Release of twenty Aboriginal prisoners from gaol

Date: 23 Nov 1840
Event type: imprisonment; release
Direct violence: No
Twenty Aboriginal people who had been confined in gaol were set at liberty on Monday last.

People involved

  • Major Samuel Lettsom — British Army officer; temporary commander, NSW Mounted Police detachment — Port Phillip District, NSW, Britain
  • Yabbi (aka Billy Hamilton, Yabbee) — Ngurungaeta, Resistance leader and diplomat — Taungurung, Kulin Nation

Sources

  • Port Phillip. Australasian Chronicle (Sydney, NSW : 1839 - 1843), Thursday 26 November 1840, page 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31729969
  • PORT PHILLIP. Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), Thursday 26 November 1840, page 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12866707

Event mentions

  • Release of twenty Aboriginal prisoners from gaol
    26 May 1840 – 26 Nov 1840 — imprisonment; release
    Twenty Aboriginal people who had been confined in gaol were set at liberty on Monday last.
    People: Twenty of the aborigines
    Source: Port Phillip. Australasian Chronicle (Sydney, NSW : 1839 - 1843), Thursday 26 November 1840, page 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31729969
  • Discharge and retention of Aboriginal prisoners at the gaol
    26 May 1840 – 26 Nov 1840 — release; imprisonment
    Twenty Aboriginal people were discharged from the gaol under the warrant of Major Lettsom, and ten were retained.
    People: Major Lettsom | twenty of the blacks | ten were retained | Billy Hamilton
    Source: PORT PHILLIP. Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), Thursday 26 November 1840, page 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12866707