in gilt on spinenon-fictionHistory of the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the first public hospital in Victoria, from its opening in 1848 in Lonsdale St up to 1998, contains over 100 historical photographs and illustrations.royal melbourne hospital-history, hospitals-victoria-history

Royal Princess's Theatre, Bendigo. Thursday, 26th October 1911. The Ben Davies - Esta d'Argo Concerts, Direction J & N Tait. Solo Pianist - Herr Edward Goll. Accompanist - Mr. William Conway. Pictures of Mr. Ben Davies and Miss Esta d'Argo on page 1. Program on page 3 to 6. Program of Pianoforte Solos, Recitative & Cavatina, Recitative & Air, Songs: Pastorale, Menuette Vecchio, Capriccio, Ernani, involame, Deaper and Deeper Still, Waft her Angels, Study, Schuerzo, Where the Bee Sucks, Mu Mother bids me Bind my Hair, The Bonnie Blue 'Kerchief, Drink to Me only with Thine eyes, O a' the Airts, Y Gnew Fach, It is not because your Heart is Mine, My Dreams, Una Notte a Venezia (words to all songs included). Advertising on inside front cover, page 2, 7,8, inside back cover and back cover. Advertising for Melbourne businesses and The Victorian Railways and Allan's Cover is blue, all print is blue. Cover plus pages 8. Marking none.Lake Sons & Cowell, 34 Queen Street, Melbourneprogram, music, bendigo, royal princess theatre