Douglas Ralph Nicholls KCVO OBE (1906 - 1988)

Born 9 Dec 1906 in Cummeragunja Aboriginal Mission, Barmah, New South Wales, Australia.

Ancestors

Husband of Gladys Naby Muriel (Bux) Nicholls — married 26 Dec 1942 (to 28 Jan 1981) in Moama, New South Wales, Australia

Died 4 Jun 1988 at age 81 in Mooroopna, Victoria, Australia

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Biography

Preceded by Sir Marcus Oliphant AC KBE

28th Governor of South Australia 1st December 1976 to 30th April 1977

Succeeded by Reverend Sir Keith Seaman KCVO OBE

Doug Nicholls KCVO OBE is an Indigenous Australian.

Doug Nicholls KCVO OBE was born in New South Wales, Australia

Doug Nicholls KCVO OBE is Notable.

Douglas Ralph Nicholls KCVO OBE was born on 9th December 1906 at the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Mission in Barmah, New South Wales ^[1]in Yorta Yorta country, the land of his Mother and the totemic long neck turtle and emu. ^{[citation needed]}. He was the youngest of six siblings. ^[2] and has connections to the Yorta Yorta, Baraparapa, Dja Dja Wurrung, Jupagalk, and Wergaia Nations through his mother and father.

At the mission, he was educated by Thomas Schadrach James, a Methodist lay preacher, linguist and herbalist. Thomas had previously educated the cousin of Douglas, William Cooper. He moved away from the mission in the 1920s and found work under the Aborigines Protection Act (1909) with a dredging team, constructing levees on the Murray River. Later, in 1927 he would be employed by Northcote City Council.

He achieved fame as a star footballer in the Victorian Football League and was a tremendously gifted athlete. He was signed by Carlton, however never took the field with them due to racist attitudes among his teammates. Instead, he joined Fitzroy and later became the first Indigenous Australian to play for Victoria. In athletics, he won both the Nyah Gift and the Warracknabeal Gift and public interest in his abilities was so strong that the race organisers paid him ana appearance fee ^[3].

Inspired by the missionaries who taught him, he converted to Christianity on 17th July 1932. He in turn became a missionary and worked with communities in Jackson's Track north of Warragul in West Gippsland ^[4].

On 2nd June 1941, he was conscripted into the army (29th Infantry Battalion, 4th Brigade) ^[5] but instead was called on by the Victorian State Police to work with homeless young people in Melbourne

In 1942, he married Gladys Muriel Bux, at Deniliquin, New South Wales.^{[6] [6]}

In 1957, he became a founding member of the Aborigines Advancement League of Victoria, and was the public face of the League for its first decade as a field officer ^[7]. In February 1958 he was a founding member of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA) that was formed in Adelaide in 1958 ^[8] that would later become the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). He resigned from the Aboriginal Protection Board in 1963 when the Board moved to close Lake Tyers Mission ^[9].

Many honours were conferred on Nicholls: he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) 1957 and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) 1968 and created Knight Bachelor 1972. In 1962 he was named Victorian ‘Father of the Year’ and the State’s second Aboriginal Justice of the Peace. Crowned Melbourne’s 1973 King of Moomba, he was declared Bapu Mamus (a Torres Strait term for ‘headman’) by the NTC. On 1st December 1976, Sir Douglas was appointed Governor of South Australia, but his health deteriorated within weeks, making it difficult for him to perform his official duties.

In March 1977 he hosted Queen Elizabeth during her royal tour and was created Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO). He relinquished his governorship on 30th April 1977 following a stroke ^[10]

He died on 4th June 1988, aged 81 at Mooroopna, Victoria ^{[11] [12]}

He was an inaugural NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame Inductee of 2024.

Sir Doug Nicholls is also known as a Black Diamond as an Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line] Name: Ralph Nicholls [Douglas Ralph Nicholls] Birth Date: 1907 Birth Place: New South Wales Registration Year: 1907 Registration Place: Moama, New South Wales, Australia Father: Herbert Nicholls Mother: Florence Registration Number: 5286
2. ↑ Murrary, Gary (2007) Nicholls Biographies City of Melbourne
3. ↑ Stevens, Jake (n.d.) History of Indigenous Athletes in Australian Athletics Australia
4. ↑ Landon, C, and Tonkin, D. (1999) Jackson's Track: Memoir of a Dreamtime place. New York Viking, 1999
5. ↑ Australian Government Department of Veterans Affairs Nominal Rolls: World War II Name: NICHOLLS, DOUGLAS Service Australian Army Service Number V125308 Date of Birth 12 Dec 1910 Place of Birth CUMMERAGUNJA, NSW Date of Enlistment 02 Jun 1941 Locality on Enlistment FITZROY, VIC Place of Enlistment AREA 29A COLLINGWOOD, VIC Next of Kin NICHOLLS, HERBERT Date of Discharge 22 Jan 1942 Rank Private Posting at Discharge 29 Battalion Prisoner of War No Honours None for display
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Ancestry.com. Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line] Name: Douglas Ralph Nicholls Spouse Name: Gladys Muriel Nicholls Marriage Date: 1942 Marriage Place: New South Wales Registration Place: Deniliquin, New South Wales Registration Year: 1942 Registration Number: 29507
7. ↑ McCarthy, Ann & Gavan (n.d.) Aborigines Advancement League (Victoria); in Diane Elizabeth Barwick (1938-1986) Guide to Records
8. ↑ National Museum of Australia (n.d.) Indigenous Australians' Right to Vote
9. ↑ Waters, Jeff (2013, Dec 21); A brief history of the Lake Tyers Aboriginal community; ABC Premium News; Sydney
10. ↑ Richard Broome (2012) Nicholls, Sir Douglas Ralph (Doug) (1906–1988) Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University; accessed online 21 August 2019.
11. ↑ Find A Grave memorial for Douglas Ralph Nicholls (9 Dec 1906–4 Jun 1988); citing Cummeragunja Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia.
12. ↑ The Times. London, England: The Times, 1982-1988; cited in Noonan, Barry (2005) London, England, Death Notices from The Times, 1982-1988 [database on-line] Name: Douglas Ralph Sir OBE Nicholls Age: 81 Birth Year: 1907 Death Date: 4 Jun 1988 Published Date: 6 Jun 1988

• Chisholm, Alec Who’s Who in Australia 1947. XVIIIth Edition. Melbourne: The Herald Press, 1947; cited in Ancestry.com. Who’s Who in Australia, 1921-1950 [database on-line] Nicholls, Douglas Ralph - Pastor Churches of Christ Aborigines Mission, Fitzroy Vic.: son of Herbert Nicholls, Cummeragunja, N.S.W. Formerly one of the best know Aust, aborigines on the sporting fields; as a runner, won the Nyah Gift, Warracknabeal Gift, and was fourth Melbourne Thousand, all 1929, played football with Northcote 1927-32 and had several seasons with the Fitzroy League Team; rep, Vic in interstate matches; m. Dec 26 1942, Gladys Bux 1d.; address 25 Fergie Street, Nth Fitzroy Vic.

• The Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954) of Saturday 18 May 1929, Page 6. first accessed on TROVE on the 17th of September 2023 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/20691385

• 100 inaugural NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees from the NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame webpage. first accessed online on the 6th of May 2024 at: https://aflnswact.com.au/nsw-australian-football-hall-of-fame-2/

• Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. first accessed online on the 11th of May 2024 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_and_Islander_Sports_Hall_of_Fame#