Editing A.O. Neville (section)

== Biography ==
Neville was born on November 20th, 1875 in Ford, Northumberland, England and emigrated to Victoria, Australia. 

In 1897, Neville moved to Western Australia and joined the public service. In 1906, he became an immigration officer and was appointed head of the new sub-department of tourism and immigration in 1910. He was thus closely involved in the selecting and processing of some 40,000 British immigrants to Western Australia for four years. On June 1st, 1910, in London he married Maryan Florence Low; they had three daughters and two sons. In 1914, Neville became secretary of the Patriotic Relief Fund, and continued as chairman of its permanent relief committee.

In 1915, Neville was appointed Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia and presided over the policy of the removal of "half-caste" children from their aboriginal families and sent to [[Concentration camps|internment camps]] to be assimilated into western culture, such as the [[Moore River Native Settlement]]. This policy of forced assimilation would later be known as the Stolen Generations. The aim was to enforce [[Blood Quantum|blood quantum]] laws to permanently segregate full-blooded aborigines, as it was widely believed that the aboriginal race was dying out, and have the Stolen Generations marry people with lighter skin tones over successive generations until there were no more aborigines in Australia.

[[File:SG absorption.jpg|thumb|left|A diagram from Neville's book showing the biological absorption of the Stolen Generations.|316x316px]]Some argued that Neville's role as Chief Protector only increased the aborigines' suffering and Neville stated that the aborigines need to be "forgotten". The children at the camps would be trained to work as farmers and domestic servants and Neville believed that biological absorption was the key to 'uplifting the Native race.' Speaking at the Moseley Royal Commission, he defended the removal and assimilation policies, arguing that they need to be "protected against themselves" even against their will.

After Neville's retirement in 1940, Neville published a book in 1947 called ''Australia's Colored Minority''. While the book defended his policies, it also acknowledged the harm the aborigines had to endure thanks to European intervention.

In 1954, Neville died and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth.