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Michael Hodgetts was born in England in 1936 and trained as a professional quantity surveyor in London before migrating to Western Australia in 1963. His contract in WA became 17 years during which highlights were three WA born children and the Junior Chamber of Commerce National Oratory which he won with his presentation of the ᤠAustralians at the Battle of Beersheba�n introduction to Australian military history he is still developing. In 1967 Mike was appointed QS-in-Charge of a new QS Group in the State Works Department. It was a time of enormous change and he revelled in the excitement and opportunities for his profession in the advancement of the city and State. He left the PWD and joined Rider Hunt Perth office in 1969, becoming Resident Partner in 1973, the year he also joined Rotary. He was President of Perth Rotary in 1979/80 after which he moved to Sydney. After some years as Managing Director of Sydney Office, Mike became Group Chairman from 1992 to 1996 and retired at 59. He and his wife Julia built a modern version of an Australian Farmhouse complete with extensive verandahs but with underfloor heating and air conditioning. It sits in 25 acres of grass and trees. Mike had written many articles about quantity surveying and construction, but he wanted to try ⥡tive writingµt away in the country he missed the buzz of business and people. He returned to the National Council of the AIQS to become National President and was also asked to become President of the Rotary Club of Sydney in the year leading up to the Olympic Games 1979/80. To get a book published requires more than writing skills. It needs a commercial subject that appeals to a publisher. Mike accepted he was unlikely to produce a best seller. But like many painters, he wanted to see a finished work. So he published, privately, stories about the Hunter Valley including è¥ Pursuit of Pokolbinᮤ research on the pioneer surveyor, Heneage Finch. Given a web site for his birthday in December 2006 it was suggested he might exhibit some examples of his output which includes:
At Oxford in 2004 his short play è¥ Trial of King Charles First硳 performed by the Summer School Class with great enthusiasm. Other subjects taken at Summer School in 1998 and recent years include Creative Writing; ShakespeareÈ©story Plays, Macbeth, Othello, Late Plays and Comedies; the Geography of Saxon Place Names; Domesday Book; World War II, the Western Front, Civil War, and Behind the Lines; Geology and Chauceránterbury Tales. These studies influence and are reflected in his writing. |
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