'Language to save the innocent': Reverend L. Threlkeld's linguistic mission

Abstract

The European colonisation of New South Wales resulted in the destruction of many Aboriginal languages. Of these, the so-called Awabakal language spoken by Aboriginal people who lived around the Lake Macquarie area, south of Newcastle--is singular in the degree to which it was studied and documented by Europeans. For this we are famously indebted to the Congregationalist missionary, Reverend Lancelot Edward Threlkeld (1788-1859) and his Aboriginal instructors, particularly his mentor and friend, Birabahn, or 'Johnny Magill'. Together they bequeathed an outstanding record of an ancient Australian language in the form of landmark publications, printed materials and bundles of unpublished manuscripts.