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:
8672.55a This document is a letter dated 27 November 1933 from the Sustenance Office, Public Buildings to the Town Clerk regarding an application for temporary rent assistance.
The writer explains that J. P. Paton of Specimen Hill has applied for assistance with rent. The Town Clerk is asked to arrange for the necessary support if the council decides to approve the application. Rather than paying the applicant directly, the letter recommends that the payment be made through the applicant's agent, who should either collect the funds from the Town Hall or submit an account for reimbursement.
The letter sets clear limits on the assistance. It states that the payment should not exceed 8 shillings per week and should be provided for no more than four weeks. As the applicant's rent is 5 shillings per week, the writer suggests that authorising four weeks' rent would be sufficient to meet the immediate needs of the case.
The letter concludes by noting that Mr Paton had visited the office on the previous Saturday and was calling at the Town Hall that day. It is signed by Dorothy Bethune, identified as Registrar of Public Assistance. Handwritten annotations in the margins appear to record an administrative note indicating rent assistance payments and confirm the recommendation of 8 shillings per week for four weeks maximum.
