The Objects

The objects under scrutiny are two clumps of fabric samples located in the records of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines in Victoria, housed at the Victorian Public Record Office.

The box concerns tenders and accounts for provision of rations, clothing, housing and amenities to Aboriginal people living on reserves and missions or supplied via local guardians and depots, between 1904 and 1918.

The first set of seven fabric samples

One set of seven fabric samples is held together by a fold back pin. There are three small woollen pieces, two brown and one green. Behind them is a note 'Penal Samples. Cloth (Tweed) Grey Woollen to come.' Behind this note are attached two pieces of strong, cotton, khaki fabric on which is written in pencil '1/- substitute Wincey'. Behind this is a piece of blue denim with a small label stapled on the reverse, reading "Empire Pa_ent 2100 26/27~ 2/-". The largest piece at the rear bears a Hicks, Atkinson & Sons Pty Ltd label identifying it as denim.

A single denim sample found pictured with the set of seven has a fragment of a memo on it, with the letterhead reading "Pe...".

Correspondence in the same box indicates that the first three small woollen samples are from the Penal Establishment Pentridge, the khaki cotton samples are 'defence cloth,' and the lone denim sample is from Penal Establishment Pentridge (the memo fragment matches an intact memo from Pentridge).

The second set of fabric samples

The other set consists of two pieces of thick, soft fabric, one dark blue and one brown. These are attached to a memo dated 30/5/1916 from the Penal Establishment Pentridge to the Board stating that attached are samples of coloured moleskin.

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