Alice Isobel (Bassett) Nannup descends from #376B Thomas Henry Bassett of England as follows:
Thomas Henry Bassett
Thomas Lewis Bassett (b. 1828) and wife Mary Ann Munday
Thomas Alfred Bassett (b. 1864)
Alice Isobel Bassett
I did not previously have Thomas Alfred Bassett traced. Alice Isobel (Bassett) Nannup was his only child.
The following Book review is by Susette Bakker
Book Review
When the Pelican Laughed
Authors Alice Nannup, Lauren Marsh, Stephen Kinnane
Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1996
Alice Nannup was born to an aboriginal mother, Dot, and a white father, Thomas Bassett (1864-1935) at his Roebourne station, Western Australia, in 1911. At the age of 14 she was taken, along with other ‘half-caste’ children from Northern W.A, to the Mogumber Mission on the Moore River, near the town of Moora. Here she was given training in domestic tasks and was eventually sent to work on other stations and in ‘white’ houses. Alice married Will Nannup in 1932 and raised 10 children. She died in 1995 at Geraldton.
The book is in four parts, the first tells of a semi-nomadic, carefree youth who gradually comes to the understanding that ‘Tommy’, the station owner for whom her mother was housekeeper, was her caring but socially distant father. Part 2 is of her teenage years spent in care at the Mission. Northern ‘coloured’ children like her were deliberately sent south and the Southern children were sent to the north of the state so that they would be well away from the influence of their families. This time for Alice was one of emotional pain, constant hunger, overwork and tiredness. She was sent to work at various farms and houses where some owners treated her well but others treated her as just a servant. Rarely were real wages given. The third part is her life with Will, still working for others but happier and busy raising their ten children. Eventually she and Will separated and she moved to Geraldton. The last portion of the book involves stories of her life with her children and grandchildren, still working hard, but content.
It is a book of contrasts – the joy of family, the pain of separation, hope for the future and despair for the present. It is also a book that will challenge all who read it. In his will, Tom Bassett left Alice, his only child, 400 pounds, none of which she received, instead it went to the Aboriginal Services. It is a story of betrayal, dysfunctional care and, although the Aboriginal Services at the time believed they were doing the best for children who were south and the Southern children were sent to the north of the state so that they would be well away from the influence of their families. Yet it concludes with Alice’s joy and firm belief in her family and their place in the world.