Lecture to discuss city’s challenging past

AUTHOR, historian and social activist Dr Frank Golding will deliver this year’s annual Nathan Spielvogel Oration as part of the Ballarat Heritage Festival.

Dr Golding will discuss care institutions in Ballarat from the 1850s to the 1940s, emphasising the unintended consequences of their policies on the vulnerable.

“When we talk about Ballarat and history, we often think of the gold era and Eureka and the heritage that that’s left Ballarat,” he said.

“What’s often not talked about is the people who weren’t successful in the search for gold and the women who were deserted… and lots and lots of deserted children.

“There were a number of institutions that were set up in Ballarat, some of which are well-known, and others are not well-known.”

The lecture aims to remind the community of Ballarat’s more challenging social history and how those challenges were addressed by the government, community groups, churches and individuals.

“Everyone needs to understand that for the people who made it there were an equal number or perhaps even more who didn’t make it and suffered hardship,” Dr Golding said.

“There were no social supports or benefits available to women for example who became pregnant and didn’t have a partner, and you couldn’t get a job if you had a young child.

“They sometimes found themselves caught up in these institutions not of their free will.”

The Nathan Spielvogel Oration honours founder and former president of the Ballarat Historical Society, Nathan Spielvogel.

Previous speakers have included Weston Bate, Geoffrey Blainey and Royal Historical Society of Victoria president and author Richard Broome.

The oration will take place on Wednesday 21 May from 7pm at Barkly Square. Tickets cost $10 for the general public and are free for society members.