Dr Michele Matthews has been a local and social historian for nearly three decades since she first used correspondence held by the then Bendigo City Council for her Honours thesis. She is an ardent advocate for the use of local history records to tell Victorian and Australian history from a grassroots perspective. Michele’s MA thesis, ‘A forgotten “Father” of Federation: Sir John Quick 1852‑1911’ (2003), and her PhD thesis, ‘Survivors, schemes, Samaritans and shareholders: the impact of the Great Depression on Bendigo and District 1925‑1935’ (2007), both drew heavily on Bendigo and district records. Michele Matthews Collection: PHD Research - Directory of Addresses in Bendigo and surrounds This item includes the following document: 8672.34a The document is a 71-page scanned historical directory of the Bendigo district in Victoria, Australia. Rather than being a narrative document, it is an alphabetical directory listing residents, businesses, organisations, and localities. Because it is a scanned historical source, very little text can be extracted automatically, but the page images clearly show that it functions as a telephone or commercial directory for Bendigo and the surrounding district. The directory contains alphabetical listings of individuals and businesses, generally providing names, street addresses or localities, and telephone numbers where applicable. It covers Bendigo as well as numerous surrounding towns and communities, including places such as Benambra, Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat, Maiden Gully, White Hills, and many other regional localities. Throughout the directory are advertisements from a wide range of local businesses and organisations. These include insurance companies, banks, breweries, land agents, manufacturers, retailers, and other commercial enterprises that were operating in the region at the time. The advertisements provide valuable insight into the businesses and services available in Bendigo during the period in which the directory was published. Many pages also contain handwritten notes, coloured highlighting, underlining, and circled entries. These annotations suggest that the directory has been used as a working research document, with particular people, businesses, or addresses marked for reference or verification. The annotations add another layer of historical interest by indicating previous research activity within the directory. Overall, the document serves as a valuable historical resource for genealogical, local history, and community research. It provides a detailed snapshot of the Bendigo district's residents, businesses, and commercial activity at the time of publication, making it useful for tracing families, locating historical addresses, and studying the social and economic landscape of the region.bendigo, michele matthews collection, bendigo directory

Eleanor Hinde (1842-1902) was born in Lancashire England. In 1858, Eleanor married Richard Reynold in the Forest St Wesleyn Methodist Church in Sandhurst. They both gave their address as Sailors Gully Goldfields. They had seven children together. Richard was a skilled tradesman and after he died in 1872 from lung disease, Eleanor married Arculus Opie. Eleanor owned a property on the corner of Gladstone and Stanley Streets which later became an electrical substation. She sold poultry and eggs and preserves. One of Eleanor's sons, William John, married Anna (Annie) Jorgensen, and one of her daughters. Amelia, married Anna's brother Thomas Joynes Jorgensen. The Jorgensens founded and managed Jorgensen and Sons foundry and engineering works. Peter Jorgensen (1849-1914), was a mining contractor, he lived at, "Bro," Russell street, Quarry Hill. His firm was Jorgensen and Sons, mining contractors. He was a native of the Island of Alsen, Denmark. He left Denmark in the year 1861, embarking at Hamburg in a small sailing Ship. The four folders contain family history documents and photos of the descendants of Eleanor Hinde. This item contains the following documents: A seven page Bendigo Hotel Booklet - Trades Directory for Bendigo 1854 - Contains names of hotel, proprietor, and address.bendigo, sandhurst, peter jorgensen, eleanor hinde, eleanor reynolds, eleanor opie, reynolds collection, bendigo hotels