Series 522 - Indenture research papers of K L Gillion

Kenneth Gillion was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand on 8 February 1929. In 1949 he graduated with a BA in History from Victoria University College of Wellington and two years later with an MA First Class Honours. In 1952 he was a Fulbright and Smith-Mundt Scholar and earned his second MA in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Gillion joined the New Zealand Department of External Affairs and New Zealand diplomatic service until moving to Canberra in 1955 as a graduate researcher at the Australian National University. His PhD, completed in 1958 formed the basis of Gillion's first book, Fiji's Indian migrants: a history to the end of indenture in 1920, published in 1962. After his doctorate he went on to work in the History Department at the University of Western Australia, 1958-1962; then at the University of Adelaide, 1963-1973; and as Senior Research Fellow, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU from 1973 until his retirement in 1978.