In 2013, our Society celebrated the 20th anniversary of the QFHS Family History Book Award. In 1993, President Rosemary Kopittke presented authors Rae Hopkinson, Ann Dixon, and Wendy Annabell with the inaugural award for their work The descendants of Francis Goude, William Cooke, and Job Harris.
The winner, in 2013, was Ruth Delbridge for her book Mischief, Morse code & ministry: life, loss and the legacies of love.
The Award was presented to Ruth, in the presence of her family, by Rosemary Kopittke, who was President of the Society at the inception of the Book Award.
From that first year, more than 160 books have been entered for the annual competition. Each book has a significant Queensland content and tells the story of one or more Queensland families. At the completion of judging, all the books are added to the QFHS Family History Research Centre, forming an important part of our collection.
The names of previous Book Award winners can be found here.
Until 2014, Rob Adamson convened the Book Award and sometimes stepped in to fill a vacancy on the judging panel. The present convenor is Gayle Thomsett. Our current panel, Noeline Kyle, Ruth Kerr, and Trish Hickey, have judged the Award for more than ten years. Other judges have included Margaret Rutherford, Syd Prentice, Shirley McCorkindale, and Jean Stewart.