RAHS Special Lecture – In Search of Mick Simmonds: An Aboriginal Family History

Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 18 November 2026 @ 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm

Event Location: Online only via Zoom

Cost: Free

Event Description:

In 1915, my grandfather Mick Simmonds and other children were excluded from Nambucca Heads Primary School because of their Aboriginality. Mick lived and worked with his Aboriginal relatives in inner-city Sydney from the 1920s, eventually owning his own house in Redfern where he and my grandmother lived for the rest of their lives. However, he never told his daughter or grandchildren about what had happened in 1915. He never told us anything about our Aboriginal heritage. Researching this book has been a journey of discovery.

About the speakers:

Steven Farram is a senior lecturer in History at Charles Darwin University. He completed his PhD at Charles Darwin University in 2004 on the political history of West Timor, 1901 to 1967.