Hunter Living Histories

Congratulations to our wonderful benefactor Vera Deacon, OAM, whose Investiture Ceremony for her Order of Australia Medal was held in Sydney on 2 December 2020 at 4pm. She was accompanied by her daughter Daria, and University of Newcastle alumna (from its Newcastle University College days) & friend Marilla North. Best wishes from all of us.

Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, hosted the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours and Awards Ceremonies, at Government House Sydney. Vera’s Investiture was part of Ceremony 18: Wednesday, 2 December 2020, 4:00pm – Replay

At 15 minutes 30 seconds into the live stream:

“To be presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia within the General Division; Mrs Vera Frances Deacon. Mrs Deacon is a long term benefactor to the Archives of the University of Newcastle; the Vera Deacon Regional History Fund was named in her honour in 2008. A member of the Hunter Living Histories Project, she is a librarian with the Stockton Historical Society, an advocate for the preservation of Newcastle’s heritage, and a presenter of talks on the history of Mosquito (Moscheto) and Dempsey Island in the Hunter River Estuary. Matriarch of the Friends of the Schoolmasters House, Ash Island, she has devoted twenty years to the Ash Island Kooragang Wetland Rehabilitation Project, and is a volunteer for various environmental conservation campaigns including as Chair of the Wee Falls Narraweena Beacon Hill Reserve. For her service to the community of Newcastle she was made a Freeman of the City of Newcastle in 2019. For service to Community History and to Conservation, Mrs Deacon.”

Thanks to Marilla North for permission to republish the photographs taken on the day.

Gionni Di Gravio, OAM
University of Newcastle Archivist, and Chair, Hunter Living Histories.