A Guide to New South Wales State Archives relating to Aboriginal People
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A Guide to New South Wales State Archives relating to Aboriginal People |
Part 2: State Archives from other Government Agencies relating to Aboriginal People
The following is a list of selected records which contain significant mention of Aboriginal people. The list is not exhaustive. It is therefore recommended that researchers examine the archives of each government department or agency held by the Archives Authority which may be relevant to their enquiry. For example, the records of the Department of Corrective Services or Department of Health may contain valuable information about Aboriginal persons in the custody or care of those agencies notably in the records of prisons and psychiatric institutions. References to Aboriginal people are likely to be found throughout the records of various government agencies held by the Archives Authority and may be located by means of the guides, finding aids and indexes available in both of the Authority's Search Rooms.
Each government agency has its own restrictions on access to its records. Where each record series is restricted this has been noted. Please contact the Archives Authority of New South Wales for current details of people to contact for permission to view restricted records.
The Aboriginal Lands Trust was established for the purpose of vesting in the Aboriginal people the title to lands classified as Aboriginal Reserves in New South Wales. The Lands Trust was incorporated by the Aborigines (Amendment) Act 1973 (No. 35), which provided that members of the Trust would be members of the Aboriginal Advisory Council, be of Aboriginal descent and be elected for a term of three years. The Trust was abolished by the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (No. 42) and the properties of the Trust were transferred to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs pending their transfer to relevant Aboriginal Land Councils. Because of a legal dispute a property in Penshurst was not transferred but was rented to tenants, and in May 1988 a quantity of records of the former NSW Aboriginal Lands Trust was discovered in the property by a tenant.
These are loose papers arranged in no discernible order and include correspondence; annual reports; governmental policy papers regarding Aboriginal welfare; newsletters and other publications; press clippings and press releases; Trust officers' reports; building contracts; maps, plans and specifications relating to reserves; brochures; job applications; petitions; agendas and minutes of meetings and conferences; research papers and addresses; accounts and receipts.
| Reference Numbers | 5/18310-18314 |
These are sheets which record hours worked and tasks performed by employees of the Trust, mainly Aboriginal day labourers. Included are signed pay slips.
| Reference Number | 5/18306.2 |
These files contain correspondence relating to matters concerning members of the Aboriginal Lands Trust, including attendance at meetings and reimbursement of costs incurred.
| Reference Number | 5/18309.4 |
This file contains papers and correspondence relating to the employment of `handymen' on reserves and includes descriptions of duties, sickness benefits and leave entitlements.
| Reference Number | 5/18309.5 |
These reports provide information about conditions on Land Trust reserves. They were compiled by regional officers of the Aboriginal Lands Trust after each inspection.
| Reference Numbers | 5/18307.1-18308.3 |
These cards and loose sheets are a record of payments received for properties on reserves held by the Trust. They record the name and address of the tenant, reserve, date and amount of rent due, and amount received.
| Reference Numbers | 5/18304-18306.1 |
These papers consist of copies of correspondence received by Trust officers and most concern remuneration for work related expenses. There is a file for each Trust officer.
| Reference Numbers | 5/18308.4-18309.3 |
George Augustus Robinson (1788-1866) was appointed to the position of Chief Protector of Aborigines at Port Phillip (administered by the Colonial Secretary) in 1838. He had had extensive though unsuccessful experience with the Aboriginal people in Van Diemen's Land, including a settlement at Flinders Island. He spent nearly 11 years at Port Phillip until the Protectorate was abolished on 31 December 1849.
These papers comprise printed returns, testimonials, Acts and Regulations, various missionary publications, and Aboriginal language vocabularies and grammars, relating to New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Victoria and South Australia.
| Reference Numbers | 4/21.1-.8, AO Document No. 64. |
| 4/21.7 has been copied as COD 272 |
This volume contains various papers relating to expenditure. It includes records of individual payments made on behalf of government bodies, including the Native Institution.
| Reference Number | X38 |
These records are concerned with the auditing of accounts. The majority of
the files cover all New South Wales government agencies located in a particular town. The following list is extracted from the full list of files (See Archives Office of New South Wales Information Leaflet No. 23. Auditor General Reports of Inspectors of Public Accounts 1907-1930).
| Reference Nos. | Year | No. | Subject |
| 10/10357 | 1918 | 814 | Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Station |
| 10/10374 | 1915 | 29 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10375 | 1913 | 119 | Warangesda Aboriginal Station |
| 10/10385 | 1920 | 1257 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10393 | 1921 | 693 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10398 | 1921 | 55 | Warangesda Aboriginal Station |
| 10/10398 | 1923 | 195 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10400 | 1924 | 259 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10406 | 1913 | 154 | Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Station |
| 10/10413 | 1926 | 678 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10416 | 1928 | 117 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10423 | 1912 | 976 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10423 | 1919 | 503 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10427 | 1918 | 983 | Aboriginal Station Roseby Park |
| 10/10428 | 1922 | 25 | Terry Hie Hie Aboriginal Station |
| 10/10429 | 1925 | 115 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10430 | 1927 | 213 | Aboriginal Station, Carowra Tank |
| 10/10431 | 1927 | 1 | Aborigines Protection Board |
| 10/10431 | 1928 | 21 | Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Station |
| 10/10432 | 1913 | 37 | Aborigines Protection Board |
The Corporation was established in 1826 and finally dissolved in 1833. It was to receive a seventh in value and extent of all the lands in each county in New South Wales. Out of this land the Corporation was to be responsible for the payment of salaries of clergy, catechists and schoolmasters, and for the building and maintenance of churches, schools, and ministers' residences. The Native Institution was a school for Aboriginal children at Blacktown and was administered by the Corporation. It was a successor to the Native Institution, Parramatta which was established in 1814 and closed in 1822.
This volume contains correspondence from William Hall, Master of the Native Institution, to the Committee of the Corporation Office, Sydney. The correspondence concerns the children of the Institution (ie. education, runaways, a death); items required for the Institution; a list of articles belonging to the Institution; and problems with the cattle on the property. There is also correspondence regarding New Zealand natives on the property.
| Reference Number | 4/345 part |
Returns, submitted to the Corporation at intervals of several months, showing quantities of feed (for animals), clothing, blankets, soap, domestic utensils and various implements received at the Native Institution and supplied to the inmates. Weekly amounts and quarterly totals are shown. Each return is signed by William Hall, the Master of the Institution.
| Reference Number | 4/345 part |
This is an inventory of documents and accounts relating to the Male and Female Orphan Schools, the Public Schools and the Aboriginal Native Institution prepared for the Colonial Secretary's Office, 1826-27. There is a letter to the Colonial Secretary from the Clerk of the Corporation, dated 7 December 1826, requesting the minute books, accounts and other documents relating to the Orphan School estates. This letter is followed by a copy of the Inventory. The Inventory lists: a) accounts, 1800-25; b) letters, 1818-25, arranged alphabetically by surname, with date and summary of contents; c) deeds, inventories, returns and other documents. This lists such items as: drafts of agreements; tenders; returns of cattle and livestock on the property; indentures of apprenticeships of orphans; and an inventory of goods. There is a listing of the Minute books. There is also a list of documents relative to the formation of the Institution. The list is in chronological order and a summary of the documents is given.
| Reference Number | 4/7491.1 |
later SOLICITOR FOR PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS
later DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS
This volume of depositions relates to those tried for the massacre of Aboriginal people at Henry Dangar's Myall Creek Station, Patricks Plains, in April 1838. The trial took place between September and November 1838 in the Supreme Court. The volume includes the depositions of witnesses to the Massacre, including that of William Hobbs. It includes lists of those tried giving details of their arrival in the Colony (most as convicts) and any previous crimes committed and punishments received. Included are affidavits and correspondence from the Assistant Protector of Aborigines, the Colonial Secretary, the Principal Superintendent of Convicts and others.
| Reference Numbers | 4/9090; COD 392, AO Reel 1857 |
This volume of papers and depositions relates to the trial of Jimmy Governor for murder in the Central Criminal Court at Darlinghurst in November 1900. The papers include: reports of the inquests on the bodies of Kiernan Fitzpatrick (died 26 July 1900) and Joe Governor (died 31 October 1900); police reports; informations and depositions of witnesses; a photograph of the deceased Joe Governor; the New South Wales Government Gazette, Friday 5 October 1900 (p.7832), which summoned Jimmy and Joe Governor to surrender (2 copies); the proclamation declaring them outlaws printed in the Supplement to the New South Wales Government Gazette, Tuesday 23 October 1900 (2 copies); information re the case Regina v. Jacky Porter and Ethel Governor held at Dubbo Circuit Court on 2 October 1900; a list of exhibits and the report of the Government Analyst in the case Regina v. Jacky Underwood; sketch plans of the Mawbey's dwelling at Breelong and of the Mawbey's Settlement Lease at Breelong showing the locations where the wounded and deceased were found; and a record of the statement made by Jimmy Governor at Wingham on 29 September 1900.
| Reference Number | 9/7003 |
May 1998
The State Records Authority of New South Wales
Sydney NSW, Australia.
© Copyright reserved by the Government of New South Wales, 1998. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced by any method without the prior written consent of the State Records Authority of New South Wales.
ISBN 0 7310 1737 4 First published 1998.
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