Thomas Dunolly
Encyclopedia
Thomas Dunolly was an early Indigenous Australian rights activist. He was a member of the Dja Dja Wurrung
people.
Dunolly attended the Aboriginal school at Franklinford before being forcibly resettled at Coranderrk
Reserve in 1864.
In the 1880s he played an important part in the first organised protests by aborigines in the campaign to save Coranderrk. As Dunolly was younger with more literacy skills than William Barak
and the other protest leaders, he acted as principal scribe for the protests which included writing letters to newspapers, petitions, statements of evidence and letters to bureaucrats and politicians.
Despite the protests the 1886 Aborigines Protection Act, commonly called the Half-caste act
, was enacted which banned children of mixed parentage and over 13 years from living on stations and reserves and imposed stricter controls on those allowed to remain. This split many families and decimated the workforce of Coranderrk, which allowed the Board for the Protection of Aborigines to push further for the closure of Coranderrk, finally succeeding on 31 January 1924.
Dja Dja Wurrung
Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Jaara people and Loddon River tribe, is a native Aboriginal tribe which occupied the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca Rivers in the Bendigo region of central Victoria, Australia. They were part of the Kulin alliance of tribes. There were 16 clans, which adhered...
people.
Dunolly attended the Aboriginal school at Franklinford before being forcibly resettled at Coranderrk
Coranderrk
Coranderrk was an Indigenous Australian mission station set up in 1863 to provide land under the policy of concentration, for Aboriginal people who had been dispossessed by the arrival of Europeans to the state of Victoria 30 years prior. The mission was formally closed in 1924 with most residents...
Reserve in 1864.
In the 1880s he played an important part in the first organised protests by aborigines in the campaign to save Coranderrk. As Dunolly was younger with more literacy skills than William Barak
William Barak
William Barak , was the last traditional ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, based around the area of present-day Melbourne, Australia...
and the other protest leaders, he acted as principal scribe for the protests which included writing letters to newspapers, petitions, statements of evidence and letters to bureaucrats and politicians.
Despite the protests the 1886 Aborigines Protection Act, commonly called the Half-caste act
Half-caste act
Half-Caste Act was the common name given to Acts of Parliament passed in Victoria and Western Australia in 1886. They became the model for legislation of Aboriginal communities throughout Australia, such as the Aboriginal Protection and restriction of the sale of opium act 1897 in...
, was enacted which banned children of mixed parentage and over 13 years from living on stations and reserves and imposed stricter controls on those allowed to remain. This split many families and decimated the workforce of Coranderrk, which allowed the Board for the Protection of Aborigines to push further for the closure of Coranderrk, finally succeeding on 31 January 1924.
External links
- Thomas Dunolly letter, November 17, 1881 - Museum VictoriaMuseum VictoriaMuseum Victoria is an organisation which operates three major state-owned museums in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; these are: the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks. It also manages the Royal Exhibition Building and a storage facility in Melbourne's City of Moreland.Museum...
online Encounters - Coranderrk