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destroyed in the war. When brick production slackened, he found that the workers were dissatisfied with a payment
system that rewarded all equally and resolved the problem by instituting a piecework scheme. Farm production
was increased with the sowing of Townsville lucerne for the dairy and beef herd and the introduction of new crops,
including pineapples and peanuts. Wells sought to encourage the independent production of art and craftwork,
and trade in crocodile skins, mud crabs and frozen fish for the Darwin market, with the aim of increasing the
community’s economic self-sufficiency.
Ann Wells had to cope with serious epidemics of measles, followed by chicken pox and whooping cough, a few
months after they arrived at Milingimbi, but good progress was soon being made in improving community health.
A cottage hospital was built; supplementary meals were provided first for school children and later for pre-natal
women. The effects of improved health and medical services were soon evident in a declining death rate and
increasing birth rate. In 1952, the health authorities approved the local treatment of leprosy sufferers. In addition to
her work at the dispensary, and her household chores, Mrs Wells helped with the correspondence and at the store,
and gave weekly sewing lessons.
When, after three years at Milingimbi, Wells went south on seven months furlough, he could feel well satisfied
with what had been achieved. But already he had seen a threat to the future of the mission communities in Arnhem
Land when, without notice to or discussion with the people or the missionaries, the government had authorised
mining interests to explore and develop bauxite deposits in the Wessel Islands. By 1955, this venture had been
abandoned, but not before it had aroused concern about the security of the reserve.
When Ellemor went on furlough in late 1954, Wells served for a time as acting chairman of the district.
In November, at a harvest festival service, he baptised the first adult converts at Milingimbi. By 1958, frozen fish
were being airfreighted to the Darwin market and sales of pandanus mats and baskets and of bark paintings were
making a significant contribution to community income. The new church, built of adobe bricks, sandstone flooring,
and local timber to support the roof, was completed that year, with a window designed by Wells incorporating
Aboriginal symbols around the central cross. Miss Lowe’s study of the Gupapuyngu language and the use of the
language in church services reflected a general policy of respect for and interest in the Aboriginal culture, initiated
by T T Webb and carried on under his successors.
In late 1959, Wells returned to Queensland after 10 years at Milingimbi. He served in the Coolangatta circuit tor
two years and in May 1961 was appointed as Queensland representative on the Board of Missions. In September
1961, he agreed to return to the Territory, this time to fill a vacancy as superintendent at Yirrkala, where he took
up duty in January 1962.
Several men at Yirrkala were producing excellent bark paintings and Wells sought to encourage more painting,
wood carving, and craft production. Visits from Sydney and Melbourne dealers in 1962 helped to establish
improved sales outlets and led to substantial increases in income for the artists. Wells saw this as a means of
reinforcing self-confidence and pride in the culture and traditions of the people and enhancing the community’s
capacity to cope with the changes that lay ahead. The new church that was opened in June 1963 included two large
panels painted by representatives of the clan groups of the area.
The existence of rich bauxite deposits around Yirrkala had been known for some years and from 1958
‘a procession of mining companies’ had been assessing the prospects of mining them. Early in 1963,
the Commonwealth Government announced that an area of 140 square miles (about 363 square kilometres) was
being excised from the reserve to allow large-scale mining. The Labor Opposition responded with a motion in
the Parliament that ‘an Aboriginal title to the land of the Aboriginal reserves should be created in the Northern
Territory’. Kim Beazley urged the Government to consult directly with Aboriginal spokesmen and in July, he and
Gordon Bryant visited the mission. After talking with Aboriginal leaders and with Wells, Beazley suggested that
a petition to the Parliament on a bark painting would be an effective way of attracting attention to their concerns
about the future of their community. With the help of the schoolmaster and Ann Wells, petitions were typed in
Gupapuyngu with an English translation, and fixed to sheets of bark with a painted border featuring local animals
and fish. These were presented in August and in September a select committee was appointed to inquire into the
grievances of the Yirrkala people. When the committee took evidence at Yirrkala, Wells was examined at length,
along with 10 Aboriginal witnesses. The report made a number of recommendations designed to safeguard the
interests of the people.
When the Government had announced the excision from the reserve, Wells had sent telegrams to leaders of
the Methodist Church, including Cecil Gribble, and to newspaper editors and others, protesting at the ‘bauxite
land grab’ which would ‘squeeze’ the Yirrkala people into ‘half a square mile’. Before this, in January, he had
written to the District Chairman, Gordon Symons, a former superintendent at Yirrkala, expressing his concern that
decisions were being made about mining leases without any prior consultation with the Aboriginal people affected
and had warned that he felt that he had an obligation ‘to seek publicity of the threatened wrong about to be done to
them’. Gribble and the Mission Board were displeased that Wells had acted without the knowledge or consent of
the district chairman or the Board. In November, Wells was told that he was to transfer back to Milingimbi from
1 January 1964; he declined and was posted back to Queensland. The excised area was soon restored to the reserve.
In 1968, the Yirrkala people began legal proceedings in the Northern Territory Supreme Court, unsuccessfully
seeking to prevent the granting of mining leases and asserting their traditional rights to the land.
Wells took leave, then served as a relieving minister before being appointed as circuit minister at Balmoral,
Brisbane (1965–1970) and at Margate, Redcliffe (1971–1974), before retiring to live at Hervey Bay. Ann Wells
had written a book of children’s stories from Arnhem Land and an engaging account of their life at Milingimbi;
she published several more books for children and a volume on the Aboriginal painted panels in the Yirrkala
church. She died on 21 December 1979. Wells had completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of