A Voyage Round My Grandfather: Australian Antiquarianism and Writing the History of Aboriginal Australia

Abstract

This paper discusses the background to and consequences of a collecting expedition into the Darling River area of western New South Wales, Australia. The expedition was funded by the Museum of Victoria and was undertaken to expand the Museum’s collections from this significant area of Aboriginal occupation that had only recently been supplanted by European settlement. The paper focuses on the practices and attitudes of a local pastoralist, Hubert Murray, whose activities provide a window onto the world of early twentieth century antiquarianism in Australia.