Researchers/Proofreaders
Rina Ashcroft has always had a keen interest in Western Australian goldfields’ history. Rina has been part of a team in compiling and typing two books on Western Australian prospectors and gold rushes.
Shirley Babis is a retired primary school teacher. She is a member of the Genealogical Society of Western Australia and a foundation member of the Bayswater Historical Society and the Bassendean Historical Society. After a number of years as the Treasurer of the Western Australian Explorers’ Diaries Project Shirley has concentrated on proofreading.
Shirley Barnes is now semi-retired after more than 30 years experience in recreation and community planning. She lived for many years in rural areas, especially the eastern goldfields and has always been keenly interested in the human component of ‘communities’, particularly during the early years of settlement and the gold rushes, including how and why ‘communities’ were established and flourished, and the historical and leadership aspects involved. She has travelled extensively throughout the Western Australian outback goldfields regions and the Pilbara, has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Recreation) – aligned to the ‘community’ aspect – and a continued interest in the Outback. After a number of years of Secretary for the Project, Shirley’s role is one of proofreading.
Kevin Bentley is an experienced and dedicated Proofreader with the Project.
Nina Cameron completed general and midwifery nursing qualifications in Kalgoorlie and KEMH in the early 1960s. While living in Darwin she re-trained as a library technician in the early 1990s and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts in history at Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University) where she worked until returning to Perth in 2005.
Keith Hancock is a fifth generation Australian of convict stock. He has a intense interest in the history of Western Australia. Keith is an amateur genealogist which fits nicely with his interest in history. He is a Proofreader with the Project.
Allan Harris is a Proofreader with the Project.
Zoe Inman has travelled extensively in Western Australia, as a child with her family, working as a Medical Scientist and then as a 4WD tour company cook/hostess. More recent travel includes sailing the Kimberley and greater southern coasts, desert walking with camels and driving with her partner in their 4WD. The love of Western Australia’s flora, fauna and history was instilled as a child and continues to grow. Involvement with the Project is a natural and exciting progression. Zoe’s publications to date are science based. Zoe did preliminary work on the Kimberley volumes.
Alan McCall is a keen four wheel driver with a special interest in the travels of David Carnegie. His is working on David Carnegie’s exploration journals in Western Australia. In 2003 Alan, using a quad bike, retraced Carnegie’s 1896 exploration route to Halls Creek. In 2013 he retraced Carnegie’s 1897 journey southward from Halls Creek, again on a quad bike.
Sheryl Milentis is a historical and genealogical researcher. She has contributed to a history of policing in Western Australia. Sheryl co-edited a social history of the early years of the Kalgoorlie brothels, entitled The Scarlet Stain (2004) and contributed to Rescues, Rogues and Rough Seas, 150 Years of Water Police in Western Australia. Sheryl is currently the Principal Editor of the Project’s third chronological volume, Western Australian Exploration 1846-1859.
Rob O’Connor, QC has a keen interest in Western Australian history, Federation history, Commonwealth and State current political affairs, and books on early Australian maritime and land exploration. He is a Proofreader for the Project. Rob is a former State President of CPA Australia and a former State Chairman and an Honorary Life Member of the Taxation Institute of Australia. He has been a member of the Board of the Constitutional Centre of WA since 2001, a member of the Management Committee of the Friends of the Battye Library from 2001 to 2003 and since 2007, was Deputy Chairman of the Government House Foundation of WA from 2001 to 2007, a member of the Executive of The 1901 Committee from 1997 to 2001, a WA Councillor of the Constitutional Centenary Foundation from 1999 to 2000, and a Councillor of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society from 2001 to 2003.