Alice Isobel (Bassett) Nannup\u00a0 descends from #376B Thomas Henry Bassett of England as follows:<\/p>\n
Thomas Henry Bassett
\nThomas Lewis Bassett (b. 1828) and wife Mary Ann Munday
\nThomas Alfred Bassett (b. 1864)
\nAlice Isobel Bassett<\/p>\n
I did not previously have Thomas Alfred Bassett traced. Alice Isobel (Bassett) Nannup was his only child.<\/p>\n
The following Book review is by Susette Bakker<\/p>\n
Book Review<\/strong><\/p>\n When the Pelican Laughed 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.\u00a0 At the age of 14 she was taken, along with other \u2018half-caste\u2019 children from Northern W.A, to the Mogumber Mission on the Moore River, near the town of Moora.\u00a0 Here she was given training in domestic tasks and was eventually sent to work on other stations and in \u2018white\u2019 houses.\u00a0 Alice married Will Nannup in 1932 and raised 10 children.\u00a0 She died in 1995 at Geraldton.<\/p>\n The book is in four parts, the first tells of a semi-nomadic, carefree youth who gradually comes to the understanding that \u2018Tommy\u2019, the station owner for whom her mother was housekeeper, was her caring but socially distant father.\u00a0 Part 2 is of her teenage years spent in care at the Mission.\u00a0 Northern \u2018coloured\u2019 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.\u00a0 This time for Alice was one of emotional pain, constant hunger, overwork and tiredness.\u00a0 She was sent to work at various farms and houses where some owners treated her well but others treated her as just a servant.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n It is a book of contrasts \u2013 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.\u00a0 In his will, Tom Bassett left Alice, his only child, 400 pounds, none of which she received, instead it went to the Aboriginal Services.\u00a0 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\u2019s joy and firm belief in her family and their place in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alice Isobel (Bassett) Nannup\u00a0 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 … Continue reading
\nAuthors Alice Nannup, Lauren Marsh, Stephen Kinnane
\nFremantle Arts Centre Press, 1996<\/p>\n