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was born at Edinburgh on 31
January 1831. His father, Andrew Petrie (1798-1872), was born in Fife,
Scotland, and went into the building trade at Edinburgh. He emigrated to
Sydney in 1831 and entered the government service as a supervisor of
building. He was sent to Brisbane in 1837 to direct the building work of
convicts, and in 1838 was lost for three days when out in the country with
Major Cotton, the commandant. In 1840 he was the first to discover the
bunya bunya tree, Araucaria Bidwilli, and in 1841 with H. S.
Russell and others he explored the Mary River. He made other exploratory
journeys, but in 1848 he had an opthalmic attack and lost his sight. He
was then working for himself as a builder, and in spite of his disability
continued to direct this business for many years. He died at Brisbane on
20 February 1872. Petrie's Bight and Mount Petrie were named after him. Of
his sons, Thomas became the best known. When a child he ran away from home
and was found in a black's camp. He never lost his interest in the
aborigines and became an authority on their language and customs. When
only 15 years of age he was sent with a letter to Wivenhoe station on the
Brisbane River, and spent the night at an aborigine camp both going and
returning. He was trusted by the aborigines and often accompanied
expeditions into the bush, as his knowledge of the language of the
district enabled him to keep on good terms with the natives. In 1859 he
left Brisbane looking for cattle country and took up land near the Pine
River. There he built his house Murrumba, which was to be his home for the
rest of his life. He did much gratuitous work in opening up tracks, and in
1877 his experience was very useful in organizing the first reserve for
aborigines at Bribie Island. It was apparently working well, but two years
later a new government did away with it. Towards the end of Petrie's life
his daughter, Constance C. Petrie, recorded his reminiscences of the
aborigines and the early days of Queensland for publication in the
Queenslander. Encouraged by Dr W. E. Roth (q.v.), who in a letter to
the editor stated that the articles showed "an intimate and profound
knowledge of the aboriginals", Miss Petrie published them with additions
in 1904 under the title of Tom Petrie's Reminiscences of Early
Queensland. Petrie died on 26 August 1910, and was survived by sons
and daughters. He was of a modest and retiring disposition, but like
Christison (q.v.) did very valuable work by demonstrating that it was
possible to live with the aborigines if they were treated fairly. His
records of aboriginal customs have particular value, in that he was really
intimate with the aborigines before their lives were affected by their
proximity to white people. |
