A Journey Travelled Aboriginal – European Relations at Albany and the Surrounding Region from First Contact to 1926
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A Journey Travelled Aboriginal – European relations at Albany and the surrounding region from first contact to 1926 Murray Arnold B.A. (Hons). This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Western Australia School of Humanities, Discipline of History 2012 This thesis contains no material that has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution and to the best of my knowledge the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where reference is made to it in the text. Signed:…………………………………………….. This thesis contains the names and images of deceased Aboriginal persons. i. Abstract The first recorded contacts between Aboriginal people and Europeans at the Albany region of Western Australia took place in the early nineteenth century when a few ships began visiting King George Sound to take on supplies of water and firewood, or to hunt for seals and whales. In late 1826, a British military garrison was established there to deter any possible French plans to claim the western third of the continent. For a variety of political, social and geographical reasons the relationship that developed between the region’s Menang Aboriginal people and the European intruders in the early years of the settlement was amicable to an extent perhaps without parallel in Australian frontier history. Early nineteenth century Albany has come to be known as the ‘friendly frontier’.1 As the region was opened for free settlement in 1833, the relationship began to alter and the initial harmony became strained, although the degree of violence between the Aboriginal and settler communities never approached that of most other areas on the Australian frontier. For reasons that included European intolerance, the willingness of some Aboriginal people to work for the few pastoralists who were prepared to establish sheep stations in the unpromising hinterland to Albany’s north, and a desire to escape the source of introduced disease, Aboriginal people began moving away from the town of Albany and its immediate vicinity in the early 1860s. Almost nothing has been written about the interaction during the remainder of the century between the Aboriginal people of Albany and its hinterland, and the European pastoralists, farmers, sandalwooders, kangaroo shooters and others who sought to make an economic future for themselves in ways that dispossessed the original inhabitants of their land and its resources. 1 Green, N. ‘King George Sound: the friendly frontier’, in Archaeology at ANZAAS 1983, Smith, M. (ed.), Anthropology Department, Western Australian Museum, Perth, p.68. ii. It would be the middle of the twentieth century before the descendants of those who left Albany began to return in significant numbers to the town. This thesis traces the story of Aboriginal – European relations in both the town and hinterland of Albany over the hundred year period that followed the initial settlement, and concludes that it is by focussing on the history of small areas of the continent over extended periods of time that the diverse nature of the Australian frontier experience can be best understood. Contents iii. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter One Literature Review and Historiographical Context…….……..……13 Chapter Two The Original Inhabitants of the Albany Region…………………49 Chapter Three First Contact…………………………….………………………………..85 Chapter Four From Visitors To Invaders – The Garrison Era, 1826-1831…...111 Chapter Five The Beginning of Free Settlement and Aboriginal Dispossession at Albany, 1826-1850………………………………………………141 Chapter Six The pastoral Era, and European Attempts to Christianise and Civilise Albany’s Aboriginal Population, 1851-1877…………….195 Chapter Seven The coming of the Great Southern Railway, 1878-1904..……....253 Chapter Eight ‘To make provision for the better protection and care of the Aboriginal inhabitants of Western Australia’, 1905-1926……..…299 Conclusion................................................................................................................345 Epilogue…………………………………………………………………...……….351 Appendix 1 Seasonal exploitation of resources...………………………..……..355 Appendix 2 Some of Lynette Knapp’s family history………………………….357 Appendix 3 Statistics of population and land clearing………………………..359 Appendix 4 Tindale’s ‘Tribal Boundaries”……………..………………….….361 Appendix 5 Albany Police Daily Occurrence Books for 1863….......................363 Appendix 6 Period of Office of Commandants and Government Residents….365 Bibliography…...…………………………………………………………………..369 iv. Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible by Barbara Black’s innovative suggestion while Director of the University of Western Australia’s Albany Campus that I become the first PhD candidate to enrol at the campus as an internal student. Without this arrangement in place, the requirement to attend the Crawley Campus for extended periods could have precluded my undertaking this research. The granting of an Australian Postgraduate Award meant that the financial costs associated with research were fully met. Roy and Beatrice Little’s generous provision of a scholarship to enable copies of the thesis to be placed in local libraries is also greatly appreciated. The staffs of the libraries where I have carried out much of the research have been unfailingly cooperative and supportive and I particularly wish to thank Sue Smith, Malcolm Traill, and other staff members and volunteers for their assistance at the Local History section of the Albany Public Library. Members of staff at the State Records Office and the Battye Archives have made my research easier with their depth of knowledge, professionalism and friendliness. Many people have willingly assisted with specialised knowledge, suggestions and practical support through the four-year journey. I wish to acknowledge in particular, Harley Coyne, Robert Reynolds, Bob Reece, Holly Ruscoe, Jane and Brian Taylor, Harvey Arnold, Vernice Gillies, Mark Chambers, David Bird, Joan Fox, Neville Green, Averil Dean, John Dowson, Glenda Williams, Arly Egerton-Warburton, Bob Howard, v. Eugene Eades, Ray Garstone, Douglas Selleck, Tiffany Shellam, Maxine Laurie, Ian Conochie, Bill Hassell, Tim Rowse, Albert Knapp, John Clapin, Sim. Clapin, Lyndal Ryan, Carol Pettersen, David and Nan Anderson, and Andrew Knight. Lynette Knapp has been particularly helpful in passing on to me some of her extensive knowledge about her family’s history, and I am greatly indebted to her for her cooperation. My supervisor, Charlie Fox, has been an invaluable source of suggestions, constructive criticism, and the confidence to undertake a daunting task without easy access to all of the support systems UWA provides to its postgraduate students at the Crawley Campus. His ability to guide, while never directing, has been greatly appreciated. Finally, I thank my family and friends for their sustained interest and encouragement, and express gratitude to my wife Val, my chief research assistant, editor and critic, for her unwavering support and assistance over many years. vi. List of Maps and Illustrations Map of south-west Western Australia………………………………………..vii Map of King George Sound; the Town of Albany and its Environs……......viii Aboriginal shelter at Albany. Lt Robert Dale, 1834…………………...….…61 Ferguson’s Map showing explorations indicating Menang territory……...…71 Captain Nicholas Baudin…………………………………………………….85 Mokare, ‘a man of peace’…………………………………………………...124 Early settlement at King George Sound. Lt Robert Dale, 1834………….....127 An illustration of the infertility of much of the Albany region’s soils……...147 !858 photograph of an Aboriginal man at Albany…………………………..224 1858 photograph of an Aboriginal woman at Albany……………………....225 1858 photograph of an Aboriginal shelter at Albany……………………….226 1877 photograph of a group of Aboriginal men at Albany………………....227 1877 group photograph at Albany…………………………………………..228 Western Australian Census map of 1891 showing District of Plantagenet....260 Daisy Bates’ postcard of Wandinyilmernong……………………………….296 Daisy Bates’ photograph of her measles patients…………………………...315 Soup kitchen at Carrolup, c.1915…………………………………………....326 Shearing team at Hassell’s Warriup Station, 1920…………………………..334 Albany Centenary Parade…………………………………………………....352 Tindale’s tribal boundaries…………………………………………………..361 vii. South-west Western Australia viii. King George Sound; the Town of Albany and its Environs #! ↑ $! %! " &! '! (! $! &! #! %! (! '! Michaelmas Island Princess King George Royal Sound Harbour Breaksea Island Southern Ocean _________________ 5km 1 Introduction This is one of the first theses to examine the history of Aboriginal – European relations in one small region of Australia over an extended number of years. Following a discussion about the evolution of historiography with respect to Aboriginal – European relations in Australia, the thesis examines what is known about the Aboriginal people from the region around King George Sound in south coastal Western Australia prior to their first encounters with Europeans. There are several recorded accounts by officers and crew members of the ships that called at the Sound before the establishment there of a British Army garrison led by Major Edmund Lockyer in late 1826, and these are studied in detail. The history of Aboriginal – European relations in the town of Albany and the surrounding region during the first hundred years following Lockyer’s