{{Short description|Australian author}} {{use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{use Australian English|date=December 2020}} '''Geoffrey Haydon Manning''' (1926–2018) was an Australian author and historian. He is known particularly for his books on South Australian placenames; ''Manning's Place Names of South Australia'' (1990) is particularly well-known and available online at the State Library of South Australia website. The final illustrated edition of this work was ''The Place Names Of Our Land: A South Australian Anthology'' (2009).

==Early life == Manning was born in Waikerie, South Australia, a son of carpenter Richard Baker Manning (1896–1936) and his wife Grace Maud Manning, née Hein (1901–).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geoffmanning.net.au/index.html|title=Geoff Manning: Insight|access-date=21 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215194907/http://geoffmanning.net.au/index.html|archive-date=15 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Career and other life interests== He was employed by the Savings Bank of South Australia until his retirement in 1982.<ref name=autobiog>{{cite book|url=https://geoffmanning.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/A-Depression-Kid.pdf|title=A Depression Kid's Story: An Autobiography|first=Geoffrey H.|last=Manning|access-date=15 Dec 2020|others=Published online by his son, Haydon.}}</ref>

He greatly admired Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley, and saw himself as espousing generally left-wing views.<ref name=autobiog/>

==Local history== After retirement from the bank, Manning devoted himself fully to writing on local history. His works on South Australian placenames contain much information supplemental to, and correcting, the much earlier ''Nomenclature of South Australia'' (1908) by Rodney Cockburn (1877–1932) and ''What's in a Name'', a revised edition by his journalist son Stewart Cockburn (1921–2009).<ref name=autobiog/> John Hill, then Minister for the Environment, launched the online version of ''Manning’s Data Base of South Australian History'' in September 2005 at the State Library of South Australia.

His large collection of significant articles from South Australian newspapers has been digitised by the State Library of South Australia as ''The Manning Index of South Australian History''.<ref>{{cite web | title=Manning Index of South Australian History |url=https://manning.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/ |publisher=State Library of South Australia |access-date=3 October 2021}}</ref><ref group="note">His 1081-page work, ''A Compendium of the Place Names of South Australia'', is accessible via SLSA's search index, see External links below. {{As of|2021|}} it was also available as a [https://geoffmanning.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Mannings-Place-Names_-full-version-.pdf &nbsp;complete downloadable document] from the [https://geoffmanning.info/ &nbsp;website] maintained by Haydon R. Manning.</ref>

In 1997 he released ''The Grange Golf Club: A History of the First 70 Years, 1926–1996'' about The Grange Golf Club of Adelaide.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://geoffmanning.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Grange-Golf-Club-searchable.pdf|title=The Grange Golf Club: A History of the First 70 Years, 1926-1996 |last=Manning|first=Geoff|date=1997}}</ref>

==Family, death and legacy== Manning married Gwen in September 1956; it was her second marriage and he thus became step-father to two daughters. Haydon R. Manning, political scientist of Flinders University, is his son.<ref name=autobiog/>

Manning died in September 2018,<ref>{{cite web | title=Manning, Geoffrey. - Death Notices | website=The Advertiser | date=14 September 2018 | url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/tributes/notice/death-notices/manning-geoffrey/3027616/?nk=5368735429563e095bf15d1f564b8696-1608026513 | access-date=15 December 2020}}</ref> leaving a legacy of invaluable historical work on South Australian history.

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Notes== {{Reflist|group=note}}

==Select bibliography== *Geoffrey H. Manning ''Hope Farm, Cradle of the McLaren Vale Wine Industry'' (1980) {{ISBN|0959439404}} *Geoffrey H. Manning ''Whisky Makes You Well'' (1983) {{ISBN|095918760X}} *Geoffrey H. Manning ''Hope Farm Chronicle'' (1984) {{ISBN|0959562990}} *Geoffrey H. Manning (ed.) ''Memoirs of Thomas Frost, 1825–1910'' (1985) {{ISBN|0959008705}} *Geoffrey H. Manning ''The Tragic Shore'' (1988) {{ISBN|0909378444}} *Geoffrey H. Manning and Haydon R. Manning ''Worth Fighting For'' (1989) {{ISBN|095953816X}} on bank employees' unionism *Geoffrey H. Manning ''Manning's Place Names of South Australia'', Adelaide, 1990 *Geoffrey H. Manning ''50 Years of Singing; A History of the Adelaide Harmony Choir'' (1996) {{ISBN|9780646274003}} *Geoffrey H. Manning and Alison Painter ''The Grange Golf Club; A history of the First 70 Years, 1926–1996'' (1997) {{ISBN|0646313703}} *Geoffrey H. Manning ''A Colonial Experience, 1838–1910'' (2001) 3 Volumes set {{ISBN|0957865058}} *Geoffrey H. Manning ''[https://encore.slsa.sa.gov.au/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1639285__Smanning%27s%20place%20names__P0%2C2__Orightresult__U__X6?lang=eng&suite=cobalt Manning’s Place Names of South Australia From Aaron Creek to Zion Hill] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724103602/https://encore.slsa.sa.gov.au/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1639285__Smanning%27s%20place%20names__P0%2C2__Orightresult__U__X6?lang=eng&suite=cobalt |date=24 July 2019 }}'' (c.2006 ) "Includes facsimile of Rodney Cockburn's 'Nomenclature of South Australia' [1908]." (CD-ROM) *Geoffrey H. Manning ''The Place Names Of Our Land: A South Australian Anthology'' (2009) {{ISBN|9780947284787}}

==External links== *{{official|geoffmanning.info}} Geoff Manning's published histories, links to place names and his subject catalogue of 100 years of South Australian newspapers (1836–1936) *{{cite web | title=Manning Index of South Australian History | website=State Library of South Australia| url=https://manning.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/ }} *[https://manning.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/search.html Search Manning index] {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Geoff}} Category:1926 births Category:2018 deaths Category:Australian historians Category:People from South Australia