Historical information

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.

Physical description

Michele Matthews Collection: PHD Research - Relief during the great depression

This item includes the following documents:

8672.49a The document consists of two handwritten historical records relating to public assistance in Bendigo during the early 1930s.

The first page is an official letter from the City of Bendigo, Town Hall, Sustenance Office (Public Buildings) addressed to the Town Clerk. The writer advises that Mrs. Ethel Odgers is eligible for sustenance assistance based on her age. However, rather than recommending ongoing financial aid, the official suggests providing her with a load of firewood. The letter notes that Mrs. Odgers is expected to become eligible for other forms of assistance shortly, and therefore recommends against granting additional relief before she has the opportunity to apply through the appropriate channels. A handwritten annotation indicates that Mrs. Odgers later received one order of wood per week, dated 14 September 1933.

The second page is a personal letter, dated 14 September 1933, from a widow living on Delany Street in Long Gully, addressed to Mr. Bennett. She explains that her husband died from miners' phthisis (a lung disease common among miners), leaving her to support her family alone. She describes her severe financial hardship, stating that she has two sons who are unemployed, one of whom has been out of work for two years, while the family survives largely on the small wages earned by her daughter. She appeals for help in finding employment for her sons, stressing that they are willing to undertake any kind of work but have been unable to secure jobs. The writer expresses her distress at the family's struggle to obtain enough food and explains that she has unsuccessfully attempted to meet with Mr. Bennett on two or three occasions. She ends by asking to be informed if any work becomes available for her sons.