The UWA Historical Society

UWA Historical Society events

The McGillivray Pipe Organ at Winthrop Hall, UWA

The UWA Historical Society is proud to provide events for members, friends and the general public.

Event detail Event registration Time Date

Celebrate with us and bring UWA’s history to life

The UWA Historical Society is again participating in the Heritage Perth Weekend, now in its 12th year.

The weekend of 9th and 10th of April will feature guided tours on campus, the telling and re-telling of stories, and the enthralling history of WA’s first university and of the heritage listed Hackett Memorial Buildings.

We welcome everyone to enjoy the guided tours on offer and to share in the stories of the past with friends and family. Follow the links below to register online via Eventbrite.

Discover the full program of history and heritage walks, talks, ‘behind the scenes’ tours of iconic and curious heritage buildings, children’s activities, exhibitions and experiences on the Heritage Perth Weekend 2022 website.

https://heritageperth.com.au/heritage-perth-weekend-2022/

Register for: Morning tour: Discover the Heritage Buildings of UWA

10am - 11am Sat 9 and Sun 10 April 2022

Register for: Afternoon tour: Historical Tour of UWA's Crawley Campus

2:30pm - 3:30pmSat 9 and Sun 10 April 2022

Recent Events

Date Event Venue Time
Tuesday 18 January 2022

Walking tour of the original UWA Crawley campus
Did you know that the University of Western Australia’s history began as an idea in 1910 and took three years to become a reality? It was in March 1913 that the inaugural academic year began with the admittance of its first cohort of students, both women and men, in Irwin Street, Perth.

RSVP by 16 January 2022 to Lynn O’Hara: [email protected] or 0408 959 006
Payment in advance to Commonwealth Bank: Nedlands

  • Account name: Oral History WA Inc
  • BSB 066 155
  • Account number 10484448
  • IDENTIFY your e-payment: UWAtour Last name First name initial
Where to meet: Under the fig tree in the UWA Entrance 3, off Hackett Drive 9:30am - 11:00am (finish time and route subject to the morning's temperature)
Thursday 11th November 2021 Remembrance Day Service
Join us in commemorating all West Australians past and present who have served our country at home and abroad. Important: If you would like to attend we kindly request you register using our Eventbrite site. This will help us with UWA Covid Health and Safety Compliance.

Please register by via Eventbrite
Whitfeld Court, UWA Crawley Campus, Perth 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Wednesday 8 December 2021 Tour of the new Digitisation Centre
Prior to this year’s AGM UWAHS Members are invited to tour the new Digitisation Centre. The tour commences from Foyer of the Barry J Marshall Library. Places are limited. Please register if you plan to attend.

Register by emailing Fran at: [email protected]
Barry J Marshall Library, UWA Crawley Campus 4:00pm – 4:45pm
Wednesday 8 December 2021 UWA Historical Society Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2021
Join UWAHS members for this year’s AGM which includes the election of a new committee for 2022. Nominations for Committee Membership need to be submitted to Dr Fran Pesich at least fourteen (14) days before the AGM.

Please register your attendance by emailing Fran at: [email protected]
Convocation Council Room, Irwin St Building (Cricket Pavilion), UWA Crawley Campus 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Tuesday 27th July 2021 (Note new Date) The Somerville Auditorium: Creating a Cathedral of Trees
2019 marked the 75th anniversary of the first performance in the much-loved Somerville Auditorium. All are invited to join Emeritus Professor Jenny Gregory AM for this Members & Friends Meeting presentation to find out more about the early history of this unique element of the University's campus and its founder William Somerville.

Please register by emailing Fran at: [email protected]
Convocation Council Room, Irwin St Building (Cricket Pavilion), UWA Crawley Campus 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Wednesday 12th May 2021 Development of the Sunken Garden
All are welcome to our first Members & Friends Meeting for 2021. Our presenter is Gillian Lilleyman who will focus on the development of one of the best loved places on the University grounds. Find out about some of the early decision makers who shaped the campus landscape that we prize today. Followed by an opportunity to catch up after a long break!

Please register by emailing Fran at: [email protected]
Convocation Council Room, Irwin St Building (Cricket Pavilion), UWA Crawley Campus 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Saturday 17th April 2021 Perth Heritage Weekend: Heritage Buildings of UWA Walking Tour
Discover the heritage buildings of the northern end of UWA campus with tour guide Roy Stall. Starting near Winthrop Hall, the tour will take in the Hackett Memorial buildings, Winthrop Hall, Reid Library, Irwin Street Buildings, Arts Building and New Fortune Theatre, the Octagon and Dolphin Theatres and Somerville Auditorium, before finishing at Lawrence Jackson Court near Winthrop Hall.

Please register by emailing Fran at: [email protected]
Great Gateway, Winthrop Hall, UWA, UWA Crawley Campus 10:00am - 11:00am
Saturday 17th April 2021 Perth Heritage Weekend: Crawley Campus Historical Tour
Join tour guide Mihaela Safta on an historical tour of the Crawley campus. Discover the beginnings of WA’s first university, and the vision the university’s first Chancellor had for the campus. This guided walk describes his vision for a combined entity, and how today, architecture and landscape work in harmony to create a subtly beautiful environment.

Please register by emailing Fran at: [email protected]
Great Gateway, Winthrop Hall, UWA, UWA Crawley Campus 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Sunday 18th April 2021 Perth Heritage Weekend: Heritage Buildings of UWA Walking Tour
Discover the heritage buildings of the northern end of UWA campus with tour guide Roy Stall. Starting near Winthrop Hall, the tour will take in the Hackett Memorial buildings, Winthrop Hall, Reid Library, Irwin Street Buildings, Arts Building and New Fortune Theatre, the Octagon and Dolphin Theatres and Somerville Auditorium, before finishing at Lawrence Jackson Court near Winthrop Hall.

Please register by emailing Fran at: [email protected]
Great Gateway, Winthrop Hall, UWA, UWA Crawley Campus 10:00am - 11:00am
Sunday 18th April 2021 Perth Heritage Weekend: Crawley Campus Historical Tour
Join tour guide Mihaela Safta on an historical tour of the Crawley campus. Discover the beginnings of WA’s first university, and the vision the university’s first Chancellor had for the campus. This guided walk describes his vision for a combined entity, and how today, architecture and landscape work in harmony to create a subtly beautiful environment.

Please register by emailing Fran at: [email protected]
Great Gateway, Winthrop Hall, UWA, UWA Crawley Campus 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Wednesday 9th December 2020 UWAHS Annual General Meeting
Welcoming all Members, past present and future to this year's AGM. This year's presentation will be Adjunct Professor Warren Kerr, followed by short presentations providing you with an update on the year's many successful projects. This will be followed by the formal AGM including election of President/Chair and the UWAHS Committee for 2021. Please note the change of venue to G28 in the Social Sciences Building directly opposite on James oval. G28 faces on to the Oak Lawn.

Registration is essential. Please contact Fran: [email protected]
G28 Lecture Room, Social Sciences Building, UWA Crawley Campus 5:00pm - 7:30pm
Wednesday 11th November 2020 Remembrance Day Event
Join representatives of the University, Guild, Convocation and WA University Regiment on the Crawley Campus to remember those who served in times of conflict.

Registration is essential. Please contact Fran: [email protected]
Whitfeld Court, UWA Crawley Campus 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Tuesday 18th February 2020 Members & Friends Meeting: Two Reviews of The University of Western Australia, 1939-1942
On June 5, 1940 a brief report on the activities of the University of Western Australia was presented to the University by Sir Robert Strachan Wallace, the Vice-Chancellor of Sydney University. The contents of this review of the University led to a full Royal Commission into the University by the West Australian Government, the man who was chosen to head this inquiry was The Honourable Albert Asher Wolff, a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Join us for a lecture by E/Prof John Melville-Jones which will explore these two significant reviews of the University and the issues which they raised.
Irwin St Building, UWA Crawley Campus 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Tuesday 10th December 2019 UWAHS Members and Friends Meeting
Join us for a short presentation by Professor Alexandra Ludewig, in which she will explore recently uncovered links between UWA and the Internment Camp on Rottnest Island during World War One.

Registration by email: [email protected]
Or phone/SMS Fran on: 0417 178 275
Convocation Council Room,
Irwin Street Building,
UWA Crawley Campus
5:30 to 7:30pm
Tuesday 3rd December 2019 UWA Historical Society Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2019
Join UWAHS members for our AGM with the election of our new committee. This year's speaker will be Maria Carvalho, UWA Archivist, who will talk about the history of UWA Archives.

AGM Agenda 2019 [PDF, 81.2 KB]
Updated 11 Nov 2019


Convocation Council Room,
Irwin Street Building,
UWA Crawley Campus
5:30pm
Monday 11th November 2019 RWAHS Photographic Exhibition
Visit the RWAHS building for an exhibition hosted by the Royal WA Historical Society
49 Broadway St, Nedlands 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Monday 11th November 2019 UWAHS Campus Walk
Following the exhibition will be a guided campus walk from the RWAHS building on Broadway to Whitfield Court
49 Broadway St, Nedlands 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Monday 11th November 2019 Commemoration Service
Join us in commemorating all Western Australians past and present who have served their country at home and abroad.

Register online at: Remembrance Day Registration.
Whitfeld Court, UWA Crawley Campus 5:00pm to 6:00pm
Tuesday 15th October 2019 Celebration of 50 Years of the Octagon Theatre
A personal experience of the unique aspects of presenting on the Octagon's stage. Our presenters took you through the history of the theatre and its 50 years in our community.

Our presenters included Dr Joan Pope (also the evening's MC), Dr William (Bill) Dunstone and Rob Lines, followed by drinks and reminiscences through to 7:30pm.

Register online at: Celebration of 50 Years of the Octagon Theatre Registration.
Octagon Theatre, UWA Crawley Campus 5:00 pm
Sunday 4th August 2019 Open Day 2019
Come join us for Open Day 2019 for a chat about the history of the university and what we do. Membership forms will be available, membership is $30 inc GST, cash preferred. A number of books about the university's history will also be available for purchase and order.
Guild Village, UWA Crawley Campus 9:00am to 3:00pm
Tuesday 16 July 2019 Italian Studies at UWA, 1929-2019
Learn how UWA became the first university in Australia to appoint a Lecturer in Italian in 1929, followed soon after by the Universities of Melbourne and Sydney, and why Francesco Vanzetti only retired, aged 85, in 1963.
Convocation Council Room,  Irwin Street Building , UWA Crawley Campus 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Saturday 18 May 2019  Campus Walk: Art and Architecture
Join Conservation and Heritage Architect Ron Bodycoat for this popular tour of significant buildings and spaces on the Crawley Campus. This Campus Walk covers some of the most notable building embellishments and freestanding artworks inherent in and around the architectural design of buildings on the campus.
Near western entrance, Winthrop Hall, UWA Crawley Campus  2:00pm to 
3:00pm
Saturday 25 May 2019 Campus Walk: Crawley Campus - the early years
The time period covered starts from when the University moved from its existing location in Irwin Street, Perth, to its new Crawley Campus. This one hour tour takes you around these early UWA Crawley campus buildings and provides insight into how the campus developed from the early 1900s through to the 1970s.
Main Entrance, Winthrop Hall, UWA Crawley Campus   2:00pm to 
3:00pm