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family moved to Perry Bridge in Gippsland, Victoria, where his father had a mixed farm and orchard on the banks
of the Perry River close to the bridge that crossed that river. The small settlement included a school and church.
His mother was the local postmistress.
The area had been the home of a large Aboriginal tribe. Here these people had the resources of forest and
grassland as well as those offered in nearby Lake Wellington. It was in the Perry Bridge area that young Webb first
had contact with Aborigines and knowledge of relations with the white settlers. In this area, he was nurtured in the
church and school and developed that determination and resource which comes to country boys, so important in the
future. It was during this time that he became aware of the call of God to the ministry of the Methodist church.
In 1909, Webb was accepted as a candidate for training for the ministry and was enrolled as a student at
Queen’s College within the University of Melbourne. He completed the required course and in 1911 was appointed
to his first circuit, at Wentworth in southwestern New South Wales on the junction of the Darling and Murray
Rivers. Here again he would have some contact with Aboriginal people whose survival was bound up with those
streams.
He volunteered as a chaplain in the ecumenical mission with the workers constructing the trans-continental
railway. Here once more he was able to observe the life and needs of Aborigines living in the arid countryside
through which the railway was being built. In August 1916, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force as a
Chaplain and saw service in France attached to a Casualty Clearing Station as well as Artillery and Infantry
units. At the end of that war, he returned to Australia completing his service as Chaplain Third Class (Major)
in July 1919. At the time he enlisted, he was 177 centimetres in height (five feet and nine inches) and weighed
96 kilograms (14 stone and two pounds).
He then served with acceptance in the Brunswick, Wonthaggi and Ararat circuits where he was noted for his
robust preaching and vigorous Christian spirit. On 5 April 1923, he married Eva Mary Rawson, who was born on
2 August 1894. There were two children of the marriage, Donald Ian, and Ailsa Mary.
In 1926, he offered for service with the Overseas Missions Department and was appointed to the Crocodile
Islands with his headquarters at Milingimbi. Travel to Darwin entailed a sea voyage of about two weeks and from
Darwin to Milingimbi by lugger. At the time, the mission had a lugger named McBride that was powered by sail so
the journey was slow. In 1928, an engine was installed which gave a more reliable and speedier voyage. McBride
was later wrecked and was replaced by a larger vessel. It was entirely by sea that communication was maintained
with the outside world. It was not for some years that air travel and radio became available.
The mission by the Methodist Church to the Aborigines in the area was only some 10 years old. Founded by
Reverend James Watson and assistants on south Goulburn Island the work had been extended to Milingimbi.
However, the church was having difficulty in making progress because the people it was wishing to influence
presented a quite different kind of society to those on other fields. Whereas in other places, notably some Pacific
islands, the native people had a society with fixed villages and a culture that included the cultivation of gardens,
here they found no villages, no cultivation and no animal husbandry. Instead, they found small nomadic groups and
different tribal areas as well as differing language divisions. The problem was not simply one for the missionaries
on the field but also for the Mission Board responsible for oversight and more importantly finance. In this
environment, Webb was to use his skills and plan the strategy required. He had excellent farming experience and
he set out to plant crops which he hoped would make the station at least partially self supporting. In this, he had
only limited success, because of the poor soil quality and rainfall problems. Also, he did not find the native men
to be interested in the kind of work that farming entailed. He did most of the farm ploughing himself. He was not
without help but felt very keenly that he was involved in physical tasks when he needed to give more time to the
study of language and culture.
The staff in 1929 was 19 including wives. There was another ordained minister, one lay missionary, one nurse,
one European teacher, plus two Fijian teachers and one Baduan teacher. The Fijians were appointed to teach garden
methods as they might have been in their own country. During this time, he was studying the local language in order
to be able to converse with the people and ultimately to translate portions of scripture and hymns into their tongue.
His problems were not only those met on the field but also it was also quite as difficult to convince members of
the Mission Board of the local problems and justify costs as well as a review of methods to be applied. In 1929 the
Board, faced with very real financial problems had questioned the expenditure on flour and tobacco. Webb gave a
vigorous response that was published in the Missionary Review for all supporters to read for themselves.
It was in this atmosphere that he nevertheless used his talents in writing. He studied the customs and ceremonies
of the Aborigines and described these in articles submitted on Aboriginal life to Missionary Review. These included
‘Ceremonies for the Initiation of Boys’ and ‘Ceremonies for Making Peace’, the Makarrata. Much of his writing
was to inform his readers about the work the mission was doing as well as describing Aboriginal culture and the
life style of the people among whom he worked. Gradually he wrote for a wider readership. For example, an
article on ‘Tribal organisation in Eastern Arnhem Land’ was published in Oceania in June 1933. In this, he raised
issues from his own experience without reference to theoretical concepts of some professional anthropologists.
Professor Elkin was among those who considered that Webb’s views had validity. Webb was later to write From
Spears to Spades that was published as a booklet.
On 12 May 1930, a letter was published in the Melbourne Herald wherein he took up the cause of Aborigines
who had been sentenced to death for murder and stated that it was the white man who was the alien. This letter
had the immediate effect of the sentences being reviewed and the death sentences commuted but it was also the
beginning of a movement, perhaps still in progress, toward a change in attitude of the legal system as it applied to
the original inhabitants of this land.