Minute by the Lord Mayor
To Council:
I wish to inform Council of the passing of
Emeritus Professor Donald John Noble Denoon, academic, author and Pyrmont
community stalwart on 3 July 2024.
Donald was born on 29 July,1940 in Scotland.
He later wrote that his route to Pyrmont was “poorly signposted”. After moving
to South Africa, he gained a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) at the University of
Natal in 1961. A teaching career followed. Donald later earned a PhD at the
University of Cambridge, where he met his first wife, Pamela.
In 1966, the couple moved to Uganda where
Donald took up a teaching post at Makerere University and Pamela gave birth to
their three children. After Idi Amin’s coup in 1971, life in Uganda became
ugly. Donald, Pamela and their children, left for Port Moresby where Donald was
appointed Professor of History at the University of Papua New Guinea.
In 1982, the Denoon family moved to Canberra,
where Donald became a professor of Pacific History at the Australian National
University. Pamela became active in the Women’s Electoral Lobby and Donald
organised support for the African National Congress. Six years later, Pamela
died from leukemia after a two-year illness.
In February 1992, Donald married his
long-time friend, Mary Mortimer, whom he helped write a book about bereavement.
When he retired, Donald and Mary lived together in Pyrmont where they quickly
made friends and became increasingly involved in the wider Pyrmont community
and its various organisations.
With others, Donald established the Pyrmont
History Group “to promote debate about Pyrmont's place in the world”. He said:
“The History project
opened my eyes to Pyrmont's layered complexity. There are traces of centuries
when Eora and others fished these rich waters; John Harris VI described the
dominant dynasty founded by surgeon Harris; and there are ample records of the brutal
conditions endured by wharfies and quarrymen - and their trade unions and the
formation of the Labor Party. Michael Matthews, Clover Moore and Frank Sartor
loosened Labor's grip and launched the era of Independent City councillors”.
In 2017, the History Group published Women of
Pyrmont and earlier this year, the group published Men of Pyrmont, edited by
Donald. “Winning the Lottery” was the title he gave to his own chapter. It
ended with:
“My life before
Pyrmont was outrageously lucky. A lecturer's question rescued me from South
Africa's segregated classrooms to transnational academe. My miracles have come
in pairs. I have twice been appointed to chairs for which I was not qualified.
I met the notorious ldi Amin twice, and both times he
was in a benign mood. Above all, I have been happily married twice, surely
beyond the national average? I thought my life was nearly over when I retired
to Pyrmont. How wrong I was! Despite my best efforts to avoid this fate, I
arrived in the liveliest, most diverse and most fascinating community in this
city.”
Donald was a kind and clever gentleman who
will be missed by all who knew him.
COUNCILLOR
CLOVER MOORE AO
Lord Mayor
Moved by the Chair (the Lord Mayor)
It is resolved that:
(A)
all
persons attending this meeting of Council observe one minute's silence to
commemorate the live of Donald Denoon and his contribution to the Pyrmont
community and academic research;
(B)
Council
express its condolences to Donald's widow, Mary Mortimer, his family, many
friends and the Pyrmont community; and
(C)
the
Lord Mayor convey Council's condolences to Donald's widow, Mary Mortimer.
Carried unanimously.
S051491
Note – All Councillors, staff and members of the public present stood in
silence for one minute as a mark of respect to Donald Denoon.