BARRY CROMPTON

presents

"The U.S. Civil War From Down Under"

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

or visit

presented to the 
Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia
 Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 6pm (EST)
Thursday, March 14, 2024, 9pm (AEDT)

About the Topic:

Due to the gold rush in the 1850s, Melbourne was the largest city in the southern hemisphere and attracted much interest from Americans who came Down Under before the U.S. Civil War. After the War, there were visits from military and naval commanders, members of the theatre and lecture industries, and many others looking for solace or escape.  U.S. consuls with Civil War experience and over 300 veterans are buried in Australia. Added to that are several Australians who participated in the U.S. Civil War.

 Mr. Crompton discusses the key characters (and vessels) that visited or remained in Australia and that became part of the historical connection between these two countries and which continues to this day. 

About the Speaker:

Barry J. Crompton was born in Melbourne, Australia, and became interested in the U.S. Civil War during the Centennial when he received Bruce Catton's "American Heritage History of the Civil War." He joined a re-enactment group in Melbourne, which had been formed during the Centennial, and in 1972 was a founding member and the original Secretary of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia (https://www.americancivilwar.asn.au/). 

In 1977, Mr. Crompton took his first trip with the Civil War Round Table Associates, based in Manassas, Virginia (https://www.cwrtcongress.org/PDF/CWRTA%201st%20Congress%201975.pdf), a precursor to the current CWRT Congress (https://www.cwrtcongress.org). 

Mr. Crompton has since been on seven trips to the United States to visit battlefields, attend conferences, and give lectures to various groups on the role of Australia in the U.S. Civil War. In the mid-1980s, he became involved with research on American Civil War veterans who came to Australia, and he has assisted in the installation of veterans’ grave markers with help from the U.S. Veterans Affairs. In 2015, Mr. Crompton became involved with an exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of the January-February 1865 visit by the CSS Shenandoah to Melbourne. 

Mr. Crompton has one of the largest collections of U.S. Civil War history book and documents in the world.  He also has an avid interest in U.S. Civil War philately, and the history and preservation of homes where Civil War veterans and soldiers lived (or were buried) in Australia.  Mr. Crompton is now retired, but he had been a financial manager in payroll and credit control, which afforded him ample access to his office photocopiers and computers to support his U.S. Civil War history research.

 

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