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His published books were many and won wide acclaim as well as attracting a large readership. They included
Taboo (1943), North of 23° (1946), Brimming Billabongs (1947), Songs of the Songmen (with Professor A P Elkin)
(1949), which presents the beliefs, myths and customs of the Aborigines in verse form, Life among the
Aborigines (1957), Content to Lie in the Sun (1958), Tales from the Aborigines (1959), Bill Harney’s Cook Book
(with Patricia Thomson) (1960), Grief, Gaiety and Aborigines (1961), an autobiographical account of hard times
in the Australian outback during the Great Depression, To Ayers Rock and Beyond (1963) and The Shady Tree
(with Douglas Lockwood, 1963), part written at the time of his death. Bill Harney’s War (1983), introduced
by Professor Manning Clark, is adapted from the radio program. A Bushman’s Life (1990), a selection of his
autobiographical writings, was compiled by Douglas and Ruth Lockwood. His monographs were Ritual and
Behaviour at Ayers Rock (1960), The Story of Ayers Rock (1960) and The Significance of Ayers Rock to the
Aborigines (1960). His contributions to prose and poetry magazines from 1941 included pieces in The Bulletin,
Walkabout and Overland.
Known to all as Bill Harney and to his Aboriginal friends as Bilarni, Harney was an amiable and gentle man.
Physically he was nuggetty in stature, had an open face and ‘X ray’ blue eyes. Although his formal education
was scant, he became a learned man. He had a vast and exceptional knowledge with an intellect that few men
possess. His conversation and liberality of thought were such that many came from other parts of the world to
draw on his knowledge. They included professors, jurists, men and women of letters, linguists and historians.
He communicated easily with Aborigines and his knowledge of their lore, customs, rites, languages and tribal laws
was enormous. He made a valuable contribution to western knowledge of them. A beachcomber at heart, which
implied solitude, he was paradoxically gregarious and a lover of people. His poetry was in the bush ballad style,
but much dealt with the inner meaning of life and his philosophy of life. His memory has been perpetuated not only
in the hearts of those who knew him but also in the Northern Territory with building names and plaques.
W Harney, A Bushman’s Life, 1990; personal information.
RUTH LOCKWOOD, Vol 2.
HARRIS, GEORGE RICHMOND (DICK) (1901–1985), farmer, missionary and Anglican minister, was born
at Petersham, Sydney, on 8 June 1901, the second son of George Harris and his wife Florence, nee Rippingdale.
His father was a farmer and he spent the first 27 years of his life on the land, mostly at Wee Waa in northwestern
New South Wales.
Harris had only a primary school education. The constant demands on the children to help the parents eke out
a precarious living on the land meant that he could not be spared to go to a secondary school. In his 20s he became
a committed Christian and felt called to be a missionary. He spent 1928 and 1929 at the Missionary and Bible
College, Croydon, Sydney, studying for this purpose. On graduation he was accepted by the Church Missionary
Society (CMS) of the Church of England for missionary work among the Aborigines of north Australia.
Harris worked at Oenpelli in the Northern Territory during his first term of service from 1929 until 1932.
His farming experience was invaluable in developing the agricultural and pastoral side of the mission. While south
on his first furlough he married Ellen Tansley, whom he had known at Wee Waa. Ellen was born at Sydenham,
Sydney, on 15 April 1904. She was an outstanding student and went on to the Sydney Teachers’ College from
which she graduated as a primary school teacher. A deeply committed Christian and a gifted teacher, she was a
wonderful help to her husband in his work among Aboriginal people. They had three sons, David, Jim and Wilfred,
and a daughter, Barbara.
Harris and his wife returned to Oenpelli in May 1933 where they quickly become engrossed in their missionary
duties. He became Superintendent of the Mission when Dyer and his wife left in October 1934. This marked the
commencement of the ‘Dick Harris regime’ at Oenpelli, which lasted until the end of 1941. During this time he and
his wife, together with the other missionaries and their Aboriginal helpers, made the Mission into one of the best in
the Territory. All aspects of the work prospered including the medical, educational, buffalo, cattle and agricultural
under Harris’s energetic leadership. In addition to teaching, his wife began making a study of the Gunwinggu
(Kunwinkju) language with the help of Dr A Capell of the University of Sydney.
Harris returned to the north in May 1942 alone as all white and part Aboriginal women and children had been
evacuated because of the possible Japanese invasion. He was asked to go to the Emerald River Mission on Groote
Eylandt, but shortly afterwards was transferred to the Roper River Mission where he was able to put the station
back into much better shape after a year there. He returned to Groote Eylandt in October 1943 in order to supervise
the changeover from the Emerald River to Angurugu. He chose the new site and started the building work. He then
stayed on at Angurugu for the next six years, playing an important part in firmly establishing the work. His wife
also was able to return during this period and resume her excellent teaching program.
Harris entered the polygamy controversy during this tour. A few old Aboriginal men had married all the
available women and had had all the girls promised to them, causing unrest, elopements, killings and feudings.
Both Gray at Umbakumba and Harris at Angurugu were able to negotiate the release of some of these women and
arrange for their marriage with the younger men without wives, thus easing the situation.
Harris and his wife were transferred to the Roper River Mission in 1949 in order to re-establish the work there.
After 18 months’ successful operations they returned south for their leave.
His next tour during 1951 and 1952 was spent alone as his wife remained behind to look after the children and
their education. He spent a short time at Roper and then moved across to Oenpelli. In August 1952 he was sent to
Numbulwar (Rose River) to advise on the establishment of the new CMS mission there. After several months there
he returned south on leave.