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:

8672.76a The document is a handwritten letter dated Thursday, 5 April 1934, from the Bendigo Cemetery. It is addressed to the person in charge of the Sustenance Work program and concerns the assignment of workers to the cemetery.

The writer requests that three men—Mr. G. W. S. Smith, Wm. H. Whitting, and L. V. Bolitho—not be sent to the cemetery for further work. The reason given is that the cemetery requires "a man over these here any more," indicating that additional workers are no longer needed or that these particular workers are no longer required.

The letter concludes with the writer stating that they are "through" with the men "all the time," suggesting dissatisfaction with their performance or that their services are no longer wanted. It is signed W. Jane (handwriting unclear) on behalf of Bendigo Cemetery.

The page also contains handwritten annotations in pink ink, likely added later by archivists or researchers. These include notes referring to a reply dated 7 April 1934, indicating that the men would return to cemetery work during the next working period and instructing supervisors not to hesitate to remove any worker who was "not doing his bit." These annotations appear to summarise or reference the official response rather than forming part of the original 1934 letter.