Knowledge for all at the BMI

THE Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute opened its doors one hundred and sixty-five years ago, providing working class people with access to books, newspapers, lectures and social connection.

The historic building still stands on Sturt Street, undergoing a restoration in 2013, and a committed group of people continues to support its role in Ballarat’s cultural heritage.

Mechanics’ institutes originated in Scotland in 1803 when George Birkbeck, a professor of natural philosophy at Anderson’s Institute, began giving free lectures in the mechanical arts.

People from lower classes had few opportunities to improve their education at that time, and the idea took hold.

Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute heritage collections curator Ellen Becker said the idea was embraced in Australia.

“The movement was embraced in the Australian colonies, nowhere more so than in Victoria, where there were over a thousand at their peak,” she said.

“Following the Eureka Rebellion, miners’ advocates John Basson Humffray and Peter Lalor stated that their first priority as freshly elected members was the establishment of a mechanics’ institute.

“Humffray would become our inaugural president.”

The first institute in Ballarat opened at the Ballarat Fire Brigade Station on Barkly Street before land was set aside in Sturt Street in 1860 and the reading room was built, where the lending library still operates today.

“Their mission was the provision of useful knowledge and to provide a space for rational indoor entertainment,” Ms Becker said.

“You didn’t have to prove your wealth or standing, belong to a religion, believe in a certain science, or even buy a drink. You could just be.”

The Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute is one of the last institutes still operating. Members can access the lending library and heritage-listed collection, and receive discounts on programs including film screenings, author talks, exhibitions and performances.

Ms Becker said the institute is open to everyone.

“We are an independently-run, member-owned, not-for-profit organisation with no ongoing funding,” she said.

“Our survival depends on the participation and support of the community which we serve, particularly through our memberships.

“You will be welcomed into an established community, becoming part of our history and woven into a long thread that stretches back to our radical founding on the goldfields 165 years ago.”

To find out more, visit the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute website.