Louise Blake has had an interest in performing arts history since she discovered the PROMPT collection of theatre programmes at the National Library of Australia more than ten years ago. She has a post-graduate diploma in Cultural Heritage Management from the University of Canberra and a Masters in Biography and Life Writing from Monash University. Louise has indulged her interest in cultural heritage through her work at the National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia and, more recently, as a reference officer at PROV.

Peter Davies has had a research interest in the archaeology of Australia and the ancient Near East for more than fifteen years. He is the author of Henry’s mill: the historical archaeology of a forest community (Archaeopress, 2006). He currently teaches archaeology at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

Joan Hunt is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, where she served several terms on Council, partly as vice‑president and partly as convenor of the History Victoria Support Group. Her work in community history spans thirty‑seven years, from Dandenong Historical Society committee membership in 1974 to involvement in the Ballarat region since 1980.

Heather Holst lives in Castlemaine and became interested in the subject of ‘home’ through working in services for the homeless for 15 years. Her paper ‘Home Truths’ is part of a larger PhD project at the University of Melbourne on making a home in the Castlemaine district.