Rosemary Cameron

Rosemary Cameron

Awarded RHSV Honorary Life Membership 2025

Rosemary Cameron was Executive Officer of the RHSV from late 2017 to August 2025. A graduate of Queensland University, she had a ‘can-do ’attitude, vitality, charm, and community-oriented experience. Rosemary assumed office after troubled times. In tandem with the RHSV president, Professor Richard Broome AM, and strongly supported by Council, she transformed the RHSV, raising it to a highly professional level and generating widespread goodwill.

Rosemary’s management of financial accounts provided the basis for incisive reports by the then Hon. Treasurer, Daniel Clements, whom she recruited. She markedly increased revenue from tenancies at the Drill Hall and from expansion of the bookshop, initially developed by Lenore Frost.

In addition to organising an impressive array of lectures, exhibitions, and excursions, Rosemary expanded the group insurance scheme and other activities beneficial to local historical societies. History Week became History Month with increasingly generous grants from the Vera Moore Foundation. The Victorian Community History Awards continued to flourish as a joint project with the Public Record Office Victoria.

Rosemary’s informative and attractive e-bulletins kept the history community up to date with relevant news. Her personal warmth and joyous laughter made the drab Drill Hall a welcoming place. COVID and the later loss of a regular government grant generated strong headwinds. Using Zoom technology, Rosemary kept the Council and all committees functioning during the COVID years, engaged in bursts of intense activity in between lockdowns, and later increased fund-raising efforts.

Rosemary trained new staff and adeptly managed an increase in the number of employees and volunteers as the society grew increasingly complex. She was known for her caring attitude to the society’s many volunteers and her willingness to join them in various endeavours. Rosemary excelled at connecting with the RHSV community and nurturing cooperative relationships with kindred societies.

To honour and thank her, the RHSV Council has revived the award of Honorary Life Membership, for which Rosemary is the inaugural recipient.