GEORGE Birkbeck was credited with organising the first mechanics’ institute in London in 1824. The idea was to improve the education of working men, especially in trades, and this was later extended to become an institute of adult education. Few remain, having been transcended by public lending libraries run by suburban councils, technical colleges and other houses of learning. An unsuccessful attempt was made to establish a mechanics institute in New South Wales in 1826, but the master tradesmen of Hobart managed to set up the Van Diemen’s Land Mechanics Institute the next year.

Institutes were formed in Sydney in 1833, Newcastle in 1835, Adelaide in 1838 and Melbourne in 1839. By 1880 they were common and, apart from providing libraries they were used for lectures on a wide range of subjects. They were largely the forerunner to today’s schools of art and adult education centres.

As time went by the mechanics’ institute had trouble paying its way and this led to many closures. Victoria had some 600 mechanics’ institutes in 1929, yet 50 years later few had survived in the wake of public lending libraries and technical schools. The Melbourne Athenaeum in Collins St, Prahran, Footscray, Ballarat and Ararat being rare exceptions. One thing these institutions had in their favor was a hall and as such the buildings were sometimes retained for community use, be it for dances, film shows, horticultural shows, community meetings and so on. The Oakleigh Mechanics’ Institute became colloquially known from 1928 as the town hall because