A passion for sharing history

JOAN Hunt claims Tick Tock, her maternal grandfather, was the root of her life long obsession with history.

Each night while washing and drying the dishes together Tick Tock, affectionally named because he always wore a fob watch, told Joan stories about history.

The first female president of the Ballarat Historical Society, Dr Hunt was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1988, and graduated with a PhD in history in 2016.

It was her dedication to the growing genealogical and local history movement as a researcher and mentor that prompted Phil Roberts OAM to nominate Dr Hunt for the Ballarat Zonta Club’s 2019 Honour Roll of Ballarat’s Great Women.

This is the only posthumous honouree following Dr Hunt’s death in September 2018.

Mr Roberts nominated her on behalf of Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute in recognition of her extraordinary impact on education and history.

“Joan joined the Dandenong Historical Society in her early 20s and from them on she just became a history freak and a genealogist” said her husband Gary Hunt.

“She was devoted to history, her ability to retain names, dates, places, events and the fact that she shared history with everyone, was a strength recognised throughout the whole of the Historical Societies in Victoria.”

The Hunt family moved from Melbourne to Smythesdale in 1980 where Dr Hunt became the teacher at Ross Creek Primary School.

As president of the Ballarat Historical Society, she was a prime mover in establishing the Woady Yalock Historical Society in 1985.

When Dr Hunt mooted the idea of establishing an umbrella body to represent local historical societies, the Central Highlands Historical Association was the result.

Ballarat’s Heritage Festival grew out of the annual History Fair organised by this association.

In 1988 Joan was awarded a Churchill Fellowship and spent four months in England studying the operation of historical societies.

“When she was in the UK as part of the Fellowship, she visited every county, if any of her family had a connection with a particular county, she joined its historical society,” Mr Hunt said.

She returned full of ideas on how to improve support for local history, and became a representative on the Council of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, lobbying for the interests of regional history, and the provision of training for country volunteers.

“Joan chaired the History of Victoria Support Group, travelling across the state visiting rural and regional societies very committed to teaching professional skills,” Mr Hunt said.

After retiring from a distinguished teaching career, she enrolled in a PhD in Australian History at Federation University.

Dr Hunt was the first graduate of the Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History’s program established in 2013.

Her thesis explored the lost gold mining communities of the Springdullah area, close to Smythesdale, bringing together her passion for genealogy, local history and landscape research.

“A lot of the miners in Springdullah came from Northumberland so of course we had to go there on our holidays to get a feel for those people,” Mr Hunt said.

“She believed history had to be shared, when you talked to Joan, no matter what came up or where you were, or mentioned something, she would have a story.

“Joan would have been very honoured, and delighted [to be nominated for the Zonta Honour Roll].

“She has a lot of other accolades but being recognised locally as a significant person in this city and becoming part of its history would have topped them all.”