about abi and the history dept.

The History Dept. is a history and research consultancy specialising in bringing stories to life through expertly curated projects.

Founded by Abigail Belfrage in 2013, The History Dept. works with individuals, communities and organisations to connect with their history, protect and grow knowledge about their cultural heritage, and look after places and collections. 
 

Abi's Experience

Abi’s passion and expertise in archival research and analysis, storytelling, and working with collections shines through in the projects she has created with clients.

Abi’s house history publication, Bonleigh: Grand Dame, Beloved Home, received a Commendation in the 2020 Local History Award of the Victorian Community History Awards, and she successfully prepared Public Record Office Victoria’s first nomination of a record, the Ballarat Reform League Charter, to the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register for documentary heritage.

Abi brings her skills and sensitivity in storytelling and visual communication to interpretation projects, including interpretative panels for the former Chelsea Court House for City of Kingston (2019), and the exhibition, Our Lives, Our Stories: Geelong Careleavers Talking Back to Their Records, for the Australian Orphanage Museum, which received a Commendation in the 2023 Oral History Award of the Victorian Community History Awards. She has provided background research for gallery development for the Museum of Australian Democracy, and as a Summer Scholar for the Australian War Memorial.

Abi’s collaborative approach and attention to detail has underpinned her collection management projects for City of Melbourne and the Nepean Conservation Group, an appraisal of Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works records for Public Record Office Victoria, and a significance assessment of the Thompsons Engineering Drawing Office collection for the Maldon Vintage Machinery Museum.

Prior to establishing The History Dept., Abi developed her skills in researching and looking after places as a heritage consultant, preparing site documentation and analysis for heritage studies. She gained vital experience in archival research, collection management, and community engagement in various roles over nine years at Public Record Office Victoria (PROV). Based on her extensive work with researchers she developed PROV's online and hardcopy research guides and contributed to PROV's Lands Guide. She also helped establish PROV's Online Business Development Unit for the coordination of digitisation projects, and managed PROV's online transcription software pilot project as an online space for members of the public to transcribe archives.

  

 

Abi's affiliations & qualifications

  • Professional Historians Association (Vic & Tas): Professional member since 2007

  • Interpretation Australia

  • Australian Museums and Galleries Association Victoria

  • National Trust Victoria

  • Oral History Victoria

  • Royal Historical Society of Victoria

  • MA Public History, Monash University 2000

  • Grad Dip App Sci, Cultural Heritage Management, University of Canberra 1995

  • BA Hons History and Women's Studies, La Trobe University 1993