The Benalla Historical Society, which operates the Costume and Kelly Museum in the old Mechanics’ Institute, is celebrating its 60th anniversary.
Photo by
Simon Ruppert
The Benalla Historical Society was created immediately following the proclamation of the City of Benalla in 1965.
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A small group of citizens had organised a display of memorabilia as part of the celebrations, and there was so much public interest that the society was established in September of that year.
In July 1967, the old Mechanics’ Institute building, which had been occupied by the Lands Department and later the Country Roads Board, came under the ownership of the city council and there was a threat that it would be demolished.
However, the city council granted the building to the society for holding meetings and also for the establishment of a museum.
The society carried out significant work to upgrade the building, paint it inside and out, and also to demolish some old weatherboard outbuildings.
Initially, the museum (originally the Costume and Pioneer Museum, now the Costume and Kelly Museum) showed a small collection of local relics, with no particular theme or cohesion, and it was open on a Sunday for a few hours — manned by society members.
However, in 1976 a significant collection of costumes was purchased to augment the museum’s display of local costumes and in due course it was resolved to make costumes the major theme for future collections and displays.
The costume room at Benalla’s Costume and Kelly Museum.
Photo by
Simon Ruppert
The national bicentennial year of 1988 provided funding from the Commonwealth to assist with extending the building to include a visitor information centre.
Since then, the museum has been able to be open seven days a week with the visitor information centre staff supervising entry.
Further expansion over the years saw the construction of extra gallery space, a storeroom and workroom, and a research room to house the society’s collection of Benalla newspapers, photographs and other documents.
The entire layout of the museum was changed from 2019 to 2022 with the expansion of the visitor information centre and construction of the new cinema.
The refurbished museum is somewhat smaller than before but has been completely modernised to better display its extensive collection of local memorabilia, costume and items pertaining to Ned Kelly.
The costume collection has gradually been expanded, mainly by generous donations, and is now considered one of the most significant collections of its type in Australia.
Other important items in the museum relate to Ned Kelly, Michael Savage (former prime minister of New Zealand), Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop, Captain Hector Waller and Air Vice Marshall Bostock, who all had connections to Benalla.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of its foundation, the historical society will conduct a meeting on Sunday, October 5 at 2pm, followed by refreshments.
The guest speaker will be Dr Andrew Kilsby, a professional historian and published author.
His focus is military, business and biographical history, but he is particularly interested in the police posts that were set up in the earliest days of white settlement, one of which was situated on the banks of the Broken River and grew to become the thriving town of Benalla that we know today.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting. The cost for non-financial members of the historical society will be $5 to cover costs.
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