New history urge drives a retired engineer
Peter Fitzpatrick, 73, was one of four Victorians over 70 who still managed to keep his mind on his textbooks during Melbourne Cup week and concentrate on his Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) exams.
The retired civil engineer decided after a brush with prostate cancer, to study, the new field for him, of Australian history and to do it as a VCE subject through distance education rather than by joining a historical club.
He told The Age newspaper, “It’s not much good flopping around in a historical society aimlessly. I wanted to approach it in a more organised and structured fashion, where a historian could lead me. I think the focus most kids have these days is simply to pass.
“And they seem to want to be spoon fed, whereas the teachers have complimented me on my attention to detail and willingness to research outside course notes”.
Next year, Mr Fitzpatrick will join the West Gippsland Genealogical Society and assist Melbourne historian, Janet McCalman, on a research project that traces the descendants of 1,500 Tasmanian convicts.
