Joan Hunt is a PhD candidate at Federation University, Ballarat, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, and a Churchill Fellow. An ex-teacher, she has worked at Public Record Office Victoria, Ballarat Archives Centre. While living in England in 2011–2012 she undertook an Advanced Diploma in Local History through Oxford University, which involved research into community and family reconstitution. Joan has written a history of Ross Creek, and a centenary history of the Scarsdale Old Scholars. Joan’s PhD thesis is a reconstruction of the now-disappeared Springdallah goldfields between Linton and Cape Clear, 30 kilometres south-west of Ballarat, which comprised nine communities.

Author email:  joan_hunt@bigpond.com