Daniell Cookseay Collection: c.300 stone artefacts collected in 1910-1920s from the coastal areas of Newcastle, New South Wales

Brief description

The first major, documented, collection of Aboriginal stone artefacts in Newcastle area was made by Daniel F. Cooksey of Mayfield in the 1910s and 1920s. Cooksey collected about 5,000 stone artefacts and donated some to the Australian Museum.

Full description

Collecting stone artefacts from old Aboriginal sites dates back to the 19th century. By the early 20th century many Newcastle locals had assembled a small collection of artefacts, and some were held at the Newcastle Technical College and the Australasian Society of Newcastle. The first major, documented, collection of Aboriginal stone artefacts was made by Daniel F. Cooksey of Mayfield in the 1910s and 1920s. Cooksey collected about 5,000 stone artefacts and donated some to the Australian Museum. His discoveries and collections attracted professional interest and in the 1920s Cooksey accompanied the Australian Museum’s ethnologist William Walford Thorpe on archaeological field research in the Mayfield and Newcastle districts. Notebooks and papers of Daniel Cooksey are held in the Archives of the Newcastle University: http://uonccmayfield.wordpress.com/pre-1900/aboriginal-dreaming/ In the last few years the Mayfield East Public School, in collaboration with the Archives of the Newcastle University, conducted an outstanding investigation of Daniel Cooksey, his family history, his collection, as well as his involvement in searching for and documenting Aboriginal history of the area.