Ian Howie-Willis
Ian is an independent professional historian. That’s his vocation and his job. It’s what he was born to do; and he has been at it for over 50 years now, ever since he was in his early 30s and decided he wanted to be a historian. He is the author of 23 books, with a couple more in the pipeline. As of 12 May 2023 he has been married to Margaret (née Vale), a retired school principal, for 62 years. She’s his best friend and chief critic; and he trusts her unerring judgement above all others, including in matters historiographical. She was keen for him to write this book, which is their homage to Lae, a city they lived in for six important years of their life together.
Ian and Margaret grew up in the same short street in Brighton, Melbourne. They attended the same church and were at teachers’ college together. He completed his schooling at Melbourne High School. Margaret completed hers at Hampton High School. As a mature-age student, she later graduated with a degree in Education from Deakin University. Ian undertook his first degree at the University of Melbourne then taught for three years at Warrambeen Primary School, a one-room, one-teacher rural school west of Geelong, Victoria. Moving to Papua New Guinea in 1965, he taught English and History for three years at Brandi High School near Wewak in the East Sepik Province. In early 1968, he and the family moved to Lae, capital of the Morobe Province, after his appointment as a lecturer in English at the recently established Papua New Guinea University of Technology.
While lecturing at ‘Unitech’, Ian completed a M.A. degree in Papua New Guinean History at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1972–73. His third degree, in 1975, was a M.A. (Sociology) from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, where he and the family had spent 16 months. That year, the family moved to Canberra so that Ian could undertake a Ph.D. (1977) in Papua New Guinean History at the Australian National University. They have remained in Canberra ever since. Ian subsequently taught for seven years at Dickson College, a senior government secondary school. He then joined the public service and spent 15 years as a research officer in various agencies. Meanwhile, he also continued researching and publishing books of history. Since his retirement from the public service in 1999, he has done that full-time.
In 2002 Ian was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his work as an historian. For many years he was the historian to the Most Venerable Order of St John in Australia. In 2006 he was appointed Knight of Grace (KStJ) within the Order for his contributions to knowledge about the history of St John Ambulance Australia. In 2022 he was awarded the Kerr Medal for Excellence in History by the Royal Queensland Historical Society. He is a member of the Australian Historical Association and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
A fourth generation Australian, Ian is of mixed Cornish, Scottish and English descent. He was raised a Methodist and is now an active member of his local parish of the Uniting Church in Australia. He and Margaret are delighted with the accomplishments of their family, which currently comprises their three children and their spouses, and their six surviving grandchildren.
Ian Howie-Willis 