Annual Croker Prize for Biography |
The Croker Prize for Biography is a great way to hone your writing skills and share your family history storiesThe 2025 Croker Prize for Biography is now closed. The Croker Prize for Biography is a wonderful opportunity for you to hone your writing skills, share your family history stories and demonstrate your research. It also enables the Society to showcase your work to assist other members with their research and writing. Entrants are to write a 800-1000 word biography on an individual, based on original research, which must be related to the selected annual theme. Entries are judged according to the following criteria: · Entries must relate to the identified theme and be about the entrant's relative. · Entries should be well written, informative and entertaining. · Entries must be logically organised with an introduction and conclusion, using good grammar and spelling. · Entries should demonstrate good genealogical research skills, as evidenced by referenced sources. For entry form, click here. Full terms and conditions for the 2025 prize are available here. Please refer to our Referencing Guidelines for more detailed information. ABOUT The annual Croker Prize for Biography was established in 2014 in memory of Colin and Loas Croker, who thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Society to research their family trees. Through this annual prize, we acknowledge the very generous benefaction they left to us after their deaths. A different theme for the competition is set each year, which is announced in the Autumn/March journal and on the website. Members can submit one entry each on that theme, with the winner chosen by a committee of former recipients and Society representatives. A cash prize of $1000 is awarded to the winner and their entry is published in the Spring/September issue of Descent. All entries remain on the website for the current and previous year and are then transferred to the Society's digital archive system, where they will be found through the MIDAS catalogue. The theme for 2025 was: My Relative's Journey Click on the links below to read all 28 entries. 2501: Journey of Sarah Crosby 2502: A Long Journey - 23,000 Kms by Rail and Sea 2503: Bound for the Colonies 2504: The Journey that Began in a Remote One-Roomed School 2505: Philip Markham – Convict, Absconder, Orchardist 2506: Leaving Home: Penelope Jenkin's Canadian Caper 2507: A Journey of Lies, Mystery, Loss, and New Beginnings: John Burgess 1855-1937 2508: Journey into Hell 2509: A Passage from India 2510: Edward William Moore: A Chequered Life 2511: Tough 2512: A Vintage Journey 2513: Ellen Utanaya Heaven 2514: Redemption of a Remittance Man 2515: A Journey Counted Not in Steps 2516: They Called it Baby Farming. She Called it Survival 2517: A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea 2518: A Life in a Window 2519: Alice 2520: Do Widzenia, Aloha, Helo, Czesc and Bonjour 2521: Thanks, Jane: 'Twas all because of You 2522: A New Land 2523: My Nan Ethel: A Personal Journey of Strength 2524: A Life's Journey 2525: Chasing Prosperity: A Life on the Move 2526: Earnestly Seeking Salvation 2527: A Childhood Continent Spanning Four Continents 2528: Jessie's Journey
Use the link below to download and read entries for the previous two years. Previous Themes and Winners2024 – 'A Special Family Connection' – Winner: - Maxine Elder - Clara's Story 2023 – 'A Family Myth' – Winner: Michael Considine - Reds Under the Bed 2022 – 'Where Did I Come From?' – Winner: Bob Wright - Collits Inn 2021 – 'My Most Unexpected Research Finding' – Winner: Michele Bomford - Conduct Unbecoming: Matthew Burnside and the 'Providence' Scandal, 1826 2020 – ‘My Most Elusive Ancestor' – Winner: Bill Dudley - The Sad Tale of Lieutenant Philip Connor 2019 – ‘A Woman of influence’ – Winner: Wendy Pryor - The Indomitable Miss Jane Skillicorn 2018 - 'A life-changing experience' – Winner: Patricia Smith - A double-edged sword 2017 - 'A Tough Life' - Winner: Kim Hatherly – A Boy from Shoreditch 2016 - 'The Ancestor I most admire is ... ' – Winner: Christine Collins - Dan's Legacy 2015 - 'My immigrant's story' - Winner: Bob Wright – Granny Greenhalgh (2015 Board Prize & 2015 Members' Choice Prize) 2014 - 'The blackest sheep in my family's flock was ...' – Winners: Elizabeth Adams - Sailing Uncharted Waters - the wreck of Master Mariner William Whitfield (2014 Board Prize) & Bob Wright - Old Brine: Terror of the Richmond River (Brian O'Neil) (2014 Members' Choice Prize) Image: Narrabeen Newport bus 1919, SAG Manuscript and Image Collection, Item 6/1338 |