The Royal Navy in Indigenous Australia, 1795–1855

Abstract

• This book offers the first in-depth enquiry into the origins of the 135 Indigenous Australian objects acquired by the Royal Navy between 1795 and 1855, and held now by the British Museum. In response to increasing calls for the ‘decolonisation’ of museums, and the restitution of ethnographic collections, the book seeks to return knowledge of the moments, methods, and motivations whereby Indigenous Australian objects were first collected, and sent to Britain. By structuring its discussion in terms of the three main ‘stages’ of a typical naval voyage to Australia – departure from British shores, arrival on the continent’s coasts, and final return to port – the book offers a composite and complete understanding of the pathways first followed by these 135 objects. The book explores numerous new understandings of Indigenous Australian peoples’ reactions to British visitors, and furthermore contributes a series of important and original insights into the provenance and meaning of many of the world’s oldest Indigenous Australian object collections.