An early note on the Aborigines of southeast Queensland: a transcription of a G.K.E. Fairholme manuscript

Abstract

Sometimes when researching a project, one discovers relevant unpublished material. Recently, while researching the use of trees and their products in Aboriginal society I came across some fading photographs of a manuscript about Aboriginal social life in southeast Queensland which dated to 1844 (Love 1982:110-114). The manuscript was written by G.K.E. Fairholme and it is a contemporary descriptive account of some aspects of the Aboriginal societies of the Darling Downs and Moreton Bay region. Often such finds are simply noted and perhaps cited in part; they are seldom quoted in full. In this case, because the description is relevant to our fuller understanding of Aboriginal life in Southeast Queensland and the archaeological record there, it was considered worthwhile to publish a full transcription.