The Ballarat Legacy Club, now 100 years old, was set up after the Great War to take care of the widows and orphans of fallen servicemen. Its founders dedicated themselves to the grieving mothers and their children, whom they cared for thereafter. They did so on a purely voluntary basis, without any government assistance – finding the funds to cover the massive outgoings down all the decades since.

Ballarat Legacy has seen more than six wars, the Great Depression, the GFC, and innumerable other economic and social shocks. For each crisis these men and women found a way to help out. They did not seek compensation or praise. Their reward was seeing the difference they could make to these vulnerable people.

Ballarat Legacy: 100 years of Service surveys the history of Australia over the past century and relates it closely to what the Club was doing to fulfil its noble goals. There are some amazing war stories. There are many touching stories of great kindness. Each chapter features the intimate details of individual mothers and children helped by Legacy.

The author, Richard McRoberts, takes you through the challenge of writing a history book covering 100 years. He surveys the sources, the difficulties and the delights that he found in this project. He shares many funny and moving stories from the book, and offers you a fascinating glimpse inside the pages. You will get a strong sense of the history, but more importantly, a warm sense of how Legacy’s grateful wards experienced this century long mission of selfless charity.