History set to come alive at Queenscliff

QUEENSCLIFF will host a week of stories and a book launch as it celebrates the borough’s history.

The Queenscliffe Historical Museum in conjunction with The Fort Queenscliff Museum and The Queenscliffe Maritime Museum are behind Queenscliffe 2017 History Week, which runs between October 14 and 22.

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Queenscliffe Historical Museum, a beautiful and historic book of the 50 most significant items in the Museum will be launched by former premier Ted Baillieu on October 15 in the Coach House at the Vue Grand, Queenscliff at 5.15pm.

Throughout the week, speakers will share fascinating stories during two afternoons.

“Music of the Borough: Military Bands, Dance Bands and the Festival” will be at the Monahan Centre on October 14 between 4pm and 5.30pm and will feature Diana Allen of Jazz Australia, who will lead a session on the importance and contribution that music has made to the life of the borough.

Diana will be joined by Ron Hodgetts, Eddie Loughnan, Gil Allbutt, Bruce Priddle and Hugo T Armstrong, those who have been part of the local marching bands, the local dance bands and more recently the music festival.

Old photographs and film footage will take you back to a colourful time in the Borough when special occasions and weekend dances brought the town to life.

Instruments and other music memorabilia taken from the collections of three Queenscliffe Museums will also be on show.

Stories of the Borough is on October 21 from 4pm to 5.30pm, where Bill Brown will dig deep into the customs service, the earliest government service, set up in Queenscliff within the first decade of the establishment of the new Victorian colony.

Mr Brown’s great-grandfather was coxswain of the original whale boat used to ferry the Customs Officer out to inbound shipping, so he has a particular passion for this subject.

Keith Quinton will talk about the significant changes made to the Port Phillip defence systems during World War II, and Les Irving-Dusting, a senior historian, will talk about the Point Lonsdale Foghorn.

For more details on Queenscliffe 2017 History Week, head to historyofqueenscliffe.com/history-week.