Who was Lady Loch?
Elizabeth Loch (1841-1938) was born in Wiltshire, England, to an aristocratic family. She travelled to Australia in 1884 with her husband, Sir Henry Brougham Loch, the newly appointed Governor of Victoria, and remained here until 1895. Lady Loch was a popular public figure and an adept social hostess given to throwing lavish parties. She was also actively involved in charity work - in 1887 she formed The Queen’s Fund, a trust working for destitute women which is still in existence today.
Like many Governors' wives of the time, Lady Loch accompanied her husband on official business. This required extensive travel around the colony of Victoria - sometimes staying in luxury with wealthy squatters, at other times camping in remote locations under difficult conditions.
Lady Loch's popularity as the 'first lady' of the colony, and her involvement in a wide range of causes led to the first native rhododendron, a large gold nugget and a ship being named after her.
Presentation albums
While dignitaries were often presented with large cards of one or two pages, known as 'illustrated addresses' to celebrate and commemorate their visits to various cities and towns, presentation albums were less common.
The Lady Lady Loch album is a particularly impressive example of a presentation album, and is among the finest examples within the State Library's collection. Its size and scale indicates that Lady Loch's visit to Gippsland was of particular significance to the local community. | 
