Kath Ensor is a genealogist and public historian, having completed her MA in public history at Monash University in 2008. For the past fifteen years Kath has worked as a probate genealogist, researching hundreds of family trees with branches all around the world. She is currently undertaking doctoral research into the effects of institutionalisation of the mentally ill or disabled on individuals, families and communities.

Catharine Coleborne studied History at the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University and is now an Associate Professor of History at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. She recently published Madness in the family: insanity and institutions in the Australasian colonial world, 1860-1914 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

Dr Antonina Lewis is the University Archivist at Victoria University. She has previously worked for the National Archives of Australia and for Public Record Office Victoria. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Arts and a PhD in Social History/Literary Studies.

Kirsten Wright is a Records Consultant at Victoria University. Prior to her employment by VU, she worked at Public Record Office Victoria. Kirsten has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics and a Master’s Degree in Information Management and Systems.

Jill Barnard has a Master of Arts in Public History from Monash University and has worked as a professional historian for over twenty years. Her work has encompassed commissioned histories, heritage studies, exhibitions and interpretive displays, and she has published on such varied topics as the story of Station Pier, the history of McKillop Family Services and the story of the Sisters of St Joseph in Victoria. She has served in many roles, most recently as researcher and interpreter for the Victorian Archival Treasures exhibition at Old Treasury Building.

Kimberley Meagher worked previously at Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) and is now at Heritage Victoria. She has a Master in Cultural Heritage from Deakin University and has considerable experience in the private sector, working with heritage and conservation architects as well as a freelance historian. Kimberley was Project Officer for the Victorian Archival Treasures exhibition at Old Treasury Building, primarily contributing archival research and interpretation. She is on the Committee of Management of the Professional Historians Association of Victoria.

Andrew J Kilsby is a consulting historian with a particular interest in military, social and business history to 1920. He has self‑published two books about colonial contingents to Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee – Lions of the day (2008) and The Bisley boys (2008) – and co‑authored Fallen Leaves, a commemoration of World War One soldiers from a Melbourne borough who did not return.

Dr Shurlee Swain is a professor at Australian Catholic University. She is a social historian with a particular interest in the history of women and children. Current projects include a history of adoption in Australia, and she is the historian chief investigator working on the development of the national Find and Connect web resource for former child migrants and Forgotten Australians.
Author email: Shurlee.Swain@acu.edu.au

Fiona Poulton completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at the University of Melbourne in 2007. She is currently in the final year of a Master of Public History at Monash University, and is working part‑time as a consulting historian. Through her work in heritage, she has become familiar with the land records held at Public Record Office Victoria (PROV). Fiona is currently working on her first commissioned history and completing a work placement at the Melbourne Museum.

Joan Hunt is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, where she served several terms on Council, partly as vice‑president and partly as convenor of the History Victoria Support Group. Her work in community history spans thirty‑seven years, from Dandenong Historical Society committee membership in 1974 to involvement in the Ballarat region since 1980.

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