
Deakin University student Trinity Gurich reflects on her internship at the Gold Museum
A replica in the making Our latest exhibition, ‘A Victorian Silhouette’, features original 19th century garments and accessories alongside reproductions created by Sovereign Hill’s Costume Department. Production Assistant Megan Anderson writes about the process of creating a replica prototype (toile) using an original 1840s dress from the Gold Museum collection. The starting point in creating a […]
Contribute to caring for a Ballarat icon As Manager and Senior Curator of the Gold Museum, my chief joy is the extraordinary collection with which I am privileged to work with. The collection, owned and managed by the Sovereign Hill Museums Association, has so many strengths that it is sometimes hard to know where to start. […]
During this Year of the Dog, we celebrate our best friend The massive influx of people into Victoria during the 1850s also brought a huge number of animals to the diggings. Many were working animals, such as horses and bullocks, or were raised for meat consumption. High maintenance pets such as canaries and other birds were typically […]
Horse-Drawn Vehicles on the Victorian Goldfields Until the 1850s, most of the horse-drawn vehicles available to Victorians were either English imports, or locally built and based on English designs. In the English tradition of coachbuilding each wheel, undercarriage and carriage body was made specifically for a single vehicle. As a result, there was great variety […]
Francis Wilson Niven was a noted engraver, lithographer and printer based in Ballarat between the 1860s and 1880s. The Gold Museum holds an extensive collection of Niven’s work which highlight the development of Ballarat’s advertising and tourism industries during the gold boom. Niven was born in Dublin, Ireland on 15 July, 1831. The search for […]
Deakin University student Michelle Derrick writes about her recent internship at the Gold Museum. As part of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) internship program, I was fortunate to take part in a paid collections and curatorial internship at the Gold Museum. For two days per week over eight weeks, I worked within two main […]
Intern Lucy Hughes uncovers the stories behind our Miner’s Rights Interning at the Gold Museum has been an inspiring experience. It has enabled me to use what I have learnt at university in a practical work environment. It is fascinating to research the history behind a Miner’s Right as it gains a story that otherwise […]
Intern Charlottle Ford explores our Britt family collection I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to intern at the Gold Museum for two weeks. I was given the task of helping research the Britt family collection. John and Mary Britt migrated from Ireland to Ballarat in the 1860s. They became farmers in Dunnstown […]
Gold Museum’s stater coin from Ancient Greece. The Gold Museum has a collection of ancient coins from Greece and Rome collected by Ballarat philanthropist Paul Simon. One item from this collection includes the Greek stater coin from 359-336BC. Philip II of Macedon appears on this coin. Young […]