PRESIDENT
Diane Gardiner AM
Diane Gardiner, member of the Public Records Advisory Council, was the Chair of the History Council of Victoria and Manager of the Old Treasury Building, Melbourne. She was previously Manager of Community Access at the Public Record Office Victoria, and Manager Education and Public Programs at the Old Melbourne Gaol, National Trust of Australia (Victoria). She is a foundation member of the La Trobe Society and has many years’ experience in developing innovative and successful programs to link schools with community history groups. Diane was a recipient of a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship in 2002 and the Museums Australia (Victoria) Award for Excellence in 2013.
VICE PRESIDENT
Vacant
SECRETARY
Dianne Reilly AM
Co-founder of the La Trobe Society, Dianne Reilly is the Society’s Secretary. She was the La Trobe Librarian at State Library Victoria from 1982 to 2008, and Manager of the Redmond Barry Society, bequest arm of the State Library Victoria Foundation, from 2009 to 2014. Dianne is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and an Honorary Fellow of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her doctoral thesis was titled ‘Charles Joseph La Trobe: the Making of a Governor’. Dianne has published extensively on La Trobe and is currently working on the manuscript for a book ‘La Trobe’s Melbourne…and Beyond’.
TREASURER
John Botham (Acting)
John Botham spent a career in the RAF and with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority before developing an interest in early Victorian history. He assisted with the production of La Trobe’s Jolimont, A walk round my garden (2006) and worked tirelessly thereafter to develop an understanding amongst government and the public of the heritage importance of the La Trobe’s Cottage.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Helen Armstrong
Helen Armstrong is a retired librarian who worked in various roles at The University of Melbourne Library, followed thereafter by guiding at heritage properties – including Government House and La Trobe’s Cottage. She has developed a deep interest in Victoria’s early history, particularly in the life and times of Charles Joseph La Trobe.
Susan Priestley
Susan Priestley is a freelance historian whose eleven commissioned histories embrace aspects of places, people and institutions in Victoria. In 2011 she published a biography of the charismatic Henrietta Dugdale. Her ongoing interest is the study of past lives and the evolution of identity – personal, collective and national. She is a founding member and former Vice-President of the La Trobe Society, and a Fellow and former President of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
John Botham, picture editing
Dianne Reilly AM, commissioning editor
Building on the work of foundation Editor, Dr Fay Woodhouse, the Editorial Committee produces the Society’s journal, La Trobeana, three times a year in March, July and November.
EVENTS COMMITTEE
Dianne Reilly AM, Convenor
Lorraine Finlay
Lorraine Finlay is the former owner/manager of a Melbourne commercial art gallery. She previously worked in the Old Treasury Building Museum and was a personal assistant to the curators and educational services at the National Gallery of Victoria. Lorraine was the Volunteer Property Manager of La Trobe’s Cottage from 2011 to 2016.
THE FRIENDS OF LA TROBE’S COTTAGE
John Botham
WEBSITE COMMITTEE
John Botham, webmaster
Helen Armstrong, content editor