Celebrate Kiama’s amazing heritage
Visit the Pilot’s Cottage Museum, Blowhole Point
Treat yourself to a fascinating trip down memory lane. Learn how Aboriginal people and white settlers have made their mark on the local area. Find out more about the marks left by cedar gatherers, farmers and quarry workers.
Discover Kiama’s leading history society
See how local people are fighting to defend the area’s heritage buildings and places, and celebrating the history of the area. Why not join up and become part of a growing movement that cares about our neighbourhoods?
Find out more about our local history
Find helpful hints on where to look for more information on the history of the area now known as the Kiama local government area. This includes on the Internet, and names of helpful organisations.
Historical Society news
Kiama Historical Society (KHS) celebrated a 50 year birthday in 2025 but there’s no sign of us slowing down! We have a record number of 238 paid members, making us one of the largest voluntary organisations in the area. Click here to join the fun.
With growing numbers of museum volunteers, from July we moved to 4 day weekend museum opening. It’s a great way to meet new people and share pride and knowledge of the amazing place we live in. Interested? - email Helen.
We also have a small army of volunteers helping in other ways: Peter with gardening (see picture), Helen with volunteering, Sheena and Barb with publicity, Boni with oral history, Heather and Ross with accessioning, Bob and Andrew with curation, Gordon with cleaning, Grahaeme with technology and Bret with handywork. Please email Tony Gilmour if you’d like to help out.
Our busiest Saturday
On 18 July we welcomed the Royal Australian Historical Society (RAHS) to Kiama. Established in 1901, the ‘Royal’ is the oldest historical society in Australia, They helped establish Kiama Historical Society in 1975, and were part of the defence when Council threatened to move the museum from Blowhole Point
KHS vice president and RAHS board member Tony Gilmour, RAHS senior vice president Christine Yeats, RAHS president Carol Liston with Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald
KHS patron Aunty Dr Joyce Donovan welcomed 55 morning workshop participants to Country. She is a keen researcher and historian, tracing her local Wodi Wodi ancestry back over many generations.
Catering was supplied by dedicated volunteers from the Gerringong branch of the Children’s Medical Research Institute. This group, established in 1959, has raised over $2 million for worthy causes.
In the afternoon Carol Liston gave a revealing presentation to over 90 guests on the Rutter sisters. From a tragic start when sent to the Female Orphan School in 1821, three young girls become pioneer local settlers. Cecilia, Caroline and Catherine married into the Hindmarsh, Kendall and Chapman local families. But it was their determination and carefully inherited wealth that helped the success of three Kiama and Gerringong dynasties.
Events
For Spring and Summer we’re continuing a wide range of events, from a popular author presentation to a trip to a fascinating local museum. And Christmas is almost round the corner!
Blackbirding: a reckoning with Australia’s unspoken history of slavery
Ryan Butta, interviewed by Tony Gilmour. Saturday 10 October, 2.00 pm, Kiama Library Auditorium
Joint event with Friends of Kiama Library (FOKL). New book available for purchase
$8 KHS/FOKL members, $10 guests. Includes afternoon tea. Pre-booking required through this link
Between 1860 and 1906, more than 60,000 Pacific Islanders were brought to Australia to work the Queensland sugarcane fields. Men, women and children were taken from their homelands through coercion, deception or outright abduction. Forced into contracts they could not read, unpaid until the end of their service and denied basic rights, they endured brutal working conditions that led to the deaths of nearly 15,000 people.
Leading historical author of the bestselling books The Ballad of Abdul Wade and The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli Ryan Butta confronts one of the least acknowledged episodes in Australian history.
Exposing a deliberate ‘engineered forgetting’ that has kept these stories out of the national memory, Ryan will bring the hidden history of blackbirding into the light. He will be interview by KHS vice president Tony Gilmour.
Behind the scenes visit to Illawarra Light Rail Museum
Meet at the museum, 48A Tongarra Road, Albion Park Rail. Thursday 19 November, 10.30 am
Email Tony if you need a lift to the venue.
$15 museum entry. Includes morning tea. No event pre-booking needed
Join KHS members for an exclusive visit to a local museum that celebrates the industrial railways of our area.
From 1914 tram tracks lined Terralong and Manning Streets carrying blue metal stone from quarries to Kiama harbour and railway station. The train shown was built in the US in 1917, then worked Kiama’s lost tramways from 1936 to 1941.
Our museum visit will include talks by volunteers, train rides and a tour of the extensive site. Step onto the platform of the original Yallah Station opened in 1890. And join friends old and new for morning tea and cake.
Members’ Christmas party
Meet at the back area of Yves Social bar, Sebel Hotel, 31 Shoalhaven Street Kiama
Friday 11 December, from 4.00 pm
Buy own drinks at the bar. No event pre-booking needed
Our annual Christmas event brings together familiar faces from Kiama Historical Society and Friends of Kiama Library.
This will be a great chance to meet other members and volunteers over an informal glass of whatever drink takes your fancy. And given ‘social hour’ starts at 4.00 pm it would be a shame not to take advantage of discounted drinks prices.
2026 has been a momentous year for the Society, defending our museum from eviction and Council finally agreeing a 5 year licence on the building. With so many new members and a great energy, there’s a lot to celebrate!
Our publications
Dr Tony Gilmour, our vice president was busy writing during 2025!
Celebrating history tells how for over five decades Kiama Historical Society has brought to life fascinating stories from the area’s past. It has battled to preserve valuable local heritage against demolition and insensitive development.
Read all about Kiama’s legendary figures the Society has helped rediscover. From progressive writer and colourful character Charmian Clift to legendary Hollywood multi Oscar winner Orry-Kelly.
Click on the book image or button to buy the book for $25 + 50c fee (local delivery is free). All profits go to Kiama Historical Society
Published in 2025 Tony’s 286 page Rascals and respectables book tells the thrilling tale of hotels in Kiama, Jamberoo and Gerringong. From the first hotels in 1837 to the present day, drinking venues have shaped social life and character.
Kiama was once a place of ‘besotted and shameless drunkards’, Bombo hosted an illegal ‘sly grog’ shop and Kiama’s 1899 great fire led to mass bingeing on stolen alcohol.
Click on the book image or below to buy the book for $29.90 + 50c fee (local delivery is free). All profits go to Kiama Historical Society. This is a popular book - we’re on our second imprint.
Previous events - time to Podcast!
Our friends at Kiama Community Radio (KCR) have many of our recent events recorded as podcasts. Click on the images below to go to the Podcast.
