The Trial of Warri: Aboriginal Protection and Settler Self Government in Colonial Victoria

Abstract

On 25 February 1843, under a prejudicial but hardly atypical headline of 'Black Outrage', the Port Phillip Gazette reported that an Aboriginal man from the 'Goulburn tribe' had been committed to stand trial for sheep stealing. The accused was a 'Bangerang' man named Warri, who the previous July had allegedly joined a group of his compatriots in spearing sheep on Edward M. Curr's 'Tongala' pastoral run, which was situated near the confluence of the Murray and Goulburn rivers. According to the Gazette, Warri had forcibly disarmed a shepherd to ensure the safety of his companions, and 'after killing about sixty [sheep], carried off the carcasses, the prisoner assisting, and exceedingly active throughout'. Remanded in custody pending his trial, Warri was entrusted to the care of William Thomas, an Assistant Protector of Aborigines.