Australian History Awards Explained

Ernest Scott Prize

The pre-eminent prize for "original published research that contributes to the history of Australia or New Zealand or to the history of colonisation in these countries." Awarded since 1943, the prize is named in honor of Ernest Scott, regarded as the first historian of Australian historiography, and was endowed by his wife, Emily Scott. The winner is announced each year at the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Lecture, awarded a prize of $13,000 and invited to give the Ernest Scott Lecture at the University of Melbourne. Applicants must be publishers and the work must have been published in the preceding two calendar years. Winners must "live in Australia or New Zealand or the respective external territories [of either country]." There are two judges.[1]

The prize is typically awarded to one historical writer, although it has been shared between two people and two books nine times. Seven people have won the Ernest Scott Prize twice, including one person who won the prize for two books in the same year (1959). One historian, Alan Atkinson, won the prize three times. The prize has been won by 35 men and 13 women historians, and three non-white historians.

Numerous winners of the prize are part of the Scott lineage, a teacher-undergraduate student chain of historians stretching back to Scott himself. Among the future prize winners Scott taught were Manning Clark, W. K. Hancock and Geoffrey Serle; Clark taught Weston Bate, Ken Inglis, Geoffrey Blainey and Graeme Davison; Blainey taught Janet McCalman and Stuart Macintyre.

Winner Publisher BookYear awarded
Shannyn Palmer[2] Melbourne University PressUnmaking Angas Downs: Myth and history on a Central Australian pastoral station2024
Alan Atkinson[3] NewSouthElizabeth and John: The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm2023 (shared)
Rachel BuchananBridget Williams BooksTe Motunui Epa2023 (shared)
Lucy MackintoshBridget Williams BooksShifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland2022 (shared)
Janet McCalmanThe Miegunyah PressVandemonians: The Repressed History of Colonial Victorians2022 (shared)
Hirini KaaBridget Williams BooksTe Hāhi Mihinare – The Māori Anglican Church2021 (shared)
Grace KarskensAllen & UnwinPeople of the River2021 (shared)
Michelle ArrowNewSouthThe Seventies: The Personal, The Political and the Making of Modern Australia2020
Billy GriffithsBlack Inc.Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia2019
Michael BelgraveAuckland University PressDancing with the King: The Rise and Fall of the King Country, 1864-18852018
Tom GriffithsBlack Inc.The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft2017
Stuart MacintyreNewSouthAustralia's Boldest Experiment: War and Reconstruction in the 1940s2016
Alan AtkinsonUNSW PressThe Europeans in Australia: Volume 3: Nation2015 (shared)
Tom BrookingPenguin Books, AucklandRichard Seddon, King of God's Own: The Life and Times of New Zealand's Longest- Serving Prime Minister2015 (shared)
Angela WanhallaAuckland University PressMatters of the Heart. A History of Interracial marriage in New Zealand2014
Melissa BellantaUniversity of Queensland PressLarrikins: A History2013
Damon SalesaOxford University PressRacial Crossings: Race, Intermarriage, and Victorian British Empire2012
Jim DavidsonUNSW PressA Three‐cornered Life: The Historian W.K. Hancock2011 (shared)
Emma ChristopherAllen & UnwinA Merciless Place: the lost story of Britain's convict disaster in Africa and how it led to the settlement of Australia2011 (shared)
Bain AttwoodThe Miegunyah PressPossession: Batman's Treaty and the Matter of History2010
Henry Reynolds & Marilyn LakeMelbourne University PressDrawing the Global Colour Line: White Men's Countries and the Question of Racial Equality2009 (joint)
John FitzgeraldUNSW PressBook Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia2008
Regina GanterUniversity of Western AustraliaMixed Relations: Asian‐Aboriginal Contact in North Australia2007
Joy DamousiUNSW PressFreud in the Antipodes: A Cultural History of Psychoanalysis in Australia2006
Alan AtkinsonOxford University PressThe Europeans in Australia: A History: Democracy2005
Judith BrettCambridge University PressAustralian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class: from Alfred Deakin to John Howard2004
Philip TempleAuckland University PressA Sort of Conscience: The Wakefields2003
Tony Hughes‐D’AethMelbourne University PressPaper Nation: The Story of the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia 1886‐18882002 (shared)
James BelichPenguin PressParadise Reforged: A History of the New Zealanders from the 1880s to the Year 20002002 (shared)
David WalkerUniversity of Queensland PressAnxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia 1850‐19392001
Ken InglisMelbourne University PressSacred Places. War Memorials in the Australian Landscape1999
Anne SalmondUniversity of Hawaii PressBetween Worlds. Early Exchanges between Maoris and Europeans, 1773‐18151998
Tom GriffithsCambridge University PressHunters and Collectors: the Antiquarian Imagination in Australia1996-97
David GoodmanAllen & UnwinGold Seeking Victoria and California in the 1850s1994-95
Judith BrettMacmillan AustraliaRobert Menzies' Forgotten People1992-93
Anne SalmondUniversity of Hawaii PressTwo Worlds: First Meetings Between Maori and European 1642‐17721990-91
Alan AtkinsonOxford University PressCamden: Farm and Village Life in Early New South Wales1988-89
Patrick O'FarrellUNSW PressThe Irish in Australia1986-87
Janet McCalmanMelbourne University PressStruggletown: Public and Private Life in Richmond 1900‐19651984-85
Ken InglisMelbourne University PressThis is the ABC: The Australian Broadcasting Commission 1932‐19831982-83
Henry ReynoldsJames Cook UniversityThe Other Side of the Frontier: An Interpretation of the Aboriginal Response to the Invasion and Settlement of Australia1980-81
Graeme DavisonMelbourne University PressThe Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne1978-79 (shared)
Weston BateMelbourne University PressLucky City: The First Generation at Ballarat 1851‐19511978-79 (shared)
John RickardANU PressClass and Politics: New South Wales, Victoria and the Early Commonwealth, 1890‐19101976-77
Max CrawfordSydney University PressA Bit of A Rebel: The Life and Work of George Arnold Wood1974-75
John La NauzeMelbourne University PressThe Making of the Australian Constitution1972-73
Geoffrey SerleMelbourne University PressThe rush to be rich : a history of the colony of Victoria, 1883‐18891970-71 (shared)
Paul HasluckAustralian War MemorialThe Government and the People 1942‐45 Australian War Memorial1970-71 (shared)
Manning ClarkMelbourne University PressA History of Australia Vol 2: New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land 1822‐18381968-69
Douglas H PikeMelbourne University PressAustralian Dictionary of Biography ‐ Vols. 1 & 21966-67
John La NauzeMelbourne University PressAlfred Deakin: A biography1964-65
Geoffrey SerleMelbourne University PressThe Golden Age: A History of the Colony of Victoria 1851‐611962-63 (shared)
Manning ClarkMelbourne University PressA History of Australia, Vol. 1, from the Earliest Times to the Age of Macquarie1962-63 (shared)
Bernard SmithOxford University PressEuropean vision and the South Pacific, 1768‐1850 : a study in the history of art and ideas1960-61
Keith SinclairPenguin & New Zealand University PressA History of New Zealand & The Origin of the Maori Wars1958-59 (shared)
Russel WardOxford University PressThe Australian Legend1958-59 (shared)
Geoffrey BlaineyMelbourne University PressThe Peaks of Lyell1955
J. S. GregoryUniversity of MelbourneThesis: Church and state in Victoria (1851‐72) : a study in the development of secular principles of government as revealed by the abolition of State aid to religion and to denominational education in Victoria1952
A. H. McLintockOtago Centennial PublicationsHistory of Otago: The Origins and Growth of a Wakefield Class Settlement1949
J. D. LeggeUniversity of Melbourne/University of OxfordThesis: Survey of Papuan Administration1946
Joy E. ParnabyUniversity of MelbourneThesis: Sir Charles Gavan Duffy in Victoria1943

The Allan Martin Award

This biennial award has been named for A. W. Martin[4] (1926–2002) and is administered jointly by the Australian National University and the Australian Historical Association. The award is to encourage "early career historians" for work relating to Australian History.[5] Submissions for this award are those prepared for publication and can be in any form, e.g. a monograph, a series of academic articles, an exhibition or documentary film, or some mix of these. Seven women and six men have won the prize, with one non-white winner.[6]

Winner Book / ProjectYear awarded
Rohan HowittUndiscovering Emerald Island: Phantom Islands and Environmental Knowledge in Australia’s Southern Ocean World, 1821–19302023
Ben HufThe Economy Is Not A Theory: The Politics of Prosperity in Australia2023
Xu DaozhiChinese Perspectives on Indigenous People in Chinese Australian Newspapers, 1894-19372022
Annemarie McLarenWhen the Strangers Come to Stay: Aboriginal-Colonial Exchanges and the Negotiation of New South Wales, 1788-18352021
Alexandra DelliosRemembering Migrant Protest and Activism: the Migrant Rights Movement in pre-Multicultural Australia2020 (shared)
Mike JonesCulture, common law, and science: representing deep human history in Australian museums2020 (shared)
André BrettScars in the Country: An Enviro-Economic History of Railways in Australasia, 1850–19142019 (shared)
Iain Johnston-WhiteThe Dominions and British Maritime Power in the Second World War2019 (shared)
Peter HobbinsAn intimate pandemic: Fostering community histories of the 1918–19 influenza pandemic centenary2018
Benjamin MountfordA Global History of Australian Gold2017
Ruth MorganAustralindia: Australia, India and the Ecologies of Empire, 1788–19012016
Amanda (now Andy) KaladelfosImmigration, Violence and Australian Postwar Politics2014
Melissa BellantaRacial Crossings: Race, Intermarriage, and Victorian British Empire2012
Not awarded"No application of sufficient merit was received."2010
Fred CahirBlack gold: aboriginal peoples and gold in Victoria 1850-18702008
Not awardedReason unknown2006
Maria NugentBotany Bay: Where Histories Meet2004

Blackwell AHA Prize

The publishers, Blackwell Publishing Asia, have sponsored a prize for the best postgraduate paper at a Regional Conference.

The AHA information states that the "prize will be judged on two criteria: 1) oral presentation of the paper 2) written version of the conference paper. The written version of the conference paper (not a longer version) is to be submitted at the start of the conference. The winner of the prize will be announced at the close of the conference."[7]

Melissa Bellanta (University of Sydney) for Raiders of the Lost Civilisation, or, Adventure-Romances of the Australian Desert, 1890-1907, and

Nell Musgrove (University of Melbourne) for Private Homes, Public Scrutiny: Surveillance of 'the family' in postwar Melbourne

WK Hancock Prize

The WK Hancock Prize is run by Australian Historical Association (AHA)[8] with the Department of Modern History, Macquarie University. It was instituted in 1987 in honour of Sir Keith Hancock and his life achievements.

The award is for the first book of history by an Australian scholar and for research using original sources. It is awarded biennially for a first book published in the preceding two years with the award presented at the AHA's National Biennial Conference.

Mary Anne Jebb for Blood, Sweat and Welfare: a History of White Bosses and Aboriginal Pastoral Workers (UWA Press, 2002)citation

Warwick Anderson for The Cultivation of Whiteness: Science, Health and Racial Destiny in Australia (Melbourne University Press, 2002)https://web.archive.org/web/20070709215223/http://www.theaha.org.au/HANCOCK%20PRIZE%20CITATION%202004.doc

John Connor for The Australian Frontier Wars: 1788-1838 (University of New South Wales Press)

Brigid Hains for The Ice and the Inland: Mawson, Flynn, and the Myth of the Frontier (Melbourne University Press)

Maria Nugent for Botany Bay: Where Histories Meet (Allen & Unwin, 2005)

Sue Taffe for Black and White Together, FCAATSI 1958-1972 (UQP, 2005)

Robert Kenny for The Lamb enters the Dreaming: Nathaniel Pepper and the Ruptured World (Scribe Publications, 2007)

Tracey Banivanua-Mar for Violence and Colonial Dialogue: The Australian-Pacific Indentured Labor Trade (University of Hawaii Press, 2007)

Dr Natasha Campo for From Superwomen to Domestic Goddesses: the rise and fall of Feminism Peter Lang, 2009

Dr Clare Corbould for Becoming African Americans" Black Public Life in Harlem, 1919-1939 Harvard University Press, 2009[9]

Frances M Clarke for War Stories: Suffering and Sacrifice in the Civil War North

Ian Coller for Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798-1831

Michael L. Ondaatje for Black Conservative Intellectuals in Modern America[10]

Janet Butler for Kitty's War: The Remarkable Wartime Experiences of Kit McNaughton (University of Queensland Press, 2013)

Adam Clulow for The Company and The Shogun: The Dutch Encounter with Tokugawa Japan (Columbia University Press, 2014)[11]

Ruth Morgan for Running Out? Water in Western Australia (UWA Publishing, 2015)

Miranda Johnson for The Land Is Our History: Indigeneity, Law, and the Settler State (Oxford University Press)[12]

Laura Rademaker for Found in Translation: Many Meanings on a North Australian Mission (University of Hawai’i Press)[13]

Jason Gibson, Ceremony Men: Making Ethnography and the Return of the Strehlow Collection (SUNY Press)[14]

The Jill Roe Prize

The Jill Roe Prize is awarded annually to a postgraduate student for the best unpublished article of historical research. It was inaugurated in 2014 in honour of the late Jill Roe.

The John Barrett Award for Australian Studies

The John Barrett Award for Australian Studies is for the best written article published in the Journal of Australian Studies, in the categories: the best article by a scholar (open) and the best article by a scholar (post-graduate).

John Barrett Award: Open Category

John Barrett Award: Postgraduate Category

The Kay Daniels Award

Inaugurated in 2004, this award is named for Kay Daniels (1941–2001),[24] historian and public servant,[25] and recognises her interest in colonial and heritage history.

The biennial award will be administered by The Australian Historical Association.

The Serle Award

The Serle Award was first presented in 2002. The award was established through the generosity of Mrs Jessie Serle for the historian Geoffrey Serle (1922–1998).[29]

The Serle Award is for the best thesis by an "early career researcher" and will be payable on receipt of publisher's proofs, which must be within twelve months of notification of the award. The biennial award will be administered by The Australian Historical Association.

Winner University ThesisYear awarded
Karen TwiggLa Trobe UniversityAlong Tyrrell Creek: An Environmental History of a Mallee Community2022
Annemarie McLarenAustralian National UniversityNegotiating Entanglement: Reading Aboriginal- Colonial Exchanges in Early New South Wales, 1788 – 18352020
Anne (now Yves) ReesAustralian National UniversityTravelling to Tomorrow: Australian Women in the United States, 1910–19602018
Laura RademakerAustralian National UniversityLanguage and the Mission: Talking and Translating on Groote Eylandt, 1943–19732016
Carolyn HolbrookUniversity of MelbourneThe Great War in the Australian Imagination Since 19152014
Bill GarnerUniversity of MelbourneLand of Camps: The Ephemeral Settlement of Australia2012
Simon SleightMonash UniversityThe Territories of Youth: Young People and Public Space in Melbourne, c.1870-19012010
Marina LarssonLa Trobe UniversityThe Burdens of Sacrifice: War Disability in Australian Families 1914–19392008
Jessie MitchellAustralian National UniversityFlesh, Dreams and Spirit: Life on Aboriginal Mission Stations 1825–1850 A History of Cross-Cultural Connections2006
Bartolo ZiinoUniversity of MelbourneA Distant Grief: Australians, War Graves and the Great Wa2005

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Ernest Scott Prize, The University of Melbourne, https://scholarships.unimelb.edu.au/awards/ernest-scott-prize
  2. Web site: 2024-05-15 . Palmer wins 2024 Ernest Scott Prize . 2024-05-15 . Books+Publishing.
  3. Web site: Walsh . Tim . 2023-06-06 . Joint winners of the 2023 Ernest Scott Prize announced . 2023-06-06 . Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne . en.
  4. Web site: Bibliography of A. W. Martin's Writings . University of Melbourne . 2007-07-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070621192316/http://www.mup.unimelb.edu.au/ebooks/0-522-85388-9/WhigView_Biblio.pdf . 21 June 2007 . dead . dmy-all .
  5. Web site: The Allan Martin Award . AHA . https://web.archive.org/web/20070804170123/http://www.theaha.org.au/Allan%20Martin%20Award%20-%20Info%26Application%20form_2008.doc . dead . 4 August 2007 . 2007-07-21 . dmy .
  6. Note: Andy Kaladelfos identifies as a transmasculine, non-binary and queer person.
  7. Web site: Blackwell AHA Prize for the Best Postgraduate Paper at the Regional Conference 2007 . AHA . 2007-07-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070709215021/http://www.theaha.org.au/prizesandawards.htm . 9 July 2007 . dead . dmy .
  8. Web site: The Australian Historical Association . AHA . 2007-07-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20070717183526/http://www.theaha.org.au/. 17 July 2007 . live.
  9. Web site: Australian Historical Association Website . 2011-02-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110218174856/http://www.theaha.org.au/awards/hancock/winners.htm . 18 February 2011 . dmy .
  10. Web site: W.K. Hancock Prize – Previous Winners – the Australian Historical Association .
  11. Web site: W H Hancock Prize - Previous Winners. The Australian Historical Association. 8 September 2017.
  12. News: Australian Historical Association 2018 awards announced Books+Publishing. 2018-09-01. en-AU.
  13. Web site: Beach . Kylie . 2021-11-23 . Prestigious award for Laura Rademaker for work on Indigenous and mission history . 2022-04-29 . Eternity News . en-AU.
  14. Web site: W.K. Hancock Prize – Previous Winners . 2023-07-23 . The Australian Historical Association . en-AU.
  15. Web site: Jill Roe Prize – Previous Winners . 2022-07-01 . The Australian Historical Association.
  16. Web site: 2019 Jill Roe Award Announcement – The Australian Historical Association. en-AU. 2019-12-06.
  17. Web site: 2020-07-06 . Oral historians feature in AHA prizewinners . 2022-04-29 . Oral History Australia . en-AU.
  18. Web site: 2021-07-23 . History student awarded the Australian Historical Association's Jill Roe prize . 2022-04-29 . Australian National University – School of History . en-AU.
  19. Web site: Jill Roe Prize – Previous Winners . 2023-07-23 . The Australian Historical Association . en-AU.
  20. Web site: The John Barrett Award for Australian Studies | Explore Taylor & Francis Online . 22 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151223115353/http://explore.tandfonline.com/content/pgas/jas-john-barrett-award . 23 December 2015 . dead .
  21. http://nasa.org/blog/2015-winners-john-barrett-award/Retrieved 2015-12-13
  22. http://inasa.org/blog/announcing-the-winners-of-the-john-barrett-award-for-australian-studies-2013/ Retrieved 2014-8-8
  23. Web site: The Annual John Barrett Prize. inasa.org . 30 July 2013. 2014-08-08.
  24. Web site: Kay Daniels, 1941-2001 . AHA . https://web.archive.org/web/20030428210615/http://www.theaha.org.au/Kay%20Daniel%20Obit%20AHS.htm . dead . 28 April 2003 . 2007-07-21 . dmy .
  25. Web site: The Kay Daniels Inaugural Award: 2004 . AHA . https://web.archive.org/web/20070804170052/http://www.theaha.org.au/Kay%20Daniels%20Award_2008.doc . dead . 2007-08-04 . 2007-07-21 . dmy .
  26. Web site: The Australian Historical Association . 2023-01-20 . Australian Historical Association.
  27. Web site: Kay Daniels Award – Previous Winners . 2 December 2022 . The Australian Historical Association.
  28. Web site: Hilary M. Carey . 2022-04-29 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . en.
  29. Web site: The Serle Award . AHA . https://web.archive.org/web/20070804165921/http://www.theaha.org.au/Serle%20Award%20Info%26application%20form_2008.doc . dead . 4 August 2007 . 2007-07-21 . dmy .