In 1907, the Aborigines' Inland Mission (AIM) decided to expand into Western Australia. Charles Harrington, a 'travelling missionary' arrived in WA in December 1907. At the request of the Chief Protector, Charles Gale, from 1908 to 1909 the AIM took over the running of Welshpool (Maamba) Reserve which had been established by the government in 1902.
The Welshpool Reserve had also been known as the Cannington Reserve. Harrington was succeeded by Mr Richard and Mrs M. Ruddell. Although the AIM planned to set up a Home for Aboriginal children on the reserve, this did not occur. The Reserve at Welshpool was never greatly populated and the Ruddell's became involved with the South Guildford Reserve,which eventually became Allawah Grove. The AIM and Australian Aborigines' Mission (AAM) made an attempt to unite, but this was unsuccessful and the AIM withdrew from WA in 1909.
Sources used to compile this entry: Longworth, Alison, Was it worthwhile?, An historical analysis of five women missionaries and their encounters with the Nyungar people of south-west Australia, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, 2005, http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/163/2/02Whole.pdf. pp.89, 115, 122.; State Solicitor's Office of Western Australia, 'pp.47, 57', Guide to Institutions Attended by Aboriginal People in Western Australia, Government of Western Australia, 2005, http://web.archive.org/web/20140126131607/http://www.dpc.wa.gov.au/lantu/MediaPublications/Documents/Guide-to-Institutions-attended-by-Aboriginal-people-in-WA-2005.pdf; Tilbrook, Lois, Nyungar Tradition : glimpses of Aborigines of south-western Australia 1829-1914, Online version published by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in 2007, University of Western Australia Press, 1983, http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/m0022954.pdf. p.62..
Prepared by: Debra Rosser
Created: 1 March 2013, Last modified: 27 January 2015
Last updated: 17 October 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE00943b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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