Brian Plomley
Encyclopedia
Norman James Brian Plomley, also known as Brian Plomley, (born 6 November 1912 – 8 April 1994) was one of the most respected and scholarly of Australian historians and, until his death, in Launceston
, the doyen
of Tasmanian Aboriginal
scholarship.
degree from Sydney University in 1935. He did postgraduate work at Cambridge University in 1936–1937 and obtained his Master of Science
degree from the University of Tasmania
in 1947. Qualified as an anatomist, throughout a varied academic career he worked in England; and Hobart, Sydney, and Melbourne, Australia, mostly as a lecturer in anatomy
. he was Senior Lecturer
in Anatomy at the University of Sydney from 1950 to 1960, and subsequently at the University of New South Wales
(1961–1965), and University College, London, (1966–1973). He later acquired distinction as an ethnological
historian, and from 1974 to 1976, was Senior Associate in Aboriginal and Oceanic Ethnology
at the University of Melbourne
. Plomley's publications, especially his seminal Friendly Mission (1966), reawakened interest in the study of Tasmanian Aboriginal history.
Plomley was conservative by temperament and a traditional state historian. He established the Plomley Foundation at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
in Launceston, where he had worked as its director from 1946 to 1950. He donated his collection of books, maps and papers to that museum on his death.
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, the doyen
Doyen
Doyen is a surname. The word doyen is derived from the French term for dean, e.g. Dean and Dean ....
of Tasmanian Aboriginal
Tasmanian Aborigines
The Tasmanian Aborigines were the indigenous people of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Before British colonisation in 1803, there were an estimated 3,000–15,000 Parlevar. A number of historians point to introduced disease as the major cause of the destruction of the full-blooded...
scholarship.
Professional background
He graduated with a Bachelor of ScienceBachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree from Sydney University in 1935. He did postgraduate work at Cambridge University in 1936–1937 and obtained his Master of Science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degree from the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
in 1947. Qualified as an anatomist, throughout a varied academic career he worked in England; and Hobart, Sydney, and Melbourne, Australia, mostly as a lecturer in anatomy
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
. he was Senior Lecturer
Senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. Especially in research-intensive universities, lecturers lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in Anatomy at the University of Sydney from 1950 to 1960, and subsequently at the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
(1961–1965), and University College, London, (1966–1973). He later acquired distinction as an ethnological
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
historian, and from 1974 to 1976, was Senior Associate in Aboriginal and Oceanic Ethnology
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
. Plomley's publications, especially his seminal Friendly Mission (1966), reawakened interest in the study of Tasmanian Aboriginal history.
Plomley was conservative by temperament and a traditional state historian. He established the Plomley Foundation at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is a museum located in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. Established in 1891, the Queen Victoria has a strong reputation for its excellent collection, which includes fine exhibitions of colonial art, contemporary craft and design, Tasmanian history and...
in Launceston, where he had worked as its director from 1946 to 1950. He donated his collection of books, maps and papers to that museum on his death.
Books and booklets
- Tasmanian Aboriginal material in collections in Europe, 1961
- French manuscripts referring to the Tasmanian aborigines: a preliminary report, Museum Committee, Launceston City Council, 1966
- (editor) Friendly mission: The Tasmanian Journals and Papers of George Augustus RobinsonGeorge Augustus RobinsonGeorge Augustus Robinson was a builder and untrained preacher. He was the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Port Phillip District from 1839 to 1849...
1829–1834, Tasmanian Historical Research Association, Hobart, 1966 - Friendly mission: the Tasmanian journals and papers of George Augustus Robinson, 1829-1934. A supplement, Tasmanian Historical Research Association, 1971
- A summary of published work on the physical anthropology of the Tasmanian aborigines, Museum Committee, Launceston City Council, 1966
- An annotated bibliography of the Tasmanian aborigines, Royal Anthropological Institute Occasional paper, no. 28, London, 1969
- Several generations, Wentworth Books, 1971
- A manual of dissection for students of dentistry, Churchill Livingstone, 1975
- A word-list of the Tasmanian languagesTasmanian languagesThe Tasmanian languages, or Palawa languages, were the languages indigenous to the island of Tasmania. Based on short wordlists, it appears that there were anywhere from five to sixteen languages on Tasmania....
, 1976 - The Baudin expedition and the Tasmanian Aborigines 1802, Blubber Head Press, Hobart, 1983
- Weep in silence: a history of the Flinders Island aboriginal settlement, with the Flinders Island journal of George Augustus Robinson, 1835–1839, Blubber Head Press, Hobart, 1987
- (editor)Jorgen Jorgenson and the Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land : being a reconstruction of his "lost" book on their customs and habits, and on his role in the Roving Parties and the Black Line, Blubber Head Press, 1991
- The Tasmanian tribes & cicatrices as tribal indicators among the Tasmanian Aborigines, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, 1992
- The Tasmanian aborigines, Plomley Foundation, Launceston, 1993
- The Tasmanian tribes, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, 1993
Co-authored books
- (with A. L. Meston) Miscellaneous notes on the culture of the Tasmanian Aboriginal, National Museum of Victoria, 1956
- (with William Frank Ellis), A list of Tasmanian Aboriginal material in collections in Europe,Museum Committee, Launceston City Council, 1962
- (with Claudia Sagona), An annotated bibliography of the Tasmanian Aborigines, 1970–1987, Art School Press, Chisholm Institute of Technology, 1989
- (with Christine Cornell and Max Banks), Francois Peron's natural history of Maria Island, Tasmania, Records of the Queen Victoria Museum Launceston; no. 99, 1990
- (with Kristen Anne Henley) The sealers of Bass Strait and the Cape Barren Island community, Blubber Head Press, Hobart, 1990
- (with Lynda Manley, Caroline Goodall) The Westlake papers: records of interviews in Tasmania by Ernest Westlake, 1908-1910, Occasional paper No.4,Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery 1991
- (with Caroline Goodall) Tasmanian aboriginal place names, Queen Victoria Museum and Art GalleryQueen Victoria Museum and Art GalleryThe Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is a museum located in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. Established in 1891, the Queen Victoria has a strong reputation for its excellent collection, which includes fine exhibitions of colonial art, contemporary craft and design, Tasmanian history and...
, Launceston, 1992 - (with Caroline Goodall, Martina Smythe) The aboriginal/settler clash in Van Diemen's Land 1803-1831, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, Occasional Paper, No.6 Launceston, 1992
- (with Josiane Piard-Bernier) The General: the visits of the expedition led by Bruny d'Entrecasteaux to Tasmanian waters in 1792 and 1793, Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, LauncestonLaunceston, TasmaniaLaunceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, 1993 - (with Mary Cameron) Plant foods of the Tasmanian aborigines, Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, 1993
Short biographies
- Meston, Archibald LawrenceArchibald MestonArchibald Meston was an Australian politician, civil servant, journalist, naturalist and explorer.-Personal Life:Archibald Meston was born 26 March 1851 at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston....
(1890-1951), educationist, historian and anthropology', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey SerleGeoffrey SerleGeoffrey Serle AO was an Australian historian, who is perhaps best known for his books on the colony of Victoria; The Golden Age and The Rush to be Rich and his biographies of John Monash, John Curtin and Robin Boyd....
(eds), Australian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
, vol. 10, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp. 489–490 - Scott, Herbert Hedley (1866-1938), Museum Curator', in Geoffrey Serle (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 11, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988, p. 546
Journal articles
- "Thomas BockThomas BockThomas Bock , was an Australian artist.Bock was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England. Bock was an engraver in Birmingham; in 1817 he was awarded the silver medal by the Society of Arts and Commerce for an engraving of a portrait.In April 1823 Bock was found guilty at the Warwick Assizes...
's Portraits of the Tasmanian Aborigines", Records of the Queen Victoria Museum (Tasmania), vol. 18, 1965, pp. 1–24 - "The Baudin Expedition and the Tasmanian Aborigines in 1802", Margin, vol. 22, 1990, pp. 4–12
Scientific papers
- (With A.L. McAulay and J.M. Ford), "Saltants produced in the fungusFungusA fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
Chaetomium globosum by monochromatic ultra-violet irradiation and a growth effect characteristic of wavelength", in Australian Journal of Experimental Biology and Medical Science, 23 (1945), pp. 53–57 - (with Joan Munro Ford Nicolls, and Alexander Lester McAulay) 'Mutations produced by monochromatic ultra-violet irradiation and X-irradiation of spores of the fungus Chaetomium,' University of Tasmania Dept. of Physics, 1949