Acknowledgments

This book began its life as a doctoral thesis in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne. I was extremely fortunate to be supervised by Patricia Grimshaw; her dedication to mentoring is renowned and her support, advice and encouragement were crucially important. My two associate supervisors – the late David Philips, and Ann Genovese from the Faculty of Law – also deserve particular thanks. I am indebted to the many other staff members and fellow students who helped shape the project with their comments and support, including Joanna Cruickshank, Fiona Davis, Penny Edmonds, Julie Evans, Don Garden, Felicity Jensz, Rob McArthur, Claire McClisky, Erica Millar, Marg Stephens, Shurlee Swain, Patrick Wolfe and Bart Ziino.

My more recent colleagues in the School of History, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, provided a highly stimulating intellectual environment that helped me transform my thesis into a book. The school is home to both the National Centre of Biography and the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, both leading centres in disciplines so closely associated with my topic. Particular thanks must go to Nicholas Brown, Karen Fox, Paul Irish, Rani Kerin, Shino Konishi, Ann McGrath, Melanie Nolan, Maria Nugent and Martin Thomas.

I received valuable assistance from the staff of numerous research libraries, including the State Library of Victoria, the State Library of New South Wales, the National Library of Australia, the British Library, the Baillieu Library, and the ANU Library. I also owe a debt to the Public Record Office of Victoria, the National Archives of Australia, the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, and the National Archives of the UK.

I thank warmly Wayne Atkinson, a Yorta Yorta elder, and playwright Andrea James, both of whom generously offered their views on the significance of Edward Curr to their people. I was also privileged to meet several of Curr’s descendants, who shared their thoughts and their family archive, including Pamela Curr, Ian and Elinor Curr, and Andrew and Belinda Curr.

To the board of Aboriginal History, and in particular to the monographs editor Rani Kerin, I offer my sincere thanks for recognising the value of my work and agreeing to publish it. Thank you also to the reviewers of my manuscript, Ann Curthoys and Russell McGregor, whose insightful comments were crucial to the completion of the book.

Rebecca Bennett and Erica Millar did a wonderful job proofreading my thesis, and I thank Geoff Hunt for his thorough work on the book manuscript. For assistance with images I am indebted to the various institutions acknowledged in the text, to Christine Fernon and Maxim Korolev, and to Peter Johnson, who designed the maps. For cover design and production I am grateful to the staff of ANU E Press, particularly Lorena Kanellopoulos and Duncan Beard. Publication of this book was also supported by a subsidy from The Australian National University.

My family and friends have been unerringly supportive of this project over a long period, particularly my parents, Cate and Clem Furphy, but none more so than my wife, Rebecca, to whom I offer my most profound thanks.