The historic township of Malmsbury (Victoria, Australia) grew from a travellers' stop, on the banks of the Coliban River, on the road from Melbourne to the Mount Alexander Goldfields (Castlemaine District) in the 1850s. Travellers would stop and camp at the river to await a safe crossing.

The head station of Alexander Fullerton Mollison's Colliban pastoral run (1837) was on the west side of the Coliban. With the discovery of gold in Victoria and the need to open up the land for freehold purchase, the run was surveyed and large portions offered for sale which greatly reduced its size. Two early features of the town were the Malmsbury Hotel and the Caroline Chisholm Shelter Shed, one of only 10 built in Victoria to offer safe and affordable accommodation for travellers, especially women and children, to and from the goldfields.

Eventually Malmsbury became a gold town itself, but it is also famous for its bluestone rock which has been used to construct many a historic building in Victoria, interstate and in New Zealand. Not only is the local railway viaduct and station built with it, but many buildings in Melbourne, including St Paul's Cathedral, feature the local stone.

The Malmsbury Mechanics Institute, built in 1876 and extended in 1895, is another historic building in the town, and is the home of the Malmsbury Historical Society. The Mechanics Institute movement was the forerunner to today's public library system and often provided meeting places and events for all levels of local communities with the aim of self-improvement. Our motto is We Serve to Preserve and through our records, research and exhibitions we keep alive the history of Malmsbury and district.

Our areas of interest are Malmsbury, Drummond, Denver (formerly known as Burke), Edgecombe, George Town (between Malmsbury and Taradale) and Green Hill. Drummond and Denver are located in Hepburn Shire (part of the former Glenlyon Shire) and rate records are held at Daylesford Historical Society. The Kyneton newspapers, however, frequently reported events at Drummond. Drummond births were often registered in Malmsbury (or Glenlyon) and many former Drummond residents are buried at Malmsbury, Glenlyon and Spring Hill Cemeteries. Malmsbury, Drummond and Lauriston were both in the Taradale division of the Castlemaine Mining District, rather than the Daylesford Division.