The Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society paid tribute to the outstanding achievements of Bill and Edna Eddowes and John and Gwen Banks by presenting them with the first-ever BRGHS Honorary Lifetime Memberships. Senator Claire Moore, patron of the BRGHS, was on hand to present them with their certificates at the National Trust House, William Street.
John, Gwen, Edna and Bill were part of the team (along with Maureen and the late Don Walters) that kept the heritage-listed Boggo Road gaol site standing and the museum running during the 1990s and early 2000s. The enormous amount of work that this involved cannot be overestimated. The community spirit of these few volunteers, who not only invested their time but their own money into keeping the site open, inspired the formation of the BRGHS in 2003, and John was the founding president.
Although John, Gwen, Edna and Bill have now retired, the BRGHS is continuing their work and hopes to be a part of the gaol when it reopens in 2010, pending completion of the current redevelopment work around the gaol site.
The membership presentation, in front of a good number of their BRGHS colleagues, proved to be quite an emotional event and the recipients were clearly moved to have their work recognized and see it being continued into the future.
- The Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society
