PRESIDENT
Diane Gardiner AM
Diane Gardiner was the Chair of the History Council of Victoria and was Manager of the Old Treasury Building, Melbourne. She was previously Manager of Community Access at the Public Record Office Victoria, and Manager Education and Public Programs at the Old Melbourne Gaol, National Trust of Australia (Victoria). She is a foundation member of the La Trobe Society and has many years’ experience in developing innovative and successful programs to link schools with community history groups. Diane was a recipient of a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship in 2002 and the Museums Australia (Victoria) Award for Excellence in 2013.
VICE PRESIDENT
Loreen Chambers
Loreen Chambers is a retired secondary teacher who taught History, English and Geography during a career of over 30 years. She taught at Scotch College and Camberwell Girls Grammar, but chiefly at Lauriston Girls School where she was Head of History, amongst other senior roles. Her main interests are British and Australian History, with particular focus on the 18th and 19th century period, as well as local and family history. Loreen was the editor of the Society’s journal La Trobeana from 2009 to 2015.
SECRETARY
Dianne Reilly AM
Co-founder of the La Trobe Society, Dianne Reilly is the Society’s Secretary. She was the La Trobe Librarian at State Library Victoria from 1982 to 2008, and Manager of the Redmond Barry Society, bequest arm of the State Library Victoria Foundation, from 2009 to 2014. Dianne is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and an Honorary Fellow of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her doctoral thesis was titled ‘Charles Joseph La Trobe: the Making of a Governor’. Dianne has published extensively on La Trobe and is currently working on the manuscript for a book ‘La Trobe’s Melbourne…and Beyond’.
MANAGER/TREASURER
John Drury OAM
Co-founder of the La Trobe Society, John Drury is its Treasurer. He is a consultant designer to the museums showcase industry. He has a life-long love of history, and wrote Charles Joseph La Trobe: the Making of a Statue (2010). His biography, Two French Sisters in Australia 1881-1922: Berthe Mouchette and Marie Lion, artists and teachers, was published in 2021.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Helen Armstrong
Helen Armstrong is a retired librarian who worked in various roles at The University of Melbourne Library, followed thereafter by guiding at heritage properties – including Government House and La Trobe’s Cottage. She has developed a deep interest in Victoria’s early history, particularly in the life and times of Charles Joseph La Trobe.
Susan Priestley
Susan Priestley is a freelance historian whose eleven commissioned histories embrace aspects of places, people and institutions in Victoria. In 2011 she published a biography of the charismatic Henrietta Dugdale. Her ongoing interest is the study of past lives and the evolution of identity – personal, collective and national. She is a founding member and former Vice-President of the La Trobe Society, and a Fellow and former President of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
John Botham, picture editing
Dianne Reilly AM, commissioning editor
Loreen Chambers
Building on the work of foundation Editor, Dr Fay Woodhouse, the Editorial Committee produces the Society’s journal, La Trobeana, three times a year in March, July and November.
EVENTS COMMITTEE
Loreen Chambers
John Drury OAM
Dianne Reilly AM, Convenor
THE FRIENDS OF LA TROBE’S COTTAGE
John Botham
John Botham spent a career in the RAF and with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority before developing an interest in early Victorian history. He assisted with the production of La Trobe’s Jolimont, A walk round my garden (2006) and worked tirelessly thereafter to develop an understanding amongst government and the public of the heritage importance of the La Trobe’s Cottage.
WEBSITE COMMITTEE
John Botham, webmaster
Helen Armstrong, content editor