George Augustus Robinson

George Augustus Robinson (22 March 1791 – 18 October 1866) was a builder and untrained preacher. He was the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Port Phillip District (now Victoria, Australia), from 1839 to 1849. Prior to this appointment by the Colonial Office in Great Britain, he had been called upon to mount a "friendly mission" to find the 300 remaining Aboriginals in Tasmania.

Robinson was born on 22 March 1791, probably in London, England, to William Robinson, a builder, and Susannah née Perry. He followed his father into the building trade, married Maria Amelia Evans on 28 February 1814, and had five children over the next ten years. He decided to emigrate to the Australian colonies, and sailed for Hobart Town in Van Diemen's Land on the Triton, where he arrived in January 1824 and set up as a builder. His wife and five children joined him in April 1826.

Conflicts between settlers and Tasmanian Aborigines had vastly increased during the 1830s, which became known as the Black War. In 1830 Robinson investigated the Cape Grim massacre that had occurred in 1828 and reported that 30 Aborigines had been massacred. Robinson was to be brought in as a conciliator between settlers and Aborigines. His mission was to round up the Aborigines to resettle them at the camp of Wybalenna on Flinders Island.

Robinson befriended Truganini, to whom he promised food, housing and security on Flinders Island until the situation on the mainland had calmed down. With Truganini, Robinson succeeded in forging an agreement with the Big River and Oyster Bay peoples, and by the end of 1835, nearly all the Aboriginals had been relocated to the new settlement.

Robinson's involvement with the Tasmanian Aboriginals ended soon after this, though, and the Wybalenna settlement became more akin to a prison as the camp conditions deteriorated and many of the residents died of ill health and homesickness. Because of this, Robinson's place in history is generally viewed as negative, especially within the current Aboriginal community. Some historians agree that his initial intentions were genuine, but his abandonment of the community is viewed as a turning point for the worse for the Tasmanian Aboriginals. Moreover, his promises of providing a place where Aborigines could practice their cultural traditions and ceremonies never came to fruition.

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