Albert Lawrence Treves (1947 - 2017)

Born 1947 in New Zealand

Died 2017 at about age 70 in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

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Biography

Birth

In the death section we find that Albert Treves was born in 1947, while his relationship with Kathleen Secretary reported in the family section by Bill Day, Anthropologist, has that he was born in New Zealand, although that gives his first name as Alan and not Albert. No records have yet been found for him in New Zealand, which might help a large number of profiles to be connected to the wikitree global family tree.

Occupation and family

In 1972, an Albert Lawrence Treves appears on the 'Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980' (ER), as a carpenter on Thursday Island, which is in the Torres Straits, but came under the Somerset, Leichardt, Queensland region^[1]. By the time of the next published 1977 ER Albert Lawrence Treves was registered as a warden at the Bagot Reserve, in Darwin, in the Ludmilla, Northern Territory region^[2].

The SECRETARY FAMILY TREE.pdf, p.3/4 has that "Alan Treves. He was born in New Zealand. Alan Treves and Kathleen Secretary. They had 3 children. There names are given as i Jaqueline Treves, ii Anna Treves, and iii Kathleen Tina Treves. No dates are given but the previous paragraph together with his death location suggest that he was in Thursday Island before coming to Darwin, sometime between 1972 and 1977. Kathleen was certainly in the Bagot Reserve in 1971. They would appear to have had the 3 children in the late 1970's and/or 1980's?

Albert Treeves was one of the 5 signatories to the 'Kulaluk Special Purpose Lease' in 1979, with Kathy Secretary as another of the signatories. "The purpose of the proposed lease is Special Community Development, principally for the Larrakia People", which was written by the Director, T R Lawler to the Secretary of the Aboriginal Development Foundation on 8 February 1979. (See Sources: Kulaluk & Land rights 150310.pdf, p.10/27). Albert's photo is cropped from the group photo of the 5 people in this same record.

Albert has not been found on the 1980 ER.

In the same article on the Kulaluk Special Purpose Lease, Bill Day writes how non-Aboriginal spouses have used their entitlement to be members of the lease-holding Association [the Gwalwa Daraniki Association or GDA] to influence the administration of the Kulaluk lease. Specifically, "Albert Treeves, by being a spouse, or in Treeves's case a widower and father (of Helen's sisters), are eligible to be members of the GDA and decide the future of the Kulaluk lease (op.cit. p.15/27). A footnote has:- "The influence of Albert Treeves since 1979 at Kulaluk is described in detail in Day (1994). See also Henderson (1984).

In about 1981, Albert Treves was elected President and stated that 'only acceptable groups may camp at Kulaluk' and that 'the new camps should not be used as a dumping ground for Aboriginal people' (see Sources: Wells1995_Chapter4a.PDF, p.12/13). There is a Word document (see Sources: TREVES&REDCO_11091981) that is titled 'Transcript of a Speech by Albert Rewi Lawrence Treves (1947-2017) opening a Special General Meeting of the Gwalwa Daraniki Association held at Kulaluk on 11th September 1981. According to an appended note seemingly by Bill Day, this was the first time that members [of the GDA], had heard that Redco was offering $78,000 for part of the lease adjoining Ludmilla Creek, an area widely used by Aboriginal people for fishing, crabbing and recreation – and a reason given for the original land claim.

A change in leadership saw a change in focus but there is no indication when that occurred (op.cit., p.13/13) or what eventuated. The following death notice indicates changes in occupation for Albert Treves, including working for the Northern Terittory News and for Darwin Radio Taxis.

Death

A short obituary or death notice for Albert Treves was published in the Northern Territory News of 27 May 2017 as follows:- "ALBERT TREVES 1947 - 2017 Albert was a valuable part of our team for more than 15 years. Sincere condolences to his family on his sad passing. From Management drivers and staff at Darwin Radio Taxis 19123039"^[3].

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com.au/discoveryui-content/view/85512439:1207?_phsrc=JZc3199&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=Albert+Lawrence&gsln=Treves&ml_rpos=2&queryId=4961e3e5ed8d574903a912c646b43b9c
2. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com.au/discoveryui-content/view/104546269:1207?_phsrc=JZc3202&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=Albert+Lawrence&gsln=Treves&ml_rpos=1&queryId=4961e3e5ed8d574903a912c646b43b9c
3. ↑ https://www.heraldsun.com.au/tributes/notice/death-notices/albert-treves/4436345/

• SECRETARY FAMILY TREE.pdf, 4pp.
• Kulaluk & Land rights 150310.pdf, 27pp.
• Day, B 1994 Bunji: a story of the Gwalwa Daraniki Movement. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
• Henderson, K 1984 History of the Kulaluk lease. Darwin: Aboriginal Sacred Sites Protection Authority (unpublished).
• Wells1995_Chapter4a.PDF, 13pp.
• TREVES&REDCO_11091981