History

Browsing old newspapers is a bit like rummaging through a jumble of second hand shops in the lead-up to Christmas. You go looking for a small surprise to tuck into a stocking and instead find all manner of oddities.

Phrenology took Australia by storm in the 19th century but a presentation on the topic in Albert Hall, Daylesford, in 1882 did not draw large crowds.

John Goodwin Howe was a wealthy Daylesford merchant who gave Howe Street its name. Documents from his estate provide an insight into the cost of living in the 1880s.

Horse racing has long been a part of life in Daylesford and district. In the 19th century, local...

Recent media coverage of “red carpet” events and “fashions in the field” shows how much attention is still paid to what women wear. But while fashion is often portrayed as a product of women’s vanity or self-indulgence, the forces driving female fashion have long involved male influence.

In the late 19th century, Daylesford residents often looked beyond the local hospital to treat their medical complaints and the Daylesford Advocate was full of advertisements with generous promises of good health.

This week The History Files browses snippets of news that caught the attention of the editor of The Daylesford Advocate in 1882.

A police reserve of 66.8 acres was set aside on Wombat Hill when Daylesford was first surveyed in 1854. In 1859, the first Courthouse and rudimentary police quarters, lock-up and stabling were built.