Unearthed in the Darwin garage of the late Vern O'Brien , a walking encyclopedia on anything to do with the Northern Territory, were boxed research files on a wide range of subjects such as Harold Bell Lasseter and his supposed lost gold reef , letters from overseas relating to the naming of the Olgas in Central Australia and other parts of the Territory.
The trove was found by Vern 's near blind 91 year old widow, Jacqui, who handed them over to the Northern Territory Genealogical Society , where Vern spent so much time in latter years and which now contains so much of his vast library and research material .
This blog was given the privilege of examining the contents of the find , some of the Lasseter content displayed here.
We have taken the liberty of inserting from our own files the following photograph of author Xavier Herbert ,who wrote Capricornia and Poor Fellow My Country , at the Lasseter grave in Alice Springs .
Vern O'Brien, born Brisbane on December 24, l925, spent two years at Queensland University studying medicine , his father wanting him to become a doctor , before war intervened and he joined the RAAF as a leading aircraftsman , trained in the use of radar in New Guinea . Instead of becoming a dentist , suggested by his father, Vern became a cadet surveyor in the Department of the Interior in Darwin ,"exiled to Alice Springs " , where he surveyed pastoral properties.
Over the years he held many positions such as the Surveyor General , the head of Place Names of the Northern Territory , Director of Lands , first Secretary of Mines and Energy.
A founding member of the NT Historical Society and a member of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland , he was a past member of the editorial committee of the Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography . He died on June 13, 2017 .
