History

Edward (Ted) Webb was Postmaster of the Maldon Post Office for thirteen years from 1972 until 1985. For twelve of those years, he also served on the Athenaeum’s committee of management. During that time, he opened and closed the library before and after his working day in the Post Office next door. The spare key kept at the Post Office is perhaps a legacy of Ted’s time with both institutions. But his greatest legacy is that through his efforts our small library survived a social and political change that saw the closure of so many other mechanics’ institute ‘free’ libraries.

According to a letter Ted wrote in 2002, he joined the library’s committee at the urging of the vicar of Holy Trinity, John Geldart. The vicar, himself a committee member, was about to leave the district, and was worried that the library needed more support. The vicar’s concern was that the library was being kept afloat by three ‘dedicated, but very elderly ladies’ – Win Rowe (General Committee Member), Beryl Evans (Vice President) and Louise Tobin, whom Ted refers to in his letter as ‘Madam President’ but was actually Secretary, Treasurer and Librarian. Perhaps he was confusing her with Mrs Somers (another Vice President) who was chairing meetings because the President (Mr Whitlock) had recently died. Ted was, after all, by that time 75 years old and recalling events from 30 years earlier.

Ted joined the committee soon after President Whitlock’s death in July 1973. The following year, he was elected Vice President and then President in 1975, a position he held until 1985. For much of Ted’s time on the committee, it was business as usual – books were donated and bought, fundraising events were organised, meeting rooms were rented to local organisations and the Hall hired as the polling booth for State and Federal elections. Three notable events also occurred:

• in 1974, the Athenaeum finally received the long-awaited proceeds ($938.84) of the deceased estate of local resident and Athenaeum Reserve Trustee, William Adams
• in 1978 an arrangement was made for the Maldon Athenaeum to regularly purchase old books (at 50c per book) from its fellow mechanics’ institute and name-sake, the Melbourne Athenaeum
• In 1979, the Victorian Government ceased paying the customary annual grant to ‘free libraries’, redirecting the funds instead to the burgeoning publicly-funded regional library scheme.

While the first enabled the Athenaeum to paint the walls and sand the floors; and the second contributed significantly to the library’s book collection; the third was a death knell for many of the few remaining mechanics’ institutes – the original providers of libraries throughout Victoria – which were either subsumed into the regional system or closed their doors.

Ted Webb, however, rolled up his sleeves and fought. He was determined that Maldon’s mechanics’ institute – the Athenaeum – would continue to provide a local library service for as long as the community wanted it: among other things, he wrote to the government to protest, gave radio interviews, and conducted a survey to find out if residents really wanted a local library rather than a regional one they had to travel to. They did.

This was perhaps Ted Webb’s finest hour – his unique contribution to the Athenaeum and to the readers of Maldon. He kept the doors open. For this, for his tenacity and determination, he was awarded Life Membership in 2002.

He remained an avid reader, continuing to borrow books from the library he helped to save until he died in 2020 aged 93. Our records show that the last book he borrowed was Regent Square by Forbes Bramble. It was never returned.

(See also see ‘Struggle to Remain Independent’ on this website.)

Lynda Achren 2025

References

Correspondence held in the Maldon Athenaeum Archive Collection. For use within the library only.

Library minutes held in the Maldon Athenaeum Archive Collection. For use within the library only.

Newspapers held in the Maldon Athenaeum Archive Collection. For use within the library only:

The Tarrangower Times, September 9, 1982.