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Margaret Lawrie Margaret Lawrie i(A25252 works by) (a.k.a. Margaret Elizabeth Lawrie)
Born: Established: 1917 New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 2003
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Margaret Lawrie was born in New South Wales in 1917. She became a music teacher after studying English and Music. She spent her early married years with her husband Queensland Senator Alexander Lawrie living on the 'Evergreen' property outside of Rockhampton in Central Queensland. During the 1960s she was invited by the Queensland Government to travel with Oodgeroo Noonuccal and a Queensland Health worker to Cape York and Torres Strait Island communities to report on children's health and other issues. During this time she returned to the Torres Strait each year in January, to conduct training seminars for teachers on the Islands.

Becoming friends with many of the Torres Strait Islander people, Lawrie was approached by some of the Islanders to record and write down their stories and family histories, as they felt that these might be lost. Lawrie conducted research into the cultural history of the Torres Strait as well as historical research on Somerset and Thursday Island.

Most of her collection of Torres Strait Islander material, consist of material recorded and collected by her on Torres Strait islands between 1964 and 1973. (Source: flickr website www.flickr.com)

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Myths and Legends of Torres Strait St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1970 Z416296 1970 anthology prose Indigenous story

The stories in this collection were obtained at thirteen islands, within the archipelago of the Torres Strait, between Cape York, the northern point of Queensland, and the south coast of Papua New Guinea. The Islanders, despite nearly a century of continuous and increasing contact with European ways and thought, have been able to retain unbroken links with their past. It is these people, who over a period of four years, made a conscious effort to pass on to the general reader, whether they live in Torres Strait or elsewhere, part of their heritage which is embodied in legend and myth. (Source: Introduction by Margaret Lawrie)

1970 winner Townsville Foundation for Australian Literary Studies Award
y separately published work icon Myths and Legends of Torres Strait St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1970 Z416296 1970 anthology prose Indigenous story

The stories in this collection were obtained at thirteen islands, within the archipelago of the Torres Strait, between Cape York, the northern point of Queensland, and the south coast of Papua New Guinea. The Islanders, despite nearly a century of continuous and increasing contact with European ways and thought, have been able to retain unbroken links with their past. It is these people, who over a period of four years, made a conscious effort to pass on to the general reader, whether they live in Torres Strait or elsewhere, part of their heritage which is embodied in legend and myth. (Source: Introduction by Margaret Lawrie)

1970 winner Townsville Foundation for Australian Literary Studies Award
VIEW ALL AWARDS

Known archival holdings

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies AIATSIS Library (ACT)
Last amended 5 Jun 2017 13:49:10
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