Historical information

The Wodonga Historical Society Haeusler Collection provides invaluable insight into life in late nineteenth and early twentieth century north east Victoria. The collection comprises manuscripts, personal artefacts used by the Haeusler family on their farm in Wodonga, and a set of glass negatives which offer a unique visual snapshot of the domestic and social lives of the Haeusler family and local Wodonga community.

The Haeusler family migrated from Prussia (Germany) to South Australia in the 1840s and 1850s, before purchasing 100 acres of Crown Land made available under the Victorian Lands Act 1862 (also known as ‘Duffy’s Land Act’) in 1866 in what is now Wodonga West. The Haeusler family were one of several German families to migrate from South Australia to Wodonga in the 1860s.

This scrapbook album belonged to Ilma Margaret Ernestine Haeusler (née Tasker), born in 1900 in Tallangatta. Ilma died in childbirth in 1928, leaving her husband Louis Alfred Haeusler (b.1878), and one surviving son, John Alfred Lyell (b.1922). The scrapbook was gifted to Ilma from her Aunt and contains Tasker family photographs, and postcards and greeting cards Ilma received in the 1910s-1920s.

Significance

This item has well documented provenance and a known owner. It forms part of a significant and representative historical collection which reflects the local history of Wodonga. It contributes to our understanding of domestic and family life in early twentieth century Wodonga, as well as providing interpretative capacity for themes including local history, social history and women's history.

Physical description

An olive green photographic album with a red, green and yellow floral motif on the front cover.

Inscriptions & markings

First page inside front cover, handwritten pencilled inscription: "Ilma Margaret Ernestine Tasker/ To Ilma/with love/from Auntie Annie/wishing her a happy/Birthday".