School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemSocial and scientific factors in the development of Melbourne's early water supply( 1981)The research towards this thesis commenced in 1978 during a period of sabbatical leave from Melbourne State College. I would like to thank the College Council for the opportunity to consult material at the British Library and the Wellcome Institute, London. In my often fruitless searches for material I have been grateful for the knowledge and goodwill of many librarians and archivists. I would like to particularly acknowledge the assistance of Mr. R. Price, Wellcome Institute, London; Miss A. Tovell, Australian Medical Association library, Melbourne; Miss W. Johns, Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works Library; and the reference staff of the La Tribe Library and the Victorian Public Records Office. My supervisor Miss D. Dyason introduced me to the history of public health. Her expertise and wide knowledge were utilised extensively throughout this project. I will always be grateful to Ingrid Barker for her ability to translate my endless rough drafts and marginal notes into a typed manuscript. Finally, I wish to dedicate this thesis to my wife, Dawn, who more than anyone else encouraged me to continue my part-time studies and finally complete this research.
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ItemMcCrea, a matter of paradigms( 1980)
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ItemThe settlement of Melbourne 1851-1893: selected aspects of urban growth( 1970-02)Melbourne was the obvious choice as a prototype of a nineteenth century colonial city in the following study in urban history. It succeeded early to a pre-eminent position within Victoria, indeed of the entire Australian continent and its position of supremacy went unchallenged until the twentieth century. It was never seriously threatened by the claims of rival cities such as Ballarat, Sandhurst or Geelong. In this respect, Melbourne was a classic primate city with a whole-state hinterland and was justly described as "the commercial metropolis of the South". Its favourable geographic location, centrally placed between eastern and western halves of the colony, together with its position at the northern end of Port Phillip Bay provided the logical point of convergance for a railway network spanning the reaches of the interior. This gave a nodal quality to the city which made it the sole effective input-output point for all commerce with the mainland interior.(For complete abstract open document)
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ItemThe hospital south of the Yarra: a history to celebrate the centenary of Alfred Hospital Melbourne 1871-1971( 1972-02)Although this work was commissioned for the purpose of celebrating Alfred Hospital’s first one hundred years, I have made no effort to cover all of those years. I have set out: 1. To isolate the historical precedents for current hospital procedures and in particular to explore the relationship between Alfred Hospital and the State Government. This task was burdened by the scarcity of early hospital records and of research in related fields of charitable and social welfare - which emphasizes the value of rescuing the hospital’s fast vanishing past from oblivion. 2. By attention to human relationships (that constantly inconsistent element in all institutional affairs) to evoke those unique qualities which distinguish Alfred Hospital from other similar hospitals. 3. To convey what the Alfred meant to the greatest number of people associated with it. 4. To provide a useful source of reference.
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ItemHow the south-east was held: aspects of the quadripartite interaction of Mount Gambier, Portland, Adelaide and Melbourne 1860-1917( 1977)This thesis examines aspects of the "perennial theme of discussion", acknowledging the involvement of four participants, viz., Mt. Gambier, Portland, Adelaide and Melbourne. The assertion of regional generality was supported by the fact that between 1866 and 1921 the Mt. Gambier district rarely contained less than 39% of the total population of the South-East of South Australia. Indeed, in 1911, over 48% of the region's population lived in the vicinity of Mt. Gambier. Furthermore, as Hirst noted, Mt. Gambier was the only old South Australian country town to maintain a steady rate of growth between 1870 and 1917. These facts contributed to the belief, to be longheld by both Adelaide and Melbourne, that Mt. Gambier was the key to the South-East of South Australia. The holding of Mt. Gambier was then thought to be a necessary precursor to the holding of the South-East. Learmonth and Logan have each produced very useful studies of the Victorian port of Portland and its hinterland. Their perceptions, however, remain essentially "Victorian". While the proximity of the border between Victoria and South Australia was acknowledged, no rigorous attempt was made to study historically its regional influence. This thesis also aims to remedy that situation. (From introduction)
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ItemBodies in revolt: a look at three Melbourne based performance artists( 1995)This thesis considers the work of three locally based performance artists; Jill Orr, Linda Sproul and Stelarc. Their performance work will be discussed with specific reference to the ways in which the human body is used and signified. Performance art is an anti-formalist practice which addresses embodied existence by placing 'the body' at the fore of the performance event. I will explore the themes which arise out of the selected performances by these well known performance artists, and in particular, I will demonstrate that the lived human body is continuously produced and reproduced through enactments, rendering essentialist notions of sex, gender and identity outdated. The human body is viewed as always and already mediated by the social and the cultural as well as the biological. The following discussion will also unleash an attack on a western philosophical tradition which has cast the body as a fixed and purely natural entity.
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ItemTwentieth century stained glass in Melbourne churches( 1997)This present study is intended to supplement the documented knowledge on Melbourne's church stained glass and to examine the major threads that run concurrently through the century: the continuation of nineteenth century images, techniques and themes and the influence of modernism on stained glass. It seemed appropriate to chronologically follow from Down's closing date of 1910, subsequently revised to cover the early years of the century and to close with the flurry of activity surrounding the Bicentennial Year, 1988. (From introduction)
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ItemMax Crawford: necessity and freedom( 2002)This thesis is a study of Max Crawford as an intellectual and historian from the years 1927 to 1962. Its argument is that Crawford's consistent stance of liberalism in political and academic life propelled him towards a position which, in the climate of the years preceding the Second World War and the Cold War, seemed radical, but in the wake of public criticism he later withdrew from direct engagement in public intellectual life. There are three prevailing themes. The first addresses the political denial that dominated Crawford's retrospective autobiographical writing. Crawford insisted that his family was not political, and that he followed the family tradition in keeping his conscience free of political commitments. The thesis will argue that this was not evident in his family background, nor in his own activity. The ideology that he espoused in the History School, and afterwards was at pains to deny, was politically active and advocated the liberal values of freedom and morality. The thesis will explore how he was drawn to progressive causes and lent his academic authority to them, only to retreat when he encountered fierce criticism. It is my contention that Crawford finally adopted a stance of independence from all engagement because of the enduring legacy of the Cold War and the controversy surrounding his decision to write to the Bulletin ostensibly to expose an alleged Communist plot. The second theme of the thesis is the place of academic freedom in Australian universities. The thesis will argue that it was often tenuous and never completely accepted by administrators, politicians or the press, which expected universities to avoid controversy. The public and political expectations of an Australian intellectual created self-censorship and wavering commitment. These themes will be analysed in the context of Crawford’s experiences and his transformation from a highly conspicuous, progressive and engaged liberal to a more traditional and reticent one. The thesis will explore how his life and historical approach were subject to the pressures of public life. Finally, the thesis will investigate the intellectual style of Max Crawford. His approach to the theory and method of history exercised a strong influence on the discipline, as it assumed a central position in Australia's intellectual culture. The History School that Crawford created was celebrated for its scholarship and its students achieved important positions in other universities and public life. The thesis will examine the life of the Department, its influence, the approach to history and its legacy, which has been retrospectively celebrated and dismissed.
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ItemPiece pipes: clay tobacco pipes from the site of "Little Lon", Melbourne, Australia( 1998)This thesis describes, discusses and illustrates some of the pipes from intact deposits at the historic Melbourne site of 'Little Lon'. A discussion of the current state of pipe research with specific reference to the situation in Australia - is followed by a background to 19th century clay tobacco pipes, which includes a background to Australian Aboriginal pipe-smoking, gender issues in smoking, and a discussion of the possible existence of a pipe industry in the State of Victoria. A summary of the history and archaeology of the site of 'Little Lon' is then given. The results of earlier artefactual, architectural, and historical research into several pits from the site are outlined, after which the pipes from these same areas of the site are described, discussed, and compared with the findings from other evidence at the site. Selected pipes of special interest are then discussed in greater detail, and a background to the manufacturers represented at the site is given. The work concludes with a discussion of the 'Little Lon' pipes and suggested directions for future research into clay tobacco pipes, particularly those found in Australian sites.