Nicole Lindsay
![Nicole Lindsay 2013 Creative Fellow Portrait of Nicole Lindsay](https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/feature_image/public/nicol_lindsay_SLV_fellow.jpg?itok=jYRHn6qW)
Journalist Nicole Lindsay used her 2013 creative fellowship to research 19th Century Melbourne publican John Byng using the Library's collections.
Nicole's project explored the extent of non-white settlement in pre–gold-rush Melbourne through the story of African-American publican John Byng, one of Melbourne’s earliest publicans. Byng came to the Port Phillip settlement some time before April 1839, when he is first recorded applying for a licence for the Victoria Inn. He died in 1858 in Kyneton, thus his life in Australia corresponds roughly with that of Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe. Significantly, the colour of Byng's skin is never mentioned in official documents or newspaper records.