James Dawson (activist)
James Dawson (5 July 1806 – 19 April 1900) was a prominent champion of
In 1866 he left the district and settled for a while near Melbourne, but later moved back to the
James Dawson and his daughter, Isabella Park Taylor (1843–1929), shared a deep interest in Aboriginal civilisation. They used their years at Kangatong to study the languages and cultures of the indigenous peoples of the volcanic plains, and to which in 1881, he published the work Australian aborigines: the languages and customs of several tribes of aborigines in the western district of Victoria, Australia, and a second edition in 1900. He vigorously defended Aboriginal interests against government officials, politicians, his fellow squatters and others, a crusade that he kept up until his death in 1900 at Camperdown at the age of 93.
References
- Dawson, James. (1881). Australian Aborigines: The Languages and Customs of Several Tribes of Aborigines in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. Robertson (reissued by ISBN 978-1-108-00655-2)
- "Prehistory of Australia", published by Allen & Unwin in 1999, John Mulvaney & Johan Kamminga.
- West Lothian Courier, 2 June 1900, page 5.
- Camperdown Chronicle, 21 April 1900.