1892 - 1893

Among 7903 glass-plate negatives taken by the noted colonial photographers Charles Kerry and Henry King – which now form the Tyrrell Collection in the Powerhouse Museum – are images of indigenous performers on Tamarama Beach. The troupe from the Northern Territory, Queensland and the Torres Strait came to Sydney and appeared on the lawns at the Bondi Aquarium in the summer of 1892-93 as part of a traveling show called “Wild Australia”. Newspaper reports from the time claim that “50,000 persons have visited the Bondi Aquarium during the season and are spellbound at the wondrous” boomerang throwing, war scenes, corroborees, spear-throwing and nulla fighting. The troupe also performed at the School of Arts on Pitt Street, Sydney, where they were photographed with specially painted theatre scenery. Newspapers reported the troupe stayed in Dellview St, Tamarama.

The troupe was put together by one of the most influential and controversial figures in Queensland history, Archibald Meston. Born in Scotland in 1851, he emigrated to NSW as a child and later moved to Queensland. There, he worked as a journalist, before sitting in Parliament between 1878 to 1882. Later, he ran a sugar plantation and led an expedition to the Bellenden-Ker Range, south of Cairns. This brought him into contact with remote indigenous culture, customs and languages. He soon began putting together a performance troupe. The nature of these troupes remains questionable, with claims the indigenous performers were forced to join. Meston attempted to market the group as untouched by European influences.

The travelling show planned to perform in Brisbane, Sydney (Bondi) and Melbourne, then travel to the US and Britain, but it ran into financial difficulty in Melbourne and Meston deserted the troupe. It was claimed in the media at the time that the troupe could not afford to buy food. Meston’s managers disputed this. The Queensland government paid for the performers to return home.

Although the tour failed financially, Meston soon became an influential advisor to Queensland on indigenous issues and oversaw the introduction of the Aboriginals Protection Act 1897. The reserves established rapidly deteriorated under his control into repressive institutions.

The University of Queensland has began a program of reuniting the families of the troupe’s performers with the photographs taken during the tour.

Courtesy the State Library of New South Wales and the Gujaga Foundation.