Michelle Sue "Mickey" Dewar (1 January 1956 – 23 April 2017) was an Australian historian who specialised in the history of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Career

Dewar was originally from Melbourne where she studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. She moved to the Northern Territory in 1980 to study teaching at

Northern Territory University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with two campuses in Darwin and six satellite campuses in metropolitan and regional areas of the Northern Territory. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Ter ...

, and then worked as a teacher in the remote

Milingimbi Milingimbi Island, also Yurruwi, is the largest island of the Crocodile Islands group off the coast of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Location Milingimbi lies approximately east of Darwin and west of Nhulunbuy. History Aborig ...

community in

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

. She completed a PhD at NTU in 1993. In 1994, she joined the

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The headquarters of the museum is located in the inner Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin suburb of The Gardens, Northern Territory, The ...

as the museum's curator of Territory history. She developed the popular

Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...

exhibition and was also in charge of heritage management of the

Fannie Bay Gaol Fannie Bay Gaol is a historic gaol in Fannie Bay, Northern Territory, Australia. The gaol operated as Her Majesty's Gaol and Labour Prison, from 20 September 1883 until 1 September 1979. Glen SUTTON was the last Superintendent of Fannie Bay ...

and

Lyons Cottage Lyons Cottage, as so known as British Australian Telegraph Company Residence, is one of the oldest remaining heritage buildings in the central business district in Darwin City, Northern Territory, Darwin City in the Northern Territory of Austral ...

historic sites. In 2007, Dewar was awarded the Frederick Watson Fellow research grant. Her topic was: An examination of the characteristics and attributes of post-war Darwin, through a detailed and multidisciplinary study of Commonwealth public housing policy. The paper was presented at National Archives in Canberra on 28 October 2008 titled ''Darwin – No Place Like Home : A history of Australia’s northern capital in the 1950s through a study of housing''. In 2011, she won the Northern Territory History Book Award for the book ''Darwin – No Place Like Home''.

Personal life

Dewar married David Ritchie. She has two children. Dewar died on 23 April 2017 aged 61 from an aggressive form of

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

. She was posthumously awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for service to the community of the Northern Territory in the

2018 Australia Day Honours The 2018 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2018 by the Governor General of Australia, Pet ...

Publications

* ''Darwin - no place like home'' (2010) * ''Inside-out : a social history of Fannie Bay Gaol'' (1998) * ''In search of the Never-Never : looking for Australia in Northern Territory writing'' (1997) * ''The "Black War" in Arnhem Land : missionaries and the Yolngu 1908-1940'' (1992) * Snorters, fools and little 'uns' : sexual politics and Territory writing in the South Australian period'' (1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewar, Mickey 1956 births 2017 deaths Australian women historians Academics from Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Neurological disease deaths in Victoria (state) Deaths from motor neuron disease in Australia 20th-century Australian historians 21st-century Australian historians 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian women writers