Skip to main content

Honouring Keith Brown


Keith Brown - What an Achievement!

by the President, GDHS



At our AGM last Sunday 18th October 2020, I had the privilege of bestowing upon Keith Brown Life-time Membership to the Gunning & District Historical Society for his unwavering dedication since he joined in 2008. I also had the esteemed honour of presenting Keith with a Certificate of Achievement and pin from the Royal Australian Historical Society. 

There are only a handful of these awards given out each year and to those whose contribution is significant and noteworthy to both their society and community. Usually this would take place at the RAHS Conference in Sydney but had to be cancelled due to Covid. I was asked to bestow this distinction within our own Society. His achievement will be announced in an upcoming issue of the society’s History Magazine. 

Keith’s grace and benevolence are qualities that make him a very valued member of our team. We congratulate him on his well-deserved Achievements.


Deputy Mayor John Searl, Keith Brown with his RAHS Award
and ULSC General Manager Colleen Worthy


KEITH LYNDEN BROWN L.V.O. B.A. Th.L.

Keith Brown has written four books of local history since he became a Gunning resident in 2008.  Applying rigorous scholarship to his research, Keith first shone “new light on old events” in “The Day that Dunkley Died: Murder and Retribution in Colonial Gunning.”  He has the knack of placing our district’s history in its regional (and national) context as shown by his histories of the ‘Inns and Innkeepers of early Gunning’, the ‘Churches of the Upper Lachlan’ and ‘Crookwell Aged Care’.  He always gives generous credit to those who precede him and notes where further research would be fruitful.

Keith has been a member of Gunning & District Historical Society since 2008 and a committee member in the position of Research Officer until 2019.  Indefatigable in researching and sharing local history, Keith always responded generously to requests for assistance, often escorting enquirers to the locality within our area.  Keith readily shares his knowledge with members who take the “difficult” questions to him. He is a wonderful volunteer guide to visitors, young and old, to the Pye Cottage Folk Museum, run by GDHS.

Keith has very generously supported the Society, by donating all sales revenue from his local history books to GDHS. This has been a very important way of funding the setting up of our Research Centre.  



A very delighted and humble Keith with his daughter Karilyn






































Comments

Popular posts from this blog

First Settlers in Lade Vale: Frank and Catherine Lawless

Is this the house that Frank built? Remains of a substantial granite block house on land once owned by the first settlers in Lade Vale, Frank and Catherine Lawless.  It may well have been built by Frank when the family took up their circa 1826 land grant. While we cannot be absolutely certain this is his work, there can be no doubt it is just the sort of house a skilled builder/bricklayer such as Frank would have constructed to settle his family in. Frank and Catherine Lawless  – The Lade Vale Years The Story So Far This is the second chapter in our look at early colonial settlers Frank and Catherine Lawless written by their 3rd great granddaughter, Carmel Peek, in association with GDHS. At the end of our last episode: Bricklayer Frank [as he was commonly called rather than by his formal given name Francis] had been transported to Sydney from Ireland in 1809 following his conviction for highway robbery; He compounded his failings and misfortunes in late 1810 whe...

Lees Family Origins: Links to Gunning

Waratah (now Warrataw) Street, Gunning, circa 1905. Article by Kim Lees The Lees family emigrated from Germany in the 1850’s as Bounty Immigrants under a scheme to bring citizens from various countries to Australia to assist in establishing farming and other industries. They came from the wine growing area of Grossbottwar, some 26 kms north of Stuttgart. It has been possible, through a German Ancestry organisation ‘Beyond History’, to trace the Lees family in Grossbottwar as far back as the late 1500s, some 6 generations before the family emigrated from Germany to Australia. In 2013 I visited Grossbottwar where I met with a cousin and his family who still live there.  The Lees family (parents Johannes (48) & Louisa (44) and children Conrad (20), Adam (16), Jacob (14), Fredricka (9), and David (6)) travelled to Australia on the Dutch Barque ‘Helene’ with 215 other German Immigrants. The youngest child, a daughter Christiana (aged 5 months) died on the voyage to Aust...

Walking and Unwitting Death Trap: September Bird of the Month

  Image courtesy Duade Paton https://www.photos.duadepaton.com From Gladstone's Notebook:  Sometimes Poisonous, yet a Culinary Delight and the Explorer’s Saviour – the Common Bronzewing   This is number 9 of a 12 part series in which we take a bird recorded in Gladstone Weatherstone’s notebook between 1962 and 1981, see if anything is different today and, if so, try to explain why.   Gladstone was a dedicated and knowledgeable amateur naturalist who lived on Lyndfield Park near Gunning from 1941 until 1996 Image of Gladstone Weatherstone courtesy Wayne Weatherstone. The Common Bronzewing   On 3 September 1967, Gladstone wrote “ Several Bronzewing Pigeons seen near Jerrawa and possibly nesting near Catherine’s Creek ”.  This bird makes only a few appearances over the 19 years covered by his notebook.  In June 1973 he wrote “ Bronze-winged Pigeon observed feeding around the house today, also two days later.  First time seen in close ....