Previously unexamined texts in Victorian languages: the manuscripts of Rev. William Thomas (1793-1867)

Most of the records of the Aboriginal languages of Victoria were written down by untrained people in the 19th century. One of the most prolific was the Rev William Thomas (1793-1867), who was Assistant Protector of the Aborigines in the early days of colonisation of what is now Victoria. This article and the thesis upon which it was based closely examine for the first time the linguistic data collected by Thomas in two main sources - his manuscript notes now in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, and a manuscript entitled A lexicon of the Australian Aboriginal languages in the six dialects of Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh, Melbourne, Gippsland, Mount Gambier and Wonnin..., now in the State Library of Victoria. The valuable linguistics data about the various languages in these sources is exemplified, discussed and compared with modem linguistic studies of the languages concerned.