– normally undertaken around this age – because the missionaries had asked the elders to stop the ceremonies. Dick spoke Lardil language but not Damin language, as he is not initiated. Family life Roughsey and his wife, Elsie, had six children together over a period of almost twenty years. His children Mervyn, Raymond, Kevin, Eleanor, Basil and Duncan were raised primarily by their mother on Mornington Island as their father frequently travelled for work. While he was away Elsie sent him lists of things she wished him to purchase and send back to her on Mornington Island. In his absence, Raymond assumed the father figure role and helped his mother to raise the younger children. The Roughsey children attended school on Thursday Island as Dick believed that an education there would lead to greater employment opportunities on mainland Australia. His brother, Lindsay, also lived on Mornington Island with his family; he too was an artist, regularly sending pieces to Percy Trezise for him to sell. Dick and Lindsay apparently had a troubled relationship. Career In about 1940 Roughsey moved to mainland Australia to start paid employment. He worked for a few years in manual jobs such as stockman, deckhand, fisherman, sailor and yardman before serving in the Second World War. When returning from service, Roughsey returned to Mornington Island where he began family life with wife, Elsie. Roughsey began to show interest in painting and, after meeting Percy Trezise, began to develop a personal style that was saleable to a new art market. Roughsey began to work with oil paints and established a body of work that exists today as a record of an emerging contemporary Aboriginal art movement. Roughsey established himself as a well-respected artist and supporter of cultural heritage projects that protect Indigenous culture. His work with Trezise to record the position of ancient Aboriginal sites and important rock paintings was one of the first of its kind and focused on knowledge within the wider community about respect and preservation. In 1968, with Percy Trezise, he rediscovered the important archaeological site of Hann River, in the central Cape York Peninsula. Roughsey was involved with the international exhibition program of the Aboriginal Arts Board (AAB). The AAB was responsible for numerous travelling exhibitions to approximately 40 countries along with publications and gifts of Aboriginal works to overseas museums. This stimulated an interest in Aboriginal art. In 1973, Roughsey was