Christina Smith (teacher and missionary)
Encyclopedia
Christina Smith was a teacher and Christian missionary who documented the lives, customs, legends, and language of the Buandig
Indigenous Australians from the Mount Gambier
region in western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia
.
Born in Glenyon, Perthshire, Scotland around 25 July 1809, she was raised a devout Presbyterian. She emigrated to Australia with her son Duncan Stewart (1833-1913) and two brothers after the death of her first husband, reaching Melbourne
on 27 October 1839. Her second marriage was to James Smith, a Presbyterian teacher at the Collins Street Congregational Church. Christina had eight children in this marriage. The Smiths moved to Rivoli Bay south (Greytown) in 1845 where Christina acted with christian compassion for the Buandig people concerned at their treatment by other European settlers and engaged in education and christian missionary work with the aborigines. For several years she was the only white woman in the southern end of the district.
Christina and her son Duncan Stewart learnt the Bungandidj language
with Duncan being appointed an interpreter for this language in 1853. The family moved to a small farm near Mount Gambier in 1854 where Christina opened a night school teaching aboriginal orphans and adults until James Smith's death in 1860. A day school was opened in 1864 in Mount Gambier teaching scripture and the rudiments of a basic education to aboriginal children. After an epidemic and loss of support for her school and with student numbers reduced to 4, the school closed in 1868, although it continued as a home for Buandig orphan children.
Her book on the Buandig
people - The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends, and Language- was published in 1880 containing ethnographic observations, personal anecdotes, brief biographies of local natives who converted to Christianity, and a comprehensive vocabulary of the Bungandidj language
and grammatical construction. She also contributed material in 1881 to the work of anthropologist Alfred William Howitt
.
Smith died on 28 April 1893 at Mount Gambier and is buried in Lake Terrace cemetery.
The school in Mount Gambier where Christina Smith taught was added to the South Australian Heritage list in 1994.
The Lady Nelson Discovery Centre in Mount Gambier uses a hologram image of Christina Smith to explain the story of the region's early contact between settlers and Aboriginal people.
Buandig
The Buandig people are Indigenous Australians from the Mount Gambier region in western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia.-Traditional Lands:...
Indigenous Australians from the Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
region in western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
.
Born in Glenyon, Perthshire, Scotland around 25 July 1809, she was raised a devout Presbyterian. She emigrated to Australia with her son Duncan Stewart (1833-1913) and two brothers after the death of her first husband, reaching Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
on 27 October 1839. Her second marriage was to James Smith, a Presbyterian teacher at the Collins Street Congregational Church. Christina had eight children in this marriage. The Smiths moved to Rivoli Bay south (Greytown) in 1845 where Christina acted with christian compassion for the Buandig people concerned at their treatment by other European settlers and engaged in education and christian missionary work with the aborigines. For several years she was the only white woman in the southern end of the district.
Christina and her son Duncan Stewart learnt the Bungandidj language
Bungandidj language
Bungandidj or Buandig is an extinct language of Australia, once spoken by the Buandig people, Indigenous Australians from the Mount Gambier region in present-day western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia....
with Duncan being appointed an interpreter for this language in 1853. The family moved to a small farm near Mount Gambier in 1854 where Christina opened a night school teaching aboriginal orphans and adults until James Smith's death in 1860. A day school was opened in 1864 in Mount Gambier teaching scripture and the rudiments of a basic education to aboriginal children. After an epidemic and loss of support for her school and with student numbers reduced to 4, the school closed in 1868, although it continued as a home for Buandig orphan children.
Her book on the Buandig
Buandig
The Buandig people are Indigenous Australians from the Mount Gambier region in western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia.-Traditional Lands:...
people - The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends, and Language- was published in 1880 containing ethnographic observations, personal anecdotes, brief biographies of local natives who converted to Christianity, and a comprehensive vocabulary of the Bungandidj language
Bungandidj language
Bungandidj or Buandig is an extinct language of Australia, once spoken by the Buandig people, Indigenous Australians from the Mount Gambier region in present-day western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia....
and grammatical construction. She also contributed material in 1881 to the work of anthropologist Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt was an Australian anthropologist and naturalist.-Background:Howitt was born in Nottingham, England, the son of authors William Howitt and Mary Botham. He came to the Victorian gold fields in 1852 with his father and brother to visit his uncle, Godfrey Howitt...
.
Smith died on 28 April 1893 at Mount Gambier and is buried in Lake Terrace cemetery.
The school in Mount Gambier where Christina Smith taught was added to the South Australian Heritage list in 1994.
The Lady Nelson Discovery Centre in Mount Gambier uses a hologram image of Christina Smith to explain the story of the region's early contact between settlers and Aboriginal people.
External links
- Leith G. MacGillivray, Smith, Christina (1809–1893), Australian Dictionary of Biography.