Stories about Harcourt and district recorded for researchers

22 Mar 10

Proving little changes, volunteers Ken Ford, Diana Cork and Marion Oakley discovered that water rights was an issue in the 1880s; lack of water is still a feature in 2010.

Hedley James, a life-long resident of Harcourt, recorded a wealth of local knowledge in hand written and typed documents and notes, letters, photos, newspaper clippings and invoices from various local businesses held in 30 ring binders, some containing up to 100 pages of documents, plus documents pasted into bound and loose leaf books and folders.

Thanks to the work of the volunteers over the last six months, his collection, held by the Harcourt Valley Heritage & Tourist Centre, is now a searchable database.

The volunteers enjoyed reading, engaging with and recording the stories and cross referencing information.  They were also able to track families and their lives and times in the district.

The Heritagecare program is a partnership between the State Government agency Heritage Victoria and Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), which recruits volunteers and manages projects on behalf of Heritage Victoria.

The Brumby Government is providing more than $1.7 million over four years (2006-2010) for Heritagecare, as part of its strategy Victoria's Heritage: Strengthening our communities.

CVA Heritagecare Project Officer Heather McNaught thanked the volunteers for their contribution and presented them with Certificates of Appreciation.

 "The volunteers can now say they have been a part of preserving Victoria's valuable cultural heritage," Heather said.

Planning Minister Justin Madden said the Heritagecare program empowered local communities to care for their treasured heritage assets.

"The Brumby Government is proud to support the community groups and volunteers who do such an important job caring for local heritage places and objects,'' he said.

To volunteer with Heritagecare, contact Heather McNaught at CVA on 5444 1966, hmcnaught@conversationvolunteers.com or visit http://www.conservationvolunteers.com.au/

CVA Heritagecare volunteers Marion Oakley, Ken Ford and Diana Cork with a photo of Hedley James and his wife in the background

SOME EXTRA BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Conservation Volunteers Australia

  • Conservation Volunteers Australia is Australia's largest practical conservation organisation.
  • Founded in 1982 in Ballarat, Victoria, as the Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers, the organisation now has offices in every capital city, as well as regional centres across Australia.
  • Conservation Volunteers Australia completes more than 2,000 conservation projects across Australia each year, resulting in positive environmental and heritage outcomes, increased community participation, conservation skills and awareness.
  • Contact Conservation Volunteers Australia on Freecall 1800 032 501, email info@cva.org.au or visit http://www.conservationvolunteers.com.au/

Heritage Victoria

Victoria's Heritage Strategy and Heritagecare

  • The Victorian Government's heritage strategy for 2006-2010 is Victoria's Heritage: Strengthening our communities.
  • The strategy articulates a broad vision for heritage conservation and interpretation, with a strong focus on supporting communities to manage and interact with the State's heritage.
  • Heritagecare is a key program of the strategy. Delivered in partnership with Conservation Volunteers Australia, Heritagecare assists public and private heritage owners while enabling community participation in managing heritage places, objects and collections.

Victorian Heritage Register

  • The Victorian Heritage Register is the official listing of places and objects considered to be of State heritage significance.
  • There are more than 2,000 assets on the Register, including buildings, objects, gardens and trees, cemeteries, archaeological sites and relics, shipwrecks and precincts.
  • You can search the Register Online at http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/vhd/heritagevic

Login to Webmail

Apply for an email address

Skydancers Garden Gift & Cafe