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The Melbourne Shakespeare Society was established in 1884. It hosted lectures and play readings, as well as an annual ‘examination’ in which the young Robert Menzies seems to have been an enthusiastic participant. In 1945, he was reported as saying that he was ‘immeasurably grateful’ to the society, because it had made him memorise thousands of lines from Shakespeare’s works (‘Mr Menzies as a Shakespearian’).

Sources

‘Mr Menzies as a Shakespearian.’ The Argus, 10 December 1945, 2. Accessed 11 December 2013. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12157699.

Stewart, Ken. ‘Much Ado About Everything: The Melbourne Shakespeare Society 1884-1904.’ Australian Literary Studies 19, no. 3 (2000): 269-78.