From the President’s Pen August 2025
Hello fellow members! I hope you are well. As usual, there are many topics on which to report about the work of your Society. I am pleased to report that many activities and innovations we have begun, have now come to fruition and you are the beneficiaries.
Diamond Jubilee for Investigator!
Our Society is on the cusp of another great achievement with the forthcoming September edition of Investigator. This Investigator edition marks its 60th year of publication. In this special edition, you will notice a new cover design and new features designed to add extra detail to the stories.
It would be pleasing if you could give us feedback on the design and new features. One new feature is the addition of a ‘flipbook’ version of the magazine. A flipbook is an electronic version that you can read on your mobile phone or computer. The flipbook is not a replacement, but an additional way to view the publication anywhere you have an internet signal.
The production for September is the first by the editorial team of Roger Southern, Coral Turner and Lana Capon. I thank them for their efforts and contributions. We still seek a person to volunteer as Editor, to join our editorial team.
The team’s vast experience and assistance will help you to produce a magazine of exceptional quality. Please contact me if you are interested. Layout and production of the magazine is the work of local firm, Print Design Australia.
Do you have any stories for publication? We can assist you to write them if you lack confidence.
Investigator Digitisation
You might recall my previous newsletters mentioned the digitisation of Investigator. I am pleased to report that has now been completed. Investigator is totally digitised in time for its 60th anniversary.
Our Titles index is also completely up to date. These can be accessed only via our members’ section of our website. Individual editions can be located and downloaded too. Our Web manager, Michael, has spent hours establishing links to each edition to make their access easy for you.
Our Fantastic Website!
If you haven’t visited our website, then you are missing out on something really special.
Enter this address on your mobile: geelonghistoricalsociety.org.au
Our Secretary and Web Manager, Michael O’Donnell, has done an outstanding job in crafting our website. It offers links to all published Investigators, jigsaw puzzles, publicity information, recent Society news, and more.
This is a welcoming, dynamic, interesting and exciting website. IT IS CONSTANTLY ADDING NEW CONTENT. It’s not a “read once and you’ve seen it”, place to visit.
Our Website member’s section is FREE TO ACCESS FOR MEMBERS!
All we ask is for you to register so that non-members don’t get to view the information you get for free as part of your membership.
Michael’s work consistently impresses me, and many organisations admire how he presents our Society’s information. I can’t thank him enough for the hard work and dedication he has given to our Society.
I LOVE DON PATTERSON’S JIGSAW PUZZLES SECTION,
AND SO DO MY GRANDCHILDREN.
All you do is move the pieces with your mouse on your computer or your finger on your phone. If the piece fits, then it clicks into place. Try Don’s puzzle of Kardinia Park in 1957 (pictured above)
Thank you, Don, for your many unique puzzles based on scenes from Geelong’s past. If you need help to register, then please contact us at: admin@geelonghistoricalsociety.org.au
Our Society’s reach is widespread
Our Society has members in Melbourne, country Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Italy and England. It is remarkable that interest in Geelong’s past and our Society’s work is spread across the globe.
On my recent trip to England in May this year I was fortunate to have a meeting and lovely lunch with Ian Brown. We ate at the Old Bull Inn (built in the 1600s) at a town called Newick, in East Sussex. Ian has been associated with our Society for decades and still maintains a very keen interest in the things we do. He is an avid reader of Investigator, and enjoys reading the stories on our Website.
Ian’s father, you may recall, was Doctor Phillip Brown, our former president for 17 years between 1949 and 1970. After these terms, Dr Brown continued to serve on the general committee. He had broader interests too, as a National Trust of Australia representative. Dr Brown died in 1996, aged 92.
Queen Elizabeth II Glass
The QEII Goblet was purchased by public contributions under the auspices of the Geelong Historical Society. Thank you to Jennifer Bantow who organised the collection and purchase. Jennifer will be organising for the Goblet to be formally donated to the City of Greater Geelong. She will soon be in touch with those who assisted in the purchase of the goblet.
Monthly Speakers for 2026
We are starting to approach people to speak at our Monthly meetings in Virginia Todd Hall. If you have any suggestions or recommendations, then please contact me.
Ovoid Sewer Aqueduct
Yes, the Aqueduct’s future is still to be resolved, but events are drawing to a close. It is remarkable that Dr Norman Houghton wrote these words in Investigator in June 1994:
“Over the past three decades of this magazine’s existence I have written many times about the impending destruction of historic buildings in our city – generally in vain. Once again, we face the loss of a structure which has been part of Geelong for about eighty years – the sewerage aqueduct across the Barwon.”
In May 1996, then President and experienced bridge engineer, Peter Alsop, expressed our Society’s view on this issue to an Independent Panel of Inquiry. He said the aqueduct should be “retained in its entirety” and that control over the structure should be “transferred to Crown land”.
At our May meeting this year it was resolved again that the Ovoid Sewer Aqueduct should be preserved in its entirety and that view was accepted and endorsed at the June Committee meeting. As you have read, this view has not changed in the past 31 years.
Our Society’s Objectives drive the actions we take and have taken. You will observe that our views and actions are consistent with those objectives, namely; “Assisting in the preservation of historical buildings and structures”
We are currently in correspondence with Barwon Water management, expressing our view that the Aqueduct should not be demolished, but preserved as a “Noble Ruin”, as articulated by Heritage Chairs of Australia and New Zealand. This approach is expressed in the Commonwealth 2013 publication titled, Ruins: A Guide to Conservation and Management.
On July 23, the Secretary, Michael O’Donnell, was given a briefing by Barwon Water’s Managing Director, the Head of Enterprise Project Delivery, the Strategic Engagement Adviser and their external Heritage Advisor from the firm Lovell Chen. The purpose was to seek clarity on Barwon Water’s rationale for near-total removal and the rejection of alternative conservation strategies. In short, Barwon Water emphasised that the demolition proposal is necessary for safety and that it is a regretable last option. Safety and heritage concerns have driven their position and not cost.
Copies of our correspondence with Barwon Water and the meeting report will be available in the Members’ Only section of our Website. We will keep you informed as to the outcome of this matter.
New Database completed and operational
Our new database is now fully functional, and we have been able to keep accurate data on membership details and payments. We now have 140 email addresses, so that we can communicate with you faster and cheaper than using expensive postal costs. This is a huge improvement from just over twelve months ago when we had just 22 email addresses.
One database feature that was drawn to our committee’s attention at the June meeting was a large number of membership payment are now overdue. The Committee decided a ‘grace period’ of six months would apply before the delivery of Investigator was ceased to members who are overdue in their membership.
I realise that annual fees are often forgotten, so we have sent, and will be sending, friendly reminders for payment. Members who are overdue at the end of August will not receive the September edition.
Our membership fee is calculated based on the cost of producing the magazine and on delivery of the magazine for every paid member. Sending copies to those who haven’t paid puts our finances in the red.
City of Greater Geelong Heritage Committees
Our commitment to ‘community’ is viewed broadly. Your Committee has striven to maximise the benefits to you through our monthly meetings, magazine and website, but we see our commitment to the broader Geelong Community is also important. In the past, I have described our participation and attendance at quarterly meetings of the City of Greater Geelong Heritage Collection Advisory Committee and the Urban Planning Heritage Advisory Committee
In June, our Society was invited to a Community Heritage Forum conducted by the City of Greater Geelong Urban Design and Place department. We were one of many groups that shared their ideas, insights and local knowledge to help shape the next stage of the Geelong Heritage Strategy 2025-35. It was pleasing that our Society was invited to assist with the formation of that important policy document.
Ford Centenary celebration
As I mentioned in the last Newsletter, we were invited to attend the City of Greater Geelong celebration of Ford’s Centenary in Geelong. In my absence, a video presentation was recorded and played at the event. Feedback to me is that it was well received. Importantly, our Society was seen to contribute information about a very important Geelong Industry, that still operates in Geelong, albeit at a very reduced scale. You can view the presentation on our Website.
I hope many of you will attend our September meeting where the special Investigator 60th Edition will be distributed. This modest document follows the style of those marking past milestones.
The ‘normal’ monthly meeting will be changed to a celebration of this achievement, but our monthly talk will still go ahead. The topic for September is Charles Brownlow, presented by Dr Tony Joel from Deakin University. I know it will contain some surprising facts.
Until next time, take care and good health,
Harry Roberts
President
Geelong Historical Society Inc.
