This photograph taken c1999/2000, depicts the Burke Museum’s granite façade and vestibule entrance. The museum's large red door is closed and there is a white sign is attached to the door. The museum site dates to the 1857 founding of the Beechworth Public Library and Athenaeum by a newly formed Young Men's Association (YMA). In 1863 the museum was dedicated as a memorial to former Beechworth police superintendent (1854-1858) and explorer Robert O’Hara Burke, following Burke’s death from malnutrition on the Burke and Wills expedition in 1861. Funded by the Victorian Government and the Royal Society of Victoria, the officially titled 'Victorian Exploring Expedition' was tasked with being the first European party to traverse Australia from south to north. The Burke Museum holds objects from the famous expedition and explores the multi-layered history of Beechworth and surrounds from the gold rush era to the present.This photograph is historically significant for its depiction of the Burke Museum c1999/2000. The Burke Museum is Australia’s oldest regional museum and part of Beechworth's Historic and Cultural Precinct, one of Australia’s best preserved historic-town sites and a popular tourist destination. Once the government centre for a vast gold fields region, this collection of nationally significant buildings tells the story of how Australia grew and prospered. The frequent use of honey-coloured local granite as a building material, which can be seen in the museum's fabric, gives Beechworth’s historic buildings a distinct and cohesive local character. This photograph captures this distinctive character and may be compared and studied alongside other images of historic buildings in the Burke Museum Photographic Collection.Rectangular colour photograph printed on photographic paper.Reverse: 7031 / Label: Burke Museum / 1999/2000 /burke museum, indigo shire, beechworth athanaeum, beechworth library, beechworth historic building, historic precinct, burke museum exhibition, from the liedertafel to the skating rink, honey-coloured local granite, robert o'hara burke, victorian gold fields, historic towns in victoria, colonial australia, liedertafel, colonial entertainments, beechworth brass band, historic victorian architecture, australia's oldest regional museum, burke and wills expedition, first europeans to cross australia, yound mens associations, beechworth tourism, things to see in beechworth, beechworth historic trail, young men's associations

Mrs. Valerie (Val) Mason (1927-2019) was a local sheep farmer, business-woman, Beechworth shire councillor, and mother to five children. With her husband, Charles, Mrs. Mason developed and managed the Big Valley farm estate, at Everton, which is now part of a vineyard and farm stay. Mrs. Mason was instrumental in introducing a 'paddock to plate' philosophy and business model, opening a butcher shop on the farm in 1973. Concerned with improving infrastructure and developing economic opportunities in the region, Mrs. Mason successfully stood as a local council representative for South Riding in the United Shire of Beechworth, and later become the first woman Shire President in 1979. Mrs Mason was a member of the local Business and Professional Women's Club for 37 years. This oral history recording was part of a project conducted by Jennifer Williams in the year 2000 to capture the everyday life and struggles in Beechworth during the twentieth century. This project involved recording seventy oral histories on cassette tapes of local Beechworth residents which were then published in a book titled: 'Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century Beechworth. These cassette tapes were digitised in July 2021 with funds made available by the Friends of the Burke.Mrs. Mason's story is historically significant for understanding economic and social changes in the Beechworth region during the latter half of the twentieth century. As a council representative, issues such as road and infrastructure modernisation and the transition from traditional government employment sectors, like Beechworth's care institutions, were challenges for local government. As a farmer and local employer, Mrs. Mason's story is testimony to the region's economic diversification as businesses like Big Valley farm shop helped shape the region's contemporary character. Mrs. Mason was among the first women to broach the traditionally all-male Beechworth Council Chambers and her story is socially significant for understanding the changing role of women in rural and regional Australia. This oral history recording offers interpretive capacity for social history themes and may be compared with other oral histories in the Burke Museum's collection. This oral history account is socially and historically significant as it is a part of a broader collection of interviews conducted by Jennifer Williams which were published in the book 'Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth-century Beechworth.' While the township of Beechworth is known for its history as a gold rush town, these accounts provide a unique insight into the day-to-day life of the town's residents during the 20th century, many of which will have now been lost if they had not been preserved.This is a digital copy of a recording that was originally captured on a cassette tape. The cassette tape is black with a horizontal white strip and is currently stored in a clear flat plastic rectangular container. It holds up 40 minutes of recordings on each side.Mrs Val Mason /listen to what they say, beechworth, oral history, burke museum, working women, trail blazers, farm to plate, farm shop, paddock to plate, woman farmer, united shire of beechworth, rural and regional women, beechworth's first woman shire president, women in leadership positions, women leaders, australian settlement history, settler societies, victorian gold rush, heritage tourism, culinary tourism, regional land use, indigo winery, farm stay, social history

Ray Stone was born in 1927, growing up in Beechworth as the oldest of eight children, but spent much of his life travelling, which he recalls in this oral history. Although he started working at the Beechworth Tannery with his father, he joined the Navy before he was of age in 1944 to support the war effort, and upon returning to Beechworth gave up on the Tannery after half a day to continue working jobs across Victoria instead. He talks extensively about watching Beechworth's famous Wheelbarrow race, where Tony Evans bet Tom Parkinson that the latter would not be able to push the former in a wheelbarrow from the Beechworth Post Office to Mt Buffalo in eight days. Calling himself a "helper all [his] life", he discusses the way many towns he worked in would come together to support struggling families, especially widows. In comparison, he suggests that the Beechworth of 2000 is much less community-orientated. He also discusses the economic changes he's witnessed around Beechworth, from the difficulties during the Depression while he was a child, to business improvements at the Tannery and Brewery, to the tourism boom. This oral history recording was part of a project conducted by Jennifer Williams in the year 2000 to capture the everyday life and struggles in Beechworth during the twentieth century. This project involved recording seventy oral histories on cassette tapes of local Beechworth residents which were then published in a book titled: Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century Beechworth. These cassette tapes were digitised in July 2021 with funds made available by the Friends of the Burke.Ray Stone's account of his life is historically and socially significant to the region of Beechworth for the way it describes changes in the town over the twentieth century. It covers themes including community relationships, business development, and cultural life. It makes this commentary in comparison to nearby regions such as the Snowy Mountains. This oral history account is socially and historically significant as it is a part of a broader collection of interviews conducted by Jennifer Williams which were published in the book 'Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth-century Beechworth.' While the township of Beechworth is known for its history as a gold rush town, these accounts provide a unique insight into the day-to-day life of the town's residents during the 20th century, many of which will have now been lost if they had not been preserved.This is a digital copy of a recording that was originally captured on a cassette tape. The cassette tape is black with a horizontal white strip and is currently stored in a clear flat plastic rectangular container. It holds up 40 minutes of recordings on each side.Mr Ray Stone /listen to what they say, beechworth, oral history, burke museum, stone, ray stone, tannery, tanneries, finch street, navy, the great depression, poverty, wheelbarrow race, cars, gift footrace, marriage, travel

This photograph depicts members of the Beechworth Band at a 'Liedertafel' concert in the main hall at the Burke Museum in 1999. The concert was associated with an exhibition titled, 'From the Liedertafel to the Skating Rink: Entertainment in Beechworth 1852 - early 1900s', which celebrated the rich and diverse entertainments that were a part of Beechworth life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Marching bands, choirs, circus acts, theatrical performances, races, and seasonal activities, such as Mr. Spiller's roller skating rink, founded in the late 1860s, were among the attractions on offer. 'Liedertafel' is a tradition that accompanied German settlers to Australia. It refers to a friendly society of men united by an enthusiasm for singing. The Beechworth Brass Band was formed by Mr. H. Vandenberg in 1887. The Beechworth Liedertafel was established 14 March 1894 at the London Tavern, Camp Street, Beechworth, by Mr. A.A. Billson, and a visiting conductor, Mr. H. Fielder. German clubs, complete with marching bands, athletics associations and Liedertafel choirs, were centres of social activity attracting wide audiences not limited to members of their own ethnicity. Alfred Arthur Billson was the youngest son of Mr. George Billson, who served as Beechworth’s mayor between 1869-1871. In 1872, George purchased the Oven’s Brewery in Last Street, which became Billson’s Brewery, one of the oldest continuing beverage manufacturers in Australia. An active member of Beechworth’s cultural, business and political life around the turn of the century, A.A. Billson served on Beechworth Shire Council from 1884 to 1893, and from 1895 to 1910, with three terms as president (1888–89, 1899–1901, 1908–09). He founded the Beechworth Progress Association in 1891 and produced an ‘Illustrated Guide to Beechworth and Vicinity’ to develop tourism potential. This photograph of the Beechworth Band playing at the Burke Museum is historically significant for the information it conveys about an exhibition at the Burke Museum between September and November 1999. The use of the contemporary Beechworth Band in a 'Liedertafel' performance provides insight into curatorial approaches at the turn of the twenty-first century and improves our understanding of how exhibitions use objects in the Burke Museum's Collection to tell stories about the past in the present. The image is historically and socially significant for attesting to the enduring appeal of local musical associations, which were a popular means of entertainment that fostered social connections among settlers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Rectangular colour photograph printed on matte photographic paper. Reverse: 7029 / Label: 7029 / Source / Burke Museum / Beechworth / Band / 1999/2000 /liedertafel, beechworth band, burke museum, from the liedertafel to the skating rink, entertainment in beechworth 1852 - early 1900s, gold rush, immigration, beechworth's german heritage, london tavern beechworth, beechworth's first brick tavern, spiller's skating rink, vandenberg's beechworth brass band, protestantism, teetotallism, skating carnivals, beechworth german association, yma's, beechworth skating rink, progress societies, billson's brewery, german-australians, beechworth progess association, lodges, freemasonry, colonial australia

The Beechworth Historic Courthouse is a living history museum in Victoria, Australia. Built in 1858, it has been in continuous service for 131 years and is currently home to a unique collection of artifacts, including its original furniture and fittings. The Courthouse Law Library is also recognised as being of outstanding national significance with many rare books held in the collection. The courthouse was built in 1858 and is located in the centre of the Beechworth Historic Precinct. It was built from granite with a double height gabled courtroom with the entrance via a central projecting porch. The building was classified in 1959 as part of Group Classification (B2615)with Forests Office, Lands Office, Police Lock-up & Police Station. The Courthouse is a significant site in Australia’s legal history because it was the location of more than 40 trials and hearings for the Kelly Gang and their sympathisers.This a rectangular, black and white photograph, unmounted.Reverse Ministry of Tourism, Melbourne1850s beechworth, beechworth courthouse, ned kelly, 1800s beechworth, kelly gang, beechworth historic courthouse, 1858, kelly trials, daniel kelly, dan kelly, edward kelly, ellen kelly, elizabeth scott, the first woman hanged in victoria, colony of victoria, 1863, domestic violence related murder

The photograph shows Lake Sambell under construction. The present day park and reserve occupies the site of the former Rocky Mountain Mining Company, an open-cut sluice mine that began operations in the mid-Nineteenth Century and operated until the early 1900s, through the peak of Victoria’s Gold Rush. It was converted into a park and leisure area in the 1920s. Lake Sambell was formally opened to the public on Friday 5th October 1928 and was opened by the Victorian Government’s Minister of Lands, Mr Bailey, as part of initiatives to boost the economies and development of country towns. The lake was named after Mr L.H. Sambell, a shire engineer and secretary of the Forward Beechworth Committee who was involved in promoting the transformation of the mining site and promoting plantation forestry and tourism as alternative industries. £300 to begin the process was provided by Mr J. McConvill, a former resident of Beechworth, who is remembered in a street name adjacent to the lake. An article in the Ovens and Murray Advertiser on Saturday, 5th May, 1917, gives some insight into issues in the Rocky Mountain Mining Company’s final years. The writer details the 1917 annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Mining Company, stating that locals present appeared ‘well pleased this important local industry is in such a prosperous condition and that future prospects are so encouraging’. The author describes plans to give workers a bonus as evidence of profit-sharing that would ‘bridge the gulf between capital and labour’. The article concludes, however, with the statement that ‘there is a little arithmetical puzzle in the report in connection with the dredging operations I have been unable to solve.'The photograph is significant as it contributes to knowledge about how Beechworth reinvented itself after the Gold rush period, and more broadly how country towns repurpose and redevelop infrastructure and facilities to meet the present needs of their populationBlack and white rectangular photograph printed on matte photographic paperObverse: Spring Creek diggings, (k)now Lake Sambell / Copied from the George Peach Albums, 19(2)30’s Oct 14 1931 / From the collection of Robert O’Hara Burke Memorial Museum /lake sambell, beechworth, rocky mountain mining co, lh sambell