Men of Yesterday : A Social History of the Western District of Victoria 1834-1890

AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE, Australiana –

Margaret Loch Kiddle (1914-1958) is best remembered for Men of yesterday: a social history of the western district of Victoria 1834-1890. This classic example of Australian historiography was published posthumously in 1961.

The ten-year effort to see Men of Yesterday through to completion despite serious illness was documented in forensic detail within Kiddle’s correspondence, research notes and diary entries. The writing of the last words of the manuscript coincided with the end of Margaret Kiddle’s life. Men of Yesterday was released to critical praise that was undermined by rumours of major revision and editing after Kiddle’s death. Patricia Grimshaw and Jane Carey have traced the source of these claims to John La Nauze and refuted them.4 This classic work of regional history brought focus to a previously neglected era of historical writing in Australia. A close examination of her efforts to complete Men of Yesterday reveals Kiddle to be a central figure of the Crawford era Melbourne School of History.

• xviii, 573 p., [24] p. of plates : ill., ports. ; 24 cm.

• • Includes index.
  • Bibliography: p. 557-564. Reprinted with corrections from 1961 first published
  • #210925

  • • Squatters — Victoria — Western District — History — 19th century
    • Victoria — History — 1834-1900
    • Western District (Vic.) — Social life and customs
    • Victoria — Social life and customs