Missions 1815-1850
Missionary societies from the United Kingdom established missions in NSW. Each mission operated independently. The living conditions on each mission depended on the people in charge. Aboriginal people went to missions by choice and by necessity. The NSW Government’s role was limited to granting land, funding, and distributing resources.
Between 1825 and 1923, there were ten Aboriginal missions in NSW at various points in time (). In addition, individual missionaries lived and worked on reserves and stations (, ).
Accounts of missionaries from the time often show Aboriginal people willingly engaging with missionaries and moving to missions (, , ).
Early missions
Three Christian missionary societies based in the United Kingdom sent missionaries to NSW in the early 1800s – the London Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society and the Wesleyan Missionary Society ().
These Missionary Societies established and supported ‘missions’ on land granted by government or privately held land.
The Missionary Societies and government officials variously described the role of missionaries as teaching Aboriginal people about religion, and making them acquainted with ‘Arts and Civilization’ () while the missionaries were to learn to understand ‘Native Languages’ ().
Missionary journals from the time contain descriptions of missionaries' interactions and observations of Aboriginal people, including discussions of language, religion and hunting and corroboree practices. The documents also show Aboriginal people’s fear of their children being removed by missionaries (see, for example, , , , ). See also Forced Removal and Placement of Children for more information on child removals.
Government’s support of early missions
In 1825, King George IV instructed Governor Darling to take ‘such measures as may appear to you … to be necessary for their conversion to the Christian faith’ ().
The Government granted land to missionaries (). In 1825, 10,000 acres was reserved at Lake Macquarie, and held on trust to be used by the London Missionary Society ‘for the improvement of the religious and civil condition of the Aborigines thereof’ (, , ). In 1829, the London Missionary Society withdrew its support for the project over financial disputes and the land went back to the Government (, , ).
The Church Missionary Society established a mission at Wellington Valley after Governor Bourke undertook to ‘give the Mission every support in my power’ and granted the mission use of government buildings (, ). He had done this in response to strong encouragement by Viscount Goderich (Secretary of State for the Colonies) ().
Missions became central locations for the sharing of certain Government resources, including the annual blanket distribution (, ). It has been argued that the availability of rations and supplies on missions was one of the reasons that some Aboriginal people moved to missions, as well as in response to frontier conflict and dispossession ().
In the mid 1800s, governments in both NSW and Britain became concerned about their work.
In 1836, a Committee of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom heard evidence from Dandeson Coates (Secretary of the Church Missionary Society) that the circumstances at Wellington Valley were ‘difficult and discouraging, due to disease, violence and sexual exploitation of women and children’ ().
In May 1840, Governor Gipps wrote that the Wellington Valley mission had ‘as yet done little good in the Colony’ (). Aboriginal people living at Wellington Valley mission were fearful that missionaries would remove their children (, , ) and many people left due to the behaviour of a lead missionary, Reverend Watson (, ). Governor Gipps withdrew government subsidies to the Wellington Valley mission in 1842 ().
Similarly, in 1841 Governor Gipps shut down the mission at Ebenezer due to practical and financial concerns (). This mission had been established by Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld following the closure of the Lake Macquarie Mission, and was made possible through a land grant and annual financial grant approved by Governor Darling (, ).
In December 1842, Lord Stanley, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote of his ‘great doubts as to the wisdom or propriety of continuing the Missions any longer’ ().
By March 1844, there were ‘no longer any Missions to the Aborigines receiving aid from the Government’ (). A small number of private missions continued to operate.
The Aborigines Protection Association
Government policy in the following decades was based on the expectation that missions would not be able to achieve their aims, and that Aboriginal people would die out, leading to minimal welfare policy ().
Daniel Matthews, a missionary from Victoria, established a mission on private land at Maloga in 1865 (, ). Initial attempts to gain government support were unsuccessful (), but there was a slow renewal of interest in Parliament about the status of Aboriginal people in NSW (, ).
Another private mission, Warangesda, was established by John Gribble in 1879, on land that was formally reserved in 1880 ().
In February 1880, the Aborigines Protection Association (APA) was established. It provided financial support to Maloga and Warangesda and took over their operation (, , ). It also advocated for more missions and welfare policies ().
In 1882, the new Protector of the Aborigines, George Thornton, expressed scepticism toward the missions, writing ‘it is my firm belief the aborigines cannot be made properly susceptible of or to duly appreciate religious instruction’ (). He preferred a focus on ‘instruction’ (training) so that young people could be employed in trades or as domestic servants (). Thornton also advocated that the government focus on removing Aboriginal people from Sydney, and a number of people left Sydney to go to Maloga with Matthews ().
In 1882, the NSW Government held an inquiry into Maloga and Warangesda (). The inquiry acknowledged that the missions served a purpose, and recommended that these sites operate as a sort of prototype for the formation of new ‘stations’. It recommended the placement of a ‘public officer acting in the capacity of schoolmaster, storekeeper and overseer’ at each existing site, and any future sites ().
The inquiry also recommended the NSW Government prioritise contributing funds for the missions, as the APA had less money due to reduced donations (). The inquiry also foreshadowed a policy of removing children in order that they be ‘gradually absorbed into the general community’ ().
Following the establishment of the Aborigines Protection Board in 1883, the Government took an increased role in the funding and direction of missions, often resulting in a ‘fractious relationship’ between the Board and the APA (). In 1897, the Board assumed management of the three missions which had been operated by the APA and the APA gained representation on the Board (, , ). The missions were repurposed as stations (see SUB0273).
However, even after this change, the Government still reserved land for missions, such as Purfleet Mission near Taree, where 18 acres of land were reserved in 1900 () and a mission was operated by the NSW Aborigines Inland Mission.
Later missions (1909 onwards)
In 1909, the Aborigines Protection Board became the owner of all reserves and operated former missions as stations (see SUB0367). Missionaries were often sent to work on stations controlled by the Board. In 1951 the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) had missionary workers engaged on ‘twenty odd stations’ throughout NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia ().
Mission organisations also established and maintained homes for children, which were often supported by the Aborigines Protection Board and played a significant role in the removal of children from their families (). For example, the Bomaderry Children’s Home was operated by the UAM from 1908 to 1980, and was supported by the Board with rations, meat, blankets and clothing ().
More information about the Government’s policy of child removal can be found in SUB0038, SUB0046 and SUB0057.
For further information about missions in this period see the Discussion & Analysis documents and Case Study documents, including , , .