Historical information

The Institute movement came to Melbourne in 1839 with the establishment of the Melbourne Mechanics’ Institute later known as the Melbourne Athenaeum. Adopting the principles of self help, social improvement and the recognition of the importance of useful knowledge, it maintained a library, a reading room and an art gallery, while also establishing classes and lectures in a variety of fields.

Significance

Various dates have been suggested for the founding of the Cheltenham Mechanics’ Institute with the range being somewhere between 1853 and 1856. The first Institute building erected on the tip of the land where Charman Road joined Point Nepean Road was of weatherboard construction. It consisted of a small hall, a reading room and a library. Later it was realized that the building was inadequate for community functions that attracted a large number of participants; consequently additions and modifications were needed. The Shire Council in 1888 voted £10 to the building fund but stipulated that the money would only be paid when the new building was commenced. Major contributors to the fund were the temperance societies who were regular users of the Institute’s facilities. As a result of their contributions the building was named Mechanics’ Institute Free Library and Temperance Hall with this title being proudly painted on its façade in ‘gold letters shaded with blue’.

Physical description

Black and white image of a group of six men dressed in suits and wearing hats, standing at the front entrance of the Mechanics Institute, Free Library and Temperance Hall, Cheltenham