FirstSources.info
  • Introduction
  • Protector's Letters, &c.
  • Maps of Ration Depots 1840-1906
  • Protector's Reports 1839-1950s
  • Taplin and Point McLeay
  • A.F.A. Reports & Papers
  • Poonindie
  • Other S. A. Missions
  • Royal Commissions and Conferences
  • Key Early S.A. Documents
  • Historical data, state by state
  • Victorian Records
  • Western Australian Records
  • Queensland Records
  • New South Wales Records
  • Northern Territory Records
  • Twenty-first Century
  • Indigenous Higher Education - Data and Articles
  • Indigenous Research
  • Land Matters
Robert? Stevenson was appointed the first Protector in early 1837, but stayed in the job only a few weeks.  His successor Walter Bromley, a missionary with long experience in the Americas, took over until late 1837, but drowned in the Torrens.  
Chester Schultz has kindly contributed these transcripts. 
Bromley Reports
Wyatt Reports
Dr. William Wyatt, the third Protector after Stephenson and Bromley, took up the job in late 1837, until mid-1839.    Alistair Crooks has kindly typed up Wyatt's report.

Wyatt's Report, 1837

protector's correspondence, 1840 -  1913
        

Dr Moorhouse took over from Wyatt as Protector from 1839 to 1856;  Dr Walker took over from 1863 until his death in 1868;  Edward Hamilton took on the role from 1873 to 1908, followed by William South. 
These first eight files cover the letters of the S.A. Protector of Aborigines from 1840 through to 1913, a total of eight and a half thousand letters over 2,500 pages - the Indexes alone cover two hundred pages:
Small summary article here: 
Re-Thinking Aboriginal History
Volume One:  1840 - 1857.  

From 1857 to 1863, there was no Protector, and so no 'Department'.   So the routine work  of provisioning ration depots was handled by clerks in the Crown Lands & Immigration Office.  Going through boxes and boxes of files, I just found a letter from Florence Nightingale, enquiring about Aboriginal children's health at Mission schools !  Wow !  You never know what you'll find.   

1840-1857
Correspondence of CCL&I, 1856-1858
Correspondence, 1858-1861
Volume Two:  1863-1866 
1863-1866
 Volume Three:  1866-1870
1866-1870
Volume Four: 1871-1879
1871-1879
Volume Five:  1879-1884
1879-1884
Volume Six:  1885-1891
1885-1891
Volume Seven:   1892-1906
1892-1906
Volume Eight:  1906-1913
1906-1913

index of aboriginal people named in the correspondence out: 

There are nearly fifteen hundred people mentioned here - perhaps some of your relations ?  Press here:
INDEX out

Register of letters to the S.A. Protector, 1866-1901:

The one-man 'Aborigines Department', i.e. the Protector, had to deal with a host of issues day-to-day.  During this period, he received thirteen thousand and a half letters and, from his letters OUT, one can see that he responded fairly promptly to them all.   
 
Letters IN 1866-1896

Letters IN 1896-1897
Letters IN 1897-1901
INDEX OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLE NAMED IN LETTERS IN: 
INDEX  in

combined index of Aboriginal people named in the Protector's correspondence IN and Out. 

Combined Index

List of "half-castes" in South Australia in 1909

This term is now quite offensive, but the list of people, and where they were in 1909, might be valuable to many people today.  Check out the number of 'state children'.   

1909 List

Index to issues of  land, boats and guns

In nineteenth century South Australia, Aboriginal people could apply for grants of land, i.e. 14-year leases up to 160 acres, renewable, and rent-free.   Some Aboriginal men took out extra leases, for which, like other people, they had to pay annual lease-fees. 

The Protector also allocated 15-ft boats, ‘canoes’, and fishing tackle (fishing lines, hooks and netting twine) to about a hundred people, sometimes to groups at particular places on the coast, but usually to individuals.  If the Aboriginal people involved were working, from about 1890, they were expected to pay half the cost of a boat.  Otherwise, the boats were provided free.   Repairs were paid for on the same basis. 

As well, guns were provided to Aboriginal people around the state on the same basis, cost-free for people who weren’t working, or able to work, and half-cost to working people.  In South Australia, Aboriginal people have always been able to purchase and use guns freely. 
Land, Boats and Guns

Re-Thinking Aboriginal History   

This article tries to summarise observations on the content of the Protector's Letters.  
Re-Thinking Aboriginal History

COMBINED INDEX OF ALL ABORIGINAL PEOPLE INCLUDED IN THESE FILES
Just added - a complete, combined Index of all Aboriginal people named in all major files on this site - more than sixty pages, with references to more than two thousand people. 


Combined Total Index
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