STREET STALL – The Society will be holding Street Stalls on Friday, 17th and Saturday, 18th October and we would appreciate the donation of any saleable goods – cakes & slices, plants, books etc. A raffle will also be in operation.

An interesting brief history of the Society is as follows:

The first move to form a Historical Society was instigated by Mr. JA England, Federal Member for Calare. On 19th June, 1964 he wrote to the Secretary of Royal Historical Societies, as to details required for forming a Society in Grenfell.

Bill Dun, who had already moved to preserve material of interest at the Library said he would be behind getting the Society going. Mr England then handed the papers to Walter Waugh, who contacted Tony Fountain, Bill Dun, Harry Train, Keith Weaver, Archie Halls and Max Bradley.

By 1974 Walter Waugh and Tony Fountain compiled a letter to the Grenfell Record, calling a meeting to be held in the PAH & I Hall on 24th July, 1964. At this meeting John England gave the opening address to 15 or 16 interested persons.

The Society was then formed with the following Office Bearers: President WJ Dun; Secretary AC Fountain; Treasurer KR Weaver; Research Secretary WJ Waugh.

Donations from far and wide were accepted and the first exhibition was during the 1965 Henry Lawson Festival when a display was at Ritchie’s Butchery in Main Street. It was estimated 1,000 people viewed this exhibition.

In May 1966, the Museum was opened in the billiard room of the Library, which at that time was still in the School of Arts building. When the Library moved to Main Street in 1968, the Society took over the building. Grants were received by Weddin Shire Council and the Muncipal Council.

There was a display of machinery etc at that time and this was on land opposite the Museum. Later it was moved to the park behind the Museum in August. 1968. In 1976 all the machinery was either returned to the original owners or sold.

In 1981 the contents of the building were put into storage while a concrete block building was built. A Government Grant made this possible and the balance made up by the Weddin Shire Council. A Heritage Grant enabled the original façade to be kept and the spacious new building was opened on 27th July, 1983

In 1986 the storage shed was added and in February, 1984 these two buildings were joined to form the Bob Eve Wing. Included in the storage shed is the Archive Cell, which was finished in 1988.

Over the years members have undertaken many projects. Some of these being documenting archival material, indexing the Library, researching all Honour Rolls from both World Wars, indexing and photographing all Foundation Stones, indexing and photographing Burial places in the Weddin Shire and Schools in the Shire. Births, Deaths and Marriages and inquests in Grenfell Papers from 1875 – 1968 have all been indexed. The Society researched historic sites for the Shire to signpost. The history of O’Brien’s Mine was completed, and now with recently erected new signage. Many family histories have been handed in and these are always a great asset, especially to the Research Officer. Renewing displays, painting, labelling etc have all been carried out. A major has been the storage and indexing of 4,000 photos held in our collection. Members have given historical talks on bus trips and tours that have come to Grenfell and especially on Lawson Festival weekends when tours of the town and district have taken place.

The booklet “Welcone to Grenfell” was published in 1971/2. The “History of the Weddin Shire” was published in 1988 and “People of the Weddin Shire was published in 2001.

The present and past Research Officers have done a wonderful job. One of our main income sources comes from research and this takes many hours of tedious work.