Robert Thomas Donaldson (1851 – 5 August 1936) was an Irish-born Australian politician. He was born in

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

to farmer Thomas Willett Donaldson and Barbara Shafgotch. The family emigrated to Australia around 1863 and Donaldson worked as a station hand and prospector in northern and central

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. After a visit to Britain in 1878 he returned to Queensland to become a railway construction inspector. On 25 July 1882 he married Edith Meek in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He moved to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

permanently in 1883 to become contractors manager in the construction of the

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

railway. He settled in

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

, where he became alderman and later mayor. In 1898 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

as the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

member for

. He joined the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Italy ...

in 1901 and returned to independent status following that party's collapse in 1907. Having transferred to the seat of Wynyard in 1904, he contested

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in 1913 as the candidate of the

Country Party Association The Country Party Association was an early attempt to establish an agrarian party in New South Wales. It was formed in 1913 as a reaction against the Farmers' and Settlers' Association of New South Wales's policy of co-operation and joint endor ...

, but was defeated. From 1915 to 1929 he was Inspector of Aborigines, under the auspices of the

Board for the Protection of Aborigines Aboriginal Protection Board, also known as Aborigines Protection Board, Board for the Protection of Aborigines, Aborigines Welfare Board (and in later sources, incorrectly as Aboriginal Welfare Board), and similar names, refers to a number of hi ...

, in which he implemented the board's policy of removing Aboriginal children from their families, now known as the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...

. The

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

describes Donaldson as "feared and hated by two generations of Aboriginals throughout New South Wales. In particular he was never forgiven for the raid on Cumeroogunga Aboriginal station in 1919". Donaldson died at Randwick in 1936 (aged 85).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Robert 1851 births 1936 deaths Colony of Queensland people Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Stolen Generations