Loss of a Loved One

A few months ago, I lost my mother after a short battle with a nasty illness. The aftermath has had me clearing out my childhood home – a house that has seen three generations of my family. It has been a very long and emotional process to dig through all of the papers, the items and the photographs. This has filled almost all of my spare time, my evenings and… Read More

Robina Scott Kindergarten

For the past month or so, I have been delving into the history of a place that is very dear to me. My childhood kindergarten. Founded in 1935 and originally known as Williamstown Free Kindergarten, and operated out of the St Andrews church hall on Cecil Street. A donation of a block of land on Ferguson Street was later made to Council, with the only clause attached was for the… Read More

Before & After

Things have been moving at a different pace lately, thanks in part to the pandemic. To help pass the time, I have been working on a monumental project – collecting school and sporting club photos from Hobsons Bay in Melbourne, to build an historic archive of all of the people that make it so great. Each photo is loaned from a member of the public, scanned by myself at better-than-archival… Read More

Digitising Newspapers

Recently I read an interesting blog post that demonstrated the process that the State Library of Victoria undertakes when Digitising newspapers. This process is very similar to the methods that DAB use, in that it relies on photographic techniques rather than scanning the pages individually.  I have digitised many thousands of pages of records using this technique, and I can attest that the best part about it (apart from the speed… Read More

Williamstown Bowling Club

Williamstown Bowling Club

DAB is pleased to welcome the Williamstown Bowling Club to our ever-growing list of clientele. Williamstown Bowling Club was formed in 1882, and has been continuously running ever since. DAB is looking forward to delving into their archive of historical records, photographs and awards, spanning more than 130 years, and preserving them for future generations of researchers, genealogists and local sporting supporters. The records may solve someone’s mystery on their… Read More

Preservation of Precious Memories

As well as preserving historically significant documents for community organisations, I also enjoy preserving photographic memories. Old photographs, either of my own family, or often, people who have heard of my services and have that one special photo of someone in their family. Everyone has one somewhere, it does not even have to be that old. It may have suffered some damage over the years from being torn, folded, stuck… Read More

Restoration Process

For quite some time now, I have been restoring photos that have been damaged or have simply aged. This started when I discovered a box of my grandmother’s pictures from her childhood, and I decided to restore them. Using my skills learned in the design industry for retouching, minute adjustments and removal of small imperfections like dust etc, I was able to apply them to these old photographs. I began… Read More

Welcome Aboard!

DAB would like to welcome their newest client aboard, the Williamstown Mens Lacrosse Club. The Williamstown Lacrosse Club formed their first team in 1899, and has been representing Williamstown in the Victorian Lacrosse Association ever since. Their history is rich and is made up of predominantly framed photographs depicting their teams, as well as significant members and officials from their past. Going in to this project, I knew almost nothing… Read More

DAB goes Live!

After much stress and plenty of coding headaches, DAB has finally launched its website! DAB has already been met with plenty of interest from prospective clients, not only in the document digitisation side of things but the photographic restoration as well. Many clubs have prized and treasured photos hanging on their walls which have been met with water damage, sun damage or even condensation within the frame, allowing the silver… Read More