1. Our first Speaker Series for 2026 will be held on Wednesday 25 March at 7.30pm at Murrumbeena Bowls Club. 

“Eyes on Collections”

https://www.trybooking.com/DJXWB 

We invite members and friends of the Society to join us to view some fascinating items in our collection and hear their stories.

We also invite members to bring along any of their own items / collections of historical interest to ‘show and tell’.

2. Sands and McDougall Directories – new search tool now available

Sands & McDougall Directories were published yearly from 1860 to 1974.  They are a key resource for researching the history of Melbourne and Victorian properties, residents, businesses and streets. The directories contain alphabetical listings of surnames, street by street listings of house occupants in each Melbourne suburb, and later in country Victoria, as well as listing trades and professions, government departments, societies, churches and more. They are available online via the State Library of Victoria’s website which has digitised directories in five year intervals from 1860 to 1974. https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/sands-mcdougall-directories 

Searching online has often been a laborious task. Luckily there is new search tool available to make online searching much easier. New search tool! – https://sands-mcdougalls-directories-481615284700.australia-southeast1.run.app/