Ruth Marchant James OAM , Councillor:

Ruth is a Councillor of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society Inc 2005-2008. She is a Fellow of the RWAHS and a Fellow of the Fellowship of Australia Writers (WA). Ruth joined the Royal Western Australian Historical Society in 1976, and this is her 16th year as a Member of Council, having service as Vice-President in 2001-2004.  She has been an active member of the Society’s affiliates the former Northern Suburbs Historical Society and the Cottesloe Society, and in the cause of local history has done much to promote its enjoyment through her media writings, radio talks, conducting pertinent walks and workshops.  Author of six published books and several papers.  Ruth’s book Cottesloe. A Town of Distinction (2007) won the Western Australia Premier’s Book Award in 2008 in the history category.  In 2009, Ruth was a recipient of the Order of Australia Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

An inaugural member of the History Council of Western Australia Inc and an elected member of its Committee, Ruth has shown a prodigious capacity for research and this has taken her as far afield as England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy and in Australia.