The inspiration behind the book
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a fictionalised version of the true story of Jimmy Governor, who, like Blackmsith, lived at a time when skin colour was more important than intelligence or ability.
Half-caste Jimmy Governor was born on the Talbragar River, near Dunedoo, New South Wales, in about 1875, and baptised in the Church of England. He worked as a horse breaker and station hand and was known as a canny police tracker. He could also read and write, which was fairly unusual even amongst white youths of his time.
It has been suggested that Governor had a dark side to his personality. Once he was caught up in a major brawl in Singleton pub, and a brick was broken over his head. Some historians believe this serious blow might later have been responsible for moods of depression into which he sometimes lapsed.
In 1898 he challenged the code of the times by marrying a sixteen-year-old white woman called Ethel Page. Many people, both black and white, believed he had broken an unwritten rule about mixed marriages. Others felt he had married ‘beneath’ him by forming an attachment to a woman of reputedly low intelligence.
In early 1900 Jimmy Governor was working, and living with his wife and their baby, on the Mawbey farm in Breelong, a small town near Gilgandra. Jimmy’s brother Joe and other members of his extended family, including Jacky Underwood, arrived and set up camp. Tribal law obligated Jimmy, who was being paid in wages and rations, to provide for his relatives who were not working. Because he was only being given rations for two people, this must have caused considerable strain for Jimmy and Ethel. They were also being subjected to racial abuse and taunts by the Mawbey family.
In July Jimmy began arguing with John Mawbey over the quality of his work and the supply of food. On 20 July tensions came to a head when Ethel was insulted by the Mawbeys, and Jimmy and others from his camp exploded, attacking and killing five women and children at the Mawbey homestead.
Jacky Underwood was caught shortly afterwards and eventually hanged for his part in the murders. But Joe and Jimmy escaped and set out to exact revenge on those Jimmy felt had wronged him in the past. They raged across rural northern New South Wales for ninety-nine days, terrorising communities with their violent attacks. Four more people were killed and many isolated huts and villages robbed.
In October 1900 the Governor brothers were formally outlawed and a reward of £1000 was offered for their capture. Seven days later, after what is still known as the biggest manhunt in Australia’s history, Joe was killed in a dramatic gun battle near Singleton, and his head was removed for ‘scientific’ study. Shortly afterwards, Jimmy was captured by a group of eight civilians near Wingham. He was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol on 14 January 1901, after the celebrations for the Federation of Australia were completed.