Labor's Dr Gordon Reid MP - a proud Wiradjuri man? - Part 2 — Dark Emu Exposed

Aug 8

Aug 8 Labor's Dr Gordon Reid MP - a proud Wiradjuri man? - Part 2

On July 10th 2023 we sent an email to Federal Labor MP, Dr Gordon Reid, from the seat of Robertson on the Central Coast of NSW.

In our email (Figure 1) we outlined how we had discussions with Wiradjuri Aboriginal people who were somewhat confused by the claim’s of Dr Reid’s grandmother, Aunty Robyn Reid, that she herself was a Wiradjuri woman.

Our Wiradjuri contacts were surprised, even concerned, at these claims given that they did not seem to know Robyn Reid, or her family, as being Wiradjuri. They could not place her within the Wiradjuri mob.

They, and we too, all agree that Robyn Reid seems to be a lovely grandmother with a bright personality, who considers herself Wiradjuri and is accepted as a Wiradjuri Director of the Mingaletta Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Corporation, but that alone does not necessarily make her ‘Aboriginal’ or ‘Wiradjuri.’

Self-identification as an Aboriginal person and acceptance by others as such are only two parts of the universally accepted Commonwealth’s ‘3-part Rule’ for Aboriginality. The third part is that one needs to be of Aboriginal descent.

In this post we will provide evidence, based on the publicly available records, that ‘Aunty’ Robyn Reid does not appear to have any Aboriginal descent. All her ancestors can be traced back to England and Ireland. It appears that she is mistaken to believe that she is of Wiradjuri Aboriginal descent [subject to our disclaimer, bottom of Figure 1]

**Figure 1 - Email letter sent to the Hon Dr Gordon Reid MP raising concerns that his grandmother, Robyn Reid, and subsequently he himself, are mistaken to believe that they are of Wiradjuri descent.**
***Disclaimer:*** This genealogical work has been undertaken in good faith and is based on the publicly available records. However, it cannot account for events which may result in Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (TSI) ancestry entering into the family line, such as via a private or unrecorded adoption of an Aboriginal or TSI child into the family, or a relationship out of wedlock between a family member and an Aboriginal or TSI person that produced a child of Aboriginal or TSI descent who was then incorporated into the family without record, or with a record that did not disclose the Aboriginality or TSI-descent of that child.

Figure 2 - Confirmation of receipt of our email of 10 July 2023 to Dr Gordon Reid MP. As of 9 August 2023, we have not yet received any further correspondence from Dr Reid regarding the contents of our email letter.

Included in our email letter to Dr Reid was the alleged family tree for his paternal grandmother Robyn Reid (Figures 5 and 6).

His grandmother Robyn Reid ( and therefore himself) comes from a massive convict and settler group of ancestors, who were in Australia at the dawn of the colonial period.

For example, one of Dr Gordon Reid’s 5X-great grandmothers was Lucy Lane, a young Englishwoman who arrived in Sydney as a free person on 27 May 1797 on a convict transport. She went on to be married a year later in early Sydney by the famous minister, Samuel Marsden.

*Samuel Marsden (1765-1838), by Joseph Backler, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, National Library of New Zealand, ATL ref. G-620*

There aren’t many Australians today who can trace their family history back to a marriage certificate signed by an ancestor with “X” under the watchful eye of Samuel Marsden. [Lucy Lane’s research notes are here]

**Figure 3 - Marriage record extract for Lucy Lane, one of Dr Gordon Reid’s paternal 5X Great-grandmothers**. *Source: 1798 Marriage NSWBDM# 263/1798 V4*

Another of Dr Gordon Reid’s colonial ancestors was James Martin, who was an infant on the convict transport Sydney Cove in 1807 on its long voyage out to Botany Bay.

In 1823, on attaining the age of 18, James submitted a petition to ‘His Excellency, Sir Thomas Brisbane, K.C.B. Captain General Governor, and Commander in Chief &c &c &c” for an ‘indulgence of Land from the Crown’, which was duly granted.

James Martin, Dr Gordon Reid’s 5X Great-grandfather then became a farmer on his receipt of a grant of 60 acres of prime, former Aboriginal hunting grounds at Castle Hill [Research notes on James Martin here].