The Trial of Warri: Aboriginal Protection and Settler Self Government in Colonial Victoria

On 25 February 1843, under a prejudicial but hardly atypical headline of 'Black Outrage', the Port Phillip Gazette reported that an Aboriginal man from the 'Goulburn tribe' had been committed to stand trial for sheep stealing. The accused was a 'Bangerang' man named Warri, who the previous July had allegedly joined a group of his compatriots in spearing sheep on Edward M. Curr's 'Tongala' pastoral run, which was situated near the confluence of the Murray and Goulburn rivers. According to the Gazette, Warri had forcibly disarmed a shepherd to ensure the safety of his companions, and 'after killing about sixty [sheep], carried off the carcasses, the prisoner assisting, and exceedingly active throughout'. Remanded in custody pending his trial, Warri was entrusted to the care of William Thomas, an Assistant Protector of Aborigines

Edward M. Curr and the Tide of History

Edward M. Curr (1820-89) was a pastoralist, horse trader, stock inspector, Aboriginal administrator, author and ethnologist. A prominent figure in the history of the Colony of Victoria, he rose to a senior position in the public service and authored several influential books and essays. He is best remembered for his nostalgic memoir, Recollections of Squatting in Victoria (1883), which has become a standard historical source. This book is the first comprehensive biography of Curr and explores both his life and legacy. In particular, it considers his posthumous influence on the Yorta Yorta native title case (1994-2001), when his written account of the Yorta Yorta ancestors played a key role in the failure of the claim. By exploring Curr’s interactions with Aboriginal people—as a pastoralist and Aboriginal administrator—this book advocates a more nuanced, critical, and historically informed interpretation of Curr’s ethnological writings than was evident in the Yorta Yorta case

The Seven Dwarfs and the Age of the Mandarins: Australian Government Administration in the Post-War Reconstruction Era

In the history and folklore of Australia’s Commonwealth Public Service, the idea of the ‘Seven Dwarfs’ has been remarkably persistent. Originally a witty epithet applied to a powerful group of senior public servants, the term has come to represent the professionalisation of Australian government administration during the Second World War and post-war reconstruction era, and into the following two decades of expansion. This was a period when, for the first time, talented university graduates entered the public service, rose to senior levels, and exerted great influence over the affairs of the Commonwealth. With the secure tenure of being permanent heads of departments, they defined the age of the public service mandarin. This book explores the lives and influence of the Seven Dwarfs and their colleagues, bringing together the leading researchers on post-war Australian administration. Featuring four thematic chapters and ten biographical portraits, it offers a fascinating insight into the workings of the Commonwealth Public Service during a critical period in its history

Vuelo

Short Stor

The Mythical Sundowner

This is the first par. contributed to the Bulletin by Joseph Furphy, under the pseudonym of 'Warrigal Jack'

Philanthropy or Patronage?: Aboriginal Protectors in the Port Phillip District and Western Australia

This chapter provides a comparative analysis of two Aboriginal protectorates established by the British Colonial Office in the wake of the 1837 Select Committee of Aborigines, the first in the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and the second in Western Australia. It focusses particularly on the appointment of the first protectors and the changing patterns of patronage that shaped those appointments. It argues that political developments in London, notably the resignation in 1839 of the Secretary of State for War and Colonies, Lord Glenelg, help to explain the divergent histories of protective governance in the two colonies. In a period when protective governance was a contestable idea, and through its ambiguity one consistent with a variety of colonial practices, staffing decisions had the potential to profoundly shape the character of the new institutions. The two protectorates differed in the nature of their relationships with Indigenous peoples, other colonial officials, and the settler population, and in the relative balance between the evangelical and secular roles assigned to the protectors. This chapter suggests that these differences are a function of the personalities and proclivities of the protectors themselves, and the political and/or humanitarian networks to which they belonged.Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE140100385, Samuel Furphy