Rose Chown papers mainly concerning the Wellington Common native title claim, 1959-2010

MLMSS 9981
ON 638

fonds

1959-2010

Textual Records, Clippings, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Manuscript Cartographic Materials, Cartographic Materials

1344364

1.0 metres of textual material (6 boxes) includes some photographs

Margaret Rose Chown (1950-2010) was an advocate for native title and Aboriginal social justice, living in the Wellington, NSW, area all her life. She was the driving force behind the Wiradjuri Wellington Aboriginal Town Common Aboriginal Corporation, the first traditional owners in Australia to make a claim under the Native Title Act. The claim was lodged in 1994 but due to court battles and negotiations, was not resolved until 2007, when the NSW government compulsorily acquired the land under its Aboriginal Land Rights Act and transferred it to Aboriginal ownership.

Reference:
Compiled from the collection

The collection documents Rose Chown's struggle, on behalf of the Wiradjuri Wellington Aboriginal Town Common Aboriginal Corporation, to claim native title for land at Wellington, New South Wales. It includes personal papers, correspondence, documents submitted as part of the claim, supporting documents and research material.

MLMSS 9981
BOX 1
PERSONAL PAPERS, 1973-2010
Exercise book used as diary, September-December 1991
Diaries, 1997, 1998, 1999
Address book, includes diary notes, 1994-1995; Teledex
Personal documents including NSW Nurses Registration Board Authorities to Practice, 1969-2004; other certificates and licences, 1973-2000; résumé and job applications, 2008; nominations for awards, ca. 2006; ‘Chronology of events to date’, ca. 2002; ‘Community Hall Church’. List of tasks, pencil drawing of church, news clipping, no date
Correspondence, 1982-2010. Includes some correspondence relating to the native title claim
Correspondence and other papers chiefly relating to disputes, 1960-2003
Original and photocopied photographs, 1994, no date

BOX 2
NATIVE TITLE CLAIM DOCUMENTS, 1993-2006
Original claim papers for Wellington Native Title Land Claim, 1994
Supporting documents for claim, chiefly photocopies of maps, birth and marriage certificates, news clippings
Correspondence, financial reports, list of supporters, 1993-2006
Notice of Discontinuance of the Wellington Wiradjuri claimant application, 2006

BOX 3
NATIVE TITLE CLAIM PHOTOGRAPHS, NEWS CLIPPINGS, CORRESPONDENCE, RESEARCH MATERIAL, 1959-2008
Photographs include Wellington Common and buildings located on it, 1995-1998, no date; Aboriginal elders at authorisation meeting and other events, ca. 1994; photocopied photographs of Wellington Common and unidentified Aboriginal people, no date
Original and photocopied news clippings relating to Wellington and the Native Title claim, 1959-2008, and the apology to the stolen generation, 2008
Letters from various Local, State and Federal departments, members of Parliament, ATSIC and the NSW Governor’s office, chiefly in response to representations regarding the Native Title claim and invitations to attend events, 1991-1994. Some letters are also addressed to Vivienne Griffen
Copies of Nanima Progress Association correspondence regarding Aboriginal housing, 1978-1982
Copies of letters from NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service regarding the protected status of the church, two corrugated iron dwellings, a stone tool scatter and scarred tree on Wellington Town Common, 1992
Letters of support, 1992-1997
Correspondence regarding the history of Wellington Common, including a draft document entitled ‘Aboriginal people at Wellington’ written by Barbara Le Maistre, 1993
Letter from Dr Hilary Carey, University of Newcastle, regarding her research project on the Wellington Valley, 1996
Correspondence regarding Wellington and District Local Aboriginal Land Council, 1999
Further correspondence, chiefly with government departments, 2000-2007
Australian Heritage Commission original and revised Statement of Significance for Wellington Valley, with associated correspondence, 1998-2000
‘This was our spot’. Transcript of Dr Hilary Mary Carey’s interview with Rose Chown, 6 June 1997
Research material concerning the Wellington area including a chronology of events from 1817 to 2004, accounts of missionary activity from 1832 to 1843, a report on Wellington’s buildings and archaeological survey reports, 1993-2000

BOX 4
PAPERS RELATING TO THE WELLINGTON COMMON INDIGENOUS LAND USE AGREEMENT, THE LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL AND THE TRANSFER OF WELLINGTON COMMON TO THE WIRADJURI WELLINGTON ABORIGINAL TOWN COMMON ABORIGINAL CORPORATION (WWATCAC), 1991-2007
Includes minutes of meetings, 1991-2003; affadavits of Denise Kelly and Rose Chown in the matter of Federal Court NG6001, 1996, 2004; Application for Registration on the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements NI2001/002 (Wellington Common) with mediation documentation and notices of meetings, 2000-2002; letter to A. Refshauge from J. Williams, 2000; WWATCAC membership application and Rules of Association, 2000; advice on operation of proposed Rules of WWATCAC, 2000-2001; petition to prevent the surrendering of Native Title Rights in respect to the Wellington Common ILUA Area Agreement, 2001; letters objecting to the Wellington ILUA, 2002; Wellington Common ILUA registration decision – memorandum of advice, 2002; attendance record for Wellington LALC Annual Meeting, 2003; letter from A. McLean concerning the withdrawal of the Native Title Claim and requesting the State of NSW to proceed with the compulsory acquisition process, 2003; mediation process in relation to objections by J. Williams, 2003; NSW Native Title Services submissions on objection to registration of Wellington Common ILUA, 2007
Wellington Common Indigenous Land Use Agreement (Area Agreement), 2001
Wellington Common Agreement, 2005

BOX 5
WIRADJURI WELLINGTON ABORIGINAL TOWN COMMON COMMITTEE (ABORIGINAL CORPORATION) RECORDS, 1979-2008
Includes minutes of meetings, correspondence, funding applications, 1979-1997, 1998-2003, 2004- 2006, 2006-2008, 1981-2008

BOX 6
SUBJECT FILES
Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC), Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), 1985-2002
Gallangabang [Aboriginal Corporation], 1999-2009
Wellington Social Justice Group, 1987-1998
Wellington Wiradjuri, 1979-2003
Miscellaneous documents including applications for project funding, 2005-2006; Wellington Town Common Feasibility Study, 1998; Case study into the Wellington Waste Disposal Depot, the Nanima Aboriginal Village Sewage Ponds and the bacterial quality of the Macquarie River at Wellington NSW, 2004; Notice of proposed acquisition of land for Wellington Police Station, 2005


ON 638
11 negatives labelled 'Locked gates by Herbie Ball, early March 2005; lock removed Easter'


Maps from this collection, including original hand drawn maps of Wellington Town Common, have been catalogued separately at Call No.: M ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 9981/1-7

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