In the numerous treasures in the Special Collections section of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library at James Cook University, Townsville , are these two books by Mrs Aeneas (Jeannie ) Gunn who wrote the highly successful 1908 autobiographical novel We of the Never Never , about life in the Northern Territory of Australia .
The above books are from the library of university benefactor Miss Edna Shaw , in memory of her father , John Vernon Shaw, which consists of more than 4500 volumes on Australian art and culture .
A pasted inclusion in the Little Black Princess of the Never Never is a newspaper clipping from the Melbourne Argus of April 24, 1907 about the Princess , called Bett-Bett , visiting Mrs Gunn , living in Hawthorn , Victoria . She had come down from Port Darwin with a woman and was met at the Spencer Street railway station by Mrs Gunn . From the Little Darwin Never Never file is a photo of Bett-Bett and dingo looking dog from a battered book which had once been in the library of a passenger vessel which ran between Australia and Britain .
The report said Bett-Bett , a servant , had developed from "the little bush niggar girl " when Mrs Gunn first met her at the Elsey cattle station , on the Roper River, into a comely , intelligent child with a wonderful command of the English tongue .
During her time at Mrs Gunn's residence they had discussed Elsey Station life and people there . Bett-Bett had returned to the Northern Territory with many souvenirs and the hope that if Mrs Gunn returned to the Top End they would "go bush " together .
Mrs Gunn , born in Melbourne , where she taught at a private school , had married Aeneas Gunn , described as an explorer, pastoralist and journalist . Newlyweds , they set out for Port Darwin in 1902 so that Aeneas could manage Elsey Station , at Mataranka , a former part owner having suicided .
Mrs Gunn was said to be the first white woman in the district and was called the Little Missus , her husband The Maluka .
Her husband died from malarial dysentery in March 1903 and she returned to Melbourne where she wrote the novel , first published in London , translated into German in 1927 , adapted for Australian schools . It was made into a film starring Angela Punch McGregor as Jeannie Gunn , Arthur Dignam as her husband and Sibina Willy as Bett-Bett .Executive director was Phillip Adams , now of the ABC Late Night Live . By l990 the book had notched up sales in excess of 1,000,000.
During her time at Mrs Gunn's residence they had discussed Elsey Station life and people there . Bett-Bett had returned to the Northern Territory with many souvenirs and the hope that if Mrs Gunn returned to the Top End they would "go bush " together .
Mrs Gunn , born in Melbourne , where she taught at a private school , had married Aeneas Gunn , described as an explorer, pastoralist and journalist . Newlyweds , they set out for Port Darwin in 1902 so that Aeneas could manage Elsey Station , at Mataranka , a former part owner having suicided .
Mrs Gunn was said to be the first white woman in the district and was called the Little Missus , her husband The Maluka .
Her husband died from malarial dysentery in March 1903 and she returned to Melbourne where she wrote the novel , first published in London , translated into German in 1927 , adapted for Australian schools . It was made into a film starring Angela Punch McGregor as Jeannie Gunn , Arthur Dignam as her husband and Sibina Willy as Bett-Bett .Executive director was Phillip Adams , now of the ABC Late Night Live . By l990 the book had notched up sales in excess of 1,000,000.
Mrs Gunn gave special thanks to W. "Wallaby " Holtze of Katherine River in the NT for the courteous and practical help he gave in posing and photographing groups of natives for publication .
When Mrs Gunn died in June 1951, the ALP Member for the NT in the House of Representatives , Jock Nelson , said she had depicted the life , the spirit and the north as no other person before her or since .
It was thought that the Aboriginal servant girl who featured in the books had died . However , in the l970s , Mrs Dolly Bonson , of Darwin , revealed she had been Bett-Bett , the last of the Never Never characters . After a tough life , she had married an Englishman , the Bonsons now well known in the Top End . She died in March l988 , aged 95, and there is a monument to her in the Elsey Cemetery .
When Mrs Gunn died in June 1951, the ALP Member for the NT in the House of Representatives , Jock Nelson , said she had depicted the life , the spirit and the north as no other person before her or since .
It was thought that the Aboriginal servant girl who featured in the books had died . However , in the l970s , Mrs Dolly Bonson , of Darwin , revealed she had been Bett-Bett , the last of the Never Never characters . After a tough life , she had married an Englishman , the Bonsons now well known in the Top End . She died in March l988 , aged 95, and there is a monument to her in the Elsey Cemetery .
