Glen Stuart has won the 2005 Museums Australia Industry Recognition Award “for lifetime achievement in the Victorian Museum Sector”. Recognising his years of committment as a volunteer with the Port of Melbourne, Polly Woodside Maritime Museum and the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society!

Since retiring from full time work in the late 1980s,Glen has been a volunteer working to preserve the archives of maritime and historical institutions.

He began by assisting the archivist of the Port of Melbourne Authority to prepare their extensive archives for a wind-up of the department. Once PMA records had gone to the PROV, he took up voluntary work with the Polly Woodside Maritime Museum and, on the advent of the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society, with this organisation.

Since 1994 he has worked regularly one morning a week with the latter and three days weekly with the Polly, to catalogue our respective collections and answer enquiries. All Glen’s volunteer activity is apart from his having kept a daily record of his personal observations of Port of Melbourne ship movements ever since the media ceased to publish these details.

Glen is the ultimate, invaluable reference source on piers and shipping for both of the above mentioned organisations and beyond. With a keen interest as well in local industrial history, he also serves as photographer and executive for the Port Melbourne Society. He is an active member of the Shiplovers Society and the World Ship Society, and served as Secretary for the former over many years.

Comment by Ann Gibson, Curator of the Melbourne Maritime Museum:
‘Glen has been with the Polly for some eleven or twelve years, cataloguing photographs and answering public queries about ships and the port.

‘His memory for ship details is incredible - like a computer you can ask a question. If he doesn't know the answer then he is meticulous and tenacious in trying to find it. He has assisted several people with their research on the Port e.g. Judith Buckrich on The Long and Perilous Journey, Barnard and Jennings on the Station Pier book Welcome and Farewell, various productions on the bay and river for ScreenSound. He did the same for our exhibition on the Port of Melbourne - checking details, picking up mistakes - just generally making sure we don't make mistakes in what we present.

‘As far as computer cataloguing of our shipping photographs goes, Glen has done the bulk of the entries of the 22,000 photographs so far on the computer database, checking every entry and adding extra information from Lloyd's or other sources. He then has been responsible for filing the photographs and the card index. A massive job, carried out through two major museum moves, a job done with skill and a conscientiousness beyond belief – and best of all, done with pleasure.’

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