Professor Weston Arthur Bate OAM

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 (born 1924) is an Australian historian

History of Australia

The History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...

 specialising in the history of Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...

.

Bate served in the Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He studied at the University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

 under Manning Clark

Manning Clark

Charles Manning Hope Clark, AC , an Australian historian, was the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume A History of Australia, published between 1962 and 1987...

, Max Crawford

Max Crawford

Raymond Maxwell Crawford , was a leading Australian historian. He was Professor of History at the University of Melbourne from 1937 to 1970....

, Kathleen Fitzpatrick

Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Australian academic)

Kathleen Fitzpatrick was an Australian academic and historian.Fitzpatrick was born in the town of Omeo, Victoria in 1905. She was educated at Loreto Convent in South Melbourne and Portland, Presentation Convent in Windsor, and Lauriston Girls' School in Armadale...

 and John O'Brien. He taught at Brighton Grammar School

Brighton Grammar School

Brighton Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day school for boys, located in Brighton, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

, Melbourne Grammar School

Melbourne Grammar School

Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

, Bradfield College

Bradfield College

Bradfield College is a coeducational independent school located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire.The college was founded in 1850 by Thomas Stevens, Rector and Lord of the Manor of Bradfield...

 (Berkshire), Monash

Monash University

Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....

 and Melbourne universities. He taught at Melbourne University from 1953 to 1976. From 1978 until 1989 Bate held the foundation chair of Australian Studies at Deakin University

Deakin University

Deakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...

, Geelong.

As of 2006, Bate is President of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Royal Historical Society of Victoria

The Royal Historical Society of Victoria is a community organisation promoting the history of the state of Victoria, Australia. It functions to promote and research the history of that state after settlement, and as an umbrella organisation for more than 300 affiliated societies.It is operated by...

 and chairs the Museums Advisory Board of Victoria. Previously he had been the president from 1991 to 1997. He has been historical consultant and Gold Museum committee member at Sovereign Hill

Sovereign Hill

Sovereign Hill is an open air museum in Golden Point, a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Sovereign Hill depicts Ballarat's first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851. It was officially opened on 29 November 1970 and has become a nationally acclaimed tourist attraction...

interactive museum, in Ballarat.