Caribbean Australian
Encyclopedia
Caribbean Australian are people of Caribbean
ancestry who are citizens of Australia
.
According to the 2006 Australian census, 4,852 Australians were born in the Caribbean
while 4,242 claimed the Caribbean ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.
Connections between the West Indies and Australia began in the early days of European settlement. Australia’s first newspaper publisher, and founder of the Sydney
Gazette in 1803 was George Howe, a white convict from the island of St Christopher
. At the height of the British Empire
, officers and administrators moved freely between far-flung colonies. Many came to Australia from the West Indies while others, like Edward Eyre, left Australia to take up appointments there.
Black convicts, servants and sailors from the West Indies also arrived in Australia and many of them later integrated into Aboriginal
communities. These relationships, and links forged through the sport of boxing, contributed to later alliances between the Black Consciousness Movement
s in Australia, the USA and the West Indies, including a branch of Marcus Garvey
’s Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League
in Sydney in the 1920s.
Caribbean people were also among the many nationalities flocking to the Victorian goldfields
after 1851. One of the thirteen miners killed at the Eureka Stockade
was a Jamaica
n. Arthur Windsor
, editor of the Age newspaper from 1872 – 1900 was born in Barbados
.
Especially since the abandonment of the White Australia policy
, West Indians have arrived from many countries of the Commonwealth. From honky-tonk pianist Winifred Atwell
to environmental engineer Ken Potter and writer Ralph de Boissière
, they have brought wide-ranging skills, experience and cultural richness to Australia.
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
ancestry who are citizens of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
According to the 2006 Australian census, 4,852 Australians were born in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
while 4,242 claimed the Caribbean ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry.
Connections between the West Indies and Australia began in the early days of European settlement. Australia’s first newspaper publisher, and founder of the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Gazette in 1803 was George Howe, a white convict from the island of St Christopher
Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts Saint Kitts Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean...
. At the height of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, officers and administrators moved freely between far-flung colonies. Many came to Australia from the West Indies while others, like Edward Eyre, left Australia to take up appointments there.
Black convicts, servants and sailors from the West Indies also arrived in Australia and many of them later integrated into Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
communities. These relationships, and links forged through the sport of boxing, contributed to later alliances between the Black Consciousness Movement
Black Consciousness Movement
The Black Consciousness Movement was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in...
s in Australia, the USA and the West Indies, including a branch of Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
’s Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League
Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League
The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League is a black nationalist fraternal organization founded by Marcus Garvey. The organization enjoyed its greatest strength in the 1990s, prior to Garvey's deportation from the United States of America, after which its...
in Sydney in the 1920s.
Caribbean people were also among the many nationalities flocking to the Victorian goldfields
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
after 1851. One of the thirteen miners killed at the Eureka Stockade
Eureka Stockade
The Eureka Rebellion of 1854 was an organised rebellion by gold miners which occurred at Eureka Lead in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The Battle of Eureka Stockade was fought on 3 December 1854 and named for the stockade structure erected by miners during the conflict...
was a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n. Arthur Windsor
Arthur Windsor
Arthur Lloyd Windsor was an Australian journalist noted for his work on the The Argus and the The Age.-Biography:...
, editor of the Age newspaper from 1872 – 1900 was born in Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
.
Especially since the abandonment of the White Australia policy
White Australia policy
The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....
, West Indians have arrived from many countries of the Commonwealth. From honky-tonk pianist Winifred Atwell
Winifred Atwell
Una Winifred Atwell Una Winifred Atwell Una Winifred Atwell (27 February or April 1910 or 1914There is some uncertainty over her date and year of birth. Many sources suggest 27 February 1914, but there is a strong suggestion that her birthday was 27 April. Most sources give her year of birth as...
to environmental engineer Ken Potter and writer Ralph de Boissière
Ralph de Boissière
Ralph Anthony Charles de Boissière was an Trinidad-born Australian social realist novelist.Ralph de Boissière was born in Port of Spain, the son of Armand de Boissière, a solicitor, and Maude Harper, an English woman who died three weeks later...
, they have brought wide-ranging skills, experience and cultural richness to Australia.