Geoffrey Haydon Manning (1926–2018) was an Australian author and historian, commonly known as Geoff Manning and cited as an author as Geoffrey H. Manning. He is known particularly for his books on South Australian placenames; ''Manning's Place Names of South Australia'' (1990) is particularly well-known and available online at the
State Library of South Australia website. The final illustrated edition of this work was ''The Place Names Of Our Land: A South Australian Anthology'' (2009).
Early life
Manning was born in
Waikerie, South Australia
Waikerie ( ) is a rural town in the Riverland region of South Australia on the south bank of the Murray River. At the , Waikerie had a population of 2,684. The Sturt Highway passes to the south of the town at the top of the cliffs. There is a c ...
, a son of carpenter Richard Baker Manning (1896–1936) and his wife Grace Maud Manning, née Hein (1901–).
Career and other life interests
He was employed by the
Savings Bank of South Australia
The Savings Bank of South Australia was a bank founded in the colony of South Australia in 1848, based in Adelaide. In the early 20th century it established a presence in schools by setting up a special category of savings accounts for schoolch ...
until his retirement in 1982.
He greatly admired
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
Prime Minister
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...
, and saw himself as espousing generally
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
views.
[
]
Local history
After retirement from the bank, Manning devoted himself fully to writing on local history. His works on South Australian placenames contain much information supplemental to, and correcting, the much earlier ''Nomenclature of South Australia'' (1908) by Rodney Cockburn
Rodney Cockburn (21 October 1877 – 28 September 1932) was a South Australian journalist, author of a popular reference book on South Australian place names.
History
Cockburn was born in Kent Town, South Australia, a son of George (c. 1835 †...
(1877–1932) and ''What's in a Name'', a revised edition by his journalist son Stewart Cockburn (1921–2009).[
John Hill, then Minister for the Environment, launched the online version of ''Manning’s Data Base of South Australian History'' in September 2005 at the State Library of South Australia.
His large collection of significant articles from South Australian newspapers has been digitised by the State Library of South Australia as ''The Manning Index of South Australian History''.][His 1081-page work, ''A Compendium of the Place Names of South Australia'', is accessible via an indexed alphabetical list from the SLSA']
''Manning index''
website. it was also available as
complete downloadable document
from th
website
maintained by Haydon R. Manning.
In 1997 he released ''The Grange Golf Club: A History of the First 70 Years, 1926–1996'' about The Grange Golf Club of Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
.
Family, death and legacy
Manning married Gwen in September 1956; it was her second marriage and he thus became step-father to two daughters. Haydon R. Manning, political scientist of Flinders University, is his son.[
Manning died in September 2018,]
References
Notes
Select bibliography
*Geoffrey H. Manning ''Hope Farm, Cradle of the McLaren Vale Wine Industry'' (1980)
*Geoffrey H. Manning ''Whisky Makes You Well'' (1983)
*Geoffrey H. Manning ''Hope Farm Chronicle'' (1984)
*Geoffrey H. Manning (ed.) ''Memoirs of Thomas Frost, 1825–1910'' (1985)
*Geoffrey H. Manning ''The Tragic Shore'' (1988)
*Geoffrey H. Manning and Haydon R. Manning ''Worth Fighting For'' (1989) on bank employees' unionism
*Geoffrey H. Manning ''Manning's Place Names of South Australia'', Adelaide, 1990
*Geoffrey H. Manning ''50 Years of Singing; A History of the Adelaide Harmony Choir'' (1996)
*Geoffrey H. Manning and Alison Painter ''The Grange Golf Club; A history of the First 70 Years, 1926–1996'' (1997)
*Geoffrey H. Manning ''A Colonial Experience, 1838–1910'' (2001) 3 Volumes set
*Geoffrey H. Manning
Manning’s Place Names of South Australia From Aaron Creek to Zion Hill
' (c.2006 ) "Includes facsimile of Rodney Cockburn
Rodney Cockburn (21 October 1877 – 28 September 1932) was a South Australian journalist, author of a popular reference book on South Australian place names.
History
Cockburn was born in Kent Town, South Australia, a son of George (c. 1835 †...
's 'Nomenclature of South Australia' 908" (CD-ROM)
*Geoffrey H. Manning ''The Place Names Of Our Land: A South Australian Anthology'' (2009)
External links
* Geoff Manning's published histories, links to place names and his subject catalogue of 100 years of South Australian newspapers (1836–1936)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Geoff
1926 births
2018 deaths
Australian historians
People from South Australia