Francis James Gillen (28 October 1855 – 5 June 1912), also known as Frank Gillen and F. J. Gillen, was an early Australian anthropologist and

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

. He is known for his work with W. Baldwin Spencer, including their seminal work ''The Native Tribes of Central Australia'' (1899). They both worked in central Australia, where Gillen was employed as a

telegraph station Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

master, with the Arrernte people and other

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

Life and career

Francis James Gillen was born on 28 October 1855 at Little Para,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, the eldest son of Thomas Gillen and Bridget (née McCan). He was also known as Frank. He entered the public service in 1867, and was employed as a postal messenger at Clare. He was transferred to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in 1871 where his duties also included telegraph operation. In 1875, Gillen became involved in the construction of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line, and was stationed at

Charlotte Waters Charlotte Waters was a tiny settlement in the Northern Territory of Australia located close to the South Australian border, not far from Aputula. It was known for its telegraph station, the Charlotte Waters Telegraph Station, which became a hu ...

telegraph station from 1875 to 1892. He was appointed the Alice Springs post and telegraph Station Master in 1892. At the time Alice Springs was part of South Australia and Gillen, who by virtue of his office held the collateral positions of Special Magistrate and sub-Protector of Aborigines, was effectively the administrator of central Australia. During his time at Alice Springs he became involved with

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

s and in 1894 assisted the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia, soon after which he met

Walter Baldwin Spencer Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer (23 June 1860 – 14 July 1929), commonly referred to as Baldwin Spencer, was a British-Australian evolutionary biologist, anthropologist and ethnologist. He is known for his fieldwork with Aboriginal peoples in ...

. After witnessing and documenting the Engwura festival – a series of public and restricted ceremonies performed by Arrernte people men in 1896 – they worked together to write ''The Native Tribes of Central Australia'' (1899). The German anthropologist Moritz von Leonhardi was very much inspired by this publication. Later, together with Carl Strehlow Leonhardi partly opposed Gillen's and Spencer's theses. In 1900 Gillen was elected president of the anthropological section of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science held at Melbourne. Gillen was transferred from Alice Springs to Moonta in 1899, but in 1901 he was given leave by the South Australian government to join Spencer in an expedition which took them up to the Gulf of Carpentaria. In this journey, the

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

artist Erlikilyika (also known as Jim Kite) acted as their guide, interpreter and research assistant. Their journey led to the publication of ''The Northern Tribes of Central Australia'' (1904). Gillen's final fieldwork endeavour with Spencer was to

Peake, South Australia Peake is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia situated along the Mallee Highway (B12), approximately east of the state capital of Adelaide. At the , Peake had a population of 117. History The town of Peake was procla ...

, where they camped for a number of weeks gathering further information on Arabanna people for inclusion on their 1904 publication. Gillen was also listed as a co-author of Spencer's ''The Arunta'' published in 1927. Gillen remained at Moonta until July 1908, when he became postmaster at

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South A ...

. In that year Spencer was hoping to arrange to go with him to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, but Gillen's health began to fail and it was not possible. In 1911 he was weakening physically, and he died on 5 June 1912.

Family

His wife, formerly Amelia Besley of

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

(and step-sister to "Pado" Byrne, telegraph master and scientist at Charlotte Waters for 50 years), three daughters and two sons survived him. A brother,

Peter Paul Gillen Peter Paul Gillen (7 July 1858 – 22 September 1896) was a storekeeper and politician and an activist for Aboriginal rights within Australia in the colonial days of South Australia. He studied, recorded and documented many ancient Aboriginal cer ...

, who was for many years a member of the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

, predeceased him.

Legacy

John Mulvaney Derek John Mulvaney (26 October 1925 – 21 September 2016), known as John Mulvaney and D. J. Mulvaney, was an Australian archaeologist. He was the first qualified archaeologist to focus his work on Australia. Life Mulvaney was born in Ya ...

, considered the "father of Australian

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

", described ''The Native Tribes of Central Australia'' (by Spencer and Gillen, with input from collaborators Paddy Byrne,

telegraphist A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio. During the Great War the Roya ...

at Charlotte Waters, and Ernest Cowle, police officer at Illumurta Springs) as "one of Australia's most influential books in the history of ideas". '' Varanus gilleni'', a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of Australian monitor lizard commonly known as the pygmy mulga monitor, is named in his honour.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Gillen", p. 101). The Centralian Tree Frog '' Ranoidea gilleni'', is also named for him.

Selected works

* Was available in eBooks@Adelaide from 2014 to 2020. *Mulvaney, John; Morphy, Howard; Petch, Alison (editors) (1997).

Life and career

Family

Legacy

Selected works

References

Further reading