Aboriginal Tasmanian
The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal people of the List of islands of Australia, Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th centu ...
girl, who was adopted and later abandoned by the
Governor of Tasmania
The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...
, Sir
John Franklin
Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...
.
Mathinna was born as Mary on
Flinders Island
Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Flinders Island was the place where the last remnants of aboriginal Tasmanian population were exiled by the colo ...
,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
to the chief of the Lowreenne tribe, Towgerer, and his wife Wongerneep, but the tribe was captured by
George Augustus Robinson
George Augustus Robinson (22 March 1791 – 18 October 1866) was a British-born colonial official and self-trained preacher in colonial Australia. In 1824, Robinson travelled to Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land, where he attempted to negotiate ...
, the
Chief Protector of Aborigines
The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836.
The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...
, in 1833. Mary was renamed Mathinna when she was about six years old
In 1837 Sir John Franklin was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land for a term of four years It was during this time that Sir John Franklin and his wife, Lady Jane Franklin requested an Aboriginal boy or girl. Mathinna was sent to Hobart to live with the Franklin's although she was not an orphan. Mathinna was raised with Sir John's daughter Eleanor.Raabus, Carol The hidden story of Mathinna: spirited, gifted, utterly destroyed 936 ABC Hobart, 16 February 2011.
Just one fragment of a letter written by Mathinna reveals what the transition from living with her family at Flinders Island to living at Government House in
Hobart Town
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
must have been like:
When Franklin was recalled to England, they left Mathinna at Queen's Orphan School in Hobart in 1843. Only eight years old, she found it difficult to adjust to her new surroundings. She was sent back to Flinders Island in 1844, at the age of nine, and then sent back to Queen's Orphan School. In 1851, when she was about 16, she returned to the Aboriginal settlement at Oyster Cove, west of Hobart.
She drowned—according to one account—in a puddle while drunk on 1 September 1852. She was 17 or 18 years old.
Mathinna is believed to have been buried in the Oyster Cove Aboriginal cemetery and is likely to have been among the remains exhumed in 1907 and taken to the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
. After a campaign by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, all remains from Oyster Cove were returned and cremated in a four-day ceremony in 1985.
The town of Mathinna is named after her, as is the mushroom '' Entoloma mathinnae''.
Mathinna's life has inspired or been mentioned in several literary and dramatic works. These include:
*1954: ''Mathinna'', a ballet production by
Laurel Martyn
Laurel Martyn (; 23 July 1916 – 16 October 2013) was an Australian ballerina.Nan Chauncy
*2000:
Radio play
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
(
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
) ''In Her Father's House'', by
Carmel Bird
Carmel Bird (born 1940) is an Australian writer of novels, short stories and essays. She has written books on the art of writing, and has edited anthologies of essays and stories. In 2016, she was awarded the Patrick White Literary Award.
Writing ...
* 2005: ''
Lady Franklin's Revenge
{{noref, date=November 2021
''Lady Franklin's Revenge: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession and the Remaking of Arctic History'' is a non-fiction book by Canadian historian and writer Ken McGoogan. It was published in 2005.
Summary
Denied a rol ...
'', by
Ken McGoogan
Kenneth McGoogan (born 1947). is the Canadian author of fifteen books, including ''Flight of the Highlanders'', ''Dead Reckoning'', ''50 Canadians Who Changed the World'', ''How the Scots Invented Canada'', and four biographical narratives focusing ...
, a non-fiction work about the wife of John Franklin
*2008: Contemporary piece titled ''Mathinna'' choreographed by
Stephen Page
Stephen George Page (born 1965) is an Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer. He is the current artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian dance company. Page is descended from the Nunukul peopl ...
for the
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-born C ...
, inspired by the
Laurel Martyn
Laurel Martyn (; 23 July 1916 – 16 October 2013) was an Australian ballerina.Wanting'' by Richard Flanagan
*2020: Novel titled ''The Exiles'' by
Christina Baker Kline
Christina Baker Kline (born 1964) is an American novelist. She is the author of seven novels, including ''Orphan Train'', and has co-authored or edited five non-fiction books. Kline is a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Fellowship recipient.
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