Physical description

"The hated Protector" tells for the first time the real story behind the extraordinary experiences of Charles Sievwright, Assistant Aboriginal Protector from 1839-42 in what was then part of the British colony of New South Wales, but is now the Western District of the Australian state of Victoria. Sievwright, an Edinburgh-born former British army officer, lived in the bush with his young family as he tried to save the Aborigines of the District from extinction. In doing so, he would isolate himself from the rest of his fellow whites. The hated Protector tells of this process. The book should appeal to anyone interested in British colonial and Australian history, particularly in the years of first contact between British settlers and the Aborigines. More broadly, it should also appeal to anyone interested a story of one man's battle against overwhelming odds, where the price of failure was numerous deaths. It is a story of hatred, prejudice, courage, determination, and hope. In telling Sievwright's story, Lindsey Arkley draws largely on original archival material, including official reports, journals and letters, found in Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Edinburgh and London. Most has never before been published. The archival material is supplemented by contemporary newspaper accounts, and some oral history. Full notes are given to all sources, and the book is indexed and lavishly illustrated with drawings by Joan Bognuda, as well as about 80 paintings and samples of documents.

Contents:
1. In the bush
2. "Equal and indiscriminate justice"
3. "A few doses of lead"
4. "A curse to the land"
5. "The most unpopular man"
6. Retaliation
7. A hostage debate
8. Hallucinations
9. A mass escape
10. Possessors of the soil
11. Move to Keilambete
12. Bureaucratic
13. "A hideous pandemonium"
14. Divine visitations
15. Pay backs
16. Explanations
17. A squatter on trial
18. Claptrap and deceit
19. The black cap
- 20. To Mt Rouse
21. "The impending evil"
22. In the balance
23. An arrest at Mt Rouse
24. A fair moral name
25. Roger's trial
16. Intensified evidence
27. A declaration of war
28. Mr Cold Morning
29. Holding ranks
30. To rags
31. Fightback
32. Return to London
33. The inquiry
34. Judgement
35. And what remains.

Inscriptions & markings

maps, document reproductions, b&w photographs, colour photographs, b&w illustrations