Philip Geeves Print Page

The plaque was erected in memory of Philip Geeves (1917-1983), author, historian and broadcaster who alerted Sydneysiders to their heritage. His memorial trust made the refurbishing of statues Spring and Autumn urns possible.

In 1936 Geeves joined Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd as a junior announcer at radio station 2CH; he became involved in short-wave broadcasting at VK2ME, known as the `Voice of Australia’. Geeves enlisted in World War Two and after the war he returned to 2CH as a senior announcer, later becoming program director. Recognising the changing nature of postwar Australia, he introduced foreign-language music programs for European immigrants, working closely with the Department of Immigration and sponsors seeking new customers. Impressed by the passion for history in the USA, Geeves contacted his former science teacher, James Jervis, who was a keen local historian. Together they wrote Rockdale (1954), a history of the suburb where Geeves’s forebears had settled. In response to a request from the Royal Australian Historical Society, Geeves published Local History in Australia (1967) on methods of research. He wrote 137 historical radio and television features produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission for school children and adults. On 2CH his `Streets of Sydney’ ran for fifteen years and `Moments in History’ daily for two years.

He was a councillor (1954, 1963-71) and fellow (1972) of the Royal Australian Historical Society. In 1980 he was awarded an OAM. He retired because of ill health in the 1970s and died in 1983.

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