Rare newspapers on show

AN EXHIBITION uncovering Ballarat’s old newspapers is now open at the Eureka Centre.

Collection: Newspapers from Ballarat’s Past presents a wide range of old papers predominantly from the 1850s and 60s.

“It’s to highlight special things in the collection that people normally don’t get to see or that they might not be aware of,” said research librarian Simon Jacks.

“There seems to be a resurgence in people wanting to know about their local community.”

The collection includes two editions of The Corn Stalk by James Oddies, a diggers representative who fought against the miners’ licence, and it is one of the rarest items in the exhibition.

“It was him and his brothers attempt of a newspaper,” said Mr Jacks. “They only did a few issues, and it was mainly to provide information on their business.”

The Chinese Advertiser and The English Chinese Advertiser are also notable publications as they provide a link to the Chinese community here at the time of the gold rush and few copies survive today.

There will also be works from the original The Ballarat Times, Ballarat Punch, the original The Miner, and The Ballarat Star.

“With most of the things in the collection you’ll find there’s no political correctness and there is still the divide between Ballarat west and east,” Mr Jacks said.

He said he hopes the exhibition can shed a light on new aspects of Ballarat’s history during the goldrush.

The exhibition is on until September at the Ballarat Research Hub at Eureka.