Blackfellow’s Friend, The

295 p., 4 p. of plates : ports. ; 22 cm. #240822

Rev. John Brown Gribble FRGS was an Australian minister of religion, noted for his missionary work among Aboriginal people in New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland. His appointment in Western Australia was cancelled within a year due to hostility from squatters and others who had Aboriginal employees.

The Reverend John Brown Gribble, a miner who became a missionary, was deeply affected by his observation of the exploitation of Aboriginal women in the Riverina area of New South Wales in the early 1870s. This led him to set up a dormitory for women and their children at Warangesda or ‘Camp of Mercy’ mission on the floodplain of the Murrumbidgee River.

Gribble decided to leave his comfortable posting at Jerilderie and in 1880 arrived at a parcel of land on the Murrumbidgee which had been revoked from lease. Despite local opposition, he was granted the reserve, given permission to establish a government school for Aboriginal children, and paid a government teacher’s salary.  The name for the mission was chosen around the fireside one evening, combining “Warang” the Wiradjuri word for “camp” and “esda”, the last part of the scriptural “Bethesda” (Hebrew meaning “house of mercy”).

By the end of 1880, Gribble was able to write a newspaper article describing the mission. At that stage, seven houses had been built inside the ten acre mission settlement, enclosed by a post and rail fence. There were 42 Aboriginal residents, of which two thirds were said to attend the school. All of the building work had been done by the Aboriginal men.

Gribble, J. B. (John Brown), 1847-1893.  |  Anglican Church of Australia — Missions — Western Australia — Gascoyne — Biography.  |  Missionaries — Western Australia — Gascoyne Region — Biography.  |  Aboriginal Australians, Treatment of — Western Australia — Gascoyne.  |  Religions – Christianity – Baptist Church.  |  Religions – Christianity – Anglican Church.  |  Religions – Christianity – Missionaries.  |  Religions – Christianity – Missions.  |  Carnarvon (WA South Pilbara / Gascoyne SG49-04)