THE KEEPER OF GEELONG’S PAST
GET chatting to historian Norman Houghton (left) and he’ll spell out in vivid detail the makings of Geelong after European settlement.
From Scottish settlers behind the town’s wool industry in the mid-1800s, to the transformation of a swamp to Kardinia Park, and to the city’s industrial “birth” in the years leading up to World War I, Mr Houghton recounts it all.
In fact, many of Geelong records and other historical items have passed under the Geelong man’s watchful eye.
That’s because in the late 1970s when the city was in need of a central resource, Mr Houghton founded the Geelong Heritage Centre, which he ran until 2004.
“I set up that place as if I were going to come in and do historical study. I made it userfriendly and everyone seem to like that notion of it,” Mr Houghton, 72, said.
Now the centre’s collection of items and records stretches to more than 4.2km of mobile shelving.
For his service to community history in Geelong and elsewhere, Mr Houghton is recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia.
“I’ve always enjoyed what I was doing and it seems other people think it was of value,” he said.
His honour follows decades in professional archival roles and other voluntary roles including as a founding member of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, Australian Forest History and Otways Historical Society, and historian at The Geelong Club.
Mr Houghton has authored more than 40 books, including a biography of pioneering Geelong mayor Howard Hitchcock who, among others, donated funds to start the Great Ocean Road.
Mr Houghton said a good grasp of history had the makings for success.
“You don’t know where to head unless you know where you’ve come from,” he said.