:''Two people named Lockier Clere Burges have been prominent in Western Australia. For the Lockier Clere Burges born in 1814, see

Lockier Burges (Australian politician) :''Two people named Lockier Clere Burges have been prominent in Western Australia. For the Lockier Clere Burges born in 1841, see Lockier Burges (1841-1929)'' Lockier Clere Burges (c. 1814–31 July 1886) was an early settler in colonial W ...

'' Lockier Clere Burges (1841 – 6 January 1929), also known as L. C. Burges junior was prominent and controversial in Western Australia as an entrepreneur, explorer and author. Burges, the son of John Major Burges and Dorcas Bradshaw, was born at Fethard,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, in 1841. During the early 1860s, Burges emigrated to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, where three of his uncles lived, including L. C. Burges senior (c. 1814–1886) and

William Burges William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...

(c. 1807–1876). In 1868, L.C. Burges junior married Ann Eliza Finnerty at Fremantle. From late 1864, he worked for the Roebuck Bay Company (RBC) at the first, albeit short-lived

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, at Cape Villaret. In 1865, Burges took part in the

La Grange expedition The La Grange expedition was an expedition in 1865 to the vicinity of Lagrange Bay in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Led by Maitland Brown, the expedition initially searched for three settlers who had failed to return from an earlie ...

, which recovered the bodies of the explorers

Frederick Panter Frederick Kennedy Panter (1836 – 13 November 1864) was a police officer, pastoralist and explorer in colonial Western Australia. While exploring in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in 1864, he was killed by Aboriginal Australians. Bi ...

, James Harding and William Goldwyer and explored the area between Cape Villaret and

Lagrange Bay Lagrange Bay is located south of Broome, Western Australia in the Kimberley region. It is the site of the Catholic Pallottine The Pallottines officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate ( la, Societas Apostolatus Catholici), abbre ...

. The expedition was responsible for the reprisal killing of up to 20 members of the Karajarri people. After the collapse of the RBC, Burges established ''Andover'', a sheep station on the upper Harding River, in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

. Burges also invested in

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

ing vessels based in Nickol Bay. At the time, stations in

North-West Australia The North West, North West Coast, North Western Australia and North West Australia, are usually informal names for the northern regions of the State of Western Australia. However, some conceptions of "North West Australia" have included adjoi ...

were staffed almost entirely by local Aboriginal people who were paid in kind with "rations" (food and other goods) rather than money. In 1871, while droving sheep from the Pilbara to Geraldton, Burges shot and killed an Aboriginal man known as "Mackle-yell", in a dispute over a stolen saddle.''The Perth Gazette & West Australian Times'', 13 September 1872, p2S. John Michael Bennett, ''Sir Archibald Burt: First Chief Justice of Western Australia, 1861–1879'', Annandale, NSW; Federation Press, 2002, p. vii. He was convicted of manslaughter in 1872, and sentenced to five years imprisonment. The sentence was commuted to 12 months. Governor Frederick Weld dismissed Perth Police Magistrate E.W.Landor for failing to charge Burges with the capital charge of murder, convicting him of the lesser charge instead. The dismissal was appealed to London.

Footnotes

References

* Lockier Clere Burges, c. 1919, ''Pioneers of Nor'-West Australia, pastoral and pearling'', Perth WA, People's Printing & Publishing Co. {{DEFAULTSORT:Burges junior, Lockier Clere 1841 births 1929 deaths 19th-century Irish people Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Irish mass murderers Irish people convicted of manslaughter Irish prisoners and detainees Settlers of Western Australia People from Fethard, County Tipperary Aboriginal genocide perpetrators Australian people convicted of manslaughter Australian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Western Australia