The RHSV established the Jessie Webb Society to honour those who bequeath funds to us and to encourage members to include a bequest to the RHSV in their will. Bequests always have been and always will be vitally important to the ongoing work of the RHSV. They allow us to take leaps forward and to achieve things that fall outside our everyday program. Those leaps forward can be large or small but they all make a very positive difference.

At this Jessie Webb Society event, we are delighted that Richard Simmie has agreed to talk to our members about his passion for history and philanthropy.

Richard is the grandson of Jock Simmie, one of the founders of Simmie & Co in the 1920s. Simmie & Co were builders responsible for many of the buildings we know and love in Melbourne and Canberra. The RHSV is currently hosting a wonderful exhibition about Simmie & Co and their legacy. At the launch Richard spoke very movingly about his growing understanding of the importance of recording stories and history and how this led him to preserve his own family’s history but also, through philanthropy, to create scholarships in perpetuity which honour his grandfather’s life’s work.

We invite all our members to join us at morning tea with Richard Simmie in the RHSV Gallery where Well Built, the Simmie exhibition, is hanging.

You can rest assured that there is no pressure and we don’t hound you! All members are welcome.

Click here to read more about Jessie Webb after whom we named this important society and about making a bequest.

This is a free in-person event only, we won’t be offering it via Zoom.