Historical information
The Working Men’s College was founded in 1881 by a prominent grazier and philanthropist, The Hon. Francis Ormond, who donated £5000 towards the establishment of the college. The Council of the Melbourne Trades Hall then matched Ormond's initial donation by rallying its members. On 4 June 1887, the college opened in its purpose-built building on the corners of Bowen Street and La Trobe Street in Melbourne, with a gala ceremony. It became the third official provider of higher education in the new Colony of Victoria (the Melbourne Athenaeum was founded in 1839 and the University of Melbourne in 1853). The college was the predecessor to the current-day Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University). Adjoining the college in the 1890s were the Supreme Court of Victoria (later the Melbourne Magistrates' Court) and the Melbourne Gaol - both which are now part of RMIT today.
An Index at the back lists all courses available. There is also an Index to Advertisements.
Physical description
Orange/red soft covered book with assorted photographs and advertisements.
Inscriptions & markings
Office Jun Tech written on front cover.
Subjects
- melbourne,
- prospectus,
- w.c. kernot,
- james smith,
- thos smith,
- a.e. smith,
- c.e. oliver,
- r. solly,
- s. barker,
- r. fiddes brown,
- t.f. bride,
- daniel white,
- f.e. shillabeer,
- d.avery,
- a.h. merrin,
- chas gray,
- w.h. haigh,
- j.h. hewison,
- h. burgess,
- sir d.v. hennessy,
- w.s. busby,
- r.b. lemmon,
- s.n. rodda,
- j. lemmon,
- r.b. mccomas,
- working men's college,
- melbourne technical school,
- charles gray,
- heads of departments,
- j sarvaas engineering,
- g b pritchard mining and metallurgy,
- e s richards chemistry,
- a hart mathematics,
- g r pitkeithly art and applied art,
- r j haddon architecture,
- instructors-in-charge,
- e carlton,
- coach and body building,
- r j dorey,
- blacksmithing,
- j dewar,
- plumbing gasfitting sheet metal work,
- h haile,
- sheep and wool,
- g leslie,
- printing,
- r h mcleod,
- correspondence courses,
- f parkin,
- pattern-making,
- w penrose,
- turning and fitting,
- machinery erecting,
- d skidmore,
- moulding,
- librarian a hart
