meet the team

“I’m concerned with how history shapes us and how we shape the past in the present. I believe history is much more than just the written word and that the historian’s role is important in truth-telling and generating shared understandings of the past – in particular, the resistance wars fought in defence of Country. ”
— Stephen Gapps, Historian

Stephen Gapps

HISTORIAN

A man wearing a beige corduroy shirt and a trucker hat with a patch, speaking into a microphone and holding a piece of paper, standing indoors near a textured wall and a window with dark glass.

Stephen is an historian committed to bringing the Frontier Wars (1788-1930) into broader public recognition as Australia’s First Wars. He has published two award winning books; ‘The Sydney Wars 1788-1817’ (NewSouth, 2018) and ‘Gudyarra – The First Wiradyuri War of Resistance, The Bathurst War 1822-1824’ (NewSouth 2021).

Stephen also worked as a consultant historian and as a museum curator at the Australian National Maritime Museum where he co-curated the major new permanent exhibition ‘Shaped by the Sea – Stories of Deep Time Australia’ (2022).

As Senior Associate – Historian at Artefact he brings over 20 years' of experience in a wide range of areas and places of history – from sites of conflict and commemoration to riverways and sea lanes. 

    • NSW Premier’s History Award for Regional and Community history 2011

    • Les Carlyon Award for writing military history 2020

    • BA Hons. History (University of Sydney)

    • MA Applied History (University of Technology, Sydney UTS)

    • PhD History ‘Performing the Past: A Cultural History of Historical Re-enactments’ (UTS)

  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-gapps-1b231026/

  • First Nations

Stephen’s artefact

Ruined stone structure in an open field under a clear blue sky.

“I spend a lot of time in libraries and archives looking through archives and reading manuscripts and books.

My artefact should perhaps be a book. But I choose a landscape instead – the places where history occurred are critical in understanding what stories people write and talk about.”