Journeys that shaped our history

A full afternoon of expert talks exploring the stories behind the journeys of our ancestors.

MINI SEMINAR from 1PM – 5PM, Saturday 5 September 2026 via Zoom

Come and listen to:

Emeritus Professor Philip Payton – Historian
Cornish Immigration – The Cornish journey: reasons, routes and resilience.
Discover how Cornwall became an “emigration culture” and why so many Cornish men and women made new lives in the Australian colonies. In this talk, historian Philip Payton draws on his landmark study The Cornish Overseas to follow families from the mines and parishes of Cornwall to copper towns such as Moonta and Kadina, the goldfields, and beyond, highlighting the records and research strategies that can help today’s family historians trace their Cornish ancestors in Australia.

Emeritus Prof Philip Payton is a British-Australian historian and one of the leading scholars of modern Cornish history and the Cornish diaspora. Emeritus Professor of Cornish & Australian Studies at the University of Exeter and Professor of History at Flinders University, his many books include Cornwall: A History and The Cornish Overseas: A History of Cornwall’s Great Emigration.

Dr Jennifer Harrison
Surgeon’s and Passenger Diaries – First-hand accounts: insights from surgeon’s and passenger diaries.

Dr Jennifer Harrison is a research adviser with the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry at The University of Queensland.  Her experience over a generation as Queensland Researcher for the Australian Dictionary of Biography at the Australian National University reinforced her fascination for the people element within family and local history.  She has written the Australian Notebook column for Irish Roots since its inception in 1992 and lectured and published widely on Irish-Australian immigrants – convicts and settlers. While Jennifer currently is caught up in marking the two hundredth anniversary of establishment of the penal colony at Moreton Bay and the genesis of Brisbane Town, she continues to enjoy her role as patron of the Genealogical Society of Queensland.

Dr Dot Wickham
Early Moreton Bay ships – The vessels that connected Moreton Bay to the world.

Dr Dorothy Wickham is a Director of Ballarat Heritage Services, educator, author and historian. In 2003 Dorothy completed a Master of Philosophy about the Ballarat Female refuge (1867-1921) and in 2008 a PhD, “Women of the Ballarat Goldfields 1851-1871: A Case Study in Agency”. She is a member of the Professional Historians’ Association (Vic & Tas) (Qld) and a visiting fellow at the Harry Gentle Resource Centre, Griffith University (Qld). Dorothy has overseen many diverse projects and collaborative efforts, including consultancies with local councils, historical groups, educational research projects and universities. She has written, designed, published and co-authored many books and book chapters, including The Eureka Encyclopaedia, the overall winner of the 2005 Victorian Community History Awards and Women of the Diggings: Ballarat 1854, commended in 2010. She has also assisted in the creation and maintenance of the Eurekapedia Wiki.

Dr Janet Few
Emigration to the UK from the 13th to the 18th Centuries – Exploring centuries of movement, motives and destinations.
This presentation looks at the background history to immigration into England over 700 years. General records of immigration are considered, as well as looking in more details at the immigration of members of the Roma and Traveller Communities, those of the Jewish father and Huguenots. Sources available to trace these groups will be discussed. Finally, the session looks at the impact of immigration on both the immigrants themselves and the communities where they settled.

Dr Janet Few is a British family, social and community historian, author and experienced lecturer who has presented throughout the English-speaking world and at sea. A qualified family historian and specialist in seventeenth-century social history, she writes on topics from one-place and one-name studies to the lives of marginalised ancestors and appears as an historical interpreter bringing everyday past lives vividly to life.

Lucky Door Prize

Voucher to spend in the GSQ Shop

Note: All registered participants go into this draw, whether you are able to attend on the day or not.

TICKETS

$50 for GSQ and for QFHS/Affiliate/Corporate members after applying the discount code
$60 for Non-members

Tickets will close at 8am Saturday 5 Sept 2026

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