Turnbull, P.G. (2001) 'Rare work amongst the professors': the entanglement of Aboriginal remains in phrenological knowledge in early colonial Australia. In: Hoorn, J., and Creed, B., (eds.) Body Trade. PK Editorial Services, New York, USA, pp. 3-23.

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Abstract

[Extract] Early in April 1829, a satire appeared in the Sydney Gazette. It took the form of a letter, addressed to 'Jeremiah Bumpkin', supposedly a leading member of the settlement's new phrenological society. In the letter, a business 'proposition was put to Bumpkin by one 'Jack Sprat, Esquire, of Chuckabiddy Lane, London', wholesaler of fake tomahawks and adulterated gunpowder to traders of a mind to swindle Amerindian and Oceanic peoples. Of the various stings in the satire, the most pointed was Sprat's portrayal of Sydney's phrenologists as dupes, or worse, men whose professed scientific interest in procuring and examining Australian indigenous skulls masked a ghoulish desire to generate and profit from a 'free trade in skulls, black and white, red and raw'. 'We have as much right', declared Sprat, 'to an honest penny by the outside of the skulls of heathens, as others by adorning the inside of the same', imploring Bumpkin to secure him as many of the skulls of the natives of New South Wales as he could. Sprat wrote: They are buried somewhere in the bush, and it will not be difficult for a drop o' bool to find them out. I have been advised to send out some rum for distribution among the living, in which case some specimens might be obtained. But not to speak of the questionable morality of the act, I find it will be too expensive.

Item ID:	14318
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-1-86403-184-3
Keywords:	Aboriginal remains; phrenology
Date Deposited:	11 Sep 2017 22:28
FoR Codes:	21 HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 2103 Historical Studies > 210399 Historical Studies not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9505 Understanding Past Societies > 950503 Understanding Australias Past @ 100%
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