Hawthorn Historical Society

27/05/2026

Do you have an interest in local history and or pulling together those items and loose threads of your family history but don't know where to start or what resources may be available? Well this WORKSHOP is for you!
Join us on June 18th at 2.00pm.

Reserve your place and bring along a friend:

Hawthorn Historical Society and PMI Victorian History Library are delighted to present our first ever collaborative discovery workshop. Come along...

24/05/2026

Hawthorn is well known for its heritage architecture. which we often overlook when we drive or walk past in a hurry. It's always fun to look up to catch the details.
Where would you find this lovely feature?

21/05/2026

This week - National Volunteer Week - we celebrate and recognise everyone who gives their time freely to the Society.

Whether it’s the volunteers who come in every Tuesday and Wednesday to scan and upload materials to our archives, or who answer the many emails from people wanting information on all matters Hawthorn; or who develop and run events; or our committee which makes sure the Society is governed well, we thank them all.

We are a true team.

If you would like to become a volunteer or learn more about what it means, please email us: hawthornhistoricalsociety@gmail.com

19/05/2026

Hope you can join Hilda and Henry, our mascots, at our History Lovers’ Coffee this Thursday 21 May at St Helen’s cafe, Riversdale Road from 10.30am to 12noon.

Bookings:

https://www.trybooking.com/DKECJ

17/05/2026

Have you ever checked Hawthorn’s timeline on our website?

In 1926:

Burke Road river bridge was rebuilt.
A motor bus operated from Canterbury to Richmond via Liddiard Street and Grace Park.
Bridge Road bridge was strengthened for electric trams
Ward boundaries were changed.

https://www.hawthornhistoricalsociety.com.au/history/timeline/

14/05/2026

Worry Worms Random acts of crochet kindness
Now as time moves on and covid lockdowns are just a part of the past we would like to know how you kept productive, were you virtually unaffected or was your whole world turned upside down. Did you take up a new hobby such as painting, knitting, or writing? Did you learn a new language, archive those precious photos or manicure your garden or maybe spend endless time scrolling?
An individual has come to the attention who as a child never really grasped crocheting and frustrated her mother to no end, so during lockdown when scrolling YouTube videos they came across a video from Random acts of crochet kindness / crochet worry worn pattern
What an easy and fun tutorial. After a couple of attempts, a cute worm was complete, the first of many and these were bundled with a little note as per the tutorial. Some were given to friends and family that needed a little support and others were left in public spaces to be found by passers-by.
Thanks to the random acts of crochet kindness team for a lovely idea and we hope it was a nice little surprise for anyone who found the worms.

11/05/2026

Before telephones, before SMS, how did you make arrangements with others?

https://www.hawthornhistoricalsociety.com.au/social-media-in-the-1900s/

08/05/2026

Our next event- History Lovers Coffee coincides with the Biggest Morning Tea for the Cancer Council. Come along and support both. We will have a history insight into Riversdale Road too.

07/05/2026

Memory Lane
These small items in our collection, whilst not valuable in their own right still provide insights into our not so distant past when we used typewriter ribbons and rode our bicycles to school and work.

05/05/2026

The Society is supporting , a new alliance of community groups, which has shared concerns about the impact that the raft of housing changes will have on our suburbs, towns and cities. We are especially concerned about the heritage overlays and heritage precincts in Hawthorn.

https://www.hawthornhistoricalsociety.com.au/protecting-our-heritage/

02/05/2026

Introducing Henry and Hilda of Hawthorn, our owl mascots, who had their first outing on the Church Hill walk ably led by Elizabeth Yewers. Starting at St Columb’s Church, the 2.2kilometre walk weaved its way along Burwood Road, Auburn Road Oxley and Urquhart Streets and places in between. Churches and mansions galore, entertaining tales about architects and founding families. And we beat the threatening rain!