Thomas Sidney Dixon
Encyclopedia
Thomas Sidney Dixon was a Catholic Missionary
known for his work with Indigenous peoples. Father Dixon took up the cause of Rupert Max Stuart
, an Arrernte
Aboriginal convicted of murder in 1959.
, the 15th of 19 children born to Irish/English parents who had immigrated from Liverpool
in England
two years earlier.
Dixon was schooled by nuns before entering Christian Brothers College
. At the age of 12 he entered a seminary
of the Missionarii Sacri Cordis (Sacred Heart Society or M.S.C.) where he eventually took his vows. In November 1941, he was appointed to run a mission in Rabaul
in East New Britain
. However, while enroute Pearl Harbour
was attacked
and he was instead asked to travel to Palm Island
, 65 km (40.4 mi) north-west of Townsville
, on the east coast of Queensland
to relieve an ill priest for three months. Dixon remained on the Island for seven years teaching.
In 1949, Dixon transferred to Toowoomba, Queensland
where he taught English, French and Algebra
at a Catholic school. At the end of the year he was appointed to the Thursday Island mission that also served Hamilton Island. Here he taught the local population which was a mix of Australian Aboriginals
, Papuans
, Samoans
, Filipinos
, Malays and Sinhalese
. On Hamilton Island Dixon designed and built a mortarless stone church with stained glass windows made from beer bottles.
Aboriginals, nuns ran the mission school and clinic while lay brothers worked as handymen. Dixon was responsible for the church and learnt to speak Arrernte in order to preach to them in their own language. He introduced not only Mass
to local Aboriginals but also the Cabbage
to their diet. The indigenous women and children were largely permanent residents at the mission while most of the men moved around following seasonal work. Almost all the children and many of the women were baptised
as Catholics however, the men tended to be baptised Lutherans
as they were more accustomed to attending the Hermannsburg Lutheran mission
, 160 km (99.4 mi) east of Santa Teresa.
As many of the Aboriginals lived in huts made from corrugated iron, Dixon organised the local men to build houses to replace them. Local stone was chipped by hand with the locals given rations while they worked on their own home with an additional cash allowance when they worked on some one else’s. Within two years every family lived in a stone house.
In 1956, Dixon moved to Adelaide
where he was appointed as Curate
for the Hindmarsh
Parish that M.S.C. had begun after receiving permission from the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide
.
officer and a Lutheran pastor when Father John O’Loughlin, the Adelaide Goal’s junior Catholic Chaplain
met him. Stuart was not very communicative due to his limited English and O’Loughlin mentioned this to his friend, Father Tom Dixon who lived in a presbytery
in nearby Hindmarsh. As he could speak Stuart’s native language, Dixon decided to visit and help prepare Stuart for death.
Stuart insisted he had not killed the girl and Dixon initially suspected he was looking for sympathy. By May 14, the execution was eight days away and Dixon had become convinced that Stuart was telling the truth. He contacted J. D. O'Sullivan, Stuart’s solicitor
who gave him a copy of Stuart’s confession. After reading it, he concluded that Stuart could not have dictated it. Dixon had read a book on Arrernte grammar written by T.G.H. Strehlow
and asked him to check Stuart’s language for comparison with the confession. Strehlow had been born at the Hermannsburg Lutheran mission where his father was the pastor and had spoken Arrente before being taught English. As it turned out, Strehlow had grown up with Stuart and knew his parents well. Strehlow visited Stuart on May 18 and for the first time his alibi was heard in English after being translated. On the matter of the police confession, Strehlow wrote:
On May 20, Stuart applied for leave to appeal to the High Court based on Strehlow’s findings and Justice Reed granted a stay of execution with a new date of June 19 set. On June 18, a further extension to July 7 was granted to allow time for a decision, which was handed down on June 19. Leave to appeal was denied.
, who ran the Aborigines’ Advancement League, to discuss Stuart’s situation. On June 27 a meeting of the League, university teachers, clergymen and representatives of the Howard League for Penal Reform
was held in Duguid’s Magill
home where Dixon and Strehlow gave a talk. It was decided to mount a campaign to keep Stuart alive and the distribution of petitions for commutation
were arranged.
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
known for his work with Indigenous peoples. Father Dixon took up the cause of Rupert Max Stuart
Max Stuart
Rupert Maxwell Stuart is an Indigenous Australian who was convicted of murder in 1959. His conviction was subject to several appeals to higher courts, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and a Royal Commission, all of which upheld the verdict. Newspapers campaigned successfully against...
, an Arrernte
Arrernte people
The Arrernte people , known in English as the Aranda or Arunta, are those Indigenous Australians who are the original custodians of Arrernte lands in the central area of Australia around Mparntwe or Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The Arrernte tribe has lived there for more than 20,000 years...
Aboriginal convicted of murder in 1959.
Early life
Thomas Dixon was born in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, the 15th of 19 children born to Irish/English parents who had immigrated from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
two years earlier.
Dixon was schooled by nuns before entering Christian Brothers College
Christian Brothers College, Burwood
Christian Brothers College, Burwood was a Catholic high school located in Burwood, Sydney Australia.The school was founded in 1909. It was announced on 25 March 2008 that the school would close at the end of 2009, due to a decline in enrolments arising from a change in demographics in the suburbs...
. At the age of 12 he entered a seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
of the Missionarii Sacri Cordis (Sacred Heart Society or M.S.C.) where he eventually took his vows. In November 1941, he was appointed to run a mission in Rabaul
Rabaul
Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...
in East New Britain
East New Britain
East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, on the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and it also includes the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely destroyed in the 1994 volcanic eruption...
. However, while enroute Pearl Harbour
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
was attacked
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
and he was instead asked to travel to Palm Island
Palm Island, Queensland
Palm Island is an Aboriginal community located on Great Palm Island, also called by the Aboriginal name "Bwgcolman", an island on the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland, Australia The settlement is also known by a variety of other names including "the Mission", Palm Island Settlement or Palm...
, 65 km (40.4 mi) north-west of Townsville
Townsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...
, on the east coast of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
to relieve an ill priest for three months. Dixon remained on the Island for seven years teaching.
In 1949, Dixon transferred to Toowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba is a city in Southern Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane. With an estimated district population of 128,600, Toowoomba is Australia's second largest inland city and its largest non-capital inland city...
where he taught English, French and Algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
at a Catholic school. At the end of the year he was appointed to the Thursday Island mission that also served Hamilton Island. Here he taught the local population which was a mix of Australian Aboriginals
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
, Papuans
Papuan peoples
Papuan is a cover term for the various indigenous peoples of New Guinea and neighboring islands, speakers of so-called Papuan languages. They are often distinguished linguistically from Austronesians, speakers of a language family introduced into New Guinea about three thousand years ago, but this...
, Samoans
Samoans
The Samoan people are a Polynesian ethnic group of the Samoan Islands, sharing genetics, language, history and culture. Due to colonialism, the home islands are politically and geographically divided between the country of Samoa, official name Independent State of Samoa ; and American Samoa, an...
, Filipinos
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
, Malays and Sinhalese
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
. On Hamilton Island Dixon designed and built a mortarless stone church with stained glass windows made from beer bottles.
Santa Teresa
In 1954 Dixon was re-assigned to a mission that M.S.C. had founded near Alice Springs, Santa Teresa. Founded to service the ArrernteArrernte people
The Arrernte people , known in English as the Aranda or Arunta, are those Indigenous Australians who are the original custodians of Arrernte lands in the central area of Australia around Mparntwe or Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The Arrernte tribe has lived there for more than 20,000 years...
Aboriginals, nuns ran the mission school and clinic while lay brothers worked as handymen. Dixon was responsible for the church and learnt to speak Arrernte in order to preach to them in their own language. He introduced not only Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
to local Aboriginals but also the Cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
to their diet. The indigenous women and children were largely permanent residents at the mission while most of the men moved around following seasonal work. Almost all the children and many of the women were baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
as Catholics however, the men tended to be baptised Lutherans
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
as they were more accustomed to attending the Hermannsburg Lutheran mission
Hermannsburg, Northern Territory
Hermannsburg is an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory of Australia, 131 km southwest of Alice Springs. It is known in the local Western Arrernte language as Ntaria....
, 160 km (99.4 mi) east of Santa Teresa.
As many of the Aboriginals lived in huts made from corrugated iron, Dixon organised the local men to build houses to replace them. Local stone was chipped by hand with the locals given rations while they worked on their own home with an additional cash allowance when they worked on some one else’s. Within two years every family lived in a stone house.
In 1956, Dixon moved to Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
where he was appointed as Curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
for the Hindmarsh
Hindmarsh, South Australia
Hindmarsh is an inner urban suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt.-History:The suburb is named after South Australia's first Governor, Sir John Hindmarsh....
Parish that M.S.C. had begun after receiving permission from the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia....
.
Max Stuart
In 1959 Rupert Max Stuart was on death row awaiting execution for the murder of Mary Hattam. Stuart had already visited with a Salvation ArmyThe Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
officer and a Lutheran pastor when Father John O’Loughlin, the Adelaide Goal’s junior Catholic Chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
met him. Stuart was not very communicative due to his limited English and O’Loughlin mentioned this to his friend, Father Tom Dixon who lived in a presbytery
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
in nearby Hindmarsh. As he could speak Stuart’s native language, Dixon decided to visit and help prepare Stuart for death.
Stuart insisted he had not killed the girl and Dixon initially suspected he was looking for sympathy. By May 14, the execution was eight days away and Dixon had become convinced that Stuart was telling the truth. He contacted J. D. O'Sullivan, Stuart’s solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
who gave him a copy of Stuart’s confession. After reading it, he concluded that Stuart could not have dictated it. Dixon had read a book on Arrernte grammar written by T.G.H. Strehlow
Ted Strehlow
Theodor George Henry Strehlow was an anthropologist who studied the Arrernte Australian Aborigines in Central Australia. He was considered a member of the Arrernte people, by dint of his ritual adoption by the tribe...
and asked him to check Stuart’s language for comparison with the confession. Strehlow had been born at the Hermannsburg Lutheran mission where his father was the pastor and had spoken Arrente before being taught English. As it turned out, Strehlow had grown up with Stuart and knew his parents well. Strehlow visited Stuart on May 18 and for the first time his alibi was heard in English after being translated. On the matter of the police confession, Strehlow wrote:
"In my ten years of varied experience of evidence given by Aboriginals, part Aboriginals, police officers and white residents of the Northern Territory, I had never seen a document even faintly resembling the one I was now looking at. Far from bearing any resemblance to any statement ever made by an Aboriginal or part Aboriginal person....(the document) could have been composed only by some person who was well versed in legal procedure and in the practice of giving court evidence."
On May 20, Stuart applied for leave to appeal to the High Court based on Strehlow’s findings and Justice Reed granted a stay of execution with a new date of June 19 set. On June 18, a further extension to July 7 was granted to allow time for a decision, which was handed down on June 19. Leave to appeal was denied.
The Stuart Campaign
On June 22, Dixon contacted Dr. Charles DuguidCharles Duguid
Charles Duguid was a Scottish-born medical practitioner and Aboriginal rights campaigner who recorded his experience working among the Australian Aborigines in a number of books.-Early career:...
, who ran the Aborigines’ Advancement League, to discuss Stuart’s situation. On June 27 a meeting of the League, university teachers, clergymen and representatives of the Howard League for Penal Reform
Howard League for Penal Reform
The Howard League for Penal Reform is a London-based registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. Founded in 1866 as the Howard Association, a merger with the Penal Reform League in 1921 created the Howard League for...
was held in Duguid’s Magill
Magill, South Australia
Magill is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Burnside and the City of Campbelltown.-History:Magill is a suburb located approximately 7 km from the Adelaide CBD in the eastern suburbs. Magill was first established as the Makgill Estate, owned by two Scots, Robert Cock and William Ferguson,...
home where Dixon and Strehlow gave a talk. It was decided to mount a campaign to keep Stuart alive and the distribution of petitions for commutation
Commutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
were arranged.