William Wyatt (settler)
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William Wyatt (1804 – 10 June 1886) was an early settler and
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
in
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 ...
. He was the third interim
Protector of Aborigines The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...
in the colony between 1837 and 1839, worked on documenting the
Kaurna language Kaurna ( or ) is a Pama-Nyungan language historically spoken by the Kaurna peoples of the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. The Kaurna peoples are made up of various tribal clan groups, each with their own ''parnkarra'' district of land and ...
of the local
Australian Aboriginal 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 Islands ...
inhabitants of
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 ...
and was a member of many boards, involved with fields as diverse as education, medicine and
horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
.


Early life

Wyatt was born in
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
, Devon, England, the son of Richard Wyatt. He was educated
Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...
and apprenticed at 16 years of age to a Plymouth surgeon, Thomas Stewart. Wyatt continued to study medicine and obtained the qualification of
M.R.C.S. Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (MRCS) is a postgraduate diploma for surgeons in the UK and Ireland. Obtaining this qualification allows a doctor to become a member of one of the four surgical colleges in the UK and Ireland, namel ...
in February 1828. For some time he was honorary surgeon to the Plymouth dispensary and was curator of the museum of the Literary and Scientific Institution.


Early life

Wyatt was born in 1804. He obtained the qualification of
M.R.C.S. Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (MRCS) is a postgraduate diploma for surgeons in the UK and Ireland. Obtaining this qualification allows a doctor to become a member of one of the four surgical colleges in the UK and Ireland, namel ...
(Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland) in February 1828. He was honorary surgeon to the
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
dispensary for some time before leaving England.


Career in Australia

Wyatt emigrated to South Australia as surgeon of the ship ''John Renwick''. He arrived at
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 ...
14 February 1837, and practised there for a short time, in August being appointed city
coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
. He served as the third interim part-time
Protector of Aborigines The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...
from 1837 until 1839, replacing Captain
Walter Bromley Walter Henry Bromley (c. 1774 – c. 5 May 1838) was a British military officer and reformer who founded a school in Halifax, Nova Scotia and did much good work among children of poorer families including, especially, indigenous Canadians. He lat ...
, who had been dismissed after being criticised by ''The Register'' and was afterwards found drowned in the
River Torrens The River Torrens , (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the ...
. :"Unlike his successor and the German Missionaries, Wyatt did not live at
Piltawodli The Adelaide Park Lands are the figure-eight of land spanning both banks of the River Torrens between Hackney and Thebarton and separating the City of Adelaide area (which includes both Adelaide city centre and North Adelaide) from the surro ...
. According to Foster (1990b: 39) he was "criticised for not 'going among' the Aborigines and for failing to provide information to the public about their culture." Nonetheless, Wyatt does provide valuable, though sometimes unreliable, information on the language of the
Kaurna people The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurn ...
. After the German mission sources, it remains the next most important source and includes a sizable number of terms not recorded elsewhere. :A manuscript copy of Wyatt's wordlist, ''Vocabulary of the Adelaide Dialect'' (Wyatt, 1840)14 in the Library of Sir
George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...
in the
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n Public Library,
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, contains only 67 words, though this is unlikely to represent the extent of Wyatt's knowledge of Kaurna at that time. A more comprehensive paper published later lists approximately 900 Kaurna and
Ramindjeri The Ramindjeri or Raminjeri people were an Aboriginal Australian people forming part of the ''Kukabrak'' grouping now otherwise known as the Ngarrindjeri people. They were the most westerly Ngarrindjeri, living in the area around Encounter Bay an ...
words. The cover page notes that the material was "principally extracted from his official reports" most of which would have been written when Wyatt served as Protector from 1837 to 1839. Assuming Wyatt's (1840) wordlist in the Grey collection is complete, presumably Wyatt went through his papers and extracted words he had recorded in the early days of the colony. The
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
Library copy, donated by the author, contains three corrections in Wyatt's own hand, where ''n'' has been typed instead of ''u''. This wordlist was also published in J. D. Woods ed. (1879) without correction of the three typographical errors. Wyatt identifies certain vocabulary items with a subscript e or r as
Encounter Bay Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baud ...
or
Rapid Bay Rapid Bay is a locality that includes a small seaside town and bay on the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. It lies within the District Council of Yankalilla and its township is approximately 100 km south of the stat ...
words respectively. In 1923, Parkhouse republished Wyatt's paper in three separate wordlists designating them 'Adelaide', 'Encounter Bay', and 'Rapid Bay' with changed spellings, substituting ''u'' for Wyatt's ''oo''." In May 1838 he was on the committee of the South Australian School Society, and was also on various other committees. On 28 February 1843 he was chairman of a meeting called to discuss the best means of civilising the
Aboriginal Australians 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 Islands ...
, in 1847 he was appointed coroner for the Province of South Australia, and in 1849 he was a member of the provisional committee of the South Australian Colonial Railway Company, one of three public companies contending to build a railway between Adelaide and
Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
; the others being the
South Australian Railway Company The South Australian Railway Company was an attempt in the 1840s by private capitalists to establish a railway in the infant colony of South Australia. The company was based in London, where most of the capital was to be raised, £25,000 in the ...
and Adelaide City and Port Railway Company. Wyatt was appointed Inspector of Schools for South Australia in 1851 (retiring in 1874) and for the remainder of his life was in every movement that touched the educational or welfare of the colony. He was a governor of the Collegiate School of St Peter, one of the original governors of the
State Library of South Australia The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research l ...
, a founder and vice-president of the Acclimatization Society, on the board of the
Adelaide Botanic Garden The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace, Adelaide, North Terrace (between Lot Fourteen, the site of the old ...
, and was chairman of the Adelaide Hospital 1870–1886. He was a member of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society and its president from 1849 to 1850. He was also secretary of the medical board for over 40 years.


Later life, death and legacy

After retiring, Wyatt published ''Monograph of Certain Crustacea Entomostraca'' (1883), and he contributed the chapter on the Adelaide and
Encounter Bay Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baud ...
Aboriginal peoples to the volume on the ''Native Tribes of South Australia'' (1879), by J. D. Woods and others. In his final years though growing infirm, Wyatt still attended to his many duties, and passed some hospital accounts for payment just a week before his death in his eighty-second year on 10 June 1886. Wyatt had bought some town lots at the first land sale held at Adelaide on 27 May 1837, which laid the foundation of a considerable fortune. He performed many acts of philanthropy in a quiet way and showed much interest in the social life of Adelaide, but never entered politics. He was married and left a widow, his only child to have survived past infancy was murdered by a drunken workman.


Wyatt Trust

The Wyatt Benevolent Institution, now known as the Wyatt Trust, was created by a Wyatt as a trust 1886, to help South Australian individuals struggling with adversity and poverty. It is governed by the ''Wyatt Benevolent Institution Incorporation Act 1935'', and provides grants to a number of organisations, such as the
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) is an independent health and medical research institute in Adelaide, South Australia. The institute is housed in a purpose-built eponymous building with its iconic " cheese-grat ...
(SAHMRI), as well as individuals in the form of one-off grants. It supports the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service for Aboriginal South Australians.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt, William 1804 births 1886 deaths Settlers of South Australia English emigrants to colonial Australia Australian philanthropists 19th-century Australian public servants 19th-century philanthropists