Victorian Community History Awards 2009

Download the summary of the Victorian Community History Awards 2009 here (PDF, 1,176KB). (To view this document you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer).

Winners and Commendations

The Chinawoman by Ken Oldis The winners of the Victorian Community History Awards 2009 were announced recently at a ceremony held on Saturday, 16 May 2009.

The Overall Winner for 2009 was The Chinawoman by Ken Oldis.

At first glance this book reads like fiction, but the copious, verifiable endnotes attest to its authenticity as Melbourne history. This is history in the form of a murder thriller: In December 1856, who killed the prostitute Sophie Lewis, known as the Chinawoman because of her association with Chinese men?

The murder forced two communities to interact. One was the broad Chinese population centred on Little Bourke Street, and the other was the detective force led by Charles Hope Nicolson, who was later prominent in the Kelly hunt. Fook Shing, the Chinese detective, was among those ordered to pursue Chinese suspects.

This is a suspenseful page-turner told in a highly original way. The author, Ken Oldis, is a Melbourne lawyer practising in the criminal jurisdiction. Apart from telling a gripping story, his book gives an insight into the dubious workings of Victoria's detective force and the travails of the Chinese community. It is an original and graphic book.

Category Finalists

Best Collaborative / Community Work

An Island Worth Conserving: A History of the Phillip Island Conservation Society
by Christine Grayden, Phillip Island Conservation Society Inc.

The Judges said the Society''s dedicated members had engaged in a seemingly endless battle to preserve habitat and curb unwanted commercial growth on Phillip Island. The members had been steadfast in their determination to keep the Island in a condition of natural beauty, and had inspired subsidiary groups along the way.

Best Audio-Visual Multimedia

Creating a Community Museum by Bendigo Chinese Association Museum Inc. Creating a Community Museum
by Bendigo Chinese Association Museum Inc. trading as Golden Dragon Museum.

Creating a Community Museum is in the form of a DVD. The Judges said the DVD was lively, informative and well-produced, and made clear that the dragon, centrepiece of Bendigo's Easter Fair, was not the sole attraction.

The Museum has fostered a sense of togetherness in the whole community, not only in people of Chinese descent. The result is a stunning community asset, which raises money for local charities and offers courses in martial arts and Chinese theatre and music. It attracts many young people.

Best Print / Publication

The Place for a Village: How nature has shaped the City of Melbourne
by Gary Presland.

Gary Presland retired in 2000 and believed that 'a man in retirement needs a project', embarked on a PhD thesis on the complex topic of the landscape history of Melbourne. This superb book, published by Museum Victoria, conveys what Mr. Presland calls his 'sense of wonder in the lost natural history of Melbourne'.

In an age marked by an obsession with the present, he persuades the reader to think in terms of aeons of time, possibly hundreds of millions of years. There is portrayal of pre-European vegetation and animals and it also shows how natural history creates attachment to a place.

The Judges said Mr. Presland's triumph is that he writes so lucidly about so much scientific material which is otherwise inaccessible to nearly anyone else, making his book a rare achievement.

Best Community Research, Registers and Records

Bitter Roots, Sweet Fruit: A history of Schools in Collingwood, Abbotsford and Clifton Hill
by Karen T. Cummings, Collingwood Historical Society.

The Judges said that the author, Karen T. Cummings, of the Collingwood Historical Society, had used excellent research to write her book, Bitter Roots, Sweet Fruit, an absorbing look at Collingwood trying out one educational experience after another from its pioneer days.

"It is broad in scope and rich in the detail of solid research - how rich is revealed by the huge number of end notes. Collingwood had national schools, state schools, technical schools, reform, denominational, private, even home schools - and before any of that it had the first school for Aborigines on the banks of Merri Creek".

"In some ways, Collingwood - Melbourne's second suburb - was a kind of social laboratory for all the others."

Best Exhibit / Display

The Navy in Port Exhibition: A month of celebration for the centenary of the Great White Fleet visit.
by Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society.

Port Melbourne had a problem last year. The Historical Society wanted to stage a Great White Fleet display. But it possessed only one relevant item, a stereograph. So it appealed through a newspaper for more relics.

In this way the organisers acquired the loan of thousands of dollars worth of treasured items, including a Yankee uniform from Rosebud, a medallion from Echuca, a souvenir from Portarlington and a 45-star battle flag from Colac. The relics kept rolling in - such things as a watch fob, menus, programs, an oil painting and silver spoons.

Volunteers researched and mounted the display in the Port Melbourne Town Hall Gallery, and Port Phillip Council paid the bills. A retired naval officer who heads the Naval Heritage Trust was induced to give two lectures.

But things didn't stop there. The Historical Society conducted heritage tours of former navy sites, and it sponsored an old-time magic lantern show for which admittance was a gold coin. Appropriately the takings went to Missions to Seafarers.

Best Walk / Tour

Heritage Walk, Wangaratta by Wangaratta Regional Tourist Development Inc. Heritage Walk, Wangaratta
by Wangaratta Regional Tourist Development Inc.

Heritage Walk, Wangaratta, consists of 32 stops, illustrated in what the Judges called a well-designed folding map.

It was produced by Wangaratta Regional Tourist Development Inc, local historian Bill O'Callaghan and the Wangaratta Historical Society.

Judges in the Awards said many of the historic buildings such as the churches, old library, state school, old post office and the Pinsent Hotel are regional landmarks and are full of character. Bronze story boards erected near the heritage buildings give detailed information.

Judge's Special Prize for Excellence

Crime in the Port Phillip District 1835 - 1851
by Paul R Mullaly

The Judges' Special Prize for Excellence in the 2009 Victorian Community History Awards has gone to a retired County Court Judge, Paul Mullaly for his detailed study called Crime in the Port Phillip District 1835-51.

The Judges said that this was an authoritative work which covered what seemed to be every aspect of crime and the administration of justice in early Port Phillip. Mr. Mullaly gave examples in innumerable cases, and the work should be of great interest to lawyers, historians and genealogists.

The Judges' Special Prize, worth $500, is awarded at the Judges' discretion to works of quality and value which may not fit easily into a category of community history.