Story of Blacktown City’s bushrangers wins Mayoral History Prize

Published on 16 September 2020

An entry charting the nefarious activities of bushrangers in Blacktown City during the 1800s has taken out the top award in the Mayoral History Prize for 2020.

Blacktown resident Carol Horne was announced as the winner of the 17 years and over category for this year’s Mayoral History Prize in a virtual presentation ceremony on Monday night.

Mrs Horne took out the $3,000 award for her entry titled Bushrangers of Bungarribee, Eastern Creek, Rooty Hill, Prospect, Seven Hills and Blacktown.

Mayor of Blacktown City, Tony Bleasdale OAM, congratulated Mrs Horne on taking out the prize.

“It was a great privilege and matter of pride as the Mayor of Blacktown City to see the calibre of work submitted to the Mayoral History Prize this year,” Mayor Bleasdale said.

“I thank Mrs Horne for her fascinating entry on the past exploits of bushrangers in Blacktown City.

“Blacktown City has such a rich history. Ranging from the Darug people, who have inhabited this land for over 60,000 years, to the first European settlers - free settlers and convicts.

“We have had a constant stream of migrants and, more lately, refugees from all parts of the world.

“The story of Blacktown City, of the people who have lived here over so many generations, is our story, and helps us to understand how we got to where we are today – a great City which we can all be proud of.”

“I thank all our entrants for the time, attention, and care they took with their wonderful submissions.”

This is the second time Mrs Horne, a member of the Blacktown and District Historical Society, has won the prestigious prize.

In 2018 she was also joint winner of the Mayoral History Prize with Families of Doonside, along with her husband John Horne for his entry Come Fly with Me.

A commendation in the 17 years and over category was awarded to Panayiotis Diamadis for his entry Mavropole: the Hellenic story of the Blacktown City district.

The judges for this year’s Prize assessed the entries on the basis of the depth and quality of the submitted work and its potential to make a significant contribution to the research, documentation and promotion of Blacktown City’s history and to improve the general public’s understanding of the history of the area.

There were a number of firsts for the Mayoral History Prize this year, including a pencil sketch, an oral recording, and the first entrant from someone who lives outside of Blacktown City.

This is the 13th year of the annual Mayoral History Prize, which was established in 2008.

Prizes were available in a number of categories: 17 years and over, Years 7 to 9, Years 10 to 12 and a category for a work relating to Aboriginal History, with a total prize pool of up to $5,000.

Picture: Mayor of Blacktown City, Tony Bleasdale OAM, with Blacktown resident Carol Horne, the winner of the Mayoral History Prize for 2020 at the virtual presentation ceremony on Monday night.