George Augustus Robinson
George Augustus Robinson (22 March 1791 – October 18 1866) was a builder and untrained preacher. He was the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Port Phillip District (now known as the state of Victoria) from 1839 to 1849. Prior to his appointment as the Chief Protector of Aborigines by the Colonial Office in Great Britain, he had been called upon to mount a "friendly mission" to find the 300 remaining aboriginals in Tasmania.
Conflicts between settlers and Tasmanian Aborigines had vastly increased during the 1830s, which became known as the Black War. Robinson was to be brought in as a conciliator. His mission was to repatriate the Aboriginals to the camp of Wybalenna on Flinders Island.
Robinson befriended Truganini, to whom he promised food, housing and security on Flinders Island until the situation on the mainland had calmed down. With Truganini, Robinson succeeded in forging an agreement with the Big River and Oyster Bay peoples, and by the end of 1835, nearly all the aboriginals had been relocated to the new settlement.
Robinson's involvement with the aborigines ended soon after this, though, and the Wybalenna settlement became more akin to a prison as the camp conditions deteriorated and many of the residents died of ill health and homesickness. Because of this, Robinson's place in history is generally viewed as negative, especially within the current Aboriginal community. Most historians agree that his intitial intentions were genuine, but his abandonment of the community is viewed as a turning point for the worse for the Tasmanian Aboriginals.
His journals are regarded as amongst the most important of early documents of the early years of Victoria, being significant for its observations on Koorie culture, early Melbourne personalities, landscape and settler society.
Semi-fictional accounts of Robinson's travels are included in Matthew Kneale's book The English Passengers and in T.C. Boyle's short story "The Extinction Tales".There is a reference to Robinson in the book "The Lost Diamonds of Killiecrankie" by Gary Crew and Peter Gouldthorpe. Robert Drewes' 'Savage Crows' also incorporates the work of Robinson into the plot.
References
- Serle, Percival (1949). “Robinson, George Augustus”, Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
External links
Categories
Dictionary of Australian Biography | 1791 births | 1866 deaths | Australian religious leaders | People from Tasmania