Mapping Australian history and culture
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Layer
| Name | Humanitarians in the Antipodes: Flinders Island |
|---|---|
| Description | A visualisation of the investigative tours of British Quakers, James Backhouse and George Washington Walker, who were 'travelling under concern' in the Southern oceans in 1830s. This section relates to several visits to Flinders Island, Van Dieman's Land. |
| Type | Journey |
| Content Warning | |
| Contributor | Heidi Ing |
| Entries | 26 |
| Allow ANPS? | No |
| Added to System | 2024-06-18 17:40:42 |
| Updated in System | 2024-06-18 17:41:31 |
| Subject | colonialism, religious society of friends, quakers, colonial history, james backhouse, george washington walker, transnational human rights activism |
|---|---|
| Creator | Penny Edmonds |
| Publisher | |
| Contact | penny.edmonds@flinders.edu.au |
| Citation | |
| DOI | |
| Source URL | https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634 |
| Linkback | |
| Date From | 1832-09-25 |
| Date To | 1832-10-19 |
| Image |
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| Latitude From | |
|---|---|
| Longitude From | |
| Latitude To | |
| Longitude To | |
| Language | English |
| License | |
| Usage Rights | |
| Date Created (externally) |
The cutter Charlotte 'beat up between Maria Island and the main land' until the evening when they 'were cheered by lights on the coast, at the house of a settler, and at a whaling station, in Spring Bay'.
- Placename
- Spring Bay, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 72
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse and Walker received the sanction of the Lieutenant Governor to visit the 'Establishment' for Aboriginal people on Flinders Island in Bass Strait, and embarked in the 'Charlotte' cutter under the command of John Thornloe from Doncaster.
- Placename
- Sullivans Cove, Hobart, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- John Thornloe
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 71
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
In the evening they 'passed Cape Raoul or Basaltes, a a magnificent mass of perpendicular basaltic columns, forming the south west point of Tasmans Peninsula'.
- Placename
- Cape Raoul, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 71
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
The cutter Charlotte 'put into Port Arthur, a penal settlement lately formed to receive prisoners' who had been transferred from a penal settlement on Maria Island.
- Placename
- Carnarvon Bay, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 71
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Near Cape Pillar the cutter Charlotte 'fell in with the barque Bolina, of London, on her passage from New Zealand'.
- Placename
- Cape Pillar, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 72
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
One of the cutter's crew was a 'prisoner having a ticket of leave, who had been educated in a school on the system of the British and Foreign School Society, at Norwich', and retained 'a sense of the kindness they met with from Joseph John Gurney, Peter Bedford, Elizabeth Fry, and some others of our friends in England'.
- Placename
- Spring Bay, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Joseph John Gurney; Peter Bedford; Elizabeth Fry; Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 72
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 74
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
The approach of the cutter Charlotte to Flinders Island 'was hailed with joy' as supplies were low. Two boats approached, bringing the Commandant, Ensign William J. Darling, and surgeon A. McLachlan to meet the Charlotte.
- Placename
- Parrys Bay, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- William James Darling; Archibald MacLachlan
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 77
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- James Munro; Jumbo; Aboriginal women
- Objects
- Shell Necklace
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 75
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
On Preservation Island sealer James Munro and Aboriginal woman 'Jumbo' raised 'wheat, potatoes, and other vegetables near his house', reared 'goats, pigs and fowls', collected birds and their eggs.
- Placename
- Preservation Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- James Munro; Jumbo
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 76
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Captain John Thornloe had been told 'the settlement on Flinders Island was suffering for want of provisions'. The cutter Charlotte sailed from Preservation Island, assisted by James Munro as pilot, and passed Long Island, Badger Island, Chapel Island, before reaching the anchorage under Green Island, 'the nearest place of safety to the settlement, at which a vessel could lie'.
- Placename
- Big Green Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 77
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
When Backhouse and Walker were landed on Flinders Island, 'close by the Settlement' a 'considerable number' of Aboriginal people were upon the beach.
- Placename
- Whitemark Beach, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- William James Darling; Aboriginal people
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 81
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
A 'corrobery' was held in which Aboriginal people 'represented certain events, or the manners of different animals: they had a horse dance, an emu dance, a thunder and lightening dance, and many others.'
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aboriginal people
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 82
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
This day 'a sealer from Guncarriage Island, came and took away a child that he had had' with an Aboriginal woman, and he 'would not be persuaded to leave the little girl under the care' or her mother, 'who was greatly distressed at parting' with her daughter.
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aborginal woman
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 83
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
At 'The Lagoons' Aboriginal people resided in 'three huts or "breakwinds"' with fires in the centre. When Backhouse and Walker entered a hut, 'the people sat up, and began to sing… with much animation of countenance and gesture', and this was 'kept up to a late hour: they are said often to continue their singing till midnight'.
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aboriginal people
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 83
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Aboriginal men were 'rerequested to cease from wearing "bal-de-winny," that is red ochre and grease, in their hair, they had signified a willingness to do so, if they might have some other covering for their heads... Scotch Caps were distributed among them'.
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aboriginal men
- Objects
- Scotch Caps
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 83
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse and Walker, with WJ Darling, GW Walker, four Aboriginal men and two Aboriginal women, walked to 'Pea Jacket Point'. The Settlement was seen as 'unfit for agriculture and in other respects unfavourable for advancement of civilisation', so a move was planned. The party camped overnight in 'a well sheltered place, by a small streamlet'.
- Placename
- Palana Road, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aboriginal people; William James Darling; George Washington Walker
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 85
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Pea Jacket Point 'appeared much preferable for a settlement to the Lagoons, being a promontory with a considerable quantity of grassland, sheltered by thick scrub toward the sea, and having access to the mountains behind ; nevertheless fresh water was not so plentiful as was desirable, but sufficient for necessary purposes'.
- Placename
- Wybalenna, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 86
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
On Sunday 14 October 1832 'the white population assembled in a place formed of branches, and used as a chapel', with several Aboriginal people present. In the evening, 'a number of' Aboriginal people joined Backhouse and Walker in the Commandant's hut.
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aboriginal people
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 87
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
An elderly Aboriginal woman who had been named 'Boatswain' by the sealers 'to whom she had long been in bondage', informed Backhouse and Walker 'by means of signs, and a few words in broken English' of the treatment of Aboriginal women by sealers.
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aboriginal people; Boatswain
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, pp. 88-89
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Two Aboriginal women called 'Isaac' and 'Judy' by the sealers, had escaped from Green Island via a cutter's boat, and two other Aboriginal women had 'waded and swam from Green Island to the Settlement―a distance of three miles'.
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Isaac; Judy; Aboriginal women
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 89
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse relates a relationship between 'Roomtya or Bet' and 'Trigoomipoonenah or Jackey' and the supply of food they provided the Commandant.
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Roomtya (Bet); Trigoomipoonenah (Jackey); Aboriginal women
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 90
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse and Walker received 'a few waddies and some shell necklaces' from Aboriginal people and gave 'presents in return'.
- Placename
- Nalinga Creek, Flinders Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aboriginal people
- Objects
- Waddies; Shell Necklaces
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 90
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse and Walker returned to the cutter Charlotte which was moored at Green Island, where they went on shore. While 'on the island one of the women threw some sticks' at James Thornloe, 'on his mentioning her son' who was 'at school at Newtown', as the 'mention of an absent relative is considered offensive... especially if deceased'.
- Placename
- Big Green Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- Aboriginal women
- Objects
- Charlotte
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, pp. 91-93
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Sealer James Munro, Aborginal woman 'Jumbo', along with four other Aboriginal people, came on board the Charlotte and 'took tea' with Backhouse and Walker in their cabin.
- Placename
- Big Green Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- James Munro; Jumbo; Aboriginal women
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 93
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
The Charlotte left Green Island to return sealer James Munro and Aboriginal woman Jumbo to Preservation Island.
- Placename
- Preservation Island, Tasmania
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_ID
- VDL-BS-FI
- Journey_Title
- Flinders Island
- People
- James Munro; Jumbo
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 93
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
