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An excellent and very witty speaker, he often provided well received after dinner addresses. Margaret Eedle was a
great support for him in his various community roles.
A man of very wide interests and with a fine mind, Eedle sometimes found it difficult to deal with those he
regarded as intellectual inferiors. His critics argued that he and his wife never really came to terms with Australia
and had unfortunate ‘colonial’ attitudes that derived from their many years in Africa. On the other hand, few would
disagree that he should claim at least some credit for the establishment of the school system the Territory government
inherited in 1979 and preparing Territorians for their university. He deserves particular recognition as one who
worked tirelessly to enhance the Territory’s cultural life.
D Carment, personal files and correspondence, 1981–1991; D Carment, The Tuxworth Government, 1987; A Heatley, Almost Australians, 1990;
Who’s Who in Australia, 1994.
DAVID CARMENT, Vol 3.
ELKIN, ADOLPHUS PETER (1891–1979), anthropologist, was born on 27 March 1891 at West Maitland,
New South Wales, son of Reuben Israel Elkin and Ellen, nee Bower. Elkin had one brother John, who died at
six weeks of age. The Elkins were of Jewish ancestry. His mother died in 1902 and he went to live with his
grandfather in Singleton. He attended East Maitland High School and upon leaving he was employed briefly in a
bank. He graduated from the University of Sydney and St Paul’s College with a Bachelor of Arts and subsequently
a Master of Arts with first-class honours in philosophy. In the same year (1915) Elkin was ordained a Church of
England minister and held the position of rector at Wallsend, Wollombi and Morphett between 1918 and 1937.
He was Vice-Warden of St John’s College in Armidale from 1919 to 1921.
In 1923 Elkin was appointed Tutor in Anthropology at the University of Sydney. From 1925 to 1927 he studied
physical and cultural anthropology at the University College in London, where he gained his Doctor of Philosophy
degree. In 1927 he was offered the first Australian National Research Council Fellowship for Anthropological
Fieldwork. In 1932 he became a member of the Australian National Research Council and in 1933 took up the
chair of Anthropology at the University of Sydney. Elkin retained this position until he retired in 1956. He was
made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1966..
Elkin’s main contribution to the Northern Territory was the documentation of his trips to the Territory in the
1940s and the influence they exerted among future anthropologists who were to make subsequent field trips to the
Territory. He had carried out earlier research in the Kimberley region and in the northern part of South Australia.
Elkin had also carried out research in Papua New Guinea. With his main interest in myth and ritual, Elkin had
devised theories that were to have a profound influence over the way European Australians were to perceive the
indigenes for several decades. He strove to influence public policy in relation to Aborigines living in the Territory
during this period, with his closest informant being the now well-known Bill Harney.
As author of ten books and several monographs and as editor of Oceania from 1933, he commanded both
respect and criticism. Elkin occupied a unique position as both an anthropologist and a minister of religion. He held
an ambivalent position in relation to missions and to missionaries because of his concern with the destruction of
Aboriginal tradition. It became of utmost importance to him that Aboriginal traditional life be recorded before it
was too late.
In the latter part of his life, he showed concern and displeasure at the new theories and research methods being
introduced by the new generation of anthropologists. Many he distrusted and Ronald and Catherine Berndt were
among the few he admired, especially for their work in the Yirrkala and Oenpelli areas.
Elkin died in July 1979 leaving a wife and two sons.
T Wise, The Self Made Anthropologist, 1985; Canberra Times, 12 July 1979; Sydney Morning Herald, 13 August 1983.
ROBYN MAYNARD, Vol 1.
ELLIOT, ELIZABETH: see NICKER, ELIZABETH
ELSEY, JOSEPH RAVENSCROFT (1834–1857), surgeon, explorer and naturalist, was born on 14 March 1834
in London, only son of Joseph Ravenscroft Elsey, Bank of England official. Educated at Mill Hill School, he trained
in medicine at Guy’s Hospital (MB 1853) and qualified in March 1855 at the Royal College of Surgeons and the
College of Chemistry. On the recommendation of Professor Richard Owen, he was appointed surgeon, naturalist
and meteorological officer to the North Australian Exploring Expedition (1855–56) led by A C Gregory. He ranked
fifth in seniority. Long fascinated by birds, Elsey regarded the eminent ornithologist John Gould as his mentor,
while the veteran explorer and expedition consultant, Charles Sturt, taught him the principles of meteorology.
With James Flood, the expedition’s collector, Elsey sailed on 5 April 1855 from Merseyside aboard Marco Polo.
At Melbourne they joined Telegraph and reached Sydney on 29 June. Elsey had with him a microscope, two
compasses and three thermometers; the remainder of his carefully selected requisitions were to follow, but the
expeditionary party was to depart on 27 July, so Elsey was obliged to procure less satisfactory equipment in
Sydney.
Elsey’s youthful exuberance and enthusiasm led him to be a loyal and conscientious member of the exploration
party. He was also a keen observer. His personal diary, letters to his family, his cousin, Tom Smith, and to Gould
provide a colourful and telling account of occurrences not elaborated on in the formal reports of the North Australian
Expedition. Elsey treated his first patients when the barque Monarch grounded in the Brisbane River. After that
delay, he travelled in cramped conditions aboard the supply ship Tom Tough up the Queensland coast. In northern