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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

Last Updated :

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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  14 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
23902 DOUGLAS, Albert1917ENG,     May 1921 : Minnedosa CAN Middlemore  
22704 DOUGLAS, Albert E.1892ENG,     May 1905 : Southwark CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
23903 DOUGLAS, Alfred1912ENG,     May 1921 : Minnedosa CAN Middlemore  
22961 DOUGLAS, C.1889ENG,     Apr 1908 : Lake Champlain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
23041 DOUGLAS, Frederick1900ENG,     May 1905 : Southwark CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
14343 DOUGLAS, George1891ENG,     Jul 1901 : Numidian CAN Barnardos  
5759 DOUGLAS, John Alfred1901ENG,     Jun 1911 : Carthaginian CAN Middlemore  
11967 DOUGLAS, Lindsay1883ENG,    , Hampstead Apr 1895 : Vancouver CAN National Childrens Home  
5676 DOUGLAS, Madge1896IRL,     Jul 1910 : Virginian CAN Louisa Birt  
2915 DOUGLAS, Oliver Stephen1903ENG, WAR, Atherstone Jun 1911 : Carthaginian CAN Middlemore  
5352 DOUGLAS, Ralph1915IRL,    , Dublin Apr 1929 : Duchess of York CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
7424 DOUGLAS, Rex1911ENG,    , Oxford Sep 1922 : Montcalm CAN Unknown Catholic Group  
23089 DOUGLAS, Walter1896ENG,     May 1905 : Southwark CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
27090 DOUGLAS, Wilfred Henry1917IRL,    , Belfast Jun 1929 : Largs Bay AUS Fairbridge Homes