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y separately published work icon Fate of a Free People single work   non-fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1995... 1995 Fate of a Free People
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The 19th century 'black wars' in Tasmania with a response, in the revised 2004 edition, to Keith Windshuttle's writings about Aboriginal history.

Exhibitions

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 1995 .
      image of person or book cover 2940789750458949629.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: xii, 257p., [8]p. of platesp.
      Description: illus., ports
      Note/s:
      • Includes index
      • Includes bibliography.
      ISBN: 0140243224 (pbk.)
    • Camberwell, Camberwell - Kew area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2004 .
      image of person or book cover 3926974923915094528.png
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: illus., portsp.
      Edition info: updated and revised
      Description: xxiii, 259p., [8]p. of plates
      Note/s:
      • Includes index
      • Includes bibliography.
      ISBN: 0143002376 (pbk.)
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Untapped , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 6773283624332988348.png
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      ISBN: 9781922730633
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Brio Books ; Untapped , 2022 .
      image of person or book cover 5937134148739497777.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 264p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 25 October 2022.
      ISBN: 9781761281303

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

First Voices : Visiting Wybalenna Cameron Hindrum , 2015 single work prose
— Appears in: Island , no. 142 2015; (p. 60-62)
'He Had Been a Faithful Servant' : Henry Melville's Lost Manuscripts, Black Tom, and Aboriginal Negotiations in Van Diemen's Land Nicholas Dean Brodie , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Colonial History , no. 17 2015; (p. 45-64)

'A central question in Henry Reynolds' 'Fate of a Free People' (1995) concerned whether an agreement or treaty was effected between the Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land and the colonial authorities, resulting in the voluntary relocation of Aborigines from the Tasmanian mainland to Flinders Island in the 1830s. Reynolds built a circumstantial case that the 'Conciliator' George Augustus Robinson made certain promises 'on behalf of the government', including a commitment to allow Aborigines to return and visit their country. Reynolds wondered whether Governor George Arthur 'attempt[ed] to negotiate a settlement with the Tasmanians whilst the war was in progress'. Although focused on a petition later written by the Aborigines to Queen Victoria and on the role of females who accompanied Robinson, Reynolds noted in passing that the 'contemporary historian and newspaper editor, Henry Melville, reported a conversation between Arthur and Black Tom, a ''civilized'' Aborigine whom Arthur wished to employ as a negotiator'. Although Reynolds did not specifically draw the connection, he later quoted Robinson's journal description of a key negotiation that had taken place 'in the presence of Kickerterpoller'.'  (Publication abstract)

First Voices : Visiting Wybalenna Cameron Hindrum , 2015 single work prose
— Appears in: Island , no. 142 2015; (p. 60-62)
'He Had Been a Faithful Servant' : Henry Melville's Lost Manuscripts, Black Tom, and Aboriginal Negotiations in Van Diemen's Land Nicholas Dean Brodie , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Colonial History , no. 17 2015; (p. 45-64)

'A central question in Henry Reynolds' 'Fate of a Free People' (1995) concerned whether an agreement or treaty was effected between the Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land and the colonial authorities, resulting in the voluntary relocation of Aborigines from the Tasmanian mainland to Flinders Island in the 1830s. Reynolds built a circumstantial case that the 'Conciliator' George Augustus Robinson made certain promises 'on behalf of the government', including a commitment to allow Aborigines to return and visit their country. Reynolds wondered whether Governor George Arthur 'attempt[ed] to negotiate a settlement with the Tasmanians whilst the war was in progress'. Although focused on a petition later written by the Aborigines to Queen Victoria and on the role of females who accompanied Robinson, Reynolds noted in passing that the 'contemporary historian and newspaper editor, Henry Melville, reported a conversation between Arthur and Black Tom, a ''civilized'' Aborigine whom Arthur wished to employ as a negotiator'. Although Reynolds did not specifically draw the connection, he later quoted Robinson's journal description of a key negotiation that had taken place 'in the presence of Kickerterpoller'.'  (Publication abstract)

Awards

Last amended 15 May 2024 13:00:30
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