Biographical entry: Roth, Walter Edmund (1861 - 1933)
- Born
- 1861
- Died
- 1933
Summary
Correspondence and reports. The English born anthropologist Walter Roth graduated in botany then medicine before coming to Australia in 1887. After holding several posts he was appointed as doctor to the Boulia, Cloncurry and Normanton hospitals in 1894. In 1897 he published his Ethnological Studies Among the North-West Central Queensland Aborigines. In 1898 he became Protector of Aborigines for the northern district of Queensland, and the first of his Bulletins on north Queensland ethnography became available from 1901. Roth went to British Guiana in 1906 where he served as a government medical officer, stipendiary magistrate and Indian protector, he was later curator of the Georgetown Museum and government archivist.
Letter to W.E. Parry-Okeden, from W.E. Roth, Cooktown, typescript, pp.2. The letter relates to photographs of Bannabilla Aborigines of Bloomfield River. Original: Queensland State Archives: QSA Col.139. A.I.A.S.
Report by W.E. Roth to the Commissioner of Police, Brisbane. Gives an account of the Koko-Minni Aboriginals occupying the country between the country drained by the Middle Palmer River, Cooktown, 1899, illus., diagrams, maps, manuscript, pp.30. The emphasis is on social organization, culture, language, religion and subsistence. Includes census details and a sketch map indicating group locations. A.I.A.S. MS.347.
Report by W.E. Roth to the Commissioner of Police, Brisbane on the Aboriginals occupying the 'hinter-land' of Princess Charlotte Bay, together with a preface containing suggestions for their better protection and improvement. Cooktown, 30 December, 1898, illustrations, diagrams, maps, manuscript, pp.81. Includes census details, map with tribal locations, native geographical names, also information on Native Police operations. A.I.A.S. MS.348.
Report by W.E. Roth to the Under-Secretary, Home Department, Brisbane on the Aborigines of the Pennefather (Coen) River District, and other coastal tribes occupying the country between the Batavia and Embley Rivers. Cooktown, 8 January 1900, map, manuscript, pp.72. Covers official visit to Weipa and Mapoon Mission Stations and surrounding districts. Emphasis on material culture, social organization, myths, religion, etc. Includes native geographical names, Aboriginal group locations, and a map indicating territorial areas. A.I.A.S. MS.346.