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Record #27090
Name :
: Wilfred Henry DOUGLAS (1917 - 2004)
  aka : Wilfrid Henry


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 4 Jul 1917   Notes : Source: Fairbridge Kids; WWII record

Marriage (1)
: 1945   Spouse/Notes : Elizabeth WEIR (Perth district, reg 897)
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 22 Mar 2004   Notes : Source: MCB WA (as Wilfrid Henry)
Abode (1) : Place of BirthIreland, Belfast
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialAustralia, Western Australia
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: Jun 1929
Country
: Australia

Ship
: Largs Bay

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Fairbridge Homes
NotesWilfred Douglas, 11, arrived in a group of 35 bound for Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, Western Australia.

After two years at Fairbridge he went to Perth to work on a poultry farm, then ticket writing until 1937 when he entered Perth Bible Institute.

In 1938 at the age of 21 he went to the siding of Badjaling in the Western Australian wheatbelt as a school teacher for the United Aborigines Mission (UAM) and in those early days started to take an interest in the language of the Noongar people who lived at Badjaling.

He enlisted during WWII (NAA RecordSearch):
DOUGLAS WILFRED HENRY : Service Number - W23616 : Date of birth - 04 Jul 1917 : Place of birth - BELFAST NTH IRELAND : Place of enlistment - QUAIRADING WA : Next of Kin - DOUGLAS HENRY

After a period in the Australian Army from 1941–45, working at Hollywood Military Hospital, Karrakatta Military Camp and Rottnest, he went to Gnowangerup Mission then in 1945 married Elizabeth Weir.

The following year after the birth of their son, John, they went to the Kimberley, and it was at Sunday Island that Wilf attempted to translate verses from the Bible into the Bardi language. This struggling attempt, initially with John 3:16, led to a long association with the Wycliffe Bible Translators through their annual Summer Institute of Linguistics and a lifetime of Bible translation and detailed study of Aboriginal languages.

After he undertook some linguistic studies at Sydney University, an opportunity arose in 1951 for the Douglas family to go to Ooldea on the Transline in South Australia to do language work with the UAM. Here he worked for the first time with speakers of the Western Desert Language and produced a phonology and grammar. A year later they moved to Warburton Ranges and during this time their second son Robert was born. It was here that he produced his works Introduction to the Western Desert Language (pub. Sydney Uni 1957) and his Illustrated Topical Dictionary of the Western Desert Language (1959). Wilf’s concern for the establishment of an indigenous Church with a Bible in its own language became a central factor in his work, leading to the establishment in 1955 of the Western Desert Bible School and Translation Centre at Mt Margaret.

In 1957 the family moved to Kalgoorlie and the following year Wilf established the UAM Language Department which he headed up for another 24 years, until the establishment of the Aboriginal-run Ngaanyatjarra Bible Project. The Language Department provided oversight of Bible translators in the Western Desert and Kimberley regions of Western Australia and led to opportunities for many hundreds of people in these regions to read and understand the Bible in their own language.

Douglas continued his work with the Noongar language and in 1968 he published his The Aboriginal Languages of the South-West of Australia (AIAS press).

He also carried out work in the Geraldton region on Wajarri (which he spelled 'Watjarri').

In 2002, the Bible Society in Australia presented him with the Elizabeth Macquarrie Award for his contribution to Bible translation.

Douglas continued his work throughout his life, continuing work on a new edition of his Illustrated Dictionary of the South West Language until just before his death.

Source: Wikipedia 
ContributorsCreated : 2017-04-09 04:03:10 / mollipops1


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Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  30 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
27034 ABBOTT, Franz Arnold1918ENG, DEV Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27033 ABBOTT, Harry Franz1917ENG, MDX, Hendon Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5493 ACOL, John1920ENG, LND, Hampstead Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
21189 ADAMS, William1916ENG, WAR, Aston Jan 1927 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27035 ALDER, John Harkis1914ENG, OXF Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
20888 ALDERSON, Arthur1912ENG, DUR Jan 1924 : Baradine AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26974 ALEXANDER, Reginald Gordon1917ENG, LAN, West Derby Jan 1928 : Barrabool AUS Fairbridge Homes  
12114 ALLEN, Clifford John1914GBG,     Dec 1928 : Bendigo AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26426 ALLEN, Walter Bevis1901ENG, SRY, Kingston Jul 1913 : Belgic AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5210 ALSOP, Benjamin H.1929ENG, DUR, Darlington Sep 1935 : Duchess of Atholl CAN Fairbridge Homes  
5212 ALSOP, James 1927ENG, DUR, Darlington Sep 1935 : Duchess of Atholl CAN Fairbridge Homes  
5211 ALSOP, Norman Frederick1923ENG, DUR, Dunsdale Sep 1935 : Duchess of Atholl CAN Fairbridge Homes  
25270 AMOTT, James1913ENG, LND, Lambeth Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25136 ANDERSON, Muriel Helen1921ENG, ESS, West Ham Oct 1930 : Barrabool AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5494 ANDERSON, Robert1918ENG, LND, Lambeth Oct 1930 : Barrabool AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25616 ANDREWS, Gwendoline1914 Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25137 ANDREWS, Herbert George1912ENG, SSX Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25138 ANKCORN, Dennis George1925ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jan 1937 : Oronsay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25139 ANKCORN, Emma Dorothy1922ENG, WAR, Birmingham Feb 1934 : Jervis Bay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
8780 ANNETTS, Raymond Douglas1917ENG, LND, Lambeth Mar 1928 : Benalla AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5413 ANSELL, Maurice George1926ENG, OXF, Banbury Nov 1938 : Themistocles AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5404 ANSELL, Peter Albert John1928ENG, OXF, Banbury Nov 1938 : Themistocles AUS Fairbridge Homes  
23615 APPLEFORD, Harry 1921ENG, BRK, Reading May 1933 : Otranto AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27036 APPLEGATE, Sidney Thomas1916ENG, LND, Hackney Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25954 ARMSTRONG, Benjamin John Emmerson1918ENG, HAM, Hartley Wintney Nov 1929 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes splmum , Pinjarra1929  
21149 ARMSTRONG, John Kenneth1915ENG,     Aug 1921 : Themistocles AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5496 ARNOTT, Anthony Robert1923ENG, DUR, Darlington May 1934 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5497 ARNOTT, Michael1925ENG, DUR, Darlington May 1934 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25271 ARTHUR, Frederick1913ENG, SRY, Kingston Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27391 ARTHUR, James Lafferty1940ENG,     Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  30 Entries