Bray, John

Summary

John Bray was a farmer who, in 1948, was appointed cook to the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, despite having no experience in cooking for large numbers of people in the outback. He had applied to join the Expedition because of his love of nature. In the early days of the Expedition he found himself having to make most of the decisions about provisioning. In July he thankfully relinquished his cooking duties to Reg Hollow. Instead he took over the duties of transport officer from Keith Cordon (who left the Expedition): in this his service with the Australian army during WWII overseeing vehicle testing proved useful. In his downtime he collected insects. His diary provides insights into the conduct and management of the Expedition. After the Expedition Bray abandoned farming and became a patrol officer for Native Affairs Branch.

Details

Chronology

February 1948 - July 1948

Career position - Cook, American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land

July 1948 - November 1948

Career position - Transport Officer, American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Harris, Amanda, 'Food, feeding and consumption (of the cook, the wife and the nutritionist): the politics of gender and class in a 1948 Australian expedition', History and anthropology, 24 (3) (2013), 363-79, https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2013.761612. Details