Residence of George Augustus Robinson, on the Yarra1847

George Augustus Robinson, the ‘Protector of Aborigines’ in Tasmania and Victoria in the 1830s and 40s, regularly commissioned paintings during his time in the colonies. This view records Terneet, Robinson’s fashionable residence at the bottom of Chapel Street, on the south bank of the Yarra. Robinson, whose actions often devasted the communities he was supposed to be protecting, commissioned images which celebrated what he considered to be his material and professional successes. This painting is attributed to George Gilbert. Robinson recorded in his journal on 22 April 1847: ‘Mr Gilbert taking front view of my house’. On 11 June 1847 Robinson noted, ‘Paid Gilbert £12 for two pictures’.