Children at Carrolup, 194-?, 1940s, courtesy of Aboriginal people of Western Australia, State Library of Western Australia.
Details
Carrolup, near Katanning, was a government-run 'native settlement' which had been closed in 1922 and was and re-opened by the Department of Native Affairs in 1939. By 1944, there were 129 boys, girls and older children in government 'care' at Carrolup. In 1951, the government withdrew most of the children from Carrolup and it was re-opened as a Marribank Farm School.
Carrolup, near Katanning, was a government-run 'native settlement' which had been closed in 1922 and was and re-opened by the Department of Native Affairs in 1939. By 1944, there were 129 boys, girls and older children in government 'care' at Carrolup. Children at Carrolup were under the guardianship of the Commissioner for Native Affairs.
The Sunday Times reported in 1947 that Native Affairs Minister Ross McDonald said 'much interest was evidenced in the recent exhibition of drawings of children of Carrolup school for natives exhibited in Perth. All the pictures were purchased and realised £74, which will be expended in the interests of the children.'
In 1949, the school at Carrolup closed and school-age children were transferred to other missions according to their religious denominations.
In September 1949, former Carrolup schoolboys Barry Loo and Mervyn Smith became the first Aboriginal people to be employed in the Western Australian public service. They were engaged as clerical assistants at the Department of Native Affairs in Perth.
On 17 June 1951, Carrolup Native Settlement was closed and the Department of Native Affairs reported that the adults were 'dispersed' but that teenage boys were kept there to establish Marribank Farm Training School.
1915 - 1922 Carrolup
1939 - 1951 Carrolup Native Settlement
1951 - 1952 Marribank Farm Training School
1952 - 1988 Marribank
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Baptists Take Over Carrolup', Sunday Times, 30 November 1952, p. 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60102646; 'Testimonies of Sam Dinah, Michael Hannah', Stolen Generations' Testimonies, Stolen Generations' Testimonies Foundation, 2009, http://www.stolengenerationstestimonies.com/; Longworth, Alison, Was it worthwhile?, An historical analysis of five women missionaries and their encounters with the Nyungar people of south-west Australia, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, 2005, http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/163/2/02Whole.pdf. pp.298-299.; 'Western Australia Protectors Reports 1899-1959', in To Remove and Protect: Aboriginal Lives Under Control [website], Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, National Library of Australia, http://aiatsis.gov.au/collections/collections-online/digitised-collections/remove-and-protect/western-australia. Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Native Affairs 1939: p.16; 1944, p.25; 1951, p17; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Native Welfare 1959 p.8..
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 6 August 2013, Last modified: 12 November 2018