Edward M. Curr and the Tide of History

246 Pages·2013·10.444 MB·English

by  Samuel Furphy

Edward M. Curr
and the Tide of History
Samuel Furphy

Edward M. Curr
and the Tide of History
Samuel Furphy
Published by ANU E Press
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200, Australia
Email: [email protected]
This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Furphy, Samuel.
Title: Edward M. Curr and the tide of history / Samuel Furphy.
ISBN: 9781922144706 (pbk.) 9781922144713 (ebook)
Series: Aboriginal history monograph ; no. 26.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Subjects: Curr, Edward M. (Edward Micklethwaite), 1820-1889
Authors, Australian--Biography.
Frontier and pioneer life--Victoria
Aboriginal Australians--Land tenure.
Native title (Australia)
Yorta Yorta (Australian people)
Dewey Number: 994.54
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the publisher.
Cover images: Map of the Runs of the late Edward Curr, of St Heliers, from Edward M. Curr, 1883,
Recollections of Squatting in Victoria (Melbourne: G. Robertson); Edward M. Curr (c.1880), photograph
courtesy of Ian G. Curr; Edward M. Curr’s Map of Bangerang territory, from Edward M. Curr, 1886, The
Australian Race (Melbourne: John Ferres, Govt. Printer), vol III, 566.
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Views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily shared by Board members.
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Printed by Griffin Press
This edition © 2013 ANU E Press
Contents
Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Prologue: ‘Claim sunk by pen of a swordsman’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1. From Sheffield to Van Diemen’s Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 . ‘Troubles of a Beginner’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3 . ‘A Station Formed at Tongala’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4 . Claiming the Moira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5. Decline and Fal .l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6 . Rebuilding a Reputation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
7 . Recollections of Squatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
8 . ‘The native is a child’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
9 . The Australian Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
10 . Ethnographic Rivalries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
11 . ‘My sable neighbours’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
12 . The Tide of History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Epilogue: ‘The Ghost of Edward Curr’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
v

Illustrations
Figure 1: Edward M. Curr. Engraving. State Library of Victoria, xii
H15062.
Figure 2: John Curr’s rails and corves. John Curr, 1797, The Coal 2
Viewer and Engine Builder’s Practical Companion (Sheffield:
John Northall). Gale, Cengage Learning, The Making of the Modern
World, 2012.
Figure 3: Van Diemen’s Land Company’s establishment at Circular 8
Head. John Arrowsmith. Lithograph. James Bischoff, 1832, Sketch of
the History of Van Diemen’s Land (London: J. Richardson).
Australian National Maritime Museum, 00048295.
Figure 4: Van Diemen’s Land. Map by Peter Johnson. 9
Figure 5: Elizabeth Curr (c.1850). Photograph courtesy of Ian G. Curr. 14
Figure 6: Highfield, Circular Head. William Purser. Watercolour. 21
National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an4911681.
Figure 7: Port Phillip District. Map by Peter Johnson. 33
Figure 8: Edward M. Curr’s Map of Bangerang territory. Edward M. 38
Curr, 1886, The Australian Race (Melbourne: John Ferres,
Govt. Printer), vol III, 566.
Figure 9: Map of the Runs of the Late Edward Curr, of St Heliers. 42
Edward M. Curr, 1883, Recollections of Squatting in Victoria
(Melbourne: G. Robertson).
Figure 10: Aboriginal Fishing Camp on the River Murray, Near Lake 59
Moira (1872). Samuel Calvert. Engraving. State Library of Victoria,
IAN21/05/72/117.
Figure 11: Warrie. William Thomas [?]. Sketch. State Library of 69
Victoria, R. Brough Smyth papers, MS 8781 Box 1176/7(a).
Figure 12: Edward M. Curr’s Mediterranean tour. Map by 78
Peter Johnson.
Figure 13: New Zealand. Map by Peter Johnson. 84
Figure 14: Eastern Australia. Map by Peter Johnson. 90
Figure 15: E.M. Curr (1872). Thomas Foster Chuck. Photograph. 104
State Library of Victoria, H5056/235.
Figure 16: Edward M. Curr. Painting. Edward M. Curr, 1965, 123
Recollections of Squatting in Victoria, edited by Harley W. Forster.
Abridged (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press).
Figure 17: The Aboriginal Settlement at Coranderrk (1865). 128
Charles Walter. Engraving. State Library of Victoria, H4082.
vii
Edward M . Curr and the Tide of History
Figure 18: Mr. John Green (1865). Charles Walter. Engraving. 129
State Library of Victoria, IAN25/08/65/13.
Figure 19: Albert Le Souëf (1872). Thomas Foster Chuck. 130
Photograph. State Library of Victoria, H5056/567.
Figure 20: William Barak (1876). Photograph. National Archives of 135
Australia, A1200, L22062.
Figure 21: General view of Aboriginal Mission Station, Coranderrk 138
(1880). Fred Kruger. Photograph. State Library of Victoria,
H2006.123/9.
Figure 22: Extract from a vocabulary of the Kamilaroi, Leichardt 146
River, supplied by Montagu Curr. Edward M. Curr, 1886,
The Australian Race (Melbourne: John Ferres, Govt. Printer),
vol. II, 320.
Figure 23: Title Page of The Australian Race signed by Edward M. 150
Curr. Menzies Library, The Australian National University.
Figure 24: R. Brough Smyth (c.1880). George Gordon McCrae. 158
Drawing. National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an6312205.
Figure 25: R. Brough Smyth’s ‘fish-hook’. Edward M. Curr, 1886, 159
The Australian Race (Melbourne: John Ferres, Govt. Printer), vol I,
146-47.
Figure 26: James Dawson (1892). Johnstone, O’Shannessy & Co. 161
Photograph. State Library of Victoria, H2998/84.
Figure 27: A.W. Howitt (1895). Johnstone, O’Shannessy & Co. 167
Photograph. State Library of Victoria, IAN01/08/95/4.
Figure 28: Edward M. Curr (c.1880). Photograph courtesy of 202
Ian G. Curr.
viii
Acknowledgments
This book began its life as a doctoral thesis in the School of Historical Studies
at the University of Melbourne. I was extremely fortunate to be supervised
by Patricia Grimshaw; her dedication to mentoring is renowned and her
support, advice and encouragement were crucially important. My two associate
supervisors – the late David Philips, and Ann Genovese from the Faculty of Law
– also deserve particular thanks. I am indebted to the many other staff members
and fellow students who helped shape the project with their comments and
support, including Joanna Cruickshank, Fiona Davis, Penny Edmonds, Julie
Evans, Don Garden, Felicity Jensz, Rob McArthur, Claire McClisky, Erica Millar,
Marg Stephens, Shurlee Swain, Patrick Wolfe and Bart Ziino.
My more recent colleagues in the School of History, Research School of Social
Sciences, The Australian National University, provided a highly stimulating
intellectual environment that helped me transform my thesis into a book. The
school is home to both the National Centre of Biography and the Australian
Centre for Indigenous History, both leading centres in disciplines so closely
associated with my topic. Particular thanks must go to Nicholas Brown, Karen
Fox, Paul Irish, Rani Kerin, Shino Konishi, Ann McGrath, Melanie Nolan, Maria
Nugent and Martin Thomas.
I received valuable assistance from the staff of numerous research libraries,
including the State Library of Victoria, the State Library of New South Wales,
the National Library of Australia, the British Library, the Baillieu Library, and
the ANU Library. I also owe a debt to the Public Record Office of Victoria, the
National Archives of Australia, the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, and the
National Archives of the UK.
I thank warmly Wayne Atkinson, a Yorta Yorta elder, and playwright Andrea
James, both of whom generously offered their views on the significance of
Edward Curr to their people. I was also privileged to meet several of Curr’s
descendants, who shared their thoughts and their family archive, including
Pamela Curr, Ian and Elinor Curr, and Andrew and Belinda Curr.
To the board of Aboriginal History, and in particular to the monographs editor
Rani Kerin, I offer my sincere thanks for recognising the value of my work and
agreeing to publish it. Thank you also to the reviewers of my manuscript, Ann
Curthoys and Russell McGregor, whose insightful comments were crucial to the
completion of the book.
Rebecca Bennett and Erica Millar did a wonderful job proofreading my thesis,
and I thank Geoff Hunt for his thorough work on the book manuscript. For
ix
Edward M . Curr and the Tide of History
assistance with images I am indebted to the various institutions acknowledged
in the text, to Christine Fernon and Maxim Korolev, and to Peter Johnson, who
designed the maps. For cover design and production I am grateful to the staff of
ANU E Press, particularly Lorena Kanellopoulos and Duncan Beard. Publication
of this book was also supported by a subsidy from The Australian National
University.
My family and friends have been unerringly supportive of this project over a
long period, particularly my parents, Cate and Clem Furphy, but none more so
than my wife, Rebecca, to whom I offer my most profound thanks.
x