Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak
Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak is a Catholic Girls' School with over 900 girls from ELC to VCE located in the inner eastern Melbourne suburb of Toorak.
The Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak Heritage Collection began in September 1924 when the school first opened in the historic mansion Mandeville Hall.
Since 1924, the collection has grown immensely and was initially sorted and collated by Sister Josephine Jeffery ibvm. She saw the need to gather material from all over the school into one location and preserve it for future generations. Her enthusiasm is perpetuated today with our collection now providing us with a valuable snapshot of the life of the School.
The Heritage Collection documents the tradition and history of the School and also serves as its long-term memory, enabling better quality planning, decision-making and action by providing continuity, access to past experience, expertise and knowledge, and a historical perspective.
The Heritage Collection is also part of the School's cultural heritage and unique identity. It has significant links with other forms of evidence of past and present human activity and by drawing on all available forms of evidence, we can achieve a much richer understanding of our own heritage.
There are a number of public display in Mandeville Hall using material from the Centre.
Limited visitor parking on site (enter via Mandeville Cres)
The extensive Heritage Collection contains records dating back to the establishment of the School in 1924 and as recent as yesterday.
Major holdings include:
School newsletters
Principal's records
Student & staff handbooks
School magazines including the "Eucalyptus Blossoms" the "Mandevillian"
Student & staff records
School registers
Finance records
Photographs, slides & negatives
Videos, films and audiotapes
Memorabilia including badges, crockery and glassware
Trophies, shields, ribbons, and plaques
Textiles including sporting pennants, ribbons, vestments, blazers and hats
Paintings and other art work
Special Collections:
75th Anniversary collection
Past Pupils Association collection
Federation collection
Donations:
The Heritage Collection continues to grow daily with numerous donations from current and past staff & students, and the acquisition of items during the day-to-day running of the School. Photographs, blazers, hats, badges and copies of the School Magazine are just some of the items that have been donated over the last five years, a number of which are on display in Mandeville Hall. All donated items are uniquely numbered so that the origin of the item is identified and guaranteed for future generations. At present we are searching for any class photos from the 1950s - 1970s.