Aboriginal People in the Register of Aboriginal Reserves

• Record series in the index: NRS 23
• Entries in the index: approx. 80

About the Register

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.

Example of the records