7 From the Caroline Kelly collection

I have chosen a very significant item from the Caroline Kelly Collection which I stumbled across during my work with Fryer Library. Caroline Kelly was an anthropologist who stayed at Cherbourg in 1934 and other Aboriginal communities conducting fieldwork by interviewing local people. In her collection, I found a folder marked ‘Bigera’ (Bidjara) and realised this is my maternal line, so I thought I should take a look to see what information I find.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened the folder and saw my grandfather’s name, A. Holt, staring back at me! It was so surreal!

When I turned to the first page, I was reading my grandfather’s words he told to Caroline about our traditional marriage ceremony, kinship system and totems, translated into English from Bidjara language.

Sometimes I think I should be used to this, uncovering significant information related to my family in collecting institutions. It’s why I love this job. But nothing prepares you for the emotion that surfaces with it. It takes your breath away. I never had the opportunity to meet my grandfather. I only have stories from my late mother, my uncle and other family members to tell me about who he was and what his personality was like.

After recovering from the shock of discovering this information, I rang my cousin Yvette, and told her what had happened. Her father, Albert Holt, my uncle who is also my grandfather’s namesake, is the last surviving child of 14.

At 86 years young, Uncle Albert Holt made the visit to Fryer Library with Yvette to view his father’s collection item. We captured this historic moment, and I will never forget the sparkle in his eyes when he opened the folder and saw his father’s name staring back at him.

Connecting my family with historical collection items and other community members is a passion of mine which I have done over the last nine years. To enable access to communities and especially my own family is a privilege and honour.

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Biography

Lesley is a descendent of the Bidjara, Kairi and Badugal people of Badu Island, Torres Strait Islands, and currently works with the University of Queensland Library as Manager, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Collections.

She worked at the State Library of Queensland Indigenous Services for nine years where she supported the operation and establishment of a network of Indigenous Knowledge Centres across Queensland.

Lesley was a leader and educator in the Culturally Safe Libraries program that was rolled out by National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA), and has some 30 years’ experience working at different levels of government in a wide range of Indigenous affairs.