Community
5 June, 2026
Early papers now online
THANKS to a grant from the Public Records Office of Victoria, the early editions of the Koroit newspaper can now be accessed online.
Members of the Koroit and District Historical Society were thrilled to announce late last week that, as the result of the grant, residents can now view the 1878-1885 editions of the paper on TROVE through the National Library of Australia website.
“This is the first step in searching digital collections for many researches of early history, of towns, as well as the people involved,” president of the Koroit and District Historical Society Margaret Trotter said.
“Our society was successful in obtaining a local history grant from the Public Records Office in 2024 to upload copies of The Koroit Herald 1878-1879 and 1885-1886, as well as Koroit Herald and Tower Hill Advertiser 1879-1886 from microfilm to TROVE and this is now complete. “
The newspapers from the first World War (1915-18) were digitised from microfilm in 2015.
According to Margaret, these have proven to be valuable to researchers far and wide as they are freely available online.
“We are very grateful to the Public Records Office of Victoria as this was an important first step,” she said.
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“We now have a larger plan and quotes for future digitising of the early Koroit newspapers which are so rich in history, and will be seeking help to preserve the history of these papers.”
The Koroit Historical Society holds microfilm copies, as well as hard copies of the newspapers through the years. They are also held at the State Library of Victoria.
“These are valuable to us as a resource for answering the many enquiries we receive,” Margaret said.
“If we could find the funds to have these copied and made available to the wider world, it would help anyone who would like to search newspapers for articles, people and stories that are of interest to them, and if they have internet access, searches on computer, smartphone or iPad would be available.”
The Koroit and District Historical has made a start on this project.
“We would be most grateful if anyone in the community would like to help us with donations to work forward and have newspapers we hold, copied digitally, so they would be available to all,” she said.
