Back in the days: Geelong Historical Society’s Ferg Hamilton, Rob Craddock, Freda Craddock.
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A GROUP of people in Geelong is busy making their own history and preserving ours in the process.
As soon as history is made in the city, Geelong Historical Society members are busy recording it for posterity.
The society has become part of Geelong’s history as well, dating back to 1944.
Secretary Freda Craddock said the society aimed to “keep history up to date and alive”.
“We all have a passion for history and we are keen to promote the history of Geelong,” she said.
“People forget but recorded history preserves.”
The society has an impressive 400 plus members including an array of talented historians, both professional and amateur.
Freda said the society worked closely with Geelong Heritage Centre, Victoria’s largest regional archive.
Most of the society’s wide-ranging information was kept at the heritage centre, holding around 1.8km of public and private records extensively described in catalogues and indexes.
The records of local government, businesses, clubs, societies, churches and individuals are available to school groups, family historians, writers and researchers.
Occasionally the society has an opportunity to display some of its museum pieces, such as its current exhibition at Osborne House. In conjunction with Osborne Park Association, the exhibition includes a small part of the society’s extensive collection.
The display includes 300-year-old crockery, bygone fashions, photographs, shields and historical equipment like a Geelong telephone exchange desk complete with its rows of patch cords.
“We often have material donated, even from far flung former Geelong families who discover a little stockpile of information,” Freda said.
“Members do two trips a year to historic places of interest.”
Freda believed one of the society’s strengths was its array of publications.
The society’s Investigator quarterly publication was highly regarded, mailed to interested parties all over the world including New York’s state library.
Husband Rob said the society embraced modern technology in its battle with storage space problems.
“History is easier to record today and we have to use technology to try overcoming our storage issues.”
The society often had more than 50 members at its regular meetings from 8pm on the first Wednesday of the month, except January, in the heritage centre’s Morrow Theatrette.
“Shipping and gold are two of the most popular topics,” Rob chuckled.
He said more information was available at the society’s website, geelonghs.org.au.
