Jimmy Governor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of the series on Australian criminals

Bank robbers Bushrangers Convicts Criminals Drug traffickers Fraudsters Murderers Serial killers Prisoners Rapists and sex-offenders

International Criminals by nationality

This box: view • talk • edit

Jimmy Governor (1875 – 1901) was one of the Governor brothers, two Indigenous Australian men who committed a series of murders in the Central West and New England regions of New South Wales around the turn of the twentieth century.

Governor had held various different jobs, including that of a police tracker, and he was continually discriminated against. He married a white woman, who had to endure criticism from other people for having married an Aboriginal man.

In April 1900, Governor was employed by John Mawbey, fencing the Mawbey's property at Breelong, near Gilgandra. After a dispute with his employer, Jimmy and his friend Jacky Underwood aka Charlie Brown murdered most of the members of the Mawbey family, including the children, on the night of July 20. A surviving witness, a little boy, raised the alarm, resulting in a large manhunt. The brothers fled Breelong, committing a further four murders as they moved east towards the coast. Jimmy Governor was captured on October 27, 1900, several months after the massacre. Joe Governor was shot dead four days later. Convicted of murder, Jimmy was hanged the following year.

The police cell in which Jimmy Governor was detained can be seen in Wingham. This cell is on display at the Manning Valley Historical Society Museum opposite Central Park and The Log in the centre of Wingham.

The life of Jimmy Governor was the basis for Thomas Keneally's novel The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.

[edit] Victims

• Sarah Mawbey, wife of John Mawbey (Breelong, July 20)
• Helen Kerz, schoolteacher (Breelong, July 20)
• Grace Mawbey, 16-year-old daughter of John and Sarah (Breelong, July 20)
• Percival Mawbey, 14-year-old son of John and Sarah (Breelong, July 20)
• Hilda Mawbey, 11-year-old daughter of John and Sarah (Breelong, July 20)
• Alexander McKay, property-owner (near Ulan, July 23)
• Elizabeth O'Brien (near Merriwa, July 24)
• "Poggie" O'Brien, baby son of Elizabeth O'Brien (near Merriwa, July 24)
• Keiran Fitzpatrick, property-owner (near Wollar, July 26)

[edit] References

• Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Jimmy Governor

[edit] External links

• National Museum of Australia - "Outlawed" Exhibition