George Grey was appointed Governor of South Australia in May 1841. Prior to his arrival in South Australia he was an explorer in north western Australia. Following this he was appointed magistrate at King George Sound in Western Australia and while here published Vocabulary of the Dialects spoken by the Aboriginal Races of South-Western Australia which was republished in London in 1840. In 1845 a short piece was published with a map in the Royal Geographical Society Journal: On the languages of Australia being an extract of a dispatch from Captain G. Grey, Governor of South Australia ... Grey believed there were only seven Aboriginal dialects in south-western Australia. Many more have since been identified. Grey also believed in compulsory assimilation of the Aboriginal people and his paper promoting this was circulated by the Colonial Office to the governors of other colonies.

As Governor of South Australia Grey appointed Edward John Eyre as Protector of Aborigines based at Moorunde on the River Murray. Grey's ideas for Aboriginal assimilation were not carried out by him in South Australia.

In 1845 Grey was appointed as Governor of New Zealand, leaving South Australia to take charge of the struggling colony, and where he played a significant role in quelling the New Zealand Maori Wars. He went on to write several works on Maori language and culture. He also served as Governor of South Africa and a second term in New Zealand.

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