Allen Mawer: 'Canberry Tales: an informal history'

Allen Mawer will be talking about the history of Acton, which he describes as Canberra’s time capsule. His most recent book, Canberry Tales, takes readers through the three great discontinuities of Acton time: at European settlement white replaced black; at Federation nation replaced colony and state; and most recently institutions replaced people. Acton was also the site where Canberra’s love affair with plants began with Charles Weston’s first nursery.

Granville Allen Mawer is an historian who has published widely in the fields of maritime history and exploration but he has also made forays into Australian history, most notably in a biography of Jack Doolan, the original Wild Colonial Boy. Ahab’s Trade, his history of South Sea whaling, was shortlisted for both the NSW and Queensland Premiers’ history prizes. South by Northwest, a history of the search for the magnetic poles, was runner-up for the Frank Broeze maritime history prize.  He recently edited his father’s wartime journal, which was published in 2011 as Diary of a Spitfire Pilot.