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:

8672.59a This letter, dated 12 February 1934, is from the Town Clerk to the Minister in Charge of the Sustenance Department in Melbourne. It concerns the financial and administrative arrangements for the Bendigo Sustenance Office.

The Town Clerk explains that approximately twelve months earlier, the Council assumed responsibility for administering unemployment relief and began paying the salary of the Sustenance Officer in Bendigo. At that time, the Mayor had been assured by the then Minister for Sustenance that, after a suitable period, the Registrar of Public Assistance would be withdrawn and their duties transferred to the Sustenance Officer. This change was intended to relieve the Council of the responsibility for funding the officer's salary.

The letter states that a full year has now passed without the promised administrative changes being implemented. The Council therefore requests clarification from the Minister regarding when the proposed arrangement will take effect, expressing concern that the expected transfer of responsibilities and associated financial relief has not yet occurred.