Theo Barker Lecture

‘The more things change the more they stay the same‘: revisiting Theo Barker’s 1973 findings on the needs, problems and capacities of Historical Societies in NSW is the Tenth Theo Barker Memorial Lecture which will be presented by Christine Yeats, Archivist, Historical Researcher and former President of the Royal Australian Historical Society.

Christine Yeats is an archivist and historical researcher, with particular interest in women’s history, the Romani nineteenth century Australia and attempts to introduce a silk industry in Australia. She is also the current President of the Federation of Australian Historical Societies.

She was the President of the Royal Australian Historical Society, holding the position from 2018 to 2021 and a Past President of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia (ISAA), Immediate Past Chair of ISAA NSW.

Christine is the Convenor of the Assessment Sub-Committee of the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee. She is also a member of the Jessie Street National Women’s Library Board.

For much of her 35-year career Christine worked with the Museums of History NSW (previously the NSW State Archives), where she was responsible for managing access to the State’s archives, outreach and public programs. During this time she implemented a number of key initiatives aimed at improving access to the State’s archives for researchers.

She was a founding member of the History Council of NSW, serving on its executive until 2012, and a member of the executive of the Professional Historians Association NSW & ACT for many years, retiring as the Deputy Chair in 2016.

Over the course of her career Christine contributed to a wide range of publications and spoke at national and international conferences and since retiring from full-time work she continues to speak at conferences, seminars and workshops. Christine has also undertaken a number of research projects and published articles and papers based on this work.

She is the Review Editor of the RAHS Journal and she has edited a number of issues of the RAHS Magazine. Christine edited the June 2023 issue of the RAHS Journal.

Christine’s recent publications include:

• Handy Guide: Convict Records of New South Wales: The Human Stories of the Transportation System, St Agnes (SA), Unlock the Past, 2021.
• Essays ─ ‘Elizabeth, Lady Gipps’, ’Louisa, Lady Duff’, ‘Lady Edeline Strickland’ and ‘Margaret, Lady Davison’ in Joy Hughes, Carol Liston, Christine Wright (editors), Playing Their Part, Vice–Regal Consorts of New South Wales 1788–2019, Royal Australian Historical Society, Sydney, 2020.
• ‘Should They Stay or Should They Go?’: Contested Statues’, Public History Review, 2021, Vol. 28.
• The Silk Road’, SL Magazine, Library Council of NSW, Summer 2019–20 Vol 12 No 4.

A light supper will be available after the lecture