Australia's Invisible History

Moses Tjalkabota was a charismatic and well-known personality in Central Australia.

An Arrarnte man, his early years were spent on country in a traditional Aboriginal lifestyle, learning Arrarnte culture from his elders. As a child, he was schooled on the Hermannsburg Mission.

Known affectionately as Blind Moses, he became an evangelist. Regarded as a master storyteller and public speaker, he attracted large crowds whenever he preached in public.

Although he was blind, he travelled vast distances over Central Australia to share his message with Aboriginal people in their communities.

Further information:
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Hermannsburg.com.au
Alice Springs News
Blind Moses, Aranda Man of High Degree and Christian Evangelist by Peter Latz, IAD Press, 2015

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.co

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Share real hope with your family, friends and community!  - Hope 103.2 (hope1032.com.au)

Edith Cowan made it her mission to see women participating in every area of public life – education, religion, politics, health, the law and social justice.

She founded and worked for numerous volunteer organisations that promoted the rights and welfare of women and children, including the House of Mercy for unmarried mothers, The Karrakatta Women’s Club, The Children’s Protection Society and King Edward Memorial Hospital.

She was the first woman to ever sit in an Australian Parliament and today she has a university named after.

She can be seen on the Australian $50 note.

Further information:

Australian Dictionary of Biography
National Museum Australia
RBA - People on the Bank Notes – Edith Cowan
State Library of WA
Women Australia

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

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Share real hope with your family, friends and community!  - Hope 103.2 (hope1032.com.au)

David Unaipon was an Aboriginal preacher, inventor, author and activist.

Profoundly gifted in several fields, his achievements emphatically disproved the prejudiced preconceptions that existed about Aboriginal people at the time.

He lectured publicly on science and theology and patented nine inventions, including a shear that turned circular motion into lateral motion.

He collected the myths and legends of Aboriginal people and was the first indigenous Australian to be published, although his book was not originally published under his own name.

By the 1920s, he was the most well-known Aboriginal person in Australia and was able to be a public voice on behalf of his people.

He can be seen on the Australian $50 note.

Further information:

Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines by David Unaipon, edited by Stephen Muecke and Adam Shoemaker, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 2001

My Life Story, by David Unaipon, Adelaide: Aborigines Friends Association, 1954

'Aboriginals: Their Traditions and Customs' by David Unaipon, Daily Telegraph, 2 August 1924.

Australian Dictionary of Biography

RBA - People on the Bank Notes – David Unaipon 1872 - 1967

The State Library of New South Wales: Significant Individuals : David Unaipon

The State Library of New South Wales – Stories – David Unaipon

Kids Britannica – David Unaipon

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

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Share real hope with your family, friends and community!  - Hope 103.2 (hope1032.com.au)

Lt. Col Ralph Honner is a World War II hero and one of Australia’s best-known officers.

He is remembered for his inspired efforts leading the exhausted men of the 39th battalion in their heroic defence at Isurava on the arduous Kokoda Track. He also inflicted a decisive defeat on the Japanese at Gona on the Northern coast of New Guinea, where he was severely wounded.

After his retirement, Honner went on to serve as the ambassador to Ireland.

A man of faith and a poetic soul, he was deeply respected and admired by the men he led, and even honoured by his enemies.

Further information:

Ralph Honner, Kokoda Hero by Peter Brune, Allen & Unwin, 2007

Gona’s Gone!: The Battle for the Beachhead 1942, by Peter Brune, Allen & Unwin, 1994

Kokoda Historical

Australian War Memorial

Australian Dictionary of Biography

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

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Share real hope with your family, friends and community!  - Hope 103.2 (hope1032.com.au)

Caroline Chisholm was a philanthropist, social reformer and humanitarian, who 
devoted herself to helping unemployed migrants, particularly vulnerable young 
women. 
She set up a safehouse and employment agency for single women, and 
personally escorted them to their new homes in the country.
She campaigned to bring out the families of former convicts for free, so they 
could be reunited with their loved ones in Australia.
In 1847, she became the first woman to address the House of Lords in 
Westminster. She was also the first woman, other than the Queen, to feature on 
an Australian bank note. 
But the time she returned to England in 1846, she had helped 11,000 new 
Australians find homes and work. 

Further information:
Caroline Chisholm – An Irresistible Force, by Sarah Goldman, HarperCollins, 2017
Caroline Chisholm – The Emigrant’s Friends, by Joanna Bogle
Caroline Chisholm – The Emigrant’s Friend by Tania McCartney (Junior Historical 
Fiction)
Australian Dictionary of Biography
One Saint For Australia - Newspaper Article

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe 
at katrinaroe.com

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A true, rags to riches story, Mary Reibey came to Australia as a teenage convict in 1792. She was just 14 years old when she was sentenced to seven years transportation. When her husband died, leaving her with seven children, she took over all his business dealings. A tough and determined businesswoman, she built a fortune as a ship-owner, trader and property developer in the early days of the colony. She erected many elegant buildings in Sydney, some of which are still standing, and was one of the founders of Westpac bank. As a philanthropist, she made a significant contribution to education, charity and church.
Today her face can be seen on the Australian $20 note.

Further information:
Australian Dictionary of Biography
Dictionary of Sydney
Aussie Notables – Mary Reibey (Children’s book) by Allan Drummond, 2011
Mary Reibey: From Convict to First Lady of Trade, by Kathleeen J. Pullen, 1975.
Dear Cousin: The Reibey Letters: Twenty Two Letters of the Reibey Family, 
includuing Letters of Mary Reiby, Her Children & Their Descendants, 1792-1901
Minding Her Own Business; Colonial Business Women in Sydney by Catherine Bishop, 2015

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

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In the 1920s, Stanley and Lucy Drummond travelled together around the remote outback areas of Far Western NSW from their base in Cobar. In their travels, they met many families who had suffered unspeakable loss due to the lack of medical services. Stanley Drummond dreamed of bringing outback kids to the beach for R&R and medical care.58 kids attended the first Far West Seaside Camp in 1924. By 1935,they opened the Drumond Far West Home in Manly, known today as Royal Far West -the only charity dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of country kids.Decades later,Stanely and Lucy Drummond were still remembered as heroes by the outback families they helped.

Further information:

Drummond of the Far West, by M. Maclean, 1947

Australian Dictionary of Biography

Royal Far West

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

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Content Warning: This Episode Contains The Mention Of Suicide

Rev Sir Alan Walker is best known as the founder of the telephone counselling service, Lifeline. It was the first service of its kind and led the way for telephone counselling and telehealth services around the world.

He ran Wesley Mission for 20 years and was quite a media personality in his day with columns in the Fairfax Press and a very popular TV show.

His ethics were so highly regarded that the Governor-General, Bill Hayden called him ‘the conscience of the nation’.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Further information:

Tireless Crusader for Peace, SMH, https://www.smh.com.au/national/tireless-crusader-for-peace-20030205-gdg7zl.html

https://atributetoaustralianchristians.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/alan-walker/

Alan Walker: Conscience of the Nation by Don Wright, Open Book Publishers, 1997

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

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Ever heard the expression ‘telling a Furphy’?  In this episode, you’ll learn where that saying comes from. 

John Furphy was the inventor of the ubiquitous Furphy water cart, seen all over rural Australia. It was during the first world war that the famous water cart let to the slang expression ‘telling a Furphy’.  

 His younger brother John was known for his literary talents – he's been dubbed the ‘father of the Australian novel’. As a bullock driver on the Hay plains, he would read Shakespeare and the bible, while his colleagues drank away their earnings. In 1903, he published, ‘Such is Life’, a book celebrated for being ‘offensively Australian’. 

Although their name is synonymous with ‘spinning a tall story’, these brothers were dedicated to the truth. 

The Furphy foundry still operates to this day in his home of Shepparton, Victoria. 

Further information: 

Such is Life, by Joseph Furphy 

https://www.furphystory.com.au 

https://furphyfoundry.com.au/the-origins-of-telling-a-furphy/  

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/furphy-joseph-6261 

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com 

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Sir Doug and Lady Gladys Nicholls had a powerful partnership. 

They grew up together at Cummeragunja Mission on the Murray River. 

Doug was a Yorta Yorta man who played AFL at the highest level for ten years, playing for both Northcote and Fitzroy.  Though he experienced racism, he was a popular player and today the indigenous round of the AFL is named after him.  

Together with his wife Gladys, they campaigned for reconciliation, pastored a church and provided practical help to indigenous people in the Fitzroy area. They had an unusual unity of purpose with their shared experiences, vision and faith. 

Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls was the first indigenous Australian to be knighted and  remains the only indigenous Australian to hold vice-regal office, when he was Governor of South Australia. 

Further information: 

Mavis Thorpe Clark, Pastor Doug: The Story of Sir Douglas Nicholls, Aboriginal Leader, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1972. 

First People Relations 

National Museum Australia  

Australian Dictionary of Biography  

Australian Football  

For a look at what life was like at Cummeragunja Mission check out Cummeragunja School 

You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.