CHSI has been collecting archival material since its formation in 1965. Comprehensive, detailed and inclusive cataloguing and indexing commenced in the 1990s. The database management system has powerful search capabilities yet can be managed by non-IT staff, who can complete simple through to intricate searches.
The CHSI Collection is a mostly paper-based archive relating to the history of Castlemaine and the former Mount Alexander goldfields district. The collection contains published and unpublished documents, local and Victorian government records, archival material, indexes of local history resources, newspapers, maps and plans and visual material.
The collection covers many key themes, events, stories and people associated with the history of Castlemaine, and the former Mount Alexander goldfields district.
There are extensive holdings of church, school, business and municipal records which tell many stories associated with local people, places, institutions and organisations, local governance, events, industry and businesses. Many of the holdings provide information about local business and family life not held elsewhere.
The rich and diverse Archival Collection of over 350 metres shelf length is housed in purpose – built archival storage facilities. It is accessed by a very large data base, “Histsoc” and an extensive number of unique indexes.
It is stored in an InMagic DB/Text database of over 70,000 entries, customised to our specific needs, named ‘HistSoc’. The database management system has powerful search capabilities yet it is readily managed by our researchers. They can complete simple through to intricate searches.
You can click on each of these headings to get a listing in each area to show the breadth of our resources.
Education: Training Institutes and Schools
Electoral and Ratepayers Rolls
Hospital and Benevolent Asylum