The Many Worlds of R.H. Mathews: In Search of an Australian Anthropologist

by Martin Edward Thomas

Media and readers are ready to question notions of history and how it has been presented and interpreted in the past. The Many Worlds of R.H. Mathews is about the life and work of the renowned 19th century surveyor turned ethnologist, R.H. Mathews, whose studies of Aboriginal Australia were path-breaking and quite controversial. His childhood in Goulburn meant that he grew up with Aboriginal children as playmates, so when he began his obsession with documenting Aboriginal life, he came to his subject with fond familiarity, not the freakshow interest that spurred many of the English anthropologists of the time, especially Baldwin Spencer, who went out of his way to discredit Mathews' work, especially after his death. Largely due to this conspiracy, Mathews has been a reasonably unknown figure in early anthropology, but his legacy and work have been reassessed and he is emerging as one of our most important documentors of Aboriginal language, legends, and mythology. So important, in fact, that it is his legacy of papers, interpretations, and documents, held largely in the National Library of Australia, that is being used by contemporary Aboriginal people to rejuvenate their culture. Martin's approach to his subject is not conventional biography, but something more ambitious and unusual, and one perfectly tuned to the revelations it contains.

Genres: Australia, History

507 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Naomi Foyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly scholarly yet also lyrical and deeply compassionate, this prize-winning biography of R.H. Mathews (1841-1918), Irish-origin Australian surveyor and latterly amateur anthropologist, should be read by anyone with an interest in Aboriginal culture, Australian history, colonialism, Victoriana, and/or creative non-fiction. Mathews, who grew up on a farm with Aboriginal friends, published hundreds of articles documenting the languages and kinship customs of a people he thought were on the verge of 'extinction'. He formed respectful relationships with his subjects, who trusted him with secrets he kept to his notebooks, and though he would have known not to write at all about some ceremonies, Thomas presents evidence that he was initiated by the Dharawal and Dhurga people. Mathews' personal approach and fieldwork conclusions differed from those of 'experts' in Europe, who disparaged him bitterly in their journals and private correspondence. This detailed reappraisal of his work not only at last gives him his due, but also presents a counter-narrative to that of the domination and despoilation of Aboriginal culture by European Australians.

For as the cover image suggests, this fascinating book is far from simply an account of the life of one white man and his obsessions. It is rather a biography of early Australian anthropology itself, exploring its internecine battles, arrogance, eccentricities and limitations, and eventually arguing for the evolution of the discipline into a restorative field of study - Mathews' dogged field work, drawing on his surveying skills, is now used as evidence in Aboriginal land claims, while early recordings of 'dying' languages can be used to help revive them. Thomas also presents a strong case for the resilience and flexibility of Aboriginal culture which, far from dying, was forced to adapt to colonialism, and has done so in creative and resourceful ways. Always gracefully written, the book attains truly poetic resonance in the final pages, with a set of concluding images and reflections I won't spoil here but hope other readers reach on their own.

[Michael Lever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written and deeply researched, this work nevertheless seems strangely structured in its lengthy digressions to topics that bear little relevance to the subject of R H Mathews. The final chapter 'The Glass Midden' is the clearest example of this trend which occurs throughout an otherwise focused book