Gary Presland is an Australian archaeologist and writer who studied history at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

1973-76, and archaeology at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, 1977-79. He was a staff member of the Victoria Archaeological Survey from 1983 to April 1988; his research interests are in the Aboriginal and natural history of Melbourne. One important contribution was the transcription and editing of the unpublished journals of

George Augustus Robinson George Augustus Robinson (22 March 1791 – 18 October 1866) was an English born builder and self-trained preacher who was employed by the British colonial authorities to conciliate the Indigenous Australians of Van Diemen's Land and the Po ...

, Chief Protector of Aborigines in the Port Phillip District, 1839-1849. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne in 2005, for his reconstruction of the pre-European natural history of Melbourne. Presland was the Thomas Ramsay Science and Humanities Fellow at Museum Victoria in 2001. Presland has been involved in the Archaeological and Anthropological Society of Victoria since 1972, and served as President 1984/85 and as editor of the Society's journal ''The Artefact''. Presland is a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society of Victoria The Royal Historical Society of Victoria is a community organisation promoting the history of the state of Victoria, Australia. It functions to promote and research the history of that state after settlement, and as an umbrella organisation fo ...

, and has been an editor of ''The Victorian Naturalist'', the journal of the

Field Naturalists Club of Victoria The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) is an Australian natural history and conservation organisation. The club is the oldest of its kind in Australia and is unique in having existed continuously since its foundation. Since its founding, ...

, since 2003. His recent research has focused on the early

history of Melbourne History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

. He is currently the president of the Box Hill Historical Society.

Works

* ''The first residents of Melbourne's western region'',

Melbourne's Living Museum of the West Melbourne's Living Museum of the West is an ecomuseum and community social history museum in Melbourne's western suburb of Maribyrnong. It was established as part of Victoria's sesquicentenary (150 year anniversary) in 1984, along with the Child ...

/ City of Footscray, 1987 (2nd Edition Harriland Press, 1997) * (with Helen Harris) ''Cops and Robbers: a guide to researching police and criminal records in 19th century Victoria'', Harriland Press, 1991 * ''For God’s sake, send the Trackers : a history of Queensland trackers and Victoria Police'': Victoria Press, 1998 * ''Scratching the Surface: A brief history of the Victoria Archaeological Survey'' 1972-1995. The Author, 2000 * ''Aboriginal Melbourne - The Lost Land of the Kulin'', Harriland Press, 2001 * ''The Place for a Village: how nature has shaped the city of Melbourne'', Museum Victoria Publishing, 2009 (winner of the 2009 Victorian Community History Awards for Best Book) * ''First People: the Eastern Kulin of Melbourne, Port Phillip and Central Victoria'' Museum Victoria Publishing, 2010 * ''Understanding our natural environment: the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria 1880-2015'' Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, 2016 (commended in the Book category 2016 Victorian Community History Awards)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Presland, Gary Australian archaeologists Living people Academics from Melbourne Australian historians Writers from Victoria (state) History of Indigenous Australians Historians of Australia Year of birth missing (living people)