Carrolup Aboriginal Cemetery

Author

Heritage Council

Place Number

17127

Location

Cemetery Rd Marribank

Location Details

Other Name(s)

Marribank

Local Government

Woodanilling

Region

Great Southern

Construction Date

Demolition Year

N/A

Statutory Heritage Listings

Type Status Date Documents
(no listings)

Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations

Type Status Date Documents
(no listings)

Other Heritage Listings and Surveys

Type Status Date Grading/Management
Category
Municipal Inventory Adopted 18 Mar 2003 Category 3
Register of the National Estate Registered 14 May 1991

Parent Place or Precinct

10592 Carrolup Native Settlement

Place Type

Other Aboriginal Site

Uses

Epoch General Specific
Original Use MONUMENT\CEMETERY Cemetery

Historic Themes

General Specific
OTHER Other Sub-Theme

Creation Date

06 Oct 2004

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Approved

Last Update

01 Jan 2017

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.

Author

Shire of Woodanilling

Construction Date

Demolition Year

N/A

Statement of Significance

The place is significant as the gazetted burial site in the district.

Physical Description

An unknown number of burials took place here from those confined at the Carrolup Native Settlement some 3kms to the south across the Carrolup River. The site comprising a fenced reserve in light sandy soil is about 200 metres west of Cemetery Road and 0.8 km north of the junction of Cemetery and River Roads. It is marked with a timber sign.

History

The 1905 Act played an important part in downgrading conditions of the South West Aborigines. Farmers continued to employ Aborigines for clearing and other work without permits as they had always done. The Act was first seriously applied to rural Aborigines in the South West in 1911, the first bad year of drought in the newly opened wheatbelt and hence a time when work was more than usually hard to find. Their children were refused entry to the local schools after complaints from white parents and the severe drought of 1914 further exasperated matters. The shortage of water increased the difficulty of Aboriginal parents living in unsanitary humpies, in sending their children to school in an acceptable state of cleanliness. In Katanning, a school had been started in 1912 as part of the Australian Aborigines Mission. For the local white residents this proved all too successful. Aboriginal families came from miles around - the expelled famihes from the Mt Barker School, others from Tambellup, Gnowangerup and Wagin - and camped on the outskirts of town so that their children could be educated. The Minister, after a visit to Katanning in 1913 said: "The Aborigines constitute a nuisance and their presence is a menace to the morals of the youth of Katanning, " and urged his cabinet colleagues to support the removal of them to a reserve well away from the town. In June 1914 the Government decided that funds could not be found for the establishment of a mission at Carrolup, with the drOought, and being an election year there were other more pressing priorities. With the coming of summer the police decided not to wait for a favourable Government decision about Carrolup. They simply rounded up the Katanning Aborigines and dumped them there. The fait accompli was accepted and Carrolup was established as a departmental settlement. Chief Protector Neville persuaded the Government to set up a second reserve at Moore River in 1918. However the pressure of finance compelled the closure of Carrolup in 1922. The Mosely Royal Commission in 1934 was critical of the conditions and disciplinary practices at Moore River. Attempts were made to improve the conditions at the settlement and in 1940 Carrolup was re-opened. The appointment of Noel White as Superintendent brought a new understanding of problems of the children. He encouraged the stories of tribesmen of the older days and men like Wylie and Winditch. Songs, traditional dances, art and bushcraft were encouraged. A report in 1948 by FE Bateman, a special magistrate sent to survey the position at Carrolup found that the teaching here had attained a standard not seen elsewhere in the native schools and was largely due to the excellent methods adopted by White. Mr Bateman said that the artwork was remarkable, being very much advanced on white standards. At that time the population of the settlement was 163 which included 103 children. Children from the settlement gained world attention following an exhibition of Australian Aboriginal children's art at Foyle's Art Gallery in London presented by Mrs Florence Rutter. However these new opportunities for Aboriginal children at Carrolup were to be shortlived and the school was closed at the end of 1950. The area was later to become the Marribank Mission run by the Baptist Church.

References

Ref ID No Ref Name Ref Source Ref Date
John Bird; "Round Pool to Woodanilling", pp 292, 296-297 1985

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Approved

Last Update

01 Jan 2017

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.