Wendy Monger – Mt Gambier

1937 – 2023

From 1995 – 2012, Wendy served as chairperson of the Mount Gambier branch. Throughout her involvement with the Trust, Wendy worked tirelessly to preserve the heritage places in her hometown.

Most notably, her efforts culminated in the handing over of the old Mount Gambier Courthouse from the State Government to the National Trust in 1976, which can still be enjoyed by the public today.

Her legacy will always be the courthouse and its preservation.

Dr Russel Sinclair – Aldgate

1941 – 2023

Russ was a pillar of the National Trust’s Engelbrook  Reserve for over 30 years.  A very experienced botanist, Russ attended working bees every month. He even recently arranged for revegetation and weed control works for a ‘Quiet Garden’ he established behind the local Bridgewater Church.

Russ’s legacy will live on through the Koonamore Vegetation Reserve, the longest-running vegetation monitoring project of its type in Australia, which he studied for over 40 years.   For more information on this project, the impact Russ had please see below:

The Koonamore Project Facebook Page

Russ Sinclair – 90 Years of Change at Koonamore

Professor Margaret (Peggy) Brock, AM FASSA

1948 – 2023

Margaret Brock, widely known as Peggy, was well known amongst the National Trust community for her remarkable contributions. Wife of former National Trust of South Australian President Norman Etherington, Peggy was an enormous support, attending countless events and making significant financial contributions for many, many years.

Beyond the Trust, Peggy had a remarkable career as a historian and educator, accumulating many recognitions for her contributions to Colonial and First Nation history in Australia, the Pacific, Canada and Africa. Particular emphasis is given to her advocacy for First Nations women. This extraordinary work was recognized in 2021 when she was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia.

To read more about Peggy’s life and works, you can visit the following websites:

South Australian Museum – Professor Peggy Brock

Wikipedia – Margaret Susan Brock

Jeff Tuner, OA – Gawler

1941 – 2023

Jeff was a valued volunteer and member of the Gawler Branch of the National Trust of South Australia. He had a productive life as a dedicated Naval member and later as a high ranking officer within the Metropolitan Fire Service. He was also a lifetime coach in junior football and tennis.

On retirement, he joined the National Trust Gawler Branch and was given the task of researching the Willaston migrant hostel and history. He took on school projects and organised the distribution of the Australian War Memorial outreach boxes.

Gawler had been the destination of two major groups of migrants after World War 2 and while most locals were aware of this, and knew some were valued members of the community, there had been no definitive research into their stories and history.

Jeff wanted to know the stories of who came, and more importantly, why they stayed. 

The only likely source of information was transferred to Canberra Archives and was not digitised or available. Gawler branch paid to have the digitisation prioritised and gave Jeff the resources necessary to start interviews and ultimately to write a book on these people. He named it after a phrase from one migrant on arrival giving an opinion on Gawler, “This’ll Do”.

Jeff was awarded an Order of Australia in 2019 for his service to the community, research and writing of the book ‘This’ll Do’. Recently he succumbed to MND, and passed away on Nov 11^th. He continued to work at the museum as a volunteer until a few weeks ago. His stories and character are greatly missed already.