Did you know that in 2010 the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute received recognition from UNESCO? It was in the form of a Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation. This was to recognise the major renovations to the building that took place in that period, and names Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute […]
Rex’s Snippits | UNESCO 2010 Honourable Mention Read More »
In the 1870’s the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute was the recipient of three volumes of plant specimens, or herbariums, compiled by Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller. Mueller was the first government botanist for the Colony of Victoria, serving from 1853 to 1896, and Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria from 1857 to 1873. Mueller believed that
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If our Living Heritage Exhibition on Baron Ferdinand von Mueller’s plant specimens whet your appetite for all things botany, we have just the news for you! The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria has just launched a searchable online database of Mueller’s surviving correspondence, with more than 11,500 letters currently available to peruse. Mueller is believed to
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On the corner of what came to be Sturt and Lydiard Streets was originally a 160 foot deep mine shaft known as ‘Bath’s Claim’. A former miner recollected that as men descended the shaft in slings they looked like “strings of onions going down a cellar.”After the shaft was abandoned for more promising leads, a
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Dana Street Primary School first opened as a National School in 1857, with a modest 50 pupils. The “neat and commodious” bluestone school house was a far cry from the tent schools serving the children of the goldfields. The first teachers were Charles Martin and his wife, and the school came to be known as
From the Curator | Dana Street Primary School Read More »
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As we turn 165 years old we must admire the effort and work of those before us, who have striven to ensure that we are in a position to meet the responsibilities of caretakers for this remarkable facility, but we need your help. As you are probably aware, the last twelve months at the Ballaarat
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Did you know that the BMI had a ceiling collapse prior to our major building renovations.Find out more… Renovations Membership Tours
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Rosemary’s Book of the Week The Good Dog by Simon Rowell After gunshots shatter a summer night on Mount Macedon, Detective Sergeant Zoe Mayer and her loyal service dog Harry arrive on the scene at first light. It looks like a grisly murder-suicide: alleged fraudster named Piers Johnson and his lawyer Antony Peterson, both dead from bullet wounds,
Rosemary’s Book of the Week | 11 March 2024 Read More »
Yesterday’s subtlety shouldn’t get lost in the hurley burley of today… this little gem, a progressive thought, burried in a much loved tome is as genius then as it is today. Why not become a member of the BMI community, pop into the library and see what it can offer you. We would love your
The art of subtlety | Membership Read More »
2 course dinner & lots
of dancing
