“The farther backward you look the further forward you can see”
Malcolm ‘Mac’ Benoy
2026 SA Senior Australian of the Year!
The Henley & Grange Historical Society is proud to announce the guest speaker for our July general meeting is Mac Benoy, 2026 SA Senior Australian of the Year.
This famous quote above from Winston Churchill became the guiding principle behind one of Australia’s longest-running citizen science projects. Over 20 years, Mac Benoy led a Bureau of Meteorology initiative that rescued and digitised more than 110,000 pages of historic weather records. From these images, nearly one million weather observations from South Australia (1843–1957) were transcribed and added to international databases, where they continue to support climate research worldwide.
In this engaging and often amusing presentation, Mac shares the story of the project and the dedicated citizen scientists and citizen historians behind it. Along the way, their research uncovered fascinating insights into South Australia’s pioneering scientist and engineer, Sir Charles Todd, drawing them into the history of the Overland Telegraph and Todd’s many other achievements. Their work ultimately led to the creation of a digital library containing more than 8,000 historical documents. Time permitting, Mac will also illustrate the innovative tools developed to make this remarkable collection accessible and searchable.
In recognition of this extraordinary contribution, the work of the citizen historians received a Bureau of Meteorology Achievement Medallion — an honour rarely awarded to members of the public.
Malcolm ‘Mac’ Benoy
Meteorological Researcher
2026 SA Senior Australian of the Year
Malcolm ‘Mac’ Benoy has made a significant contribution to climate change research in his role as a volunteer citizen scientist, helping to preserve valuable records and data relating to South Australia’s meteorological history. International climate change and meteorological researchers have used the group’s records to reconstruct historical weather patterns in the southern hemisphere, helping to better understand how the global climate is changing. Mac’s professionalism, enthusiasm and insight continue to guide the team of citizen scientists in its work to document and preserve critical weather data.