Work in small groups for this activity.

Activity 1: How do people find out about the past?

Background information:

Have you ever wondered how people know what happened a long time ago? Libraries and other places like Public Record Office Victoria (the State Archives) store important historical documents such as Acts of Parliament, letters, diaries, photographs, minutes of meetings, newspapers, taped interviews with important citizens and so on.

By using these old records people get to know what happened at a particular time in history. They use these documents to help them put the story together. It is similar to being a detective, trying to put the pieces of evidence together to solve a mystery or crime. Sometimes it is impossible to find everything but usually people find enough to be able to write the story so that it makes sense.

Activity 2: Read the founding documents

Read the information on the sheet, 'Responsible government in Victoria: How it began' so you are familiar with the information it contains. You may need to read this history more than once.

Now look at the extracts taken from the key founding documents of responsible government in Victoria (see section below). Find where the information provided in each of these texts has been used in the history, 'Responsible government in Victoria: How it began'. Develop a key or code to help you quickly identify where each text was used. Your key or code could be numbers, letters or symbols.

Primary documents (The founding documents)

Many, but not all, of the facts about the beginnings of responsible government can be found in the extracts from the following original documents. Handwritten documents have also been typed so you will find them easier to read. To make your task easier, you can print these documents to use in class.

These documents are:

• Report from the Select Committee .. on a New Constitution for the Colony, 9 December 1853
• Lord John Russell's letter forwarding Queen Victoria's assent to Victoria's Constitution to the Governor of Victoria, 20 July 1855
• An Act to enable Her Majesty to assent to ... establish a Constitution in and for the Colony of Victoria
• Governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham to WIlliam Haines, 26 November 1855
• Colonial Secretary, William Haines to Governor of Victoria, 26 November 1855

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• Introductory activities
• Investigating the past
• Visiting the exhibition
• Going further
• Extension activities
Links
• Activity sheet: Responsible government in Victoria - How it began
• Report from the Select Committee .. on a New Constitution for the Colony, 9 December 1853
• Lord John Russell's letter to the Governor of Victoria, 20 July 1855
• An Act to enable Her Majesty to assent to ... establish a Constitution in and for the Colony of Victoria
• Colonial Secretary, William Haines to Governor of Victoria, 26 November 1855