Sir Douglas Nicholls
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Sir Douglas Nicholls
Sir Douglas Nicholls (1906–1988)
Douglas Nicholls was born in Cumeroogunga, near the Murray River in New South Wales, and was Australia's first Aboriginal state governor. He was excellent at sport and played football for Fitzroy and Victoria. He was just as good at running and boxing. His great uncle, William Cooper, was an important Aboriginal leader.
Nicholls was a social worker and a minister of the Church of Christ who worked for the rights of Aboriginal people. He spent a lot of his life working for groups that helped Aboriginal people, including the National Aboriginal Sports Foundation and the Aborigines' League of Advancement in Victoria. He was awarded two medals by Queen Elizabeth II and was made Sir Douglas Nicholls in 1972 because of his work for Aboriginal Australians. He was made Governor of South Australia in 1976. He had only held office for a few months when he became too sick to work. He died in 1988 after suffering a stroke.
A suburb in Canberra and a sports field in Melbourne are named after him.
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