General News
13 May, 2026
JDHS attend Melbourne exhibition
On April 30, three Jeparit and District Historical Society members, Gaye Golder, Debra Schumann and Craige Proctor, travelled to the University of Melbourne to represent the Society and the Jeparit community at the official launch of a new exhibition at the Robert Menzies Institute.
Titled Robert Menzies: the Man who made Modern Australia, part of the new exhibition focuses on the place and environment that helped shape the young lad who, years later, would become Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister.
For several years, JDHS and the Robert Menzies Institute have been collaborating, with the Institute providing valuable funding support in 2024, which enabled a survey of its collection to be carried out by heritage consultant Dr Tim Sullivan.
The Institute, keen to provide ongoing support to JDHS, also funded a conservator, Victoria Hronas, to visit Jeparit and undertake initial work in managing the Society’s collection.
“Having professional support via the Robert Menzies Institute in developing our collection management processes was so important,” said JDHS secretary Craige Proctor.
“It is easy to be overwhelmed by everything initially, but this guidance from professionals was very helpful and inspiring.”
Then, in 2025,, the Institute funded historian Alex McDermott to visit Jeparit to research the Menzies family there in the 1890s and early 1900s.
As a result of that visit, JDHS entered into an agreement with the Institute to lend several items for the new exhibition, including the silver trowel used at the laying of the foundation stone of the Methodist Church in 1925 (by James Menzies, father of Robert) and a silver goblet which once belonged to the Menzies family.
On loan from the Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum is the wedding photo of Menzies' parents, previously unknown to RMI.
Alongside these objects is a bottle of Jeparit soil taken from the approximate location of Menzies' childhood home, now the site of Menzies Square.
The exhibition was formally opened by former Prime Minister Hon. Tony Abbott AC with additional presentations by RMI CEO Georgina Downer and exhibition curator Alex McDermott.
During the presentations, Jeparit was referenced several times, and the Jeparit delegation was formally welcomed to the event.
On screen were videos of the river at Jeparit and recorded birdsong, which Alex had captured during his three days in Jeparit.
“It was so pleasing to see Jeparit given such a profile in the exhibition and during the opening presentations,” said Gaye Golder.
“It is wonderful to see some of the items from our Jeparit collection being shared with a broader audience.”
Debra Schumann comments that “It is very important that the significance of the Menzies family and their time in Jeparit is being acknowledged, and it is equally important that several of us from Jeparit could attend the exhibition opening."
Robert Menzies: the Man who made Modern Australia will remain on exhibit at the university for two years.
BY CRAIGE PROCTOR
