Reminiscences of Lesley Ricketson, long time Blackburn resident.ricketson, lesley, gay street, blackburn north

A history of Blackburn North Progress Association compiled by Harold W. Harris, 4 Feb 1985. Includes detailed account of formation of Blackburn North Bowling Club.A history of Blackburn North Progress Association.clubs and associations, blackburn north progress association, blackburn north bowling club, lawn bowls, gay street, blackburn north

Kewriosity was a local newsletter combining Kew Council and community news. It was published between November 1983 and June 1994, replacing an earlier Kewriosity [broad] Sheet (1979-84). In producing Kewriosity, Council aimed to provide a range of interesting and informative articles covering its deliberations and decision making, together with items of general interest and importance to the Kew community and information not generally available through daily media outlets.non-fiction60th issue / p1. "Woodlands Avenue" to accomodate 3YO's [Kew Pre-School Support Group; East Kew Baptist Church] / p1. [Kew] Community Festival extended / p1. Books and games for children / p2. 68th Anniversary Hyde Park Uniting Church / p2. Seniors & Lions / p2. Kew [Daytime] Garden Club / p2. Action Programme [Rheumatism and Arthritis Association of Victoria] / p2. Hyde Park Uniting Church Fellowship / p2. Mayoral Column [Council Budget] / p3. A foster family's experience [Inner East Foster Care] / p4. Volunteer helpers needed / p4. Aspects of alcohol use in the community / p4. Kew Citizens' Band / p4. Youth Pages - Welcome [Kew appoints full time youth worker - Ian Patching; International Youth Year 1985; Youth Resource Centre] / p5. Summer - a time for recreation / p6. [Kew] Recreation Centre update - Report from Consultative Committee / p7. Traffic management / p7. Things to do in Kew / p8. Occasional Care Centre / p9. Library news / p9. Tipping facilities / p9. Senior Citizens' Activity Groups in Kew / p9. Kew/Hawthorn Citizens' Advice Bureau / p10. Kalker Montessori Kindergarten / p10. The Billabong Club / p10. Australian Labor Party / p10. Kew Garden Club and Native Plant Group / p10. Parents of Gays / p10. Kew Community House Annual Report [Glendonald; Elderly; Youth; Unemployed; Single parents; Counselling?; Citizens Advice Bureau; Churches; Mural; Courses & Activities; Drop-in Centre; Volunteers] / Mary Scomazzon p11-12. Kew Community House Youth Group / p12. publications -- city of kew (vic.), kewriosity, council newsletters, community newsletters

This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Red hard covered book with 13 original limited editions prints bound together. The prints were produced by Ballarat University College Printmaking students. art, artwork, printmaking, alumni, artist's book, deborah moar, megan cole, debra watkins, madonna rogerson, miranda kilpatrick, gregory sobey, lorelle evans, melinda williams, jeanean prichard, rachel gay, michael cook, katrina keogh, artists' book

This collection of approximately 20 letters between Melbourne men Ben Morris and Harry Bruin, covering a period of several months in 1919, consists of original letters handwritten by Morris and carbon copies of Bruin’s replies. Love letters between men from this period are extremely rare in an Australian context, and globally. They were seized by police from Bruin’s home in Harcourt Street, Auburn in October 1919. The police were investigating a report that Bruin and Morris were conducting an intimate affair. The relationship came to light when the mother of one of Morris’ friends, having failed in her attempt to blackmail Bruin, went to the police. Blackmail was an ever-present danger to homosexual men at that time. Homosexual sex was against the law and even gossip alone could ruin reputations, careers and social standing. In refusing the demands of his attempted blackmailer, Bruin took an enormous risk. However, Morris and Bruin were lucky that their letters contained no descriptions of sex acts. It was not illegal to express love for a person of the same sex and when the matter came before the court, the police had no choice but to let the matter drop without laying charges. Letters like these are rare as potentially incriminating correspondence between men was usually destroyed by the writers or the recipients, to prevent it falling into the hands of the authorities, blackmailers, or disapproving third parties. These letters survived only because they were seized by the authorities for the purpose of prosecution. Morris and Bruin’s letters are also important because, together with the statements taken from the two men and others involved in the case by police prosecutors, they provide insight into the development of the liaison over an extended period. The emotional letters provide rare evidence of a deep romantic affection between two men in their own words. Quoted from "A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria in 100 Places and Objects" by Graham Willett, Angela Bailey, Timothy W. Jones and Sarah Rood.

In Victoria’s State archives there is a remarkable cache of letters written by George Bateson, who was arrested and convicted of sodomy in late 1860. There are some 200 letters addressed to notable Victorians including the governor, premier, inspector-general of penal establishments, members of parliament, and lawyers. These rare documents provide powerful evidence of homosexual life and the impacts of mid-nineteenth century laws relating to sodomy. The story begins on an evening in November 1860, when 19-year-old William Gardner went to the police to complain that the previous evening, when he was staying at a city hotel with George Bateson, he had been subjected to Bateson’s sexual advances. The police asked Gardner to meet with Bateson again the following evening and when their sexual connection was sufficiently advanced, Gardner should cough twice. He agreed to the plan, and when Gardner coughed the police emerged from a closet in the hallway, catching the two men in the act. Bateson was convicted of sodomy in 1860, but his death sentence was recorded rather than pronounced. In due course the Governor of Victoria commuted the sentence, as was usual for the crime, and instead sentenced Bateson to 15 years’ hard labour, with the first three years to be spent in chains. In 1871, Bateson was released, having spent four years less in prison than his original sentence. During and after his time in prison, Bateson wrote letters to the authorities to assert that he was innocent, falsely accused and the victim of a conspiracy. He demanded that this terrible miscarriage of justice should be reversed and a pardon granted to him. Bateson was not the first man in Victoria to be convicted and sentenced in this way; nor was he the first to petition for redress. But the extent of his letters and the scope of the issues raised in them offer a remarkable insight into homosexual life in the mid-nineteenth century, such as how men might meet each other, and approaches to police and punish homosexual behaviour. Bateson’s letters provide crucial evidence to expand our understanding of Victoria’s queer past. Quoted from "A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria in 100 Places and Objects" by Graham Willett, Angela Bailey, Timothy W. Jones and Sarah Rood.