PASTOR
Sir Douglas Nicholls
G'day folks,
Welcome to some background on a very successful and talented Aboriginal. Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, KCVO OBE was a prominent Aboriginal
Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete,
Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a
pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.
Pastor Doug
Nicholls was born in Cumeroogunga NSW in 1906. His elder sister Hilda was
taken from the family when he was only eight and she was sixteen. Doug
Nicholls never forgot the trauma created by the incident.
Nicholls
came to Melbourne in 1927 seeking a football career after success with country
club Tongala. Carlton rejected him, amid racial resentment from
teammates, so he turned to Northcote Football Club; the family boarding him
were supporters of the ‘Brickfielders’. Nicholls debuted for Northcote in
1927 and was paid £2 for the game. To supplement the income provided by
football, Nicholls, like many teammates, was given work with the Northcote
Council’s outdoor staff during the season. In the off-season, Nicholls
travelled the country with Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing Troupe. Members of the
public could challenge a member of the troupe to a bout. Nicholls had
discovered his boxing ability after a fight on a sheep ranch he was working on
prior to coming to Melbourne.
Nicholls
soon established himself as a star player, and as the only Aborigine playing
senior football in the state; he was Northcote’s number one drawcard. He
had outstanding speed, having also competed in professional sprint races, and
was lauded as one of the game’s outstanding wingmen. He played in the
club’s first Premiership in 1929 before the lure of League football could no
longer be resisted. Northcote had withstood the advances of Carlton and
Collingwood for Nicholls’ services, but following the 1931 season, he
transferred to Fitzroy. In five seasons he played 54 games, finishing
third in the club’s best and fairest count in 1934 and representing Victoria in
1935. With failing eyesight, Nicholls left Fitzroy and returned to
Northcote in 1938, before retiring in 1939.
A
visit in the early 1930s to the Northcote Church of Christ would be a
life-changing event for Doug Nicholls. Struggling to deal with the death
of his mother as well as suffering from a knee injury, the church was an inspiration
to Nicholls. He soon converted to the church, becoming a pastor in
1939. Football had opened doors for Nicholls that were closed to so many
of his people, and he used his position to advance their cause. In 1939
he was a key speaker at an Aboriginal Night where he called for social justice
and equality for Aborigines. He was also involved in the newly created
Australian Aborigines’ League.
His
association with football continued and in 1944, with the VFA in recess,
Nicholls arranged for an Aboriginal Football Team to play an exhibition match
against Northcote. Several thousand football starved supporters came to
the match, with proceeds going to the Aboriginal welfare funds. The
success of the match saw the exhibition repeated in later years. Nicholls
also coached Northcote in 1947, although the club had a poor season, finishing
last. In the same year he was appointed curator of Northcote Park.
He stayed in that position until 1956, living in the house provided at the park
and dividing his time between the curator’s responsibilities and working for
Aboriginal causes.
To
combat the problem of Aboriginal homelessness, Nicholls led an effort to
purchase the All Saints Church vicarage in Cunningham St, Northcote.
Nicholls formed a committee, which became the Aborigines’ Advancement League to
help raise funds for the purchase. The large home was converted into a
hostel for Aboriginal girls, opening in 1958. In 1957 Nicholls was
appointed the field officer for the Aborigines’ Advancement League. In
1962 a similar hostel for boys was opened across the road and then in 1967 the
‘Douglas Nicholls Centre’ was opened adjoining the original hostel. The
centre contained recreational and meeting facilities.
Throughout
his career as a crusader for Aboriginal rights, the Doug Nicholls approach was
for acceptance and reconciliation. He asked white people: “…is there a
reason why we should not march beside you? Do you extend to us the hand
of friendship?” He was prepared to be involved in events like the Batman
Treaty re-enactments, which some considered demeaning to Aborigines.
Nicholls felt that they brought attention to the nation’s history and of the
Aboriginals place as the original owners of the land. He co-founded the
Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders,
helped develop more housing alternatives for Aboriginal children and was part
of the creation of a national day of remembrance.
Nicholls
approach worked. He was awarded an M.B.E. in 1957, made a Justice of the
Peace in 1962, named Father of the Year and given an O.B.E. In 1972 he
was the first Aboriginal to be knighted. By the 1970s some Aborigines,
encouraged by the Black Power Movement, were promoting a more aggressive stance
in their campaign for equality. While such an approach would not have
been possible without the efforts of Nicholls, it signalled an end to his style
of campaign.
In
keeping with his intention to always demonstrate that Aborigines were capable
of holding any post, Sir Douglas Nicholls accepted the appointment of Governor
of South Australia in 1976. He was the first Aboriginal to hold such a
position. Unfortunately he was forced to retire after just one year in
office after suffering a severe stroke. Nicholls and his wife returned to
live in Northcote following his period as South Australian Governor. He
died in 1988 and was given a state funeral before being buried at Cumeroogunga.
When
the headquarters of the Aboriginal Advancement League began to fall into
disrepair in the late 1970s, the League was able to secure land from the
Victoria Government on the site of the old Glen Iris Brick Company. This
was the first freehold land granted to Aboriginals in Victoria, fittingly it
was in Northcote. Through the state and federal governments, along with
the Aboriginal Development Commission and the League itself, $750,000 was
raised for the construction of a new centre. Alongside, the centre, a
playing oval was built: The Sir Douglas Nicholls Reserve. Northcote
has remained a centre for Aboriginal people in Melbourne with over 1,000
calling the city of Darebin home, making it one of the largest Indigenous
communities in Melbourne. Doug Nicholls played an instrumental role in
making Northcote, and Darebin, a home for Aboriginal Australians.
Clancy's comment: Sir Doug was a highly regarded Australian.
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