Coastal Sydney: Grammatical forms of the language in the neighbourhood of Sydney, 1790
Lent by the SOAS Library, University of London
William Dawes was a young officer and astronomer who arrived in Australia with the First Fleet. He lived alone in a hut on the high ground at Tar-ra (now known as Dawes Point), separate from the other white people so that he could observe the night skies in relative darkness.
Dawes was curious about the Aboriginal languages he heard, often writing down words and short phrases in his notebooks. He befriended a young woman named Patyegarang, who helped him to understand her people’s language.
Dawes took this notebook back to England in 1791. It is the most significant record of the language spoken in Sydney when the Europeans first arrived.
Dawes was curious about the Aboriginal languages he heard, often writing down words and short phrases in his notebooks. He befriended a young woman named Patyegarang, who helped him to understand her people’s language.
