Margaret said she was both “stunned” and “quietly happy” to receive the honour, which recognises decades of volunteer work in historical research and community heritage.
Born at Cobram Hospital and raised on a wheat and sheep farm in Yarroweyah, Margaret grew up with a strong sense of community, shaped by her father’s involvement as district commissioner of the Yarroweyah Scouts and leader within the Yarroweyah Presbyterian Church.
Margaret said she was “sailing on his wings” with her love of community work and family history.
After the death of her brother in 1957, Margaret moved to Melbourne, where she attended Brighton High School and later trained as a junior high-school teacher, specialising in history and geography.
Her life took a difficult turn when she was widowed at 37, left raising four young children while managing a mortgage.
“There was no time to spend on my hobbies until I retired in 2008,” she said.
“I have spent my 18-year retirement in volunteering at historical societies, in researching, collating and writing local Victoria and family history, for myself, for the societies and the local population.
“It is a pleasure to use one’s mental capabilities after a lifetime of housework and casual teaching jobs.”
Margaret said her children — Sally, Natalie, Claire and Ben — had been a strong source of encouragement throughout her work.
Alongside her major local history publication, she has written two booklets on World War I and II soldiers from Yarroweyah, Koonoomoo, Bearii and Ulupna.
She has also produced six family history books, tracing her eight great-grandparents and their descendants.
She is currently researching a history of Strathmerton and Ulupna, which she hopes to publish next year.
Her contributions have previously been recognised with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria Award of Merit in 2017 and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria Distinguished Service Award in 2020.
Margaret has also volunteered with the Cobram Cemetery Trust and played a key role in establishing war memorials at Bearii in 2022 and Yarroweyah in 2024.
She is a research specialist at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and a member of Genealogical Society of Victoria since 2003.
“Volunteering in these areas has given me some status in the community, which I value and which, as a widow and mother, I didn’t have,” Margaret said.
“I would nominate anyone for an award, who spent hours volunteering to help others and enrich the community.”
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