Walter George Arthur was the son of Rolepa who was known to Europeans as 'King George'. He was separated from his family at an early age and spent his childhood as a pickpocket in Launceston where he was called 'Friday'.
In 1832, Arthur was taken to the Wybalenna Aboriginal Settlement on Flinders Island before being sent to Hobart for education at the Boys' Orphan School. In 1836, his name was changed to Walter George Arthur in honour of the then Lieutenant-Governor of Van Deimen's Land. By this time, he had been teaching on Flinders Island - where he met his future wife Mary Anne Cochrane. After he was found in bed with Mary Anne he was imprisoned for four days then later made to marry her on 16 March 1838. After the wedding they tended the sheep on Flinders Island before they left to follow Robinson to Port Phillip where they lived from 1838 to 1842.
Arthur and his wife were instrumental in generating a petition to prevent the return of Dr Henry Jeanneret as Superintendent of Flinders Island. Dr Jeanneret imprisoned Arthur for seventeen days to try and prevent him from finishing the petition. The petition was eventually handed to Queen Victoria through the appropriate channels. Arthur also wrote letters to the Governor requesting support for Indigenous rights on Flinders Island.
By 1847, the Indigenous community on Flinders Island had been moved to Oyster Cove, south of Hobart. Due to the poor conditions there, Arthur and his wife campaigned for a better situation for the well-being of their community. While there he farmed a small plot of land. Eventually he applied for a convict assistant, but the request was denied because it was thought inappropriate for a non-Indigenous person to be ordered around by an Indigenous person.
From September 1859 to January 1861, Arthur worked as a crew member on the whaling vessel Sussex. It is thought that later in the year, in May, he fell overboard while rowing home to Oyster Cove from Hobart; his body was never found.
(Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography Online)
See also the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online entry for Walter George Arthur.
