The Honourable Dr Frank Madill AM M.B.B.S. (Melb), F.R.A.C.G.P. was born on September 5, 1941 in Victoria. Educated at Garfield Primary School, Drouin Central Classes and Warragul District High School, he graduated MBBS from Melbourne University in 1965. He and his wife Linda moved to Tasmania where he was Resident Medical Officer at the Launceston General Hospital 1966 – 1967. He commenced fulltime General Practice in 1968, and during this period also managed his Romney Marsh sheep stud farm at Nunamara. Elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1986 he was a Cabinet Minister from 1992-96 and Speaker of the House from 1996-1998. Frank retired from the Parliament in 2000 and resumed part time General Medical Practice in the Northern Suburbs of Launceston. He lectured in the School of Human Life Science at UTAS from 2004 – 2014 and was visiting lecturer at the Australian Maritime College and at the Medical School at the Sydney University during this period. He is the author of four (4) books – If You Faint Fall Backwards, It All Comes Back to Sheep, Why Politics Doctor and Sanders DFC – Out of the Darkness. He is a life member of the Bell Bay Seafarers Mission, Mowbray Cricket Club, North Launceston Football Club, Saints Softball Club and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He was a recipient of the Centenary Medal in 2003, the Serving Brother of St John in 2004 and was honoured with the award of Member of the Order of Australia in 2014 for services to Parliament, Medicine and the Community.

David Morris is an educator with wide experience in Tasmania in State schools, independent schools, in the TAFE sector and as a reference librarian in the State Library of Tasmania and the University of Tasmania.

David’s distinguished contribution and expertise to teacher librarianship and library services in Tasmania and at the national level was recognised in 2013 when he was awarded the esteemed Doreen Hopkins Medal by the Australian School Library Association. He is the Tasmanian representative on the national School Libraries Advisory Committee for the Australian Library and Information Association. Davis was State Chairman of the industry Focus Group for TasTAFE’s Library and Museum Studies courses. He is Vice-President of the Tasmanian Council of Churches and, until June 2013, was also Convener of the Tasmanian Council of Churches Commission for Christian Ministry in State Schools, which is co-responsible for the development and monitoring of Tasmanian Education Department guidelines for the conduct of chaplaincy in State schools and Christian religious education in State schools.

David currently sits on the Scholarship Committee of Worldview Centre for Intercultural Studies. He has a long-standing commitment to the promotion of knowledge in the community, and is currently Head of Library & Information Services at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston.

Robin Walpole was born, educated and began his engineering career in Queensland. Career choices outside Queensland saw him move firstly to Adelaide, then to Sydney and Newcastle – and again back to Sydney. He is a retired civil engineer who specialized in railway infrastructure planning and maintenance and has worked extensively throughout most of the Australian railway systems and in Africa and SE Asia. He relocated from Sydney in 2010 to Tasmania as General Manager Infrastructure with Tasrail to oversee the technical and practical aspects of rebuilding the Tasmanian railway network. He retired in Launceston in 2014. He has family connections with Hobart – his grandfather and family settled at Claremont (Cadbury’s) in 1921, his father was educated at The Friends School and as a school boy he spent nearly every second Christmas with family in Hobart. His current principal distraction is bushwalking – particularly in Tasmania – but also on the mainland and an occasional foray overseas.

Christine Beswick was born in England, but arrived in Tasmania in 1958 and was educated at Launceston High School and Launceston Matriculation College.

She trained as a Medical Technologist at the Launceston General Hospital 1965-1969, gained further experience at the Prince of Wales Hospital Sydney and St Bartholomew’s Hospital London, and returned to the LGH in 1974. She became a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Medical Scientists in 1977, and was awarded a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to pursue the Specialist In Blood Banking course at Los Angeles Red Cross in 1982.  She retired from her LGH position as Scientist I/C Haematology and Blood Transfusion in 2002.

She joined the Royal Society of Tasmania 30 years ago, was on the committee for several years, and served a term as Chair of the Northern Branch.

She lives in Perth on the bank of the South Esk. Amongst other activities she is Deputy Chair of the Consumer and Community Engagement Council of the Tasmanian Health Service – North, participants in activities at Launceston School for Seniors (which she joined for the bushwalking but which offers much more), and goes bushwalking as often as other commitments and weather allow.

Born in 1941 and raised mainly in Launceston. He was educated at Scotch College, the University of Tasmania and the University of Adelaide. His initial employment was as a teacher and senior master at Launceston Matriculation College and Kings Meadows High School. This was followed by nearly 30 years at the University of Tasmania (and its antecedent institutions) and a university in Bristol (UK), ultimately on the staff of UTAS Department of Economics.

Early retirement has afforded the opportunity to broaden activity with a variety of volunteer positions, as well as a second career in horticulture – maintaining a large garden.

Recreational pursuits include cycling (many long-distance tours, including Melbourne – Sydney, Adelaide – Melbourne, Brisbane – Sydney), bushwalking and rowing. After coaching school crews for 22 years, he resumed recreational and competitive rowing and have competed in many Tasmanian Masters Regattas, as well as two World Masters Championships. Other distractions include encouraging grandsons (presently two, but counting) to ride trikes and bikes, occasional (too infrequent) visits to our East Coast house, and interstate and overseas travel.

He has been a member of the Royal Society for nearly twenty years, and Treasurer of the Northern Branch since 1997.

Neil MacKinnon was born into a farming family in Northern Tasmania, schooled in Launceston, is an Economics graduate of the University of Tasmania, and a Chartered Accountant.  After working in Hobart, Neil took employment in the United Kingdom before embarking on a career in financial and general management as employee and/or principal that took him to Iran, Seychelles, Hong Kong, U.S.A, Switzerland, Bahamas and mainland Australia.  On return to Tasmania, Neil took up a series of short-term senior management positions in firms engaged in vegetable export, tourism and heritage conservation, rail transport, precision manufacturing, civil engineering and employer representation.  Neil maintains active involvement with family farming activities.  Neil is now retired and active on community boards and committees.  Neil’s maternal family were members of the Royal Society of Tasmania from its early days.

Eric Ratcliff was born in Launceston in 1938, completed secondary education at Launceston High School and graduated M.B.,B.S. from University of Queensland in 1964. He qualified as a consultant psychiatrist in 1976 and became a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in 1981. He was a long-serving General Councillor of the College, chaired a number of bi-national committees, and was awarded the College Medal of Honour in 2006. He has served a number of terms as Chair of the Northern Branch of the Royal Society. In addition to continuing psychiatric and medico-legal practice in Launceston, he is a recognised architectural historian, and has published on aspects of nineteenth century architecture and design in Tasmania and in England and on hospital and medical history in Tasmania. He was honoured with the O.A.M. in 2004 for services to psychiatry and architectural conservation.

Jonathan Morris, DipMgt

Jonathan is reading for his B.A. at the University of Tasmania at Launceston majoring in English and Political Science.  He has planned a secondary school teaching career, with a keen interest in global education and citizenship.  He is an accomplished public speaker, and has a history of civic involvement in Rostrum Australia (Tasmania) Club 14, and has been an active member of the Launceston City Council’s Youth Advisory Group.  Jonathan joined the Royal Society of Tasmania in 2013, and became a member of the Northern Branch’s Management Committee in 2016.

Tracy Puklowski is  General Manager, Creative Arts and Cultural Services for the City of Launceston, Director of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and an ex officio member of the Management Committee – Northern Branch.

Andrew has been associated with the Royal Society of Tasmania since 2010.

He worked at the AMC and UTAS libraries, Launceston and Hobart, from 1996 through to early 2013. From 2010 to 2013, he managed UTAS Library’s special and rare collections; as part of this role he served as Hon. Librarian to the Society. During his time as the Society’s Hon. Librarian, he oversaw the continuation of digitising of the Society’s archives and ‘Papers & Proceedings’, as well as completion of cataloguing and reorganisation of the Society’s serials collection (with acknowledgement of the efforts of the previous Hon. Librarian and former Councillor, Graeme Rayner).

In February 2013 he took up the position of Library Coordinator with the library at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, where he revived the Society’s northern library collection. Andrew is one of what might be a mere handful of Society members to have had the privilege of serving in both the south and the north of the State; on the Council (2010-13) and then the Management Committee of the Northern Branch (2013-).

Lynette Ross was born in 1954 and grew up on the South Island of New Zealand. She moved to Australia in her 20s and, after living in various parts of the country, settled in Tasmania. She undertook a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in history and archaeology; the latter through the University of  New England.  Central to her Honours degree in history was a thesis on convict death  at Port Arthur which led to a re-interpretation of the Isle of the Dead.

Lynette has a varied career history, including Heritage Officer at the Port Arthur site, as well as research roles and other positions at UTAS. She has also held the position of coordinator of operations at the historic Saumarez Homestead in NSW and other freelance roles. Her special interest is the history and archaeology of Australia’s colonial period.

Lynette has enjoyed an active life of horse riding, scuba diving, travel, all subjects relating to the past, reading and the natural world. Lynette is now retired but occupied with completing writing projects related to the colonial period. Her history of Launceston’s Government Cottage is due to be published in 2020. She also volunteers at the QVMAG in Natural Sciences working on special projects. Lynette joined the Royal Society of Tasmania in 2017, and in 2018 she joined the Northern Branch Management Committee. She is currently a member of the Centenary subcommittee.

Melanie, an alumna of Durham University, has extensive experience in teaching in primary education in government, Catholic and independent school sectors both in Tasmania and England. Her interests are in Art, Literacy, Gymnastics and Dance, and Special Education. She was Play and Communication Therapist at Giant Steps Tasmania, a special school for children on the autism spectrum. Melanie is the author of books on the paper craft of quilling, which she introduced into Tasmania in the 1980s through Adult Education courses state-wide and exhibiting for thirteen years at Rotary’s prestigious Deloraine Craft Fair.