Henry Laing Establishment of James Munro

James Munro ( ) was a British convict who was transported to Australia, and established himself as a farmer on

Preservation Island Preservation Island is a low and undulating granite and calcarenite island, with an area of 207 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Preservation Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait south-west of Cape Barren Island ...

, Tasmania, and community leader of the region's community of European seal hunters, known as "King of the Eastern Straits. Munro established himself on the island, with himself and his varying female partners being its only inhabitants. There he built structures, raised livestock, and harvested the meat and eggs of

mutton birds The Mutton Birds were a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart, ...

. Munro was appointed local constable in 1825, and opposed George Augustus Robinson's attempts to prevent relationships between

sealers Sealer may refer either to a person or ship engaged in seal hunting, or to a sealant; associated terms include: Seal hunting * Sealer Hill, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica * Sealers' Oven, bread oven of mud and stone built by sealers around 180 ...

and Aboriginal women. It is still disputed as to the consensuality of these relationships, with some arguing that the relationships were often voluntary and mutually beneficial, but Munro was also accused of leading sealers in raiding parties to capture Aboriginal women in 1830.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, James 1779 births 1845 deaths Settlers of Tasmania

See also

References