The history of Auslan in a nutshell
I did promise that I would write a bit about the history of Auslan, but I know large chunks of history can be hard to swallow, so I'll keep it brief.
Auslan is not entirely original- it is 70% derived from British Sign Language, or BSL for short. Just as a side note, while I was learning about signed languages, Auslan was the only one with such a unique name. It still stands for Australian Sign Language, but America took the abbreviation ASL, so we very cleverly came up with Auslan. China has CSL, Japan has JSL, Spain has SSL, and so on, so I found the name 'Auslan' pretty neat.
Anyway, I got a little sidetracked there. How did it originate from BSL, you ask? It was actually 2 British settlers- F.J. Rose, and Thomas Pattison, who decided to set up schools for deaf children, coincidentally 2 weeks apart.
F.J. Rose - F.J. Rose arrived in Australia with his brother in 1852, and went to South Melbourne for the gold rush. However, he had no interest in gold, so instead set up his own carpentry business in Bendigo. He was very skilled, and built houses and furniture for his clientele.
In 1860, he read an advertisement by a mother requesting someone who could educate her deaf daughter. Being deaf himself since the age of 4, he wanted to help her, and so set up the Victorian College of the Deaf. It continued to grow and move locations until it settled in St. Kilda today.
Thomas Pattison - Thomas Pattison moved to Australia to see his brother, and decided to set up a school. It started off as the Thomas Pattison School, which was a private school for deaf children. Lessons were taught in his house, and he received funding. However, after 2 years the funding ran out and the school became a public charity institute.
It, too, continued to grow, and is now called the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. Like I previously mentioned, the Thomas Pattison School was also established in 1860, but 2 weeks before F.J. Rose's school. This is yet another point of rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney.
Anyway, because these two men were from the United Kingdom, they taught using BSL at their schools. Australian deaf children at the time collectively used BSL, and taught that to their children and so on. However, due to Australia having a different community to the UK, the language has been shaped to a point where today, Auslan is 30% original. This may continue to rise, who knows.
That got a bit longer than expected! There's still plenty of history regarding the deaf community that is as vibrant and interesting as any other culture's. Remember, Google is your friend!