Gavan Breen, an Australian linguist, was able to compile a dictionary of Lower Arrernte comprising about a thousand words by recording talks he had with Doolan.
[1] Doolan's mother Fanny, father Paddy[2] and grandmother, who lived south of Aputula, spoke the language.
[1] Doolan was uncertain of his date of birth, but a later search of the old native affairs branch records showed that he was born in 1918.
In 1963, young children Peter and Margaret were at home, with Sambo, Michael and Stanley apparently adults and elsewhere; Daisy the child of Biddy and a deceased father.
[1] He was regarded as an icon in the town, much loved and respected by many, and the subject of an obituary in the NT Police News journal after his death in 2011.