Person

Aiston, George (Poddy) (1879 - 1943)

Born: 11 October 1879
Burnside, South Australia, Australia
Died: 25 September 1943
Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation: Ethnographer and Policeman

Summary

George 'Poddy' Aiston worked as a policeman in South Australia between 1901 and 1923. Through his work he made contact with Aboriginal locals and developed a keen interest in their culture. From 1912-1923 he was based at Birdsville Track and studied the customs, beliefs and technology of surrounding peoples, becoming an authority on the Wangkangurru of eastern Lake Eyre especially.

Published resources

Book Sections

Jones, Philip, 'Aiston, George (1879-1943), policeman and ethnographer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), p. 18. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130021b.htm. Details

Resources

Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q15130753. Details
'Aiston, George (18791011-19430925)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1009040. Details

Rebecca Rigby

Created: 25 October 2011, Last modified: 11 April 2016

EOAS ID: biogs/P004900b.htm

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