RAHS Upcoming Events
The Royal Australian Historical Society has an established tradition of delivering a diverse Calendar of Events throughout the year, helping make history accessible to all. This program includes lectures, skills-based workshops, regional seminars, tours and book launches.
The annual RAHS Conference is a highlight of the Society’s activities. It provides an opportunity for the RAHS and its Affiliated Societies to network at a conference dedicated to promoting local and community history, showcasing the research of individuals and societies.
November 2024
RAHS Day Lecture – The Antipodean Laboratory: Re-reading colonial archives
Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 6 November 2024 @ 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Event Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: Free
CLICK HERE TO BOOK A TICKET
Event Description:
What if the Australian colonies, far flung and usually considered peripheral to nineteenth-century Europe, were in fact central to the period’s philosophical, ethical, and scientific developments? This talk explores this provocative idea, showing how Australia was a key colonial field where British ideas could be trialled in experimental sites that transformed and distilled them before returning them as textual and material artefacts through circuits of correspondence and print culture.
About the speaker:
Anna Johnston is Professor of English at The University of Queensland. Anna has held ARC Queen Elizabeth II and Future Fellowships at UTAS and UQ, and she was the 2022 John Oxley Honorary Research Fellow, State Library of Queensland. Her major books include The Antipodean Laboratory: Making Colonial Knowledge, 1770–1870 (CUP, 2023); Eliza Hamilton Dunlop: Writing from the Colonial Frontier (SUP, 2022, edited with Elizabeth Webby); The Paper War: Morality, Print Culture, and Power in Colonial New South Wales (UWAP, 2011); and Missionary Writing and Empire, 1800–1860 (CUP, 2003).
RAHS-WEA Workshop – Stepping Ashore: Researching Passenger Arrivals in the Australian Colonies
Circular Quay, c.1935 (RAHS Collection).
This event is in partnership with WEA Sydney
Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 13 November 2024 @ 11.00 am – 1.00 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: RAHS members $35 | Non-members $39
CLICK HERE TO BUY A TICKET
Event Description:
Explore the methods and resources that can be used to uncover the records of individuals who immigrated to the Australian colonies in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This course also delves into the historical significance of immigration, providing participants with the skills to access primary and secondary sources, with a focus on accessing and interpreting ship’s passenger records, government archives, newspapers, and personal narratives.
About the speaker:
Christine Yeats is an archivist, historical researcher and active supporter of local historical societies. Her research interests include the history of the Romani (Gypsies) in nineteenth-century Australia and attempts to introduce a silk industry into the Australian colonies. Christine has undertaken a range of consultancy projects, including significance assessments and biographical and local history research. She is President of the Federation of Australian Historical Society, Senior Vice President of the RAHS and a member of the Professional Historians Association (NSW & ACT). Her recent publication is Handy Guide: Convict Records of NSW: The Human Stories of the Transportation System (2021).
RAHS Special Lecture – Life So Full of Promise: Further Biographies of Australia’s Lost Generation
Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 20 November 2024 @ 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Event Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: Free
Event Description:
Life So Full of Promise, winner of the 2024 Age Book of the Year Award, is Ross McMullin’s second multi-biography about Australia’s lost generation of World War I following Farewell, Dear People, winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History. Ross has again combined extensive research and narrative flair in another collection of inter-woven stories about forgotten Australians who had radiant potential. With their families and friends also conspicuous in the narratives, Life So Full of Promise illuminates what the war was like at home and at the sharp end. It provides insights into the experiences of Australians before, during and after the war, whether they were combatants or civilians, or soldiers’ wives or parents.
About the speaker:
Ross McMullin is an award-winning historian and biographer, and a renowned storyteller and speaker. His biography of Australia’s most famous fighting general, Pompey Elliott, won multiple awards. His other books, including his acclaimed ALP centenary history The Light on the Hill, are featured on his website: https://rossmcmullin.com.au.
RAHS-SAG Book Launch – The Family History Book
This event is in partnership with the Society of Australian Genealogists
Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 27 November 2024 @ 11.00 am – 1.00 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: RAHS-SAG members $20 | Non-members $25
Book Bundle Offer: Purchase a ticket and a discounted copy of The Family History Book (RRP $32.99).
Event Description:
Do you wonder if that family legend your grandparents told was true? Or have you never known much about your family history and would like to learn more? Cassie and Shaun Gilmartin will be in conversation with Ruth Graham (SAG) to launch The Family History Book and discuss all things family history.
The Family History Book takes you through the steps of researching and building a family tree, finding records of births, deaths and marriages, looking up newspaper archives and probate records, researching immigration and shipping, examining military records, as well as discovering your story through DNA testing. Whether you’re just beginning or have already made a start, this book guides you through all the places you can learn about genealogy in Australia.
About the speakers:
Cassie Gilmartin has 20 years of experience in writing and editing family history, including eight years as the publisher and editor of the award-winning magazine Inside History. She is co-host and producer of the Portrait Detective podcast in collaboration with Margot Riley from the State Library of New South Wales.
Shaun Gilmartin has specialised in history and science programming as a TV executive producer and writer for more than two decades, working for broadcasters across the globe. His documentaries have won awards in the UK, the US and Europe.
December 2024
RAHS History House Seminar – Writing History: Some Tips and Taboos
Event Date & Time: Tuesday, 3 December 2024 @ 11.00 am – 1.00 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: RAHS members $20 | Non-members $25
Event Description:
How do you turn your historical research into readable history? Historians don’t simply ‘write up’ their research – or let AI do it for them. Writing history is a literary endeavour. This seminar discusses the nature of historical writing and provides some tips on history writing for people who would like to see their research published – and read.
About the speaker:
Richard White taught Australian history at the University of Sydney from 1989 to 2013, supervising over 100 honours and doctoral theses. His own publications include Inventing Australia, The Oxford Book of Australian Travel Writing, On Holidays and Symbols of Australia. He co-edited History Australia, the journal of the Australian Historical Association, from 2008 to 2013, mentored early-career academics and has been a judge for a range of History prizes.
RAHS Christmas Party
Queen’s Square, Sydney (RAHS Postcard).
Event Date & Time: Tuesday, 3 December 2024 @ 4.00 pm – 7.00 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: Free
Event Description:
Join us as we celebrate the festive season and look forward to 2025!
Our Christmas Party is an opportunity for members and affiliates to meet RAHS employees, councillors and other individuals interested in Australian history. Please RSVP by Tuesday, 26 November.
RAHS Day Lecture – A Nation Divided: The Sister Liguori Affair, 1920–21
Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 4 December 2024 @ 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Event Location: History House, 133 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: Free
Event Description:
When in 1920 an Irish Catholic nun, fearful she was about to be murdered by her mother superior, fled her convent in Wagga Wagga and sought the protection of the Orange Lodge, it sparked a sectarian war that divided the Australian nation. The story of Sister Liguori is a remarkable tale which, if written as a novel, would be considered too far-fetched to be acceptable as a serious work of fiction. Yet it is a true story, full of tragedy and farce with an unholy mix of politics and religion.
About the speaker:
Dr Jeff Kildea is a retired barrister and honorary professor in Irish Studies at the University of New South Wales. In 2014 he held the Keith Cameron Chair of Australian History at University College Dublin. He has written extensively on the history of the Irish in Australia. His books include Tearing the Fabric: Sectarianism in Australia 1910–1925. His latest book is Sister Liguori: The Nun who Divided a Nation.