Published: 22 March 2022

Shirley Jurmann is the 2021 recipient of the Fergus Thomson OAM Heritage Award.

A fourth generation Louttit family member, Ms Jurmann is passionate about Moruya and its people. She is long time member of the Moruya & District Historical Society (MDHS), which has published many of her observations about historical people and events of the region.

Society president Susan Murphy said Ms Jurmann’s writing provided great insight on the everyday lives of different generations who lived and worked in Moruya’s by “using their recorded memories and photographs to bring them to life”.

“Her work also inspires researchers interested in the history of our district,” Ms Murphy said.

Eurobodalla Council strategic planner Stephen Halicki said Ms Jurmann had written many articles and several booklets for the MDHS, but for most it was her articles in the popular press that brought Moruya’s olden days to life.

“Among them – her nine-part Time Travel series in the Moruya Examiner in 2018, followed by a ten-part series on health care, covering historical doctors and nurses, and the hospitals they worked in,” Mr Halicki said.

“Her latest published article recounted the disastrous 1884 bushfire that swept across Moruya and surrounds.”

“Shirley’s work preserves the unique history of this district for future generations and enables people to discover their place and those who have shaped the world in which they live,” Ms Murphy said.

Ms Jurmann could not attend the award ceremony at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden on Monday 21 March. Instead, representatives of the MDHS accepted the award from Yvonne Thomson on Ms Jurmann’s behalf.

Also acknowledged at the ceremony were the shire’s 2021-22 Honours List recipients and new Australian citizens – the first in-person opportunity for their recognition since COVID-19 restrictions came into effect.

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