More historical photos ready for showing at society Bacchat session

LOCALS can get a further glimpse into Bacchus Marsh’s history when the historical society presents a second Bacchat session featuring photographs from 1883 at the Lerderderg Library on Saturday 9 May.

The session is a follow-up to a similar event last year, which Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society president Tim Hogan described as very successful.

“We got an enormous turnout last year,” Hogan said. “We had 96 people turn up.

“It’s a big double room and it was absolutely packed. It’s all new images so hopefully a lot of those people will come back.”

Hogan said while the session would be “mainly a show-and-tell kind of thing”, those attending would have an opportunity to ask questions about the photos.

Last year’s session featured images taken by travelling photographers Stevenson and McNicoll in 1883 showing people, shops, businesses, houses, farms and more.

But Hogan said more than 20 images were not included because of time limits. Those will be featured on 9 May, accompanied by an explanatory talk.

“This one will show more scenes of the town and more scenes of families standing in front of their homes,” Hogan said.

“Some of those, we’ve discovered who the families were; some are still unknown to us.”

The session will be followed by a wall display at the library from Monday 12 May featuring nearly all images in the archive.

“It’s a display and a talk, and ultimately our plan is to produce a book as well,” Hogan said.

“This is a rare and unusual example of an archive that’s been created in one time. It’s like having a documentary made of the town in 1883 and having it all preserved.”

The session will run from 10am to noon and will be free to attend, but it is recommended that people secure a place by making a booking through moorabool.vic.gov.au/Events/May-BacchChat-Bacchus-Marsh-in-1883-Part-2