Person

Morton, Alexander (1854 - 1907)

Born
11 September 1854
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
Died
27 May 1907
Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation
Museum curator and Naturalist

Summary

Alexander Morton became Curator of the Royal Society of Tasmania's museum in Hobart in 1884 (renamed the Tasmanian Museum, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens in 1885 when it was transferred to the state). He was Director of that institution 1903-1907. Morton was actively engaged in the trade of Australian First Nations' ancestral remains in particular with the Australian Museum Sydney and the National Museum of Victoria working closely with W.B Spencer.

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Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Archival resources

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Community History Collection

  • Alexander Morton - Records, 1874 - 1907; Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Community History Collection. Details

Royal Society of Tasmania

  • Alexander Morton - Records, 1882 - 1907, Ms 165; Royal Society of Tasmania. Details

Published resources

Books

Book Sections

Conference Proceedings

Journal Articles

  • Barrington, Robin, 'Unravelling the Yamaji imaginings of Alexander Morton and Daisy Bates', Aboriginal history, 39 (2015), 26-61. Details
  • Huxley, J. K., 'Courtier to the Powerful and Zealous Curator for the People: the Contribution of Alexander Morton to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 1884-1907', Kanunnah, 2 (2008), 1-34. Details
  • Morton, Alex, 'Some Account of the Work and Workers of the Tasmanian Society and the Royal Society of Tasmania, From the Year 1840 to the Close of 1900.', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania (1900), 109-126. Details

Resources

See also

  • Pelayo, Francisco, 'Hermann Klaatsch and his photographic representations of Australian aborigines during his scientific trip through Australia (1904-1907', Culture & history digital journal, 12 (1) (2023), 14. https://doi.org/10.3989/chdj.2023.008. Details

McCarthy, G.J.

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 29 July 2024

EOAS ID: biogs/P001260b.htm

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260