A Guide to New South Wales State Archives relating to Aboriginal People

Part 1: Archives of the Aborigines Welfare Board 1883-1969 (cont.)

• Tabulated expenditure at Aboriginal stations, 1887-90
• Ledger, 1891-97
• Ledgers (Trust Account), circa 1897-1922
• Registers of expenditure of the Board, 1898-1905, 1922-24
• Cash books, 1911-14, 1920-23, 1925-34
• Records of expenditure, 1912-22
• Salary register, 1917-23
• Salary registers (Trust Accounts), 1922-34
• Appropriation ledger, 1929-33
• Receipt books (Walgett), 1967-69
• Receipts, circa 1967
• Register of Aboriginal reserves, 1875-1904
• Particulars of Aboriginal stations and reserves, 1962-63
• Tenancy agreements, 1953-67
• Photographs, circa 1924-61

Part 1: Archives of the Aborigines Welfare Board 1883-1969 (cont.)

Tabulated expenditure at Aboriginal stations, 1887-90

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, the records may be examined on microfilm in both Archives Authority Search Rooms.

These volumes show the expenditure of the Board on the upkeep of its stations, and also act as a form of census of the Aboriginal people on the stations. They are arranged alphabetically by name of station, then chronologically, and are divided into two tables, A and B. Table A gives: the monthly total of Aboriginal people in the district, with divisions according to age and sex, and whether full-blood or half-caste (editorial note: this is the language as it is used in the record); the number of Aboriginal people receiving rations, clothing, etc.; and the total amount of money spent. Table B shows: date; special disbursements (particulars and amount); total amount disbursed; and remarks.

Each volume has an index at the front. Volume 7/3641 also contains some loose correspondence; the index for 1888; an undated listing of the numbers of Aboriginal people in each district of New South Wales, town by town, noting whether male, female, or children, Aborigine or half-caste (editorial note: this is the language as it is used in the record), and the number at school; a Government Stores Department Minute Paper (No. 87/4147 of 17 June 1887), which encloses several Returns of Aborigines in the Grafton sub-district 1886-87; and a letter from the Police Officer, Grafton dated 16 February 1887, enclosing a list of names of Aboriginals recommended for clothing.

Ledger, 1891-97

This record may contain personal information and is therefore restricted. Permission to access this record must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, the record may be examined on microfilm in both Archives Authority Search Rooms.

This volume is a record of the financial workings of the Board, both at Head Office and in relation to the Mission Stations. These Stations were administered by the Aborigines Protection Association, a private body until 1893, when responsibility for their administration was taken over by the Board. There are two main parts to this ledger. The first gives various financial details under different headings. They include: Subscriptions promised; Donations in kind; Government Grants; Donations; Salaries; Rents; Incidentals; Printing; Trust Account. There are then similar headings for each of the Mission Stations (Cumeroogunja, Warangesda, and Brewarrina). There is also a page for Donations for La Perouse. The second part gives details of the Cash Accounts of the Association, detailing income and expenditure under the headings: General; Cumeroogunja; Warangesda; Brewarrina. At the end of the volume are details of trust accounts for individual Aboriginals; and at the very end, a list of people for whom Collecting Cards were issued.

Ledgers (Trust Account), circa 1897-1922

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, please contact the Archives Authority for the current location (City or Kingswood) of these records.

These volumes record monies held in trust by the Aborigines Protection Board for Aboriginal people, apparently those under apprenticeship. It is arranged alphabetically under the name of the individuals concerned; and the name of the person to whom they are apprenticed is frequently noted.

Registers of expenditure of the Board, 1898-1905, 1922-24

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, the records may be examined on microfilm in both Archives Authority Search Rooms.

These two volumes illustrate the financial activities of the Aborigines Protection Board both before and after the Aborigines Protection Act 1909. Volume 7/3642 (1898-1905) gives date, name of claimant, place, supply, amount, how paid, date of payment, abstract number, and remarks for entries in particular subject areas. There are five subject areas for the period to 1900: Salary (of the Board's Secretary); Home for Aborigines on the Clarence River; Produce Account (seed, wheat, supply of sports gear, etc.), Maintenance of the Mission Stations (Cumeroogunja, Warrangesda, and Brewarrina); Maintenance of Old and Infirm Aborigines (a misleading division as most entries are extraordinary, such as supply of cricket material, repairs to ploughs, dinghies, etc.). By 1900 a division for expenditure on Aborigines on the Richmond River area was added, as was a division for Postage Stamps in 1903. In 1905 a section on Rail Fares for Aborigines was added.

In Volume 7/3643 (1922-24) there are, as well as those divisions enumerated above, the following: a Floating advance section concerned with the Mission Stations; Internal Board expenditure (travel expenses, wages etc); payments to Government departments. There are additional sections, in no specific order, for local suppliers. There is also a section for expenditure by individuals (eg. managers of stations) for coffins, toys, fireworks, dental work etc.

Cash books, 1911-14, 1920-23, 1925-34

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, the records may be examined on microfilm in both Archives Authority Search Rooms.

These record the income and expenditure of the Head Office of the Aborigines Protection Board. Each double-page is divided into two parts: the left hand being the Debit side, and the right-hand being the Credit side. The Debit side gives the following information: date, nature of payment (ie. cheque or bank draft), from whom payment was made, reason for payment, which account the money went into (general account, produce account, trust account, and later public moneys account), and banking total. The Credit side gives date, number of cheque, (and later) number of receipt issued, to whom payment was made, reason for payment, type of account, and banking total. The two columns are balanced each financial year.

From 1925 the Debit column is labelled the `Cash' column, and the Credit `Contra'. The same categories apply from this date, but with slightly different wording: the Debit column being specifically for the receipt of money, and the Credit for disbursement. 3/5900 seem to be an audit volume: it has, clipped to its pages, typed sheets of schedules of cheques and vouchers drawn in support of, or against, advances of money. These give the date, name of person or company to whom the cheque or voucher is made out, number of cheque or voucher, and amount.

Records of expenditure, 1912-22

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, the records may be examined on microfilm in both Archives Authority Search Rooms.

These volumes record all expenditure made by the Aborigines Protection Board, both at the Head Office in Sydney, and at the stations and reserves. They give consecutive number, name of station or camp, date of service, service (eg. salaries, payment to stores for rations, meat etc.), amount, how paid, date of payment, and abstract number. Arrangement is alphabetical by name of person, company or station or reserve, and then chronological.

Salary register, 1917-23

This record may contain personal information and is therefore restricted. Permission to access this record must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, please contact the Archives Authority for the current location (City or Kingswood) of this record.

This register records the details of the salaries of Aborigines Protection Board staff at the Head Office, and of the managers, matrons and other staff of the various stations and reserves. It gives position, name, annual salary and any increments, and the amounts of the monthly payments and their totals. The employees at Head Office are listed first, then the other employees at the stations and reserves, which are listed alphabetically. Further into the volume details are also given of staff contributions to the State Superannuation Fund. There is also loose correspondence regarding the salaries and wages of particular people employed by the Board at Wallaga Lake, Cootamundra and Singleton (Board In-Letter No. 19/2403 of 1 December 1919).

Salary registers (Trust Accounts), 1922-34

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, please contact the Archives Authority for the current location (City or Kingswood) of these records.

These volumes record payments into and out of employers' accounts and employees' trust accounts. They record the employment history of Aboriginal people working for people other than the Board. They are arranged alphabetically by the name of the employee, and each sheet is divided into four sections. The first gives sheet number, and name of employee. The second gives name and address of employer, dates the employee commenced and finished employment, and the reason. There is enough space for the names of five employers. The third section is headed `Employer's account with A.P. Board' and gives period, rate for week, amount due, amount paid, and receipt number. The fourth section is headed `Employee's Trust Account' and gives in the Debit column, date of payment, amount, and C.B. folio; the Credit column gives date received, amount, and receipt number. Volume 4/8561 includes payments to the Board for advances of money, rental of cottages and leases of reserves.

Volume 4/8561 includes a list in sheet number order with the names of all employees given in both volumes. However the sheets have been filed alphabetically. There is a separate index to the Miscellaneous section which is not in alphabetical order.

Appropriation ledger, 1929-33

This record may contain personal information and is therefore restricted. Permission to access this record must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, please contact the Archives Authority for the current location (City or Kingswood) of this record.

This volume appears to be a breakdown of the expenditure of the Aborigines Protection Board into individual components, under various headings. Each heading has an amount written underneath it. The headings are: date; abstract number; Treasury debit; Treasury credit; Salaries; Allowances; Workers' Compensation Act Premiums; Provision of Board for Staff; Rent; Travel and Removal Expenses; Maintenance of Motor Vehicles; Postage and Telegraph; Maintenance of old and infirm Aborigines; Maintenance of Aborigine Stations; Erections, improvements, and additions to buildings; Fares of Aborigines and escorts (editorial note: this is the language as it is used in the record); Cost of providing escorts; Maintenance of Homes; Plant, machinery and repairs; Wages of casual farm hands; Fodder and farriery; Purchase of live stock; Sale store goods; Minor expenses; Provision of water supply at Burra Bee Dee. There are some other illegible headings. Pasted at the front of the volume is a Treasury circular dated December 1930 with instructions regarding exchange on remittances.

Receipt books (Walgett), 1967-69

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, please contact the Archives Authority for the current location (City or Kingswood) of these records.

These four volumes comprise the triplicate copies of receipts issued at Walgett, mainly for the payment of rents on cottages, but also for miscellaneous items. They give the date, name of the tenant, and the address of the cottage (or the miscellaneous item).

Receipts, circa 1967

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, please contact the Archives Authority for the current location (City or Kingswood) of these records.

These receipts detail location, date, from whom money received, amount, what money was for, cottage number if money for rent and signature of officer entering details.

Register of Aboriginal reserves, 1875-1904

These records may be examined on microfilm in both Archives Authority Search Rooms.

This register records Aboriginal reserves, using a double-page layout. The left-hand side shows a hand-drawn map of the locality, and records the number of the reserve, date of notification, scale of the map, parish, county, and locality. The Report on the right-hand side gives a geographical description of the reserve, and records the following details: area of the reserve in acres; whether the area is grassed, cultivated, or cleared, and whether good for hunting and fishing; whether occupied, and if so, by whom.

These preliminary descriptions are followed by further reports entered at later dates, which describe any improvements or problems. Many reports include clippings from the New South Wales Government Gazette, showing notification dates and, where applicable, revocation dates. Not all entries for reserves have maps, and many have only Gazette clippings. These reserves were gazetted by the Department of Lands, and were governed by the Crown Lands Act 1884 which enacted that specific areas were not to be sold until the proportion decided upon for Aboriginal use was utilised.

A useful book for information on reserves is: Aboriginal Reserves in N.S.W., A Land Rights Research Aid: A Listing from Archival Material of Former Aboriginal Reserves together with Information required to access them. Prepared by A. McGuiggan. (New South Wales Ministry for Aboriginal Affairs: Occasional paper; No. 4), The Ministry, Sydney, circa 1983. This volume includes reference to folio numbers in 2/8349 and 4/10590-10591.

Particulars of Aboriginal stations and reserves, 1962-63

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, please contact the Archives Authority for the current location (City or Kingswood) of these records.

This volume gives the following particulars of Aboriginal stations and reserves: area; distance from and names of the nearest town, doctor, hospital, and schools (primary and high); population - `full bloods, half castes, and lesser castes' (editorial note: this is the language as it is used in the record); buildings (staff residences, administrative buildings and Aborigines cottages) with details of their number, approximate date when built, number in good condition or otherwise, and number with gardens; whether rent is charged for cottages or not, and if so, the amount; electricity and water supply, and sanitation facilities of the different types of buildings; fencing and roads; whether the reserve is cultivated or not and whether there is any livestock; social activity (Social Club; Parents and Citizens; Progress Association; Aboriginal Church; other); and the number of people attending the various kinds of schools.

The stations or reserves covered are Armidale, Ashford, Balranald, Baryulgil, Bellbrook, Boggabilla, Brewarrina, Brungle, Burnt Bridge, Burra Bee Dee, Cabbage Tree Island, Caroona, Coffs Harbour, Collarenebri, Condobolin, Coonabarabran, Coraki, Cowra, Cumeroogunga, Deniliquin, Foster, Griffith, Gulargambone, Guyra, Jervis Bay (Wreck Bay), Karuah, La Perouse, Moree, Mungindi, Murrin Bridge, Nambucca Heads, Nanima, Peak Hill, Quambone, Roseby Park, Tabulam, Talbragan, Taree, Tinghor, Uralla, Walcha (Summervale), Walgett (reserve), Walgett (station), Wallaga Lake, Wilcannia, and Woodenbong.

Tenancy agreements, 1953-67

These records may contain personal information and are therefore restricted. Permission to access these records must first be obtained from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. After permission has been obtained, please contact the Archives Authority for the current location (City or Kingswood) of these records.

These comprise copies of agreements made between the Aborigines Welfare Board and Aboriginal people for tenancies of houses belonging to the Board on or near Aboriginal reserves. They give the name and address of the tenant, the date of the agreement, the date of the beginning of the rental period, the date of the signing and sealing of the document, the rental and the amount of the deposit. There are two schedules, of which the first gives the address of the premises (usually the number of the cottage on the reserve), and the second gives an inventory of the fittings and fixtures. The agreement is signed by two members of the Board, the tenant, and the supervisor of the reserve; and it is sealed with the Common Seal of the Aborigines Welfare Board. The agreements relate to Bellbrook (15 June 1963), Greenhills, Kempsey (3 June 1958-4 October 1965), Wallaga Lake (15 December 1953-22 June 1966), Wellington (5 June 1963-31 March 1967) and Yass (21 March 1955-1 December 1965).

Photographs, circa 1924-61

These records may be examined on microfilm in both Archives Authority Search Rooms. Permission must be sought from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs prior to publishing any photographs.

These comprise a mixture of official and personal photographs. The photographs of an official nature show reserves, stations, homes and schools with interior and exterior views of accommodation and housing projects; pupils and teachers; station managers; and matrons. They also record the visits of Government officials.

The photographs of people range from formal studio portraits (mainly female wards in the 1920s) to snapshots in the 1950s and 1960s. They show Aboriginal children and adults participating in many activities, such as football, basketball, cricket, swimming, gardening; attending school, christenings, first communions, weddings, birthday and Christmas parties; on excursions; gatherings of families and friends; and visiting Luna Park. The female wards were often photographed in their domestic service uniforms, sometimes with their employers or employers' children; some are photographed in studio portraits.

The photographs were taken all over New South Wales at many reserves and stations, such as Purfleet (Taree), Walgett, Caroona (Quirindi), Condobolin, Burra Bee Dee, Namina (Wellington), Tingha, Boggabilla, Bomaderry Children's Home, Bimbadeen Girls Home at Cootamundra and Kinchela Boys Training Home. A small number of photographs taken in Queensland are also included. Many of the photographs are undated and unidentified.

Please note that the original photographs are restricted for conservation reasons. Viewing positive microfilm copies of the photographs are on AO Reels 2796-2797; negatives for reproduction at Aperture Card numbers 8186-9224; and 35 mm viewing contact prints at COD 423. A partial listing of the photographs is available in both Archives Authority Search Rooms.