Australian Dictionary of Biography entry:
Duncan McNab (1820–1896)
by H. J. Gibbney

This article was published in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, 1974, online in 2006

Duncan McNab (1820-1896), Catholic missionary, was born on 11 May 1820 at Achrinich, parish of Morven, Argyllshire, Scotland, son of Patric McNab and his wife Cirsty. In 1832 he went to Blair College, a seminary near Aberdeen, and in June 1835 to the Scots College in Rome but left on 8 August 1840 before taking his oath as a missionary. He returned to Scotland and was ordained a priest on 8 March 1845. Inspired perhaps by his kinship with Mary MacKillop, he dreamed of a mission to the Australian Aborigines but was refused by a bishop perpetually short of priests, and spent twenty years in parish work. He dabbled in Gaelic literature and at Airdrie in 1862 fell foul of Irish parishioners, probably by arguing the Scottish birth of St Patrick.

Given leave to migrate McNab arrived at Melbourne in the Chariot of Fame on 29 July 1867. For eight years he was tied to parish work in Geelong, Portland and Bendigo. In March 1870 he was refused permission to join the New Norcia Benedictines in Western Australia, but in September 1875 he was permitted to start a personal mission in Queensland. At Mackay he began to see that the one hope for Aborigines was to treat them not as 'a problem'. He therefore sought for them the right to own land and to be treated as responsible adults by law and as individuals. His dour common sense did not appeal to either the government or his clerical superiors, while his fervent and mystical Catholicism made him suspect in the Protestant majority. In March 1876 he became ill and went south to recuperate. On his return he began raising money for work among tribes at Gympie, Kilcoy, Durundur and Bribie Island. He was gazetted a commissioner for Aborigines but became unpopular with other commissioners by advocating individual homesteads rather than reserves. He quarrelled with Bishop James Quinn who considered him a tool of government and refused help, while Tom Petrie believed that he was the dupe of supposed converts. In June 1878 he wrote a long appeal to Rome for help but received no reply and decided to appeal in person. In August 1879 he sailed in the Kent and next year induced Pope Leo XIII to authorize a Jesuit mission to the Aborigines, vainly importuned the Colonial Office in London, travelled through the United States and returned to Victoria. After persuading the South Australian Jesuits assigned to Aboriginal missions to select the Northern Territory rather than Queensland, he turned his attention to Western Australia.

McNab arrived at Perth early in 1883 and became a chaplain to Aboriginal prisoners on Rottnest Island. His recommendations on vocational training to the 1883 commission on Aboriginals were implemented half-heartedly. He then made a reconnaissance to the north and in April 1884 settled alone at Goodenough Bay, near Derby. For two years he laboured patiently with little success but in April 1886 he was joined by Fr William Treacy. In August he visited Derby and was diverted to the pastoral care of miners at Hall's Creek. In his absence Treacy had been struck down by fever and went south, and the mission buildings were destroyed by fire. This was the last straw. According to Aboriginal tradition, McNab, tired and old, rode from Derby to Albany accompanied by one faithful Aborigine. He took ship for Melbourne where he lived in a Jesuit house at Richmond and worked quietly as a parish priest until he died on 11 September 1896.

McNab's curious mixture of Celtic mysticism and Scottish common sense antagonized many but his proposals for native welfare would, if adopted, have saved much agony. His name is still revered in the tribal traditions of the north-west.

Select Bibliography

P. F. Moran, History of the Catholic Church in Australasia (Syd, 1895)
J. E. Handley, The Irish in Modern Scotland (Cork, 1947)
M. Durack, The Rock and the Sand (Lond, 1971)
Votes and Proceedings (Legislative Assembly, Queensland), 1876, 3, 161, 1878, 2, 66
Votes and Proceedings (Legislative Council, Western Australia), 1883, 2nd S (16) M. Durack, ‘The priest who rode away’, Westerly, Nov 1962
R. L. Evans, ‘Queensland's first Aboriginal reserve’, pt 2, Queensland Heritage, Nov 1971
Advocate (Melbourne), 19 Sept 1896
McNab to Propaganda, Rome, 10 July 1878 (Jesuit Provincial Archives, Hawthorn, Melbourne)
CO 234/40/579, 621
information from Melbourne Diocesan Historical Commission.

Citation details
H. J. Gibbney, 'McNab, Duncan (1820–1896)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcnab-duncan-4131/text6613, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 1 July 2025.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, (Melbourne University Press), 1974.

Reproduced by permission of Australian Dictionary of Biography. Original biography: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcnab-duncan-4131.

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Denis M. Long, Pioneer and Early Priests, Archdiocese of Brisbane, Deceased or retired by 1929, 2021, p 51:
Fr Duncan McNab In Queensland

Fr Duncan McNab arrived in Queensland in September 1875. Pugh's Almanac records him as a Brisbane priest at Kilcoy/Stanley in 1878 and stationed at Mackay in 1879.

Father McNab began his well-documented work among aborigines in Queensland. In 1982, Footprints ran a series of articles by Sr Brigida Nailon CSB entitled Champion of the Aborigines – Father Duncan McNab 1820 to 1896. Sr Brigid published The Writing on the Wall – Father Duncan McNab 1820-1896, in 2003. She writes:

The Scots say that McNab was 'thrawn', that is, he saw things not seen by others and with single-mindedness he pursued his course in trying to alleviate the condition of the Aborigines as he travelled throughout the length and breadth of Australia, through Europe and America looking for missionaries, and to England to officially lay reports before the English Government. The result of his activity can be seen in the seed which grew silently over the last 100 years in Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. In his rather prolific writings which have been preserved in Church archives all over Australia, in the Archives of Propaganda in Rome, and in the State libraries of Australia, we find recorded a sympathetic account of the Aboriginal predicament of his day. Through his report to Cardinal Vaughan, there is a vivid account of church strategy and missionary endeavour, and a record of the pain caused by unenlightened bureaucratic procedure in both Church and Government.(1)

Duncan McNab was born on 11 May 1820 at Achrinich, parish of Morven, Argyllshire, Scotland, son of Patrick McNab and his wife Cirsty. He entered Blair College, a seminary near Aberdeen, in 1832. In June 1835 he entered the Scots College in Rome, leaving on 8 August 1840, before taking his oath as a missionary. He was ordained a priest in Scotland on 8 March 1845. Inspired perhaps by his kinship with Mary MacKillop, he dreamed of a mission to the Australian Aborigines, but his bishop refused. He spent 20 years in parish work in his native Scotland. In 1862 he fell out with Irish parishioners, arguing for the Scottish birth of St Patrick.

Given leave to migrate, McNab arrived in Melbourne aboard the clipper Chariot of Fame on 29 July 1867. For eight years he was engaged in parish work in Geelong, Portland and Bendigo. In 1870 he was refused permission to join the New Norcia Benedictines in West Australia, but in September 1875 he was permitted to start a personal mission in Queensland. His first work was in Mackay, but in March 1876 he became ill and went south to recuperate. On returning to Queensland he began raising money for work among tribes at Gympie, Kilcoy, Durundur Mission (now the town of Woodford) and Bribie Island. He was gazetted a commissioner for Aborigines but became unpopular with other commissioners by advocating individual homesteads rather than reserves. Bishop Quinn objected to his work, considering him a tool of government, and refused help.

In June 1878 he wrote a long appeal to Rome for help. Receiving no reply, he sailed for Europe on the Kent, to appeal to the Pope. He induced Pope Leo XIII to authorize a Jesuit mission to the Aborigines. He vainly appealed in London against government objections. In the United States he failed to find missionaries to the aborigines. He chose Western Australia in a new missionary move.(2) Fr Duncan McNab died on 11 September 1896.

Footnotes
1. Footprints, Melbourne Diocesan Historical Commission.
2. Articles in Wikipedia and Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Long.