Beargrass – Imagining Early Melbourne

At our last meeting Allan Willingham described architecture in the Port Phillip District. He suggested that the people whose lives were intertwined with the early buildings made the history of the architecture much more interesting. Robyn Annear uses her knowledge of...

Probate Records

Probate for settlers in the Port Phillip District was generally granted by either the Supreme Court of New South Wales or the Ecclesiastical Court in Sydney, N.S.W. These probate papers are now held by the Public Record Office of Victoria at their North Melbourne...

Early Melbourne Architecture

Architectural Historian, Allan Willingham, brought the early Port Phillip District alive with his talk on the early buildings of the Port Phillip District. The first buildings were very primitive and not meant to be permanent. They were mostly made of local bush...

In Search of Mark Colman

The Paper Chase On receiving my great-great-grandmother, Dinah Davidson’s death certificate (1876) I saw that her father was Mark Coleman, farmer, and her mother was Mary Ann, maiden name Byrnes. This was to lead me into a wonderful adventure. Who were Mark and...

Female Migration to Australia 1833-1837

For the first 40 years of its history, Australia was considered purely a convict settlement. By 1820 however the Colony was seen as a country with potential. As early immigrants were mostly single men, males soon made up 73 % of the population. The British Government...