The notebooks of Lieutenant William Dawes held at the SOAS Library Special Collections are the major source of information about the Aboriginal language of Sydney. They are of great importance to Aboriginal communities of New South Wales, to linguists, residents of Sydney, researchers trying to reach new understandings about Aboriginal Sydney, and many others. Following colonisation, Aboriginal languages around Sydney were destroyed so rapidly and comprehensively that Dawes' work remains a unique and key source.

This project will make the notebooks accessible by creating digital images of each page, and providing transcriptions to help read and search the images. Such an online resource is much more accessible, useful, and relevant than a single copy of a manuscript can be. The only current source of the notebooks in Australia is a poor-quality microfilm held at the State Library of New South Wales.

News:

• launch in Sydney [date]
• recent additions

Project summary

• Partners: ELAR, SOAS Library, NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs
• Co-ordinator: David Nathan, ELAR
• Funding support: SOAS, NSW DAA
• Planned completion: late 2007
• Current status: images digitised, transcripts in process
• Bibliographic: GB 0102 MS 41645 The books of Lieutenant William Dawes; Library, School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Marsden Collection. MS 41645b. Vocabulary of the language of New South Wales in the neighbourhood of Sydney by William Dawes, 1790. ML FM4/3431

Click on the image for an A4 printable version of this poster (2.5MB PDF).