The Makings of a City History Conference 2002

The Inaugural Conference on the History of the City of Penrith 2002
Presented by Penrith City Council and LibraryFriday 12 April 2002

Official Launch and the viewing of The Squatters Daughter, 1933 partly shot at Fairlight, Mulgoa

A successful and productive day was had by all, with 95 people attending

  • Associate Professor Carol Liston from University of Western Sydney, Historian and Heritage Consultant was the keynote speaker.
  • John Mitchell from the UK gave a talk on the Appledore family of Cornwall and Castlereagh.
  • Neil Cram, local solicitor and railway enthusiast spoke on the history of the railway in the city.
  • Lorna Parr, local historian spoke on the hotels in the area.
  • Laura Player from Perth, family historian, spoke on the involvement and influence of the Smith family in the area.
  • Rhonda Hunter, local historian, spoke on the history of St Marys.
  • Launch of the Nepean Family History Society’s much awaited publication: The Nepean District Pioneer Register. A biographical register of pioneers living and working in the Nepean District from 1788-1900. The Nepean Family History Society has contributed a great deal to the history and recording of historic places in the city. They have been responsible for the transcriptions of all of our cemeteries, a very big task. They are also presently transcribing the old council rate and valuation books.
  • Launch of the Penrith City e-history web pages. Since the Council’s web page was first launched in 1995 the Library has provided an enormous amount of information on the city. History pages were some of the first pages to be put up. Since then the website has changed dramatically and as a result of that the history pages have now been redesigned to cater for enquiries from school projects to university research papers. Penrith City e-history is a development from an increased usage to cater for the needs of the public, both locally and globally.