La Trobe University Library has just launched a new digital collections portal, making available - for the first time online - select items from the original Sandhurst Mechanics’ Institute and Free Library collection.
La Trobe historian Associate Professor Jennifer Jones used the Sandhurst Collection in her research into religious ideas on the goldfields, focused on the Brown family. Associate Professor Jones explains that this research:
…gives insight into the culture in which the family lived and what people in Bendigo were interested in. It gives evidence of the tenor of their thoughts, including how people of the time used ideas to help manage and comprehend their lives.
Among the collection’s many treasures are a handwritten Suggestions book (1874–1880); the Bendigo School of Mines Library Membership ledger, recording library activity between 1901 and 1945; and rare first editions, such as H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. There are also advice books aimed at guiding young women in Victorian society — such as Gossips with Girls and Maidens: Betrothed and Free — as well as poetry, biography, and ethnographic works.
This project also included the creation of full electronic catalogue records for the entire Sandhurst Collection, enabling new ways to discover this rich cultural history.
The Holsworth Sandhurst Collection Digitisation Project is funded by Dr Bill Holsworth and Mrs Carol Holsworth through the Bendigo Tertiary Education Anniversary Foundation.
