Friends of Battye Talks

The Friends of Battye present a series of talks throughout the year on Western Australian historical topics. These talks are open to members and the wider community. Visit their website for more information.

The Friends of Battye Inc. are a not-for-profit organisation that assists in acquiring, preserving, and providing access to Western Australia's documentary heritage through fundraising, volunteering, and publishing.

Doors open at 5:00 pm for a 5:30 pm start. Members and guests are warmly invited to arrive early to enjoy drinks and nibbles.

AGM  - Kate Gregory; Dr Dean Chan; Catherine Belcher Researcher in Residence Project funded by Maud Sholl Bequest

Researcher in Residence: Facilitating Exploratory Engagement with the Digitised AV Collections at the State Library of Western Australia

8 September

The State Library of Western Australia is digitising its at-risk, significant and unique audio-visual collections to ensure long-term preservation and enable online public access. Spanning more than 100 years, the AV collections portray people, places and events unique to Western Australia, including amateur recordings, government and private productions, films, music and interviews. In 2024, the State Library created two researcher-in-residence opportunities, funded through the Friends of Battye’s Maud Sholl Bequest for established researchers to view, listen and reflect on material digitised during 2022-23. Guided by the Library’s Collection Interpretation Strategy, the researchers were encouraged to explore the audio-visual collection in ways that aligned to their expertise. Dr Dean Chan will share his research into audio-visual material reflecting creative practice in WA from the 1960s-80s. The emergence of puppetry in WA became a special focus of his research. Dean’s project “Emplacements” reengages with the history of puppetry in WA via sound and moving image, making connections with other State Library collections, and reanimating the historical record.

Catherine Belcher is the Director of Collection Services at the State Library of Western Australia and responsible for the State Library’s at-risk audiovisual digitisation project (AVDP). Prior to her current role, Catherine worked for almost 25 years in national and state museums in Canberra and Western Australia in areas including collections management, curatorial, regional museums, community partnerships and public engagement. Her current team leads the development and management of the Library’s unique Western Australian heritage collections which tell the rich and diverse stories of Western Australia’s people and places through multiple perspectives and formats.

Dr Dean Chan is an independent researcher and consultant based in Perth and Bangkok, who specialises in cultural studies, creative industries and digital humanities in the Asia-Pacific region. His most recent projects explore how digital storytelling can be used to interpret and share West Australian history in innovative ways. From July 2024 to January 2025, he was a researcher-in-residence at the State Library of Western Australia.

Dr Kate Gregory is the Head of Research and Interpretation at the State Library of Western Australia where she leads research and curation of the collections of the J.S. Battye Library of West Australian History. Kate has a PhD in Art History from the University of Melbourne (2004). Kate’s prior roles include Historian with the National Trust of Australia (WA). Kate has served on the Western Australian Museum Board of Trustees (2012 – 2018) and is currently on History Council of WA, the WA History Foundation Council and is a member of the Australian Dictionary of Biography WA working party.
 

Past events:

The WA Naturalist Club's role in the growth of environmental activism with Sue Graham Taylor 

10 March 

​The Western Australian Naturalists' Club was founded in 1924 with the aim of 'encouraging the study of natural history in all its branches and preventing the wanton destruction of native flora and fauna.' Sue will discuss her work on the centenary history of the organization, with particular emphasis on the Club's role in the growth of environmental activism in Western Australia.

​Dr. Sue Graham-Taylor AM is a prominent Western Australian historian, researcher, and environmental advocate, known for her work with the WA Museum, the Conservation Council of WA, and projects like Swan River Stories, focusing on local heritage and environmental history. She holds a PhD, curates exhibitions, researches various aspects of WA history (from health insurance to waste management), and champions environmental conservation. 

Ghost Towns in Western Australia with Christine Harris 

12 May

​Fabulous fortunes, shocking tragedies, mystery and excitement surrounding Western Australia’s many ghost towns are being unveiled.

​At present, our list of identified ghosts towns has grown to more than 500 with more being identified every day. Of these perhaps the mining towns are the best known. In the 1901 census the largest towns in Western Australia included the mining towns of Day Dawn, Kanowna, Mount Morgan and Nannine, all of which are ghost towns today.

​Western Australia’s size, vast distances, boom and bust and unforgiving climate have left us with many places where once there was life that now has gone or almost gone. What remains may only be a crumbled down structure or grid patterns of a few streets which have now all but gone back to bush.

​The project is providing a richer, more human connection to these places, by giving voice to communities whose stories are often overlooked or marginalised in traditional historical narratives. The project will ensure that these individuals and locations are not forgotten. Information gathered will be published on an online website and index.

State Hotels Project of the Scaddan Government in the years 1911 - 1916 with Charlie Fox

14 July