Henry O'Farrell
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Henry James O'Farrell (183321 April 1868) was the first person to attempt a political assassination in Australia. On 12 March 1868, he shot and wounded
Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1 ...
, the second son and fourth child of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
.


Biography

O'Farrell was born in Arran Quay, Dublin, Ireland, the youngest child of William O'Farrell, a butcher. The family moved to
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, then later migrated to
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
. Henry O'Farrell was an alcoholic, and had been released from a
lunatic asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...
immediately before the attempted assassination. O'Farrell had briefly been employed by his brother, a Melbourne solicitor, who had offices in
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
, and is therefore sometimes described as a law clerk. But O'Farrell's most recent occupation was selling fruit and vegetables in Ballarat's Haymarket.


Assassination attempt

In 1868, Prince Alfred, then 23 years old, went on a world tour, which included the first royal visit to Australia. There were planned stops in
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, Melbourne,
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, Sydney and many other places. On 12 March, the Prince attended the Sailor's Picnic in the harbourside suburb of
Clontarf, New South Wales Clontarf (Irish: Cluain Tarbh, meaning "meadow of the bull") is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Clontarf is located 13 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government ...
. O'Farrell, aged 35 at the time, came up behind the Prince and fired a revolver into his back. The assassin was immediately tackled by William Vial, a local coach-maker (for his actions, he would be later presented with the prince's fob watch). Vial, together with bystanders, quickly subdued O'Farrell. The assassination attempt outraged the attending crowd, and O'Farrell was severely beaten and nearly lynched by the mob before police arrested him and removed him to safety. The Prince was shot in the back just to the right of the spine. The wound was serious, but not fatal. The Prince was hospitalised for two weeks, and cared for by six nurses trained by
Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...
, who had arrived in Australia that February under Matron Lucy Osburn. The attack also caused great embarrassment in the colony, and led to a wave of anti-Catholic and
anti-Irish sentiment Anti-Irish sentiment includes oppression, persecution, discrimination, or hatred of Irish people as an ethnic group or a nation. It can be directed against the island of Ireland in general, or directed against Irish emigrants and their descendan ...
, directed at all Irish people, including
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
Loyalists. The next day, 20,000 people attended an "indignation meeting" to protest "yesterday's outrage". O'Farrell first claimed, falsely, to be under orders from the
Fenian Brotherhood The Fenian Brotherhood () was an Irish republican organisation founded in the United States in 1858 by John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Membe ...
. Although anti-British and anti-Royalist, he later denied being a Fenian.


Trial and execution

O'Farrell was tried at Sydney on 30 March 1868. The
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
with the thankless task of defending him was
Butler Cole Aspinall Butler Cole Aspinall (11 November 1830 – 4 April 1875) was a British-born journalist, barrister who migrated with his young wife to Melbourne, Australia, at first as an editor and writer for '' The Argus''. He soon took up his lucrative ...
, who had previously defended the rebel leaders of the
Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which ...
. Aspinall sought to have O'Farrell found not guilty by reason of insanity. He cited O'Farrell's history of mental illness and recent release from an asylum. O'Farrell was convicted and sentenced to death by judge
Alfred Cheeke Alfred Cheeke (10 March 1810 – 14 March 1876) was a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Cheeke was born at Evesham, Worcestershire, England, one of eight to solicitor and senior magistrate to the County of Worcestershire John Mosel ...
. Prince Alfred himself tried unsuccessfully to intercede and save his would-be killer's life. O'Farrell was hanged on 21 April 1868 in the
Darlinghurst Gaol The Darlinghurst Gaol is a former Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. The site is bordered by Darlinghurst Road, Burton and Forbes streets, with entrances on Forbes and Burton Streets. The heritage-listed building, predom ...
at the age of 35.


Recovery of Prince Alfred

Prince Alfred soon recovered, and returned home in early April 1868. On 24 March, the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
voted to erect a memorial building. In order "to raise a permanent and substantial monument in testimony of the heartfelt gratitude of the community at the recovery of HRH", it was to be the Prince Alfred Hospital. Queen Victoria permitted the use of the term "Royal", so the memorial building was the
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...
. It was built using funds raised by public subscription, and is today an important hospital in New South Wales. Sir
Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...
, a Minister in the colonial government (and future
Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...
), stirred up persecution of Irish Catholics in the colony after O'Farrell's attack. Parkes claimed that the mad killer's initial claims of being Fenian were true and that there were extensive Fenian conspiracies at work. When Canadian politician and anti-Fenian
D'Arcy McGee Thomas D'Arcy McGee (13 April 18257 April 1868) was an Irish-Canadian politician, Catholic spokesman, journalist, poet, and a Father of Canadian Confederation. The young McGee was an Irish Catholic who opposed British rule in Ireland, and was ...
was killed by a Fenian on 7 April, the excitement increased. But soon the excitement died down, and the public began questioning Parkes' unsupported claims. These became an embarrassment and he resigned as a Minister in September.


In popular culture

The event was dramatised in the play '' Duke of Edinburgh Assassinated or The Vindication of Henry Parkes''.


External links

*McKinlay, Brian ''The First Royal Tour, 1867–1868'', (London: Robert Hale & Company, c1970, 1971), 200p. *Travers, Robert ''The Phantom Fenians of New South Wales'' (Kangaroo Press, 1986), 176p. . *Murphy, Peter ''Fenian Fear'' (Peter Murphy, 2018), 177p.
www.fenianfear.com


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofarrell, Henry James 1803 births 1868 deaths 1868 crimes in Australia Executed Irish people Failed assassins People executed by New South Wales People executed for attempted murder Irish people executed abroad Executed Australian people 19th-century Irish people People executed by Australian colonies by hanging Irish emigrants to Australia