EventsGuests are welcome at all events |
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Sunday, October 2019 to April 2020
Open House at La Trobe’s Cottage: 2 – 4pm Discover how Charles Joseph La Trobe, Victoria’s first Governor, and his family lived in early Melbourne. Enjoy the simple yet elegant family home with many pieces of original furniture and the garden containing many plants of the 1840s-50s. |
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| Sunday 1 March 2020
La Trobe’s Art: Cottage open 2 – 4pm Come and enjoy pictures of the Cottage created by Charles La Trobe himself and by others over the years, and learn about the beautiful watercolours he created on his travels throughout Victoria, Europe and North America. Guided tours of the Cottage will be available throughout the afternoon. |
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| Sunday 1 March 2020
La Trobe’s Birthday Celebration: 4.30 – 6pm Viewing of the ‘La Trobe’s Art’ display at La Trobe’s Cottage and Garden. Afterwards festive drinks to celebrate Charles Joseph La Trobe’s 219th birthday. Cost: $10 per person. (La Trobe Society event) |
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Early Melbourne Paintings: selected times (or as arranged for groups) Exhibition of Early Melbourne paintings, lithographs, watercolours and sketches, from the Roy Morgan Research collection. Special tours in conjunction with historic furniture. Venue: Old Treasury Building, 20 Spring Street, Melbourne. Cost: $8 adults. Bookings essential: Ph 9651 2233, email bookings@oldtreasurybuilding.org.au Catalogue Images |
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Past events |
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| Sunday – 26 January 2020
Special Open Day at La Trobe’s Cottage: 1 – 4pm Spend your afternoon in the beautiful Domain, with a guided tour of the home of our first governor Charles Joseph La Trobe and his family. It was also Open Day at nearby Government House, so visitors were able to compare the charming cottage with the magnificent home of the current Victorian Governor. |
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| Sunday – 1 December 2019
The La Trobes’ Music: 2 – 4pm Visitors to La Trobe’s Cottage were able to hear music that would have echoed around ‘Jolimont’ in the time of the La Trobe family. There were musicians performing and guided tours throughout the afternoon. Program notes |
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Sunday – 1 December 2019
Anniversary of the Death of C J La Trobe - Sunday Service: 11am Charles Joseph La Trobe was remembered at a service at St Peter’s Eastern Hill, coinciding with a memorial service at St Michael the Archangel, Litlington, Sussex, where he is buried. The Vicar of St Peter’s, Rev’d Dr Hugh Kempster, invited La Trobe Society members and their friends to this special service, followed by refreshments. Address: 15 Gisborne Street, Melbourne. |
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Friday – 29 November 2019
Christmas Function: 6.30-8.30 pm Members' end-of-year social function, hosted at Melbourne’s oldest Club founded in 1839. Paul de Serville, historian, spoke on ‘La Trobe, the Melbourne Club and Melbourne society’. (La Trobe Society event) |
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| Tuesday – 22 October 2019
La Trobe Oration: 6.30-8.30 pm ‘La Trobe: Then and Now’, an oration delivered by the Society’s Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, in the 180th year of the arrival of Charles Joseph La Trobe in Victoria - the Port Phillip District of New South Wales at that time. Venue: Old Treasury Building, Spring Street, Melbourne. (La Trobe Society event) |
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Sunday – 13 & 20 October 2019 History Week at La Trobe’s Cottage: 2 – 4pm Tours focused on Charles Joseph La Trobe as the pioneering administrator in Victoria’s foundation and also provided an insight into family life at his ‘Jolimont’ estate.  Click here to visit the History Week website |
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Sunday – 6 October 2019
Garden Day at La Trobe’s Cottage: 1 – 4pm Spring Opening of the Cottage with an emphasis on La Trobe’s garden, and the heritage plants he favoured. Tours of the garden took place at 1.15, 2.15 and 3.15pm. At this time we also celebrated the 180th anniversary of the La Trobe family’s arrival in early Melbourne. |
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Sunday – 15 September 2019
Sunday Talk for Members and Friends: 2.30-4pm ‘Charles Hotson Ebden, of “I fear I have become disgustingly rich” fame’. Speaker: Carolyn Brown OAM, President, Black Rock House Inc. Ebden was born in South Africa in 1811, educated in England and Germany before travelling to Australia. He made his fortune as a pastoralist, building an empire of sheep runs along the Murray River in the 1830s and 1840s. He derived his power as a politician in New South Wales, later settling in Melbourne to become Victoria’s first Auditor-General. He purchased land along Port Phillip where he built Black Rock House as a holiday home. It is a unique property, reflecting his unique and somewhat eccentric tastes. Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens. (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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Wednesday – 7 August 2019
La Trobe Society Annual General Meeting and Dinner: 6.30 pm Dr Andrew Lemon AM, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and acknowledged as the foremost expert on the history of racing in Australia, spoke on ‘Racing in the Era of Charles Joseph La Trobe’. Venue: Lyceum Club, Ridgway Place, Melbourne. (La Trobe Society event) |
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Sunday – 28 July 2019
Sunday Talk for Members and Friends: 2.30-4pm ‘’The Parson’s Wife’: In Search of Harriet Bean, daughter of Empire’. Speaker: Loreen Chambers, Vice-President of the La Trobe Society. Harriet Battley was born to a military family in Jamaica that moved to the Cape Colony, South Africa, where she was orphaned at 6 years of age. She shared the changing fortunes of her husband Willoughby Bean, first as a settler’s wife in NSW and then as a clergyman’s wife in goldrush Victoria. Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens. (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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 Saturday – 27 July 2019 Open House at La Trobe’s Cottage: Cottage open 10am-4pm Visitors were able to gain an insight into the role played by prefabricated housing for the early colonists in Melbourne, and of family life at the humble home of Charles Joseph La Trobe, Victoria’s first Governor. Click here to visit the Open House Melbourne website. |
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Friday – 5 July 2019
Melbourne Rare Books Week lecture: 6.30–8.30 pm ‘Books and Readers in La Trobe’s Melbourne'. Speaker: Professor Wallace Kirsop, book historian and collector, drew upon his vast knowledge to highlight aspects of European culture reflected in the early years of La Trobe's administration of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after Separation in 1851, the flourishing book-trade in the new colony of Victoria. Venue: Tonic House, 386 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. (La Trobe Society event, sponsored by Roy Morgan Research) |
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 Sunday – 16 June 2019 Sunday Talk for Members and Friends: 2.30-4pm ‘William Henry Foster: his family and life in Victoria’. He came to Victoria aged 20 with a colourful past, yet rose to become Chinese Protector in the Ballarat district, Police Magistrate there and later in Omeo and Beechworth. Speaker: Tim Gatehouse, researcher into Victoria’s colonial era. Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens. (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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| Thursday – 30 May 2019
Viewing of La Trobe Testimonial Candelabrum Centrepiece: 10.30-11.30am National Gallery of Victoria International, 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne. Speaker: Amanda Dunsmore, Senior Curator, International Decorative Arts & Antiquities. Numbers strictly limited. (La Trobe Society event – Members only) |
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| Thursday – 23 May 2019
Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage annual lecture: 6.30–8pm ‘La Trobe’s Gold and Silver Testimonial Pieces’. Speaker: historian Susan Priestley talked about the superb gold cup made in Melbourne 1853 (whereabouts unknown) and the London-made spectacular silver and glass candelabrum centrepiece 1854-55, now in the National Gallery of Victoria. Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens. (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe's Cottage event) |
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| Tuesday – 16 April 2019
Joint La Trobe Society/ RHSV AGL Shaw Lecture: 6.30-8pm ‘Garryowen: The Voice of Early Melbourne’. Speaker: Dr Liz Rushen, historian. Venue: Royal Historical Society of Victoria, Cnr William and A’Beckett Streets, Melbourne. Click here for The Chronicles of Early Melbourne, 1835 to 1852. (La Trobe Society event) |
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| Sunday – 24 March 2019
La Trobe’s Birthday Celebration: 4.30-6pm John Botham, Chair, Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage, updated us on progress at the Cottage. Dr Anne Vale spoke about her beautiful new book Gardens of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria). Venue: La Trobe’s Cottage Garden. Afterwards birthday cake and festive drinks to celebrate Charles Joseph La Trobe’s 218th birthday. (La Trobe Society event) |
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| Saturday – 26 January 2019
Family Day at La Trobe’s Cottage: 1 – 4pm Spend your afternoon in the beautiful Domain, with guided tours of the Cottage and rope-making and old-fashioned games for the children in the garden. It was also Open Day at nearby Government House, so visitors were able to visit the homes of both the first and current Victorian Governors. |
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| Sunday – 2 December 2018
Anniversary of the Death of C J La Trobe - Sunday Service: 11am Charles Joseph La Trobe was remembered at a service at St Peter’s Eastern Hill, coinciding with a memorial service at St Michael the Archangel, Litlington, Sussex, where he is buried. The Vicar of St Peter’s, Rev’d Dr Hugh Kempster, invited La Trobe Society members and their friends to the service, followed by refreshments. Address: 15 Gisborne Street, Melbourne. |
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| Thursday – 29 November 2018
Christmas Cocktails: 6.30 – 8.30pm Guest speaker Dr Robert La Nauze spoke on the topic: ‘Sober habits and quiet pursuits: Charles La Trobe and cabinet maker George Thwaites’ — which included an exploration of the Christmas tree tradition in Melbourne. Venue: The Australian Club, 110 William Street, Melbourne. (La Trobe Society event) |
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| Saturday – 27 October 2018
Walking Tour of Fitzroy Gardens: 2 – 3pm Dr Monique Webber, La Trobe Society Fellow 2017/18 at State Library Victoria, helped uncover a forgotten chapter of Melbourne’s art history in exploring the Fitzroy Garden’s original pathways and the lost sculptures – part of La Trobe’s vision for a Garden City. (La Trobe Society event) |
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Sunday – 14 October 2018
History Week at La Trobe’s Cottage: 2 – 4pm Tours focused on Charles Joseph La Trobe as the pioneering administrator in Victoria’s foundation and also provided an insight into family life at his ‘Jolimont’ estate. |
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Sunday – 7 October 2018
Garden Day at La Trobe’s Cottage: 1 – 4pm Spring Opening of the Cottage with an emphasis on La Trobe’s garden, and the heritage plants he favoured. Tours of the garden took place at 1.15, 2.15 and 3.15pm. The 179th anniversary of the La Trobe family’s arrival in early Melbourne was also celebrated. |
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Tuesday – 18 September 2018
Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage annual lecture: 6 – 8pm ‘Eliza Nelson and Dr John Singleton: incidents in the lives of two remarkable colonial memorialists’. Eliza Nelson was a gold rush immigrant, pioneer, midwife and entrepreneur; she also became a temperance advocate and a friend and assistant to the social reformer and philanthropist Dr John Singleton MD. Speaker: Lorraine Finlay, former volunteer manager, La Trobe’s Cottage. Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens. (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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Sunday – 9 September 2018
Gulf Station: a fascinating farm of the La Trobe era: 2.30 – 4pm Speaker: Irene Kearsey, volunteer guide at Gulf Station in the Yarra Valley and dedicated historian, talked about the property’s Scottish settlers and gave a flavour of pioneering life in rural Victoria. more... Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens. (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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Sunday – 12 August 2018
La Trobe and his Horses - Testing Times: 2.30 – 4pm Peter Hiscock AM, former director the Sovereign Hill outdoor museum at Ballarat, and life-long horseman, focused on the horse as a major player in the settlement of the Port Phillip District. more... Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens. (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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Wednesday – 1 August 2018
La Trobe Society Annual General Meeting and Dinner: 6.30pm Guest Speaker: Dr Monique Webber, La Trobe Society Fellow 2017-18, enlightened members on ’La Trobe's Garden City and the Lost Sculptures of the Fitzroy Gardens’. Venue: Lyceum Club, Ridgway Place, Melbourne. (La Trobe Society event) |
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Saturday & Sunday – 28 & 29 July 2018 Open House Melbourne: Cottage open 12 – 3pm Visitors were be able to gain an insight into the role played by prefabricated housing for the early colonists in Melbourne, and of family life at the humble home of Charles Joseph La Trobe, Victoria’s first Governor. Click here to visit the Open House Melbourne website. |
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| Sunday – 8 July 2018
Edward Byam Wight: pioneer in the Port Phillip District: 2.30–4pm Davydd Shaw spoke about enterprising pioneer Edward Byam Wight: his arrival in 1841, success in various ventures and a friendship with Charles Joseph La Trobe. more... Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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| Friday – 29 June 2018
Melbourne Rare Book Week Lecture: 6 – 8.30 pm ‘The Remarkable Library of Bishop Goold: its creation, loss and rediscovery’. Guest Speaker: Shane Carmody, historian. Venue: Tonic House, 386 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. (La Trobe Society event, sponsored by Roy Morgan Research) |
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| Tuesday – 19 June 2018
Joint La Trobe Society/ RHSV AGL Shaw Lecture: 6.30 – 8pm ‘Charles La Trobe and Hugh Childers: the ladder of success in Victoria’. Speaker: Major-General Michael O’Brien (Rtd). Venue: Royal Historical Society of Victoria, Cnr William and A’Beckett Streets, Melbourne. (La Trobe Society event) |
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| Sunday – 10 June 2018
Georgiana McCrae and her ‘Favorite’ Music: 2.30 – 4pm Speaker: Dr Rosemary Richards, musicologist, operatic coach and educator, spoke on Georgiana McCrae’s favourite music and events in her life, as revealed in her four known music collections - including the McCrae Homestead music book 1841/56, during the La Trobe era in colonial Victoria. Musicians played musical selections. more... Venue: Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens. (La Trobe Society/Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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| Sunday – 22 April to 6 May 2018
Australian Heritage Festival at La Trobe’s Cottage: open 2 – 4pm Visitors were able to learn about Charles Joseph La Trobe, Victoria's first Governor and visionary administrator. They were also able to hear some fascinating stories from the family's letters about their life in early Melbourne, both before and during the years of the gold rushes. |
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| Sunday – 1 to 29 April 2018
Art Exhibition at La Trobe’s Cottage: open 2 – 4pm Visitors were able to view delightful paintings and drawings of La Trobe’s House and Garden by members of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors that will be available for purchase. (Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage event) |
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Sunday – 18 March 2018
La Trobe’s Birthday Celebration: 4.30-6pm Opening of Art Exhibition featuring La Trobe’s Cottage and Garden, as sketched by members of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors. Guest speaker: Jo Reitze, fellow of the Victorian Artists’ Society. Afterwards birthday cake and festive drinks to celebrate Charles Joseph La Trobe’s 217th birthday. (La Trobe Society event) |
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Friday – 26 January 2018
Family Day at La Trobe’s Cottage: Cottage open 1 – 4pm Spend your afternoon in the beautiful Domain, with guided tours of the Cottage, rope-making, old-fashioned games for the children and light refreshments for purchase in the garden. Entry by donation. It was also Open Day at nearby Government House, so visitors were able to visit the homes of both the first and current Victorian Governors. |
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