Flip through the pages of Oscar’s sketchbook, a rare record of life in the 19th century as drawn by a young First Nations man who grew up in Queensland in the 1880s.
The drawings in Oscar’s book appear to present an autobiographical account of his life, with First Nations scenes and cross-cultural contact.
Warning: Oscar's sketchbook features scenes that some visitors may find disturbing.
See all sketchbook pages
Drawn by Oscar, Cooktown boy, aged 18 years
When staff from the National Museum of Australia began cataloguing collections in the early 1980s, they came across a cardboard box containing items once owned by the Institute of Anatomy. At the bottom of this box lay an old exercise book labelled ‘Drawn by Oscar, Cooktown boy, aged 18 years’.
The sketches found inside depict a variety of scenes from First Nations ceremonies and interactions with Europeans, to places Oscar visited in the surrounding area.
Property manager and Oscar’s overseer, Augustus Henry Glissan, gave Oscar the exercise book in 1898. Glissan also wrote an index interpreting the drawings and sent the completed book, with an accompanying letter, to Dr Charles Bage in 1899.
Who was Oscar?
Oscar was about 10 years old when police 'gave' him to Augustus Glissan, manager of Rocklands station near Camooweal, about 1,500 kilometres west of Cooktown.
Very little is known about Oscar apart from his sketches and details in a letter written by his overseer Augustus Glissan when he sent the notebook to Dr Charles Bage in 1899.
Oscar was only a boy when he was given into Glissan's care: 'This boy I got at Cooktown in 1887 ... the police got him for me and brought him on board the steamer.'
According to Glissan, Oscar was born in around 1877 in the Palmer River region of Far North Queensland. It appears Oscar was badly burnt at a young age and consequently had trouble riding a horse when he first arrived at the station. He also suffered from asthma.
Glissan noticed that Oscar seemed to like drawing so have him the sketchbook, in which he recorded scenes he witnessed.
The drawings show that Oscar was aware of the work of the Native Police Corps, and he appears to have come into contact with Chinese miners attracted to the area during the 1870s gold rush.
Oscar became a stockman, but nothing is known of his life after 1899.
We may never know what happened to Oscar after he finished his sketchbook. Did he remain on the property? Did he move to another station? Did he live to old age?
Who was Augustus Henry Glissan?
Augustus Henry Glissan was the manager of Rocklands station near Camooweal, on the Queensland–Northern Territory border. Glissan recognised Oscar's talent for drawing and gave him an exercise book and some pencils to record his thoughts and memories.
The book remained the property of Glissan who then wrote the index and sent the work to his friend Charles Bage. Glissan died in 1935, aged 87.
Who was Dr Charles Bage?
Dr Charles Bage was born on 7 October 1859 and died on 7 December 1930. He had a medical practice in South Yarra, Victoria until 1923.
On 30 March 1899, Augustus Glissan sent Oscar's sketchbook to Bage, an old family friend. Bage gave the book to his colleague Sir Colin MacKenzie, the founder of the Institute of Anatomy.
When the National Museum of Australia took over the Institute of Anatomy's collection, it also acquired Oscar's precious drawings.
Palmer River region
Oscar was born in the Palmer River region of Far North Queensland. In 1887 he was brought from Cooktown to Rocklands station, near Camooweal, by Augustus Glissan.
He lived and worked at the station when the sketchbook was sent to Dr Charles Bage in 1899.