This design of ink bottle was commonly referred to as a ‘penny ink well’ because it was very inexpensive to produce. It is also known as a dwarf ink bottle. Pen and ink has been in use for hand writing from about the seventh century up until the mid-20th century up until around the mid-19th century a quill pen made from a bird’s feather was used. In the 1850s the steel point pen was invented and could be manufactured on machines in large quantities. In the 1880s a successful portable fountain pen was designed, giving a smooth flowing ink and ease of use replacing the quill or dip pen. History of the Loch Ard: The Loch Ard got its name from "Loch Ard" a loch that lies to the west of Aberfoyle, and the east of Loch Lomond. It means "high lake" in Scottish Gaelic. The vessel belonged to the famous Loch Line which sailed many vessels from England to Australia. The Loch Ard was built in Glasgow by Barclay, Curle & Co. in 1873, the vessel was a three-masted square-rigged iron sailing ship that measured 79.87 meters in length, 11.58 m in width, and 7 m in depth with a gross tonnage of 1693 tons with a mainmast that measured a massive 45.7 m in height. Loch Ard made three trips to Australia and one trip to Calcutta before its fateful voyage. Loch Ard left England on March 2, 1878, under the command of 29-year-old Captain Gibbs, who was newly married. The ship was bound for Melbourne with a crew of 37, plus 17 passengers. The general cargo reflected the affluence of Melbourne at the time. Onboard were straw hats, umbrellas, perfumes, clay pipes, pianos, clocks, confectionery, linen, and candles, as well as a heavier load of railway irons, cement, lead, and copper. There were other items included that were intended for display in the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880. The voyage to Port Phillip was long but uneventful. Then at 3 am on June 1, 1878, Captain Gibbs was expecting to see land. But the Loch Ard was running into a fog which greatly reduced visibility. Captain Gibbs was becoming anxious as there was no sign of land or the Cape Otway lighthouse. At 4 am the fog lifted and a lookout aloft announced that he could see breakers. The sheer cliffs of Victoria's west coast came into view, and Captain Gibbs realised that the ship was much closer to them than expected. He ordered as much sail to be set as time would permit and then attempted to steer the vessel out to sea. On coming head-on into the wind, the ship lost momentum, the sails fell limp and Loch Ard's bow swung back towards land. Gibbs then ordered the anchors to be released in an attempt to hold their position. The anchors sank some 50 fathoms - but did not hold. By this time the ship was among the breakers and the tall cliffs of Mutton Bird Island rose behind. Just half a mile from the coast, the ship's bow was suddenly pulled around by the anchor. The captain tried to tack out to sea, but the ship struck a reef at the base of Mutton Bird Island, near Port Campbell. Waves subsequently broke over the ship and the top deck became loosened from the hull. The masts and rigging came crashing down knocking passengers and crew overboard. When a lifeboat was finally launched, it crashed into the side of Loch Ard and capsized. Tom Pearce, who had launched the boat, managed to cling to its overturned hull and shelter beneath it. He drifted out to sea and then on the flood tide came into what is now known as Loch Ard Gorge. He swam to shore, bruised and dazed, and found a cave in which to shelter. Some of the crew stayed below deck to shelter from the falling rigging but drowned when the ship slipped off the reef into deeper water. Eva Carmichael a passenger had raced onto the deck to find out what was happening only to be confronted by towering cliffs looming above the stricken ship. In all the chaos, Captain Gibbs grabbed Eva and said, "If you are saved Eva, let my dear wife know that I died like a sailor". That was the last Eva Carmichael saw of the captain. She was swept off the ship by a huge wave. Eva saw Tom Pearce on a small rocky beach and yelled to attract his attention. He dived in and swam to the exhausted woman and dragged her to shore. He took her to the cave and broke the open case of brandy that had washed up on the beach. He opened a bottle to revive the unconscious woman. A few hours later Tom scaled a cliff in search of help. He followed hoof prints and came by chance upon two men from nearby Glenample Station three and a half miles away. In a complete state of exhaustion, he told the men of the tragedy. Tom then returned to the gorge while the two men rode back to the station to get help. By the time they reached Loch Ard Gorge, it was cold and dark. The two shipwreck survivors were taken to Glenample Station to recover. Eva stayed at the station for six weeks before returning to Ireland by steamship. In Melbourne, Tom Pearce received a hero's welcome. He was presented with the first gold medal of the Royal Humane Society of Victoria and a £1000 cheque from the Victorian Government. Concerts were performed to honour the young man's bravery and to raise money for those who lost families in the disaster. Of the 54 crew members and passengers on board, only two survived: the apprentice, Tom Pearce, and the young woman passenger, Eva Carmichael, who lost her family in the tragedy. Ten days after the Loch Ard tragedy, salvage rights to the wreck were sold at auction for £2,120. Cargo valued at £3,000 was salvaged and placed on the beach, but most washed back into the sea when another storm developed. The wreck of Loch Ard still lies at the base of Mutton Bird Island. Much of the cargo has now been salvaged and some items were washed up into Loch Ard Gorge. Cargo and artefact's have also been illegally salvaged over many years before protective legislation was introduced in March 1982. One of the most unlikely pieces of cargo to have survived the shipwreck was a Minton majolica peacock- one of only nine in the world. The peacock was destined for the Melbourne 1880 International Exhibition. It had been well packed, which gave it adequate protection during the violent storm. Today the Minton peacock can be seen at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum in Warrnambool. From Australia's most dramatic shipwreck it has now become Australia's most valuable shipwreck artefact and is one of very few 'objects' on the Victorian State Heritage Register.This ink bottle is historically significant as it represents methods of hand written communication that were still common up until the mid-20th century, when fountain pens and ballpoint pens took over in popularity and convenience. The shipwreck of the Loch Ard is of significance for Victoria and is registered on the Victorian Heritage Register ( S 417). Flagstaff Hill has a varied collection of artefact's from Loch Ard and its collection is significant for being one of the largest accumulation of artefact's from this notable Victorian shipwreck of which the subject items are a small part. The collection's objects give us a snapshot of how we can interpret the story of this tragic event. The collection is also archaeologically significant as it represents aspects of Victoria's shipping history that allows us to interpret Victoria's social and historical themes of the time. Through is associated with the worst and best-known shipwreck in Victoria's history.Stoneware penny ink bottle; ironstone salt-glazed stoneware, cylindrical shape with small mouth and squat neck, broad shoulders, brown colour. Bottle still has cork in neck. Dark encrustations on body and base.Sticker "L/62"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, loch line, loch ard, penny ink well, writing equipment, domestic, stoneware, clay, ceramic, pottery, ink well, inkwell, ink bottle, dip pen, ink, hand writing, business, vintage, dwarf ink

A small green soft covered book titled, 'Scouting in Bendigo District. Official Year Book 1964.' Arthur Hocking Print, Bendigo. 60 pgs. Photos, illustrations, advertisements.Arther Hocking Print, Bendigoclubs, social, scouts, lydia chancellor, collection, scouting, boy scouts, australian boy scouts association victorian branch, bendigo district scouting, boys, male, recreation, handicrafts, clubs, clubs and associations

The Victorian Volunteer Force on the central Victorian Goldfields 1858-1883, MA Thesis. Publisher: Latrobe University, Bendigo. Produced post 2003. Imperial and Colonial defence, Volunteers of Victoria's defences, British army's role, social structure, changing of the guard on the goldfields. Photographs, illustrations & graphs. 144 pages.Bob Marmiongold, goldfields, volunteer force, victoria, history victoria goldfields, victorian volunteer force, victorian defence forces, bendigo and district history

The carte de visite, English: 'visiting card', was a format of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero. Each photograph was the size of a visiting card, and such photograph cards, in an early form of social media, were commonly traded among friends and visitors in the 1860s. Albums for the collection and display of cards became a common fixture in Victorian parlors. The popularity of the format and its rapid uptake worldwide were due to their relative cheapness, which made portrait photographs accessible to a broader demographic, and prior to the advent of mechanical reproduction of photographs, led to the publication and collection of portraits of prominent persons. It was the success of the carte de visite that led to photography's institutionalization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_visite Three B&W male portraits undated a. R.O. Henderson, studio photo with pillar, by Johnstone O'Shannessy & Co. b. Henry Jackson, head portrait in Dec. 1866, Photographed by Batchelder, Pall Mall, Sandhurst c. Mr. Jackson oval portrait facing left; photographed by N White, photographer, Mitchell Street, Sandhurst.photos, photographers

Annual Ball, City Hall Bendigo, a/ Royal Historical (Bendigo Branch) Souvenir Programme Victorian Ball, City Hall Bendigo, Friday, 24th July, 1970. Dance programme. b/ Royal Historical (Bendigo Branch) 1881-1981 ''Alexandra'' Centenary, Costume Dinner Ball. Programme. City Hall, Saturday, 4th July, 1981. Wedderburn Old Time Orchestra, Programme, Master of Ceremonies: Mr Peter Ellis.Cambridge Pressevent, social, annual ball bhs, annual ball, city hall bendigo, a/ royal historical (bendigo branch) souvenir programme victorian ball, city hall bendigo, friday, 24th july, 1970. dance programme. b/ royal historical (bendigo branch) 1881-1981 ''alexandra'' centenary, costume dinner ball. programme. city hall, saturday, 4th july, 1981. wedderburn old time orchestra, master of ceremonies: mr peter ellis.

Small RAILWAYS COLLECTION R.S.S.I.L.A.. Victorian Railways Sub-Section Bendigo Sub-Branch Annual Smoke Social Programme, Saturday 13th May 1939, Dell Café, Hargreaves St, Bendigo on cream coloured cardboard with blue ink .Back page is filled with autographs.entertainment

160 paged booklet: ''Information which every Railway Worker should know'' (Aust. Railways Union- Victorian Branch). Dated November 1962. Contents - Award Wages; Sick Pay, Superannuation, Workers Compensation, Long Service Leave, Social Services. Cover stamped with ''AP & P CANTWELL''. Also feint handwriting - '' Copy Moulamein R/S''.government, state, victorian railway

Whitcombe's Vivid History Reader. Grade III. Myths, Legends and Stories of World History. Specially written to meet the requirements of the Social Studies (History) Course in Victorian Elementary Schools. Printed in 1944. The stamp of State School No. 1087, Barnedown on the first page top right. Contents: 1: Stories of the Stone Age. 2: Myths and Legends of the Greek World. 3: Hebrew Stories. 4: Stories of the Roman World. 5: Stories of Early Britain and the Days of King Arthur. 6: Stories of the Middle Ages. 7: Legends and Stories of the American Indians. Appendix A: things to do. Appendix B: the making of plays, pronunciation of proper name. The book has 136 pages.books, school, history

Hardcover w/ Dust JacketTwo cards - 75th birthday wishes from Mary; birthday wishes from Canberra Boydsvictorian history, australian history, social history, walsh st library

This series presents 28 years of Thomas' journals, transcribed and annotated by Dr Marguerita Stephens (Vols 1-3). Vol 4 provides a substantial collection of Thomas' records of Kulin language - some reworked from earlier transcriptions by Dr Stephen Morey. For nearly three decades William Thomas chronicled his life and work with Aboriginal Victorians through his daily journal entries. Now this four volume set, comprehensively indexed and extensively annotated, shines new light on the history of race relations in Australia. Thomas' detailed observations give a rare insight into the process of cultural continuity and collapse, and the agency of Victorian Aboriginal leaders in social and economic interactions with settlers and colonial administrations in a time of great social upheaval. This first-hand account repopulates Victorian history, paying respect to the work, play and lives of the Aboriginal men and women who emerge from the pages of Thomas' journal.document reproductions, b&w illustrationswurundjeri, woiwurrung, woi wurrung, yarra, waverong, wavarong, waborong, warwarong, warworong, waworong, wa woo rong, wouvarong, wavorong, port phillip, boon wurrung, mount macedon, bacchus marsh, backhouse marsh, boonurrong, boonurong, boonmerong, bonwarong, boomerong, boonvarong, boonerong, bunurong, boonrong, boonworng, boonurong, boonwrung, boonurgs, taungurung, goulbourn, tongorong, devils river tribe, wathaurong, wadawurrung, barrabool, barabool, wattowrong, william thomas, geelong, ballarat, mount buninyong, booningong, leigh river tribe, dja dja wurrung, avoca, loddon river, bangerang, pangerang, pangeran, pangarran, pangarans, parngarangs, ovens river tribe, broken river tribe, gunai kurnai, omeo, monaro

This series presents 28 years of Thomas' journals, transcribed and annotated by Dr Marguerita Stephens (Vols 1-3). Vol 4 provides a substantial collection of Thomas' records of Kulin language - some reworked from earlier transcriptions by Dr Stephen Morey. For nearly three decades William Thomas chronicled his life and work with Aboriginal Victorians through his daily journal entries. Now this four volume set, comprehensively indexed and extensively annotated, shines new light on the history of race relations in Australia. Thomas' detailed observations give a rare insight into the process of cultural continuity and collapse, and the agency of Victorian Aboriginal leaders in social and economic interactions with settlers and colonial administrations in a time of great social upheaval. This first-hand account repopulates Victorian history, paying respect to the work, play and lives of the Aboriginal men and women who emerge from the pages of Thomas' journal.document reproductionswurundjeri, woiwurrung, woi wurrung, yarra, waverong, wavarong, waborong, warwarong, warworong, waworong, wa woo rong, wouvarong, wavorong, port phillip, boon wurrung, mount macedon, bacchus marsh, backhouse marsh, boonurrong, boonurong, boonmerong, bonwarong, boomerong, boonvarong, boonerong, bunurong, boonrong, boonworng, boonurong, boonwrung, boonurgs, taungurung, goulbourn, tongorong, devils river tribe, wathaurong, wadawurrung, barrabool, barabool, wattowrong, william thomas, geelong, ballarat, mount buninyong, booningong, leigh river tribe, dja dja wurrung, avoca, loddon river, bangerang, pangerang, pangeran, pangarran, pangarans, parngarangs, ovens river tribe, broken river tribe, gunai kurnai, omeo, monaro

Annotation. This series presents 28 years of Thomas' journals, transcribed and annotated by Dr Marguerita Stephens (Vols 1-3). Vol 4 provides a substantial collection of Thomas' records of Kulin language - some reworked from earlier transcriptions by Dr Stephen Morey. For nearly three decades William Thomas chronicled his life and work with Aboriginal Victorians through his daily journal entries. Now this four volume set, comprehensively indexed and extensively annotated, shines new light on the history of race relations in Australia. Thomas' detailed observations give a rare insight into the process of cultural continuity and collapse, and the agency of Victorian Aboriginal leaders in social and economic interactions with settlers and colonial administrations in a time of great social upheaval. This first-hand account repopulates Victorian history, paying respect to the work, play and lives of the Aboriginal men and women who emerge from the pages of Thomas' journal.document reproductionswurundjeri, woiwurrung, woi wurrung, yarra, waverong, wavarong, waborong, warwarong, warworong, waworong, wa woo rong, wouvarong, wavorong, port phillip, boon wurrung, mount macedon, bacchus marsh, backhouse marsh, boonurrong, boonurong, boonmerong, bonwarong, boomerong, boonvarong, boonerong, bunurong, boonrong, boonworng, boonurong, boonwrung, boonurgs, taungurung, goulbourn, tongorong, devils river tribe, wathaurong, wadawurrung, barrabool, barabool, wattowrong, william thomas, geelong, ballarat, mount buninyong, booningong, leigh river tribe, dja dja wurrung, avoca, loddon river, bangerang, pangerang, pangeran, pangarran, pangarans, parngarangs, ovens river tribe, broken river tribe, gunai kurnai, omeo, monaro

Pt 1 History and contexts: 1. Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health: an overview 2. A history of psychology in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health 3. The social, cultural and historical context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians 4. The policy context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health Pt 2 Issues of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing: 5. Mental illness in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 6. Social determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing 7. Preventing suicide among Indigenous Australians 8. Anxiety and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people 9. Substance misuse and mental health among Aboriginal Australians 10. Trauma, transgenerational transfer and effects on community wellbeing 11. Indigenous family violence: pathways forward Pt 3 Mental health practice: 12. Working as a culturally competent mental health practitioner 13. Communication and engagement: urban diversity 14. Issues in mental health assessment with Indigenous Australians 15. Reviewing psychiatric assessment in remote Aboriginal communities 16. Promoting perinatal mental health wellness in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities Pt 4 Working with specific groups: models, programs and services: 17. Ngarlu: a cultural and spiritual strengthening model 18. Principled engagement: Gelganyem youth and community well being program 19. Dealing with loss, grief and trauma: seven phases to healing 20. The Marumali program: an Aboriginal model of healing 21. Mental health programs and services.colour photographs, tablesmental health

A series of studies of aspects of language and culture in different parts of Aboriginal Australia. It includes ?language ownership?, historical aspects and how Aboriginal languages are now being used in media and education.Maps, word listssociolinguistics, linguistics, social history

Issues in language study: origin of language, animals & human language, writing, phonetics, phonology, words & word-formation processes, morphology, grammar, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, language and the brain, language acquisition, gestures and sign languages, languages and regional variation, language and social variation, language and culture.B&w illustrations, b&w photographs, mapslinguistics, sociolinguistics, history and language

An introduction to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history during the process of colonisation in Queensland.maps, b&w photographs, b&w illustrationsqueensland history, frontier conflict, racial segregation, assimilation policies, integration policies, racial legislation, self determination, phrenology, social darwinism, commonwealth policy

John Bulmer spent forty years of his life as missionary to Aboriginal people in Victoria, in 1855 devoting his activities to communities on the Murray, but most of his life was spent at Lake Tyers where he established a Church of England mission in 1862, In his later years he wrote a series of thirteen papers in which he recorded his observations on the life and times of the people to whom he ministered. Over a period of several years Alistair Campbell transliterated the manuscripts, altering a little but retaining the flavour of the original text.maps, b&w photograph, word lists, tablesgunai kurnai, gippsland, lake tyers, lakes entrance, king charley, snowy river, ellen hood, sarah moffat, lance mcdougall, kassie mcdougall, tom foster, alec mccrae, nellie blair, john bulmer, victorian history, indigenous social life, kinship, religion and mythology, bush foods

A comprehensive account of John Batman's life. This is a broad social history of the life and contentions of the original Port Phillip settlement. It includes relations between the European colonists and the Aboriginal population. It shows how the initial Aboriginal policy lay the ground for the near genocide of Port Phillip's original inhabitants.maps, b&w illustrations, b&w photographsbunurong, boonwurrung, wathaurong, woiworung, woiwurrung, wurundjeri, wodewarrou, gerarlture, beingalite, you whamgete, you yangs, yarra river, kurung, john batman, port phillip bay, victorian history, victorian indigenous history, batman treaty

A tribute to the strengths and struggles of many thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by forcible removal. It acknowledges the hardship they endured and the sacrifices they made. Dedicated to those who found the strength to tell their stories to the Inquiry and to the generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people separated from their families and communities. Includes stories and recommendations.colour photographs, colour illustrations, b&w photographs, graphschild protection, institutional care, child custody, australian aboriginal history, aboriginal children, social justice, public policy, government policy, link up

Collections from the Museum of Victoria which show their holdings of arts and crafts by Victorian Aboriginal people. Includes tools, weapons, baskets, paintings and photos.b&w photographs, b&w illustrationssocial life and customs, material culture, catalogues, victorian history

Transcript: Athenaeum building celebrates 170 years Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 11/11/2009 Reporter: Lisa Whitehead Tomorrow marks the 170th birthday of one of the nation's historic cultural landmarks. Melbourne’s Athenaeum building has, in one form or other, provided education and entertainment for the Victorian colony as it became a city; and along the way, documented its growth. Transcript KERRY O’BRIEN, PRESENTER: Tomorrow marks the 170th birthday of one of the nation's historic cultural landmarks. Melbourne's Athenaeum building has, in one form or another, provided education and entertainment. For the Victorian colonies it became a city and along the way documented its growth. The building's original library and theatre still draw devotees and as Lisa Whitehead reports, a loyal band of volunteers. KEVIN QUIGLEY, ATHENAEUM PRESIDENT: There's nothing like us that has been here from day one, four years after the boat pushed ashore, here we are. It's a thread that runs through the life of Melbourne. LISA WHITEHEAD, REPORTER: In the heart of Melbourne's CBD, the Athenaeum is a celebrity in disguise, the oldest cultural icon in the city, but barely noticed. MARJORIE DALVEAN, VOLUNTEER HISTORIAN: People of Melbourne walk past this area and they have no idea what it is. RAY LAWLER, PLAYWRIGHT: It seemed to me to be a place that absolutely, or breathes Melbourne, I suppose, culture. LISA WHITEHEAD: Just four years after Melbourne was founded, the colony built a Mechanic's Institution, one of the first in the world, a place where the working class could meet and learn. KEVIN QUIGLEY: People think of it as Wild West sort of place where these hearty types drank and rushed about, but Melbourne was freely settled. It was a city of people who wanted to better themselves - entrepreneurs. And the Mechanic's Institution was that innovative idea that had grown up in Edinburgh and London about providing an opportunity for education for the working people. LISA WHITEHEAD: Mark Twain lectured there. Later, other buildings were added and a theatre to host classic plays. And it adopted its more bourgeois friendly title of the Athenaeum. Crucially from the start there was the library, the first to offer affordable lending to the working man. And it still attracts devotees. Former University lecturer Margaret Bowman, 89, comes in every Wednesday, along with her dog to join an enthusiastic band of volunteers sorting through the archives. MARGARET BOWMAN, FORMER UNIVERSITY LECTURER: Doing research is something that I find actually I enjoy more than anything. Every old lady needs to have a project and now I've got a project. MARJORIE DALVEAN: Margaret, Christine has just found out that Alfred Deakin was a member here from 1874 to 1877. This place is not flashy, we've never been flashy. But book lovers walk in here and they know this is the place for them. ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE: Old times and old names. The Athenaeum theatre in Melbourne for more than 40 years has been one of the city's best known cinemas. LISA WHITEHEAD: In the 20th century, the theatre surrendered to the new craze of talking pictures, and one particular fan was famous Australian playwright Ray Lawler. At 13, he dropped out of school to work in a Footscray factory and two years later his first trip to the glamorous Athenaeum cinema hinted at the education he was missing. RAY LAWLER: It just had a style about it which I responded to, I think. I was looking for something and this seemed to be part of it. Ray Lawler went on to write "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll" and found literary fame overseas. About a century after it had started as an educational place for the working man, Ray Lawler had, in effect, become an Athenaeum graduate. RAL LAWLER: If they had been looking for the sort of person that they were hoping to encourage along the way, I suppose I would have been somebody that might have fitted the mould, you know. LISA WHITEHEAD: In time, the cinema was returned to its theatrical roots. FRANK THRING, 1977: It has a great resemblance to the Theatre Royal in Hobart which Larry Olivier has called the best theatre he's ever worked in. And it's almost identical. It is the true Victorian playhouse. The horseshoe shaped thing: stalls, dress circle and gallery. And you're close to the audience and they're close to you. Marvellous feeling. LISA WHITEHEAD: Today, it's still a theatre. But time has brought compromises. The once vaunted art gallery has now covered its windows and become a comedy club and performance space. TV and suburban life have eaten away at the library membership. It offers an online service now, and a recent federal government grant will pay for the upkeep of its gracious interior, including the 1930s elevator Ray Lawler used to ride. For him, it's money well spent on history quietly made and discreetly observed. RAY LAWLER: It's the lack of awareness, I think, that people don't know what they've got here. They've really got the whole history of Melbourne almost. KEVIN QUIGLEY: It was a similar organisation in Sydney but we are the only one that's got a continual lineage on the same spot. We started here and we're still here and we'll be here for another 100 years. KERRY O'BRIEN: Lisa Whitehead on a great Melbourne landmark. © 2010 ABC | Privacy Policy Beginning as the Melbourne Mechanics' Institution in 1839, the Melbourne Athenaeum has a long history that reflects the cultural and social development of Melbourne. It continues to be managed as a not-for-profit organisation by a volunteer board, with a subscription library (maintained since 1839) and a leased theatre.Video broadcast ABC 7:30 Report for 11/11/2009. "Tomorrow marks the 170th birthday of one of the nation's historic cultural landmarks. Melbourne’s Athenaeum building has, in one form or other, provided education and entertainment for the Victorian colony as it became a city; and along the way, documented its growth."athenaeum, australian broadcasting corporation, kerry o’brien, kevin quigley, lisa whitehead, marjorie dalvean, ray lawler, margaret bowman, frank thring.