Maintenance of Part-Aboriginal children in other States

National Archives of Australia
Maintenance of Part-Aboriginal children in other States
F1 1950/421

30.11.1948 Quadroon children at the Church of England Home for Children, Brighton, Victoria

The following two children were sent to the Institution
Eva McRae, born 15. 5.1936
Shirley Stirling, born 4. 2.1937
The school only takes children as far as the 6th Grade.

17. 4.1951 Church of England Homes for Children Brighton to Native Affairs Darwin

Dear Sir
l am sending this report of Eva McRae, & Shirely Stirling.

Eva has left school and is going to begin dressmaking in
June or early July. She will then live at the Hostel,whioh
is in the same grounds as the Children's Home.
Eva is by nature rather sullen and we have found her very
deceitful. She does not like house work, is good at Physioal
Culture but does not like the work of practicing.
Eva does like sewing and should do well ,but will need
strict supervision in her leisure hours.
Eva was not good at school, she spent 2 years in the sixth
Grade and only went up to the seventh grade to save her
feeling embarrassed with the younger children.
She is slightly deaf owing to Mastoid operations in 1947,
otherwise her general health is very good.

Shirley is still at the Technical School, she is not very
advanced at her school work, last year her position in Class
was 18th in a class of 25. Her average mark was 59%
Her report : Shirley has shown marked improvement and am
pleased with work she is doing.l950
This year Shirley was very sick with Gastric Flu and
therefore missed 7 weeks of schooling, 3 weeks ill and
4 weeks in the country. We are happy to say she is much better
now.
She is by nature the opposite to Eva, always very bright
and loves helping the little ones, is a great favorite
with the children. Shirley loves Physical Culture and
is good at it. At the moment her one ambition is to be on
the Staff at the Children's Home, if her English improved
she may write stories in the future, as she loves telling
them to the Children. She also is a deceitful lass, will
come and say how sorry she is, but will do the same thing
again, nearly always it is her desire to help others that
leads her into trouble. Shirley has always been a very
effectionate lass and we hope as she grows older her
deceitfulness will cease.

I am enclosing a Photo of Shirley and Eva taken after the
Competitions last year.

Yours sincerely
Sister Superior

20.11.1951 From Acting Director of Native Affairs to Government Secretary
Aborigines and Part-aborigines Maintained in Other States.

I refer to His Honour the Administrator's
minute of 5th November, 195l, and submit hereunder the
particulars requested :-

St. Francis House, Semaphore, South Australia:
Twenty part-aboriginal male children.
Maintenance 15/- per week plus £l0.0.0 per boy
for winter-clothing.
An amount of £772.9.ll was paid for the financial
year 1950/51.

Church of England Home for Children, Brighton, Victoria.
Shirley Stirling, quadroon, born 4th February, 1957,
maintenance 7/6 per week.
Eva McRae, quadroon, born 15th May, 1936.
7/6 per week maintenance was paid to 13th August, 1951,
when Eva commenced employment as a beginner with Milburn & Company,
Dressmakers.
She received £2.14.9 per week as wages.

Methodist Womens' Welfare Department, South Australia.
Evelyn Martin, quadroon, born 21st May, 1939.
Maintenance 7/6 per week.

St. Gabriel's School for Deaf Boys, Castle Hill, New South Wales.
Wilfrid McLennan, part-aborigine, born 6th March, 1941.
Maintenance 25/— per week.

Parkside Mental Hiospital, South Australia.
Desmond Tilmouth, part-aborigine, born llth November, 1943.
Maintenance £2.2.0 per week.

31. 7.1952 From the Administrator to Secretary of Territories Canberra
(Only sections with names extracted.)

Church of England Home for Children, Brighton, Victoria.
Shirley Stirling, quadroon, born 4th February, 1957,
Eva McRae, quadroon, born 15th May, 1936.

Methodist Womens' Welfare Department, South Australia.
Evelyn Martin, quadroon, born 21st May, 1939.

St. Gabriel's School for Deaf Boys, Castle Hill, New South Wales.
Wilfrid McLennan, a deaf and dumb part aboriginal, born 6th March, 1941,
entered St Gabriel's School on the 6th October 1949. The school offers
specialised care and training for deaf children, which is not available
in the Northern Territory.

Parkside Mental Hiospital, South Australia.
Desmond Tilmouth, part aboriginal, born llth November, 1943, was
certified as a mental defective by two qualified medical practitioners
under the provision of the Mental Defectives Ordinance 1940-1941, and
was admitted to the Parkside Mental Home on 11th August 1950.
Maintenance £2.2.0 per week.

22. 8.1952 From the Administrator to Secretary of Territories Canberra
(Not relevant paragraphs omitted.)

Eva McRae: Born 15th May, 1936, and is the daughter of
a halfcaste named Maggie and a European named Doug McRae.
The whereabouts of the parents is not known. She was
admitted to the Halfcaste Institution at Alice Springs,
but the date of admittence is not contained in records.

Shirley Stirling : Born 4th February, 1937, and is the
daughter of Hilda Stirling, halfcaste, and Tom Jackson,
European. She, too, was admitted to the Alice Springs
Halfcaste lnstitution, but I cannot ascertain the exact
date of entry. The whereabouts of the parents is not known.

Evelyn Martin: Is the daughter of halfcaste Mary Martin
and an un—named European. She was born on 21st April, 1939.
She was considered by the Director of Native Affairs to be a
neglected child and removed to the Halfcaste Institution.
On the 28th August, 1941, the mother, Mary Martin, gave her
written consent for the child to be placed in the care of
the Methodist Women's Welfare Department, South Australia,
whence she was transferred on the 10th September, 1941, and
placed in the Brighton Babies' home in South Australia for
a short period. She was then given into the custody of a
family residing in Richmond, South Australia, where she
remained for approximately nine years. From that home
she was transferred to the care of a family residing at
Cryatal Brook in South Auatralia, and is now attending
Merriton Public School.

In reply to your specific questions regarding
the three girls, it appears that Eva McRae and Shirley
Stirling were orphans, or at least children abandoned by
their parents, and were placed in a southern institution
as an experiment which was prompted by the Department's
suggestion regarding octoroon children, and that Evelyn
Martin was removed with the agreement of the mother.

There is no doubt that they could have been
maintained in an institution of the Northern Territory,
but in view of the early age at which these children
left the Territory I feel certain that they will have
completely forgotten their aboriginal ancestry and should
be readily assimilated into the southern community.

28.11.1952 From native Affairs Alice Springs to Darwin

Further to my memorandum of the 21st November 1952, the following
particulars are given regarding the ages and names of girls selected
by Arch-Deacon Smith :-

Margaret Campbell, born 12. 5.1942, Grade 5
Muriel Joyce Garrett, born 19. 7.1939, Grade 7
Laurel Heath Marie Bourke, born 21.12.1939, Grade 6
Wendy Heather Bourke, born 8. 1.1941, Grade 5
Valerie Stokes, born 10. 3.1943, Grade 4

If the scheme is approved, it will only be possible to transfer
4 children, which means that one of the above will have to be
eliminated.

12. 1.1953 From District Superintendent to Darwin

Following are selected
Margaret Campbell, born 12. 5.1942, Grade 5
Muriel Joyce Garrett, born 19. 7.1939, Grade 7
Valerie Stokes, born 10. 3.1943, Grade 4
Daphne Lorraine Sultan, born 6.10.1940, Grade 7

10. 4.1953 From Administrator to Secretary Canberra

Parents will help with support for the girls.
Mrs Campbell in respect of Margaret
Mrs Garrett in respect of Muriel
Mrs Stokes in respect of Valerie
Father of Daphne Sultan

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