William Henry Gill (1861–1944) was an Australian ethnographer, collector of Aboriginal artefacts, and art dealer.

Ethnographic activities

Gill was prolific in recording information about Australian Aboriginal culture and artefacts in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and mainland Australia. His papers were compiled by the

Mitchell Library The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the City Council public library system of Glasgow, Scotland. History The library, based in the Charing Cross district, was initially established in Ingram Street in 1877 following a ...

and constitute an important early ethnographic record.Guide to the papers of William Henry Gill in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW Sydney : Library Council of New South Wales, 1987
/ref> He was particularly concerned with the customs of Aboriginal people of the Dieri, Wonkonguru and Yaurorka tribes of the

Lake Eyre Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the ...

region of

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 ...

and corresponded with

George Aiston George (Poddy) Aiston (1879–1943) was an Australian ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnograp ...

, a police officer stationed to the north and east of

, Central Australia. He also corresponded with C. L. Willes about early Tasmanian records and Tasmanian aborigines and with Daisy Bates.

Art dealer

Gill also ran a business as a fine art dealer, with connections to artists including

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...

George Washington Lambert George Washington Thomas Lambert (13 September 1873 – 29 May 1930) was an Australian artist, known principally for portrait painting and as a war artist during the First World War. Early life Lambert was born in St Petersburg, Russia, th ...

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe i ...

and

Arthur Streeton Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton (8 April 1867 – 1 September 1943) was an Australian landscape painter and a leading member of the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. Early life Streeton was born in Mt Moriac, Victoria, sou ...

. He ran the

Fine Art Society The Fine Art Society is a gallery based in both London and in Edinburgh's New Town (originally Bourne Fine Art, established 1978). The New Bond Street, London gallery closed its doors in August 2018 after being occupied by The Fine Art Society si ...

, in Melbourne, Victoria, initially as a department of the firm of Robertson & Moffat, and in 1912 he established his own gallery in Alfred Place, later moving to 100 Exhibition Street in 1920. The gallery closed in 1940. Some of the stone artefacts Gill collected from Lake Eyre were later acquired from J G Turner by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in 1946.William Henry Gill (Biographical details) British Museum
/ref>

Publications

* ''The Working Stone Tools of the Wonkonguru Aboriginal Tribe of lake Eyre County Central Australia'' 1926–1930

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, William Henry Amateur anthropologists Australian anthropologists 1861 births 1944 deaths