The do-gooder who felt that God had called upon him to save the Tasmanian aborigines from their sinful ways and lead them toward the Truth. George Augustus Robinson and the final solution down under….
For five years Robinson came and went, sometimes by boat around the coast, generally on foot, with a little band of native helpers- notably Truganini, a redeemed sealer’s mistress, who was to become the most celebrated Tasmanian of all. Each year he brought out a few more aborigines- sixty three in 1832, forty-two in 1833, twenty-eight 1834- until at last there were none left in the bush and the whole Tasmanian population was safely in the care of Authority.
—The pattern of each expedition was much the same. Robinson had his two elder sons, an escort of convict porters and servants, and a following of at least a dozen friendly natives; a boat was used along the coast. When first approaching a tribe the Europeans kept in the background while the friendly Aboriginals went forward, made contact and persuaded the tribe to come to Robinson, who would give them presents and food. At first Robinson concentrated on establishing friendly relations with the tribes, but in the second expedition he began persuading them to come into captivity, promising them a place where they could live unmolested by the settlers and be fed and clothed. Those giving themselves up were sent to Bass Strait where, after several changes, a permanent settlement was established on Flinders Island.
Robinson had begun his work from motives of compassion: hoping to help the Aboriginals and improve their conditions, he readily sacrificed financial security and the comforts of his home. As his plans succeeded, however, he became less patient with the natives and more interested in financial rewards. With natural vanity he came to think that he alone had worthwhile ideas on the treatment of Aboriginals, alone had their welfare at heart, alone had been responsible for their capture. These views were largely true, but they did not win him friends.—Read More:http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/robinson-george-augustus-2596
He had approved for their final destination Flinders Island, in the Bass Strait, some forty miles north of Tasmania, and in January 1832, the first of the expatriates were shipped there. The Hobart Town Courier, whose reporter watched one party embark, declared that the aborigines showed themselves delighted at the idea of going to the island, “where they will enjoy peace and plenty uninterrupted.”
The removal would greatly benefit the island too: “The large tracts of pasture that have so long been deserted owing to their muderous attacks on the shepherds and stock huts will now be available, and a very sensible relief will be afforded to the flocks of sheep that had been withdrawn from them and pent up in inadequate ranges of pasture- a circumstance which indeed has tended materially to impoverish the flocks and keep up the price of butcher’s meat.”
![---William Duke [1815 - 1853] [Artist]; TITLE: ‘Offshore whaling with the “Aladdin” and “Jane”‘ DATE: 1849---click image for source...](/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/duke1.jpg)
—William Duke [1815 - 1853] [Artist]; TITLE: ‘Offshore whaling with the “Aladdin” and “Jane”‘ DATE: 1849—click image for source…
(see link at end)…In 1830, George Augustus Robinson, “Protector of Aborigines”, moved Truganini and her husband Woorrady to Flinders Island with about one hundred other surviving Tasmanian aborigines. The stated aim of isolation was to save the aborigines from the violence of the settlers and their diseases. However, many of the moved aborigines died soon from influenza and other diseases. Truganini helped Robinson with a settlement for mainland aborigines at Port Phillip (south of modern Melbourne) in 1838. Soon after she joined the aboriginal rebellion and was sent back to Flinders Island. In 1847, the 47 surviving Tasmanian aborigines on Flinders Island, including Truganini, were moved to a new aboriginal settlement at Oyster Cove, south of Hobart.
In 1873, when Truganini was the last living survivor of the Oyster Cove group, she was again moved to Hobart where she died three years later, having requested that her ashes be scattered in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel.
Although the colonial administration at the time stated that she was the last surviving full-blood Tasmanian aborigine, several other individuals are known to have out-lived Truganini
produced descendants. The most convincing “last full-blooded Tasmanian” is Fanny Cochrane Smith (1834-1905).
In complete disregard of her wishes, Trucanini was first buried at the former “Female Factory” in a suburb of Hobart in 1876. Within two years, her skeleton was exhumed by the Royal Society of Tasmania and put on display in the Hobart Museum but later put into storage.
Only in April 1976, approaching the centenary of her death, were her remains finally cremated and scattered according to her wishes.Read More:http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter52/3-Tasmania-destruction/destruction.htm
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