Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean (18 November 1879 – 30 August 1968), usually identified as C. E. W. Bean, was Australia's official war correspondent, subsequently its official war historian, who wrote six volumes and edited the remaining six of the twelve-volume Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. He was the foundational force and primary advocate in establishing the Australian War Memorial (AWM). According to the Online International Encyclopedia of the First World War, no other Australian has been more influential in shaping the way the First World War is remembered and commemorated in Australia. In February 2021, in recognition of the significance of the influence of Charles Bean and his works within Australian history "The diaries, photographs and records of C. E. W. Bean" (in the possession of the AWM and the State Library of NSW) were officially inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register. The citation stated: “The diaries, photographs and records of C.E.W. Bean (1879–1968) comprise multiple collections relating to his experience as Australia’s official correspondent and historian of the First World War. They document his role as one of the founders of the Australian War Memorial and other civic institutions, and are regarded as fundamental to an understanding of critical aspects of Australian identity and commemorative practices.” Charles Bean was many things school master, barrister, judge's associate, journalist and author. patron of art, a key figure in the development of Australia's national archives, visionary, social reformer, public intellectual, moral philosopher, conservationist, advocate for education and for place planning especially for green open spaces for the well-being and health of the community. When Charles Bean died on 30 August 1968, aged 88, an obituary written by Guy Harriott, Associate Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, and a former war correspondent, described Bean as being “one of Australia's most distinguished men of letters". Early life and education Charles Bean was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, the first of three sons of the Reverend Edwin Bean (1851–1922), then headmaster of All Saints' College, Bathurst, and Lucy Madeline Bean, née Butler (1852–1942). According to Lindsay, Bean's family and his formal education fostered his values which were influenced by "The Arnold Tradition", the model of moral values and education championed by Dr Arnold of Rugby School in England which emphasised individual self-worth and qualities associated with "good character": trust and reliability, honesty, openness, self-discipline, self-reliance, independent