Geoffrey Curgenven Bolton (5 November 1931 – 3 September 2015) was an Australian historian, academic and writer.

Life

He attended

Wesley College, Perth Wesley College, informally known as Wesley, is an independent, Day school, day and boarding school for boys and girls (co-ed to Year 6 and boys only Years 7–12), situated in South Perth, Western Australia, South Perth, a suburb of Perth, Wes ...

from 1943 to 1947. He published works on

Australian history The history of Australia is the history of the land and peoples which comprise the Commonwealth of Australia. The modern nation came into existence on 1 January 1901 as a federation of former British colonies. The human history of Australia, ...

, authoring 13 books, his final being ''Land of Vision and Mirage: Western Australia since 1826''. His book, ''Daphne Street'', published by

Fremantle Press Fremantle Press (formerly known as Fremantle Arts Centre Press) is an independent publisher in Western Australia. Fremantle Press was established by the Fremantle Arts Centre in 1976. It focuses on publishing Western Australian writers and writi ...

, describes his early surrounds, and is an attempt to write national history at the local level. He was a frequent contributor to radio in Western Australia and did much to bring Western Australian history and socio-political development to life. Part of his career was spent setting up the Australian Studies Centre (now the Menzies Centre) 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 ...

in the United Kingdom. He was Chairperson of the

Western Australian Maritime Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, WA Museum Boola Bardip, is located in the Perth Cult ...

's Archaeology Advisory Committee. Bolton was a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

(London), Fellow of the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Aus ...

, Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...

, and Fellow of the

Royal Western Australian Historical Society Royal Western Australian Historical Society has for many decades been the main association for Western Australians to collectively work for adequate understanding and protection of the cultural heritage of Perth and Western Australia. History T ...

. He served as the Chancellor of Murdoch University from 2002 to 2006. In 2008, he published a single-volume short history of Western Australia since the start of British settlement in 1826, covering the social, cultural, political and economic development of the most geographically isolated area in the world. Bolton died on 4 September 2015, in Perth, at the age of 83. He was married to Carol Grattan and has two sons and five grandchildren.

Awards

Bolton was the recipient of several prestigious awards including his appointment as Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(1984) in recognition of distinguished service to Australia for his services to education. In 2001, Bolton received the Centenary of Federation prize at the New South Wales Premier's History Awards for ''

Edmund Barton Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician, barrister and jurist who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903. He held office as the leader of the Protectionist Party, before ...

: The One Man for the Job'', a biography of Australia's first Prime Minister. The one-off prize was intended to recognise a major work contributing to the understanding of Australian political, social and cultural issues during the Federation period. The biography was also shortlisted for the

Colin Roderick Award The Colin Roderick Award is presented annually by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies at Queensland's James Cook University for "the best book published in Australia which deals with any aspect of Australian life". It was first presente ...

(2000) and the National Biography Award (2001). Since 2004, the

State Records Office of Western Australia The State Records Office of Western Australia (SRO) is the Western Australian government authority with responsibility for identifying, managing, preserving and providing access to the state's archives. The SRO also delivers best-practice record ...

has hosted The Geoffrey Bolton Lecture series, acknowledging his service on various committees of the State Archive and his long period of use and promotion of archives. The aims of the Geoffrey Bolton Lecture are to encourage the expression of ideas and debate about the meaning and nature of history, culture and society, grounded in archival research; and to provide archival and historical context to national debate on contemporary issues. In recognition of his major contribution to Australian history and the community, Bolton was named the Western Australia's 2006

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government-owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the state and territor ...

Memorials

There are a number of eponymous memorials to Bolton. In 2014 a new street, central to the

Elizabeth Quay Elizabeth Quay is a mixed-use development project in the Perth#cbd, Perth central business district. Encompassing an area located on the north shore of Perth Water near the landmark Swan Bells, the precinct was named in honour of Elizabeth II, ...

waterfront development, then under construction, was named ''Geoffrey Bolton Avenue'' in acknowledgement of the contribution made by Bolton to conserve, record and teach the history of Western Australia. At a dedication ceremony held on 21 February 2017,

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its ...

renamed its library ''The Geoffrey Bolton Library'' to recognise Bolton's long association with the University.

Publications

Citations to this author abbreviate his name to G. C. Bolton. * ''

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many areas of remote Western Australia, particula ...

: his life and times''. 1958 * ''A Thousand Miles Away: A history of North Queensland to 1920''. 1963 * ''The Passing of the Irish Act of Union: a study in parliamentary politics''. 1966 * '' Dick Boyer, an Australian humanist''. 1967 * ''A fine country to starve in''. 1972 (reprinted 1994, ) * ''Britain's Legacy Overseas''. 1973 * ''Spoils and spoilers : Australians make their environment 1788–1980''. 1981 (second edition 1992, ) * ''History of

Royal Perth Hospital Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) is a 450-bed adult and teaching hospital located on the northeastern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. History The hospital traces its history back to the first colonial hospital, whi ...

''. 1982 * ''It had better be a good one : the first ten years of Murdoch University''. 1985 * '' John Ramsden Wollaston: the making of a pioneer priest''. 1985 * ''The Oxford history of Australia. Volume 5, 1942–1988 : the middle way''. 1990 * ''Who owns Australia's past?''. 1993 * ''Daphne Street: The biography of an Australian community''. 1996 * ''Claremont: a history''. 1999 * ''

: The One Man for the Job''. 2000 * ''The Fuss That Never Ended: The Life and Work of

Geoffrey Blainey Geoffrey Norman Blainey, (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. Blainey is noted for his authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including ''The Tyranny of ...

''. 2003 (joint author with

Stuart Macintyre Stuart Forbes Macintyre (21 April 1947 – 22 November 2021) was an Australian historian, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne from 1999 to 2008. He was voted one of Australia's most influential historians. Early lif ...

, Deborah Gare and Tom Stannage) * ''May it please Your Honour : a history of the Supreme Court of Western Australia 1861–2005''. 2005 (with Geraldine Byrne) * ''Land of Vision and Mirage: Western Australia since 1826''. 2008 * ''

Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding minis ...

: A Life''. 2014

Academic career

* Educated at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

* Research Fellow at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

in 1957 * Senior Lecturer at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

in 1962 * Professor of Modern History at the University of Western Australia in 1966 * Foundation Professor of History at

in 1973 * Pro Vice-Chancellor of Murdoch University from 1973 to 1975 * Dean of the School of Social Inquiry at Murdoch University from 1976 to 1978 * Visiting Commonwealth Fellow at St John's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

1978 and 1979. * Professor and head of the Australian Studies Centre at the

from 1982 until 1985 * Professor of Australian History at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in 1989 * Professor of History at

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is, , t ...

, Western Australia * Retired from academia in 1996 *

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of Murdoch University from July 2002 to November 2006.

References

* ''Citation for Fellowship: Geoffrey Curgenven Bolton'' in ''Early Days'' 11(3), 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Geoffrey 1931 births 2015 deaths Historians from Western Australia Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Writers from Perth, Western Australia People educated at Wesley College, Perth University of Western Australia alumni Academic staff of Monash University Historians of Australia Academic staff of Edith Cowan University Academic staff of the University of Queensland Alumni of the University of Oxford Academic staff of the Australian National University Australian Book Review people Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge