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until his death. He died at Glenelg, Adelaide, on 22 February 1924 and is buried with his parents at the North Road
cemetery, Adelaide. His wife and two daughters survived him.
B James, Occupation Citizen, 1995; records held by Genealogical Society of the Northern Territory.
V T O’BRIEN and BARBARA JAMES, Vol 3.ANGELES, ELNA ANNIE nee ERLANDSON (1911–1986), cook and wards maid, was born in Darwin on
10 September 1911, the first of four children to Eric Erlandson, a man of Norwegian descent from Colac in Victoria,
and Annie Clark, a part Aborigine born at Borroloola in the Northern Territory.
When Elna was 10 years old her mother died and she and her three younger sisters and brother were taken
by the Church of England from Darwin to live in a Salvation Army home in Chelmer, Brisbane. At the age of 14
Elna was sent to work in outback stations in Queensland and she also cooked at a dairy farm at Beaudesert for
15 Shillings a week.
In 1929 she returned to Darwin on board Marella and stayed with her aunt, ‘Grannie’ Spain, the ‘Queen of
Darwin’. At this time she worked as a wards maid and cook at the Darwin Hospital. From this association with the
hospital, she developed a strong interest in medical care, and although she was unable to make a career in that field,
her medical knowledge proved invaluable on numerous occasions.
In 1933 she married Timothy (Tim) Angeles at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Darwin. Tim’s father was a
Filipino and his mother was a part Aborigine from Pine Creek. Tim was born in 1908 and left school at an early
age to become a drover. Elna and Tim had 12 children, eight daughters and four sons. Well known Darwin midwife
‘Granny’ Tye, who was present at Elna’s birth, was also present at the birth of some of the children.
In January 1942 Elna and her seven children at this time were evacuated to Brisbane prior to the first Japanese
air raids on Darwin in February, during which their home on Beetson Street, now Smith Street West, was bombed.
Tim had worked at the Koolpinyah ice works until the war and he joined his family in Brisbane after the February
air raids.
On their return to Darwin in 1946 they proceeded to re-establish themselves, living in various huts and houses.
Tim became a government employee. In 1974 Elna and Tim were evacuated to Brisbane after Cyclone Tracy.
Their earlier corrugated iron home had withstood the 1937 cyclone; however, Cyclone Tracy destroyed the family
home they had later built.
After they returned to Darwin, Tim died in 1977 following a long illness. Elna continued to take a keen interest
in her close-knit family until her death at the Royal Darwin Hospital on 17 April 1986.
Northern Territory News, 29 March 1974; oral history interview with E Angeles, 23 November 1981, in Northern Territory Archives Service,
TS 151, NTRS 226.
GREG COLEMAN, Vol 2.ARCHER, JAMES CLARENCE (CLARRIE) (1900–1980), public servant and Administrator, was born in
Castlemaine, Victoria, on 28 July 1900. He served as a public servant in the Territory of New Guinea and was a
Lieutenant in the New Guinea Volunteer Regiment at Rabaul in 1942. Following the war he was in the Department
of Territories, of which he was, at the time of his appointment as Northern Territory Administrator in April 1956,
Deputy Secretary. He served as Acting Administrator during the absence of Frank Wise in November 1955.
His work in the public service had been recognised with the award of Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE).
His appointment as Administrator was not popular. Many Territorians resented Canberra based public servants
and he did not have the skills to get on with the local press. ‘Unlike his successor’, Fred Walker later wrote, ‘he was
not skilled in the political art of self promotion and was unaware of the advantages that a well stocked refrigerator
in the office could bring from local journalists.’ On the other hand, Walker continued, he ‘showed more integrity
and regard for parliamentary procedures than any of his predecessors and those who succeeded him’.
Walker argued that Archer worked hard for Territory political reform and initiated several changes and ideas
for which he did not receive credit as they were implemented by his successor, Roger Nott. Many Canberra
bureaucrats, Walker also contended, regarded him as almost too ‘pro-Territory’ for their liking.
As part of the Standing Orders Committee of the Legislative Council, along with Ron Withnall and
Neil Hargrave, he helped produce a substantial report that recommended a number of alterations in Standing
Orders, adapting them to the particular needs of a Territory legislature. Historian Peter Donovan later claimed that
Archer ‘worked strenuously for the devolution of political power in the Northern Territory and for a delegation of
financial responsibility’ and was far from being the mere ‘rubber stamp’ that many of his critics claimed.
Sir Paul Hasluck, who as Minister for Territories appointed Archer, has stated that he came to the job with
a deep and varied experience of administration in both New Guinea and Australia and had risen to senior levels
in the Commonwealth Public Service. ‘His expertise and diligence’, Hasluck suggested, ‘brought not only an
improvement in public service efficiency but a more practical and convincing preparation of the Budget.’ According
to Hasluck, Archer was knowledgeable, practical and quiet in method: the Territory administration became a
reliable and workmanlike part of government under his guidance.
During Archer’s term the Public Service Act was amended to enable the appointment of an Assistant
Administrator to liaise between the public service and the people in the Territory.
He stepped down as Administrator in April 1961 and retired to Canberra. He died on 23 December 1980,
survived by his wife Nina and a son.