Geoffrey Curgenven Bolton AO (1931 - 2015)

Born 5 Nov 1931 in Perth, Western Australia

Died 3 Sep 2015 at age 83 in Claremont, Western Australia, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: John Andrewartha [send private message]

Order of Australia

Biography

Geoffrey Bolton ^[1]
Geoffrey Curgenven Bolton AO, FASSA, FAHA (5 Nov 1931 – 3 Sep 2015) was an Australian historian, academic and writer.

He attended Wesley College, Perth from 1943 to 1947.

Publications

Geoffrey Bolton published works on Australian history, authoring 13 books.

A thousand miles away : a history of North Queensland to 1920 (1972)
is considered a definative history of the area.

His book, Daphne Street (1996), published by Fremantle Press,
describes his early surrounds, and is an attempt to write national history at the local level.

His final publication,
Land of Vision and Mirage: Western Australia since 1826 (2008), is a single-volume short history of Western Australia since the start of British settlement in 1826, covering the social, cultural, political and economic development of the most geographically isolated area in the world.

He was a frequent contributor to radio in Western Australia and did much to bring Western Australian history and socio-political development to life.

Part of his career was spent setting up the Australian Studies Centre (now the Menzies Centre) at the University of London in the United Kingdom.

He was Chairperson of the Western Australian Maritime Museum's Archaeology Advisory Committee.

Awards

Bolton was the recipient of several prestigious awards including his appointment as Officer of the Order of Australia in 1984 in recognition of distinguished service to Australia for his services to education.

Bolton was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (London), Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and Fellow of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society.
He served as the Chancellor of Murdoch University from 2002 to 2006.

Bolton died on 3 September 2015, in Perth, at the age of 83, and was buried in FB00043877 Fremantle Cemetery - (Burial)

Find A Grave: Memorial #213432834 - (photo)

• Bolton Writings - History Tree

Sources

1. ↑ Geoffrey Bolton (accessed 6 January 2024)