Bringing Blackwood’s lively past to life

ONE of the most intriguing items in the Blackwood and District Historical Society’s collection would have to be the religious book with a bullet hole torn through it.

The book is all the more noteworthy once the 1908 story behind it emerges.

“It made the news Australia-wide at the time,” current day historical society president Ray Castellin said.

“The bullet hole in it happened when a local preacher called Harold Gamil Robinson got shot and killed outright by a man called William Pincombe here in Blackwood in 1908.

“It was called The Blackwood Tragedy in the media of the day.”

Bringing such colourful history to light is the mission of the long-running local historical society that loves few things better than to share its knowledge with others.

Members are keen to have more people visit and appreciate its significant collection of archived material, including all manner of historic documents, photographs and artefacts.

The historical society meets once a month at its home base which is the town’s museum that also happens to be the oldest police stables building still standing in Victoria, Mr Castellin said.

“Our museum is open on the first Saturday of each month from 10am to 1pm, right after we have our monthly meeting here,” he said.

“Visitors can immerse themselves in our vast collection…dating to the original gold rush in 1855 and we also have books for sale.”

For those keen to delve more deeply into events surrounding the infamous 1908 preacher-shooting incident, the books available in the Society’s stock range include The Billy Pincombe Tragedy by Margot Hitchcock.

Meanwhile, the Society’s wider museum collection takes visitors on a trip back through time with eclectic items ranging from an old telephone exchange to a horse-drawn jinker and many gold mining pieces.

“We even have a hand-crafted wooden model mining compound that’s also worth celebrating,” Mr Castellin said.

The society itself has been going for half a century and has 15 members, with new people welcome to join.

“We do also have social outings to other areas in the golden triangle,” the society’s president said.

He also said that guided tours shedding more light on Blackwood’s story-rich past can be arranged by appointment.

“We’re on the Greendale-Trentham Road as you head into Martin Street. You can’t miss us.”