William Thomas (Australian settler)

William Thomas (1794–1867) represented Aboriginal people in various roles in the Port Phillip district (now known as the state of Victoria) in Australia.

William Thomas
William Thomas, 1860
Protector of Aborigines of Victoria
In office
1 January 1850 – 31 December 1859
Assistant Protector of Aborigines of Port Phillip
In office
21 December1837 – 31 December 1849
Personal details
Born29 April 1794
Westminster, London, England, UK
Died1 December 1867(1867-12-01) (aged 73)
Melbourne, Victoria
Spouse(s)Susannah Thomas née Jackson
ChildrenWilliam Jackson Thomas

Early life

William Thomas was born on 29 April 1794 in Westminster, London. His father was an officer in the British army under Sir Ralph Abercrombie and died in the Battle of Alexandria in 1801.[1] Thomas's formal education was concluded at 21 with a year on the continent, spent mainly in Spain and Gibraltar.[2] With little capital or prospects for patronage, he founded a successful school located in Southwark on the Old Kent Road in south-east London. There he trained young men for entry to the civil service.[3] Thomas's achievements as an educator and his devout Methodism brought him to the attention of the post-Reform Act government.[2]

Assistant Protector

Thomas was one of four Assistant Protectors of Aborigines appointed by Lord Glenelg, Colonial Secretary of State, in the Port Phillip district then part of the New South Wales colony.[4] Under directions from Sir George Grey, Thomas arrived in Sydney with his family on 3 August 1838. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for the colony, having jurisdiction in both New South Wales and Victoria. He later served as a magistrate for Melbourne and its suburbs.[1] As Assistant Protector, Thomas served under George Augustus Robinson, and was responsible for the Central Protectorate District Westernport regions that included the Warwoorong (Yarra) and Boonwoorong (coastal Port Phillip and Westernport) peoples.[5][6] During his tenure he learnt both the Woiwurrung and Boonwurrung language, and translated Psalm 121, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the first chapter of Genesis into Boonwurrung. He was known by the people of his protectorate as "Marminata" (Good Father).[2]

Guardian of the Aborigines

The Protectorate ended in 1849. Thomas stayed in government service with his appointment of Guardian of the Aborigines though arrangement with La Trobe for the counties of Bourke and Mornington and Evelyn. His influence and advocacy saw a later appointment as Adviser on Aboriginal Affairs which he held until a few months before his death on 1 December 1867.

Legacy

Thomas left an important written record that has attracted much scholarship.[7] In the public record this material comprises official reports, letters and submissions to parliamentary enquiries.[8] In addition, his private papers give "a rare insight into the process of cultural continuity and collapse, and the agency of Victorian Aboriginal leaders in social and economic interactions with settlers and colonial administrations in a time of great social upheaval".[9]

Archives
  • The Mitchell Library: official returns; personal journals and diaries
  • The La Trobe Library Collection of the Papers of Assistant Protector William Thomas
  • The Public Record Office, Laverton, Victoria: reports and returns — monthly, quarterly and half-yearly[5]

Family

Thomas married Susannah Jackson, with her father Abraham Jackson as witness. William and Susannah Thomas had nine children, only 3 of which survived him.

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References
  • Fels, Marie Hansen (2011). I succeeded once : the Aboriginal Protectorate on the Mornington Peninsula, 1839-1840. ANU.
  • Lakic, Mira; Rosemary Wrench (1994). Through Their Eyes. Melbourne: Museum of Victoria. pp. 13–17.
  • Lester, Alan; Fae Dussart (2014). Colonization and the Origins of Humanitarian Governance: Protecting Aborigines across the Nineteenth-Century British Empire. Cambridge University Press.
  • Mitchell, Jessie (2011). Governing Indigenous Australia through God, Charity and Empire, 1825-1855. ANU Press.
  • Sayers, C.E. (1969). Letters from Victorian pioneers : being a series of papers on the early occupation of the colony, the Aborigines, etc. addressed by Victorian pioneers to His Excellency Charles Joseph La Trobe, Lieutenant Governor of the colony of Victoria. Heinemann.
  • Smyth, R. Brough (1972). The Aborigines of Victoria : with notes relating to the habits of the natives of other parts of Australia and Tasmania compiled from various sources for the Government of Victoria 1830-1889. Melbourne: John Currey, O'Neil.
  • Stephens, Marguerita (2014). The journal of William Thomas : assistant protector of the Aborigines of Port Phillip & guardian of the Aborigines of Victoria 1839 to 1867. Vol. 1. Melbourne: Victoria Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages.
  • Stephens, Marguerita (2014). The journal of William Thomas : assistant protector of the Aborigines of Port Phillip & guardian of the Aborigines of Victoria 1839 to 1867. Vol. 2. Melbourne: Victoria Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages.
  • Stephens, Marguerita (2014). The journal of William Thomas : assistant protector of the Aborigines of Port Phillip & guardian of the Aborigines of Victoria 1839 to 1867. Vol. 3. Melbourne: Victoria Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages.
  • Stephens, Marguerita (2014). The journal of William Thomas : assistant protector of the Aborigines of Port Phillip & guardian of the Aborigines of Victoria 1839 to 1867. Vol. 4. Melbourne: Victoria Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages.

Notes
  1. "MR WILLIAM THOMAS, THE ABORIGINAL GUARDIAN". 30 May 1863. p. 1. Retrieved 10 June 2017 – via Trove.
  2. Mulvaney, D. J. Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 10 June 2017 – via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  3. "THE LATE WILLIAM THOMAS, GUARDIAN OF ABORIGINES". 2 December 1867. p. 5. Retrieved 10 June 2017 – via Trove.
  4. Website, City of Kingston Historical. "Did You Know?: Aboriginal Camp at Mordialloc". localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  5. Fels, Marie Hansen. "The La Trobe Library Collection of the Papers of Assistant Protector William Thomas - No 43 Autumn 1989". latrobejournal.slv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. www.assemblo.com, Steve de Niese - Assemblo -. "The Protectorate - The Aboriginal History of Yarra". aboriginalhistoryofyarra.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  7. Standfield, Rachel (2011). "'The vacillating manners and sentiments of these people': Mobility, Civilisation and Dispossession in the Work of William Thomas with the Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate". Law Text Culture (15): 162–184. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  8. AIATSIS catalogue resources
  9. Hutchinson, Emma. "The Journal of Assistant Protector William Thomas 1839-67 (4 volume set)". www.vaclang.org.au. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
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