Person

Billington, Brian Price (1923 - 2004)

Born
24 February 1923
Birkenhead, United Kingdom
Died
6 August 2004
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Medical practitioner

Summary

Brian Billington was the medical officer and leader of the Nutrition Unit of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition of Arnhem Land. He had studied medicine at the University of Sydney and worked at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital before being appointed to the Expedition. His colleagues in the Unit were Kelvin Hodges and Margaret McArthur. The aim of the Unit was to assess the nutritional status, from clinical and biochemical points of view, of Aborigines living in the settlements visited by the Expedition. Data was also collected on the incidence of disease. Reports of the work of the Unit were published in volume 2 of Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land (1960).

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Details

Chronology

October 1935
Life event - Came to Australian with his family
February 1948 - November 1948
Career position - Medical officer and leader of the Nutrition Unit, American-Australian Scientific Expedition of Arnhem Land

Related Events

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Billington, Brian P., 'The health and nutrition status of the Aborigines' in Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, vol. 2: anthropology and nutrition, C. P. Mountford, ed. (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1960), pp. 27-59. Details

Journal Articles

See also

  • Specht, R. L. & Specht, A. ed., Personal experiences on the coast of adventure: Arnhem Land reunion, Sydney, 27 - 28th June 1998 ([Coffs Harbour, N.S.W.]: Southern Cross University, 1998), 83 pp. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 21 August 2025

EOAS ID: biogs/P007824b.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-kooyang-season-of-eels

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260