Francis James Gillen

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Francis James Gillen (October 28, 1855 - June 5, 1912) was an early Australian anthropologist and ethnologist.

Gillen was born at Little Para, South Australia. He entered the public service in 1867, he was employed as a postal messenger at Clare. He was transferred to Adelaide in 1871 where his duties also included telegraph operation. In 1875 he became involved in the construction of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line and was appointed the Alice Springs post and telegraph station master in 1892.

While in the Territory he became involved with Aboriginal Australians and hosted the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia in 1894. Following the expedition he met W. Baldwin Spencer, together they wrote The Native Tribes of Central Australia (1899). In 1900 Gillen was elected president of the anthropological section at the meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science held at Melbourne and enjoyed the experience very much. To Spencer's regret he had been transferred from Alice Springs to Moonta in 1899, but in 1901 he was given leave by the South Australian government to join Spencer in an expedition which took them up to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Their journey led to the publication of The Northern Tribes of Central Australia (1904).

Gillen remained at Moonta until July 1908 when he became postmaster at Port Pirie. In that year Spencer was hoping to arrange to go with him to Western Australia, but Gillen's health began to fall and it was found to be impossible. In 1911, he was weakening physically, and he died on 5 June 1912. His wife, formerly Miss Besley of Mount Gambier, three daughters and two sons survived him. A brother, Peter Paul Gillen, who was for many years a member of the South Australian legislative assembly, predeceased him.

Gillen was also listed as a co-author of Spencers The Arunta published in 1927.

[edit] References

• Mulvaney, D. J. Gillen, Francis James (1855 - 1912), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 6-7.
• Serle, Percival. (1949). "Gillen, Francis James". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.