At their recent meeting, Dimboola and District Historical Society member Evelyn King was presented with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria’s Award of Merit for 2026

The Award of Merit is conferred on only a very small number of people in historical societies in Victoria each year. It is given to someone who has given exceptional service and who goes beyond the routine holding of office.

In Evelyn’s case, the nomination for the Award reflected her long involvement not only with the Dimboola and District Historical Society but also with the Western Victorian Association of Historical Societies, of which she has been a great champion for many years.

Evelyn initially became involved with the Dimboola and District Historical Society in 1995 when moves were afoot to ‘wind up’ the organisation. Evelyn was pro-active in preventing this from happening. She has been a committee member for 30 years and a diligent and thorough Secretary of the Society for over 25 years.

Evelyn has played the major role in the presentation of historical displays throughout the Courthouse and at other sites around the town including Dimboola Print Museum, Westerfield’s Garage and the Victoria Hotel. As a result of Evelyn’s diligence, there is a professional and engaging ‘vibe’ at the Society’s Museum and her group clearly relishes Evelyn’s ability to delegate tasks to others.

She has been consistently involved in projects promoting the significance and role of history within our community, welcoming various community groups to the Courthouse and speaking at other groups’ meetings. Evelyn consistently engages with and takes on an advocacy role with Hindmarsh Shire Council chiefly in regard to the preservation of local heritage sites.

Evelyn not only has the enthusiasm and drive to keep history alive, she has a passion for items on display and the organisation and presentation of these displays in the courthouse complex are testament to this.

Evelyn was determined the Society should have the two, rare film projectors from Dimboola’s Star Theatre; she negotiated for the Society to buy, dismantle and reassemble them in the Courthouse and has pushed for other members to provide their history and to find appropriate silent movies to project in the Courthouse.

Evelyn has enlisted the support of Wimmera Print & Design to work with the Society to enhance its Print Museum exhibits and to provide displays of appropriate photographs. She also lobbied strenuously to obtain cases which are now being refurbished to enhance the Museum’s displays.

She has represented the Society in various community projects such as the Nine Creeks Wetland, Walking and Cycling Track project, the Town’s 150th Celebration Committee and the Railway Station Refurbishment Group. She has also regularly represented the Society at regional history meetings and conferences especially at Western Victorian Association of Historical Societies (WVAHS) events twice-yearly, reflecting Evelyn’s commitment to heritage bodies beyond the town.

Evelyn has long been supportive of the WVAHS in contributing advice and offering to chair meetings or take minutes.
“Since I became involved with the WVAHS in 2010, I have had the pleasure on many occasions of collaborating with Eveyln. There are many capable historians in my life and I am very pleased to acknowledge Evelyn King as one of them.”

- WVAHS Secretary/Treasurer Helen Curkpatrick
Evelyn’s contagious enthusiasm for local history is reflected in the support the Society receives from the local community.

The guest speakers at the meeting were Horsham-based archaeologist and historian, Abby Cooper, and Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BGLC) Cultural Heritage Manager, Michael Douglas, who shared insights from a five-year collaborative research project focused on culturally modified trees along Outlet Creek between Lakes Hindmarsh and Albacutya.

The project forms part of Cooper’s PhD research, which is a partnership between BGLC, Flinders University and the Australian National University. It aims to establish chronologies for a sample of culturally modified trees along Outlet Creek, helping to better understand their age, significance and the historical interactions Aboriginal people had with their landscape.

Culturally modified trees are a prominent feature of Aboriginal heritage in the Wimmera Mallee region and provide a visual link to the ongoing connection the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagulk Peoples have with Country. The research focuses on the challenge of dating eucalypts, where the absence of annual rings rules out dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating can produce imprecise results for recent wood.

To address this, the team has developed a new approach that combines radiocarbon dating with digital archaeology, including photogrammetry and diameter-age modelling, to identify the historical periods represented by the trees. The project also aims to strengthen cultural heritage management practice by improving how practitioners assess and protect culturally modified trees under threat from natural and human impacts.

The study is designed to bring archaeological, historical and cultural knowledge together while keeping Traditional Owner perspectives central to the work.