Story Threads

Begin with a thread.

These named invitations are deliberately ordered sets of Stories. Start at the first entry and follow each Thread at your own pace.

Growing UpA route through the ordinary pleasures and shaping routines of childhood: moving house, walking to school, classrooms, games, meals and the books that filled family life.Following the Family into VictoriaFollow several family lines through early Victoria, from migration and farms to Goulburn communities and Pakenham. Documents, remembered stories and visits to these places make the past tangible.Education, Work and MakingFollow several generations through education, paid and domestic work, family responsibilities and making: teaching, sewing, resourcefulness and the distinct lives behind these stories.Remembering Through Pictures, Places and ConversationA route through the ways this archive is made: shared conversation, family photographs, film and visits to places. Together they show memory becoming a record for others to enter.War, Faith and Family AftermathWar’s long reach appears in service records, family memory, faith, separation and loss. These Stories follow its effects across generations, ending with letters that keep a family voice close.A Friendship in FilmA close friendship remembered through the films Fred made: first the shared lives of Sue, Margaret, Rikki and Fred, then the moving images that preserve their world.Homes, Farms and NeighbourhoodsA route through the homes, farms and neighbourhoods that held family life: from Heather Farm to Croydon, Moore Street, Box Hill and Hawthorn.Stories RecoveredFollow the fragments from which family history is recovered: a graveside, remembered stories, careful research, letters and the long conversation that brings generations back into view.When the World ChangesFour stories about meeting change beyond the family home: activism, fire and storm, and the shared language of a pandemic that altered everyday life.