From the President’s Pen Nov 2025

Hello fellow members. I hope you are well.

The end of the year is approaching quickly and it has been a busy year for our Society and memorable for many reasons. There is now considerable planning for next year, especially with the organisation of a speakers’ schedule for our monthly meetings which is almost finalised.

Don’t forget the December meeting is solely for member presentations, and I am looking for members to volunteer a story or share their current project. Please contact me if you have a topic to present. We do not meet in January, so February is the first month for monthly presentations. I hope the final meeting will have a yuletide feeling.

Our speakers will cover a great diversity of topics in 2026. Many of you know our speaker for February – David Rowe. I spoke with David recently and he is very keen to speak about the Geelong Art Gallery. Those who know David are aware of his encyclopaedic knowledge of Geelong’s History and his recent work of writing A Thematic History of Greater Geelong. David’s nine Themes I believe surpass Walter Randolf Brownhill’s iconic book: “The History of Geelong and Corio Bay,” even with Ian Wynd’s Supplement.

Our Award-winning Internet site

I am very pleased and proud to report our Society was the recipient of a City of Greater Geelong ‘Celebrating Excellence in Heritage’ Award for the category “Interpretation and Promotion”. I attended the Award Presentation Evening on October 15 at the Geelong City Headquarters with Vice President, Mark Thomas and Secretary and Web Manager, Michael O’Donnell.

The award came as a surprise, because our aim in producing the website was not to win awards, but to achieve the goals and vision that our Society endorsed and embraced when I became president.

On becoming president, the society was still struggling to recover from the problems brought on by the COVID lockdowns. We suffered from a declining membership. The society needed to “Look Forward and Outward” — and to achieve this vision I stressed three pillars for emphasis: Community, Participation and Communication. These weren’t just abstract ideals — they were the foundation for our renewed direction. First we needed a new website: one that could embody our vision and serve as a vibrant, accessible hub for members and the wider community.

The result is a website that is bright, welcoming and informative place that adds depth and variety to the strength of our Society over the past 80 years: to tell the story of Geelong’s past.

Through our digital space we welcomed and exposed everyone to Geelong’s rich historical landscape, from seasoned researchers, dedicated members to inquisitive locals. The website had to be not just a visual and text repository, but rather a platform for dialogue, discovery, and connection. It’s now a blend of traditional scholarship and modern multi-media communication; all done on a volunteer basis with no government funding.

It is pleasing to see our website is praised, not just by our members, but also by the broader Geelong community and City of Greater Geelong.

Michael’s outstanding job, as Webmaster, has enables our Society a make a huge leap forward by ensuring we have a prominent place in the ‘electronic heritage community’ that is currently flooding the internet.

Barwon River Ovoid Sewer Bridge Advocacy

The protracted decision regarding the fate of the Barwon River Ovoid Sewer Bridge is coming to an end. On October 1st, Barwon Water made an application to Heritage Victoria to demolish the whole structure. Our Society since the mid 1990s objected to this proposal and as late as June 23rd this year our Secretary, Michael O’Donnell had a special meeting with Barwon Water to directly state our position. Unfortunately, that has not changed their desire to continue with demolition.

Once the Heritage Victoria application was made, community members and organisation such as ours still had the opportunity to object to the granting of a demolition permit. We made a submission to Heritage Victoria opposing the granting of a permit and recommended Barwon Water to explore other ideas which we included in our objection, That correspondence is available for you to read on our website. Copies of our correspondence were also sent to the State Government Minister for Water and State Government Minister for Planning. A number of submissions were also completed by individual Society members.

We shall wait for the verdict, but whichever way it goes I am proud of the consistent stand our Society has taken over this matter and the way we have exercised our rights to make objections to the Barwon Water decision. I am also proud of the way our Secretary, Michael O’Donnell, has professionally and articulately expressed our opinions to the people in Barwon Water and relevant State Government Ministers. You can read our submission to heritage Victoria on our website:

Broader Community Activities

Corangamite Catchment Management Authority Project

We were invited to become part of a broad community-based Project Reference group Meeting to make input to a Corangamite Catchment Management Authority Project designed to Improve fish Passage on the Barwon and Moorabool Rivers. I attended the first meeting on August 23 and the project details were presented so that community organisations could provide advice and feedback on various stages of the project. It was a very informative initial meeting which scoped various sections of the river to be potentially modified. Most of the sections involved overcoming river obstacles of fish migration. These obstacles have been in place dating back to the earliest years of European settlement along the rivers. I shall give progress reports, after our next meeting in 2026.

Honouring the Past – Creating the Future Symposium

I was very pleased to attend the Honouring the Past – Creating the Future Symposium, on October 9th. Linda Carr and Vivienne Lewis, on behalf of the local National Trust, did an outstanding job in bringing together informative presentations from five prominent community members.

A large crowd of attendees were informed and challenged by various views on the meaning and application of Heritage in Geelong. Many Society members also attended. I learned about the many views that can be considered when heritage decisions are being made. It was a valuable learning experience for me and broaden my view of the meaning of Heritage. I hope the Symposium becomes an annual event.

City of Greater Geelong Committees

Our Society views were also expressed at the quarterly convened meetings of the City of Greater Geelong Heritage Advisory Committee and the City of Greater Geelong Collection Advisory Committee. Our input is important, but so is the knowledge our Society gains about the local events, developments and processes by which Heritage is organised in Geelong. It is also important to know the people who are employed to protect Geelong’s heritage.

Community Publicity

Our award-winning website has assisted other community groups and individuals seeking support for their events or personal research. I believe it is not just the right thing to do to assist our partner organisations, but also important to our members are made aware of relevant events they can attend. One person who requested assistance in locating a resource has accepted an invitation to speak to us next year.

Investigator

I hope you enjoyed the new features included in the September edition of Investigator. There has been positive feedback regarding the multi-media links that expand on stories that have been confined by the lack of space in the magazine. I have also received positive comments about the flipbook, and some members have indicated an interest in receiving the magazine electronically. We are committed to always printing Investigator, but will consider their requests.

If you have not received the news about the editor’s position, I am very pleased to announce that a former editor, Lana Capon returns to steer the magazine forward as Editor in 2026, commencing with the March edition. I am very grateful Lana has decided to assist our Society in this way. Our editorial committee will still be there to provide assistance.

Society Membership

Our Society membership continues to grow largely as a result of public visits to our website and through members’ personal approaches to friends. We are alive and flourishing and taking an active part in Geelong’s broader community.

Thank you for your participation in our Society through your continued membership. Participation can take many forms and it is not necessarily active nor frequent. Apart from membership to access Investigator, another way to participate in our Society is to visit our website. If you haven’t visited us online then you are missing out on so many stories, puzzles, information about local history-based events and the entire 60 years collection of Investigator. Remember, your member access is free. You just register online, because we frequently get people who want access to your member section, without paying the Society membership fee. Access is free for you.

There are active ways to participate too. We appreciate those who attend our monthly meeting, whether they attend every month or on selected months. Some members submit articles to our magazine and/or award-winning website. Few members nominate for our committee, which meets just four times a year. Our Annual General Meeting is next March and encourage as many members as possible to put forward their names join the Committee. This year we organised two excursions and the response was very encouraging. Please let me know of other places.

Which ever way you participate, we thank you and hope you will encourage others to join our Society. As we continue our travel forward, we must still look back in the rear-vision mirror and view the road upon which we have travelled. Our Society is very good at recalling and writing about Geelong and district’s past, but not strong in recalling the key personnel who have made us successful. I hope to rectify that omission.

Lest we forget

In the 80 years of our Society’s existence there have been members who have made enormous contributions to our Society. Their work is why we are in our strong position today. My time is just a nanosecond compared with many members. It is because of the position I hold that I am aware of the contributions made in former times.

At the 80th anniversary last year I presented a talk about our founding president, Mr E. J Fairnie. I was fortunate to have regular meetings with his grandson, and a Society member for over 60 years, Peter Fairnie. This year, writing about Investigator’s 60 year anniversary, my research made me aware of the enormous contribution of Ian Wynd as editor, president and committee member.

In my quarterly newsletter I want to publish information on those who have made substantial contributions of time and effort to foster the growth of our Society. Each edition will be under the heading of Lest we Forget, because new members should be aware of the people who have led the way and carried the torch for the interests and beliefs that we all share. Their efforts should not be forgotten, nor their work unrecognised. We owe a debt to them for our strength as a Society today.

William (Bill) James MORROW
(30 Jan 1922 – 25 Apr 2000) DFC, OAM, FRHSV, ACIS, ACIM, ASA

Bill Morrow was Society Secretary & Treasurer for many years. He was a qualified Accountant and Chartered Secretary, starting his career at the State Savings Bank in Moorabool Street in the late 1930s. He serviced with distinction in World War II and after the war lived in Geelong. At one time he taught accounting at the Gordon night school. His main occupational role was as Secretary to the Geelong Harbor Trust.

In this short tribute to Bill’s work, I have drawn on eulogies written by people who knew Bill. There is an Editorial by Ian Wynd and selected information from Peter Alsop, President, Geelong Historical Society, and Bill’s wife, Audrey Morrow (sourced from our Society’s Investigator CD Index). This focusses on his contribution to our Society.

Bill was Secretary of the Geelong Historical Society in 1967 to 1969 and Secretary and Treasurer from 1970 until his death in 2000. During this period he achieved distinction by:

Investigator magazine’s success was largely due to Bill’s efforts. Ian Wynd wrote:

“He made it his personal mission to sell the magazine to as many people as he could. Ashe had built up a wide circle of friends and acquaintance through his sporting, church, work and returned servicemen’s activities he soon boosted the circulation of Investigator considerably.”

Bill received community service awards from the cities of Newtown (1988) and Geelong (1988). He was made a life member of the Geelong Historical Society (1990) a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria (1991) and then awarded an OAM in 1995.

Charles Demllo

In the September 2025 edition of Investigator, the incorrect spelling of Charles Demllo was printed. Errors occur when new members of the Society have not known former members. Despite being thoroughly proofread the error of the misspelling of Charles Demllo’s name was not identified. New members to the Society may not be aware of the contribution he made to our Society.

Charles Demllo’s twenty-one contributions to Investigator were an astounding effort. Many of his articles are personal memoirs of historic events in the city such as “Corio Street Memories” and “Waterfront Memories”.

In a special mention of his passing (at 93 years of age) was published in Investigator, Vol. 40, No.4 December 2005.

“Charles Demllo was an enthusiastic member of the Geelong Historical Society whose many charming articles on Geelong and Corio Bay have delighted readers of this magazine.”

Today, our Society is part of Bill’s and Charles’ legacies, and we must honour that by remembering their work.

Kind regards

Harry Roberts