1868: Henry James O’Farrell, would-be assassin
April 21st, 2009 Headsman
On this date in 1868, the first Australian known to have attempted a political assassination received the short drop and sudden stop that often constitutes the wages of that distinguished profession.
It was March 12 — less than six weeks before — that Henry James O’Farrell, Dublin-born alcoholic vegetable merchant fresh from the asylum, had shot the visiting Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh at a picnic in the Sydney suburb of Clontarf.
Someone was smiling down on Alfred that day, because the shot was deflected by a metal buckle and inflicted only a flesh wound. Onlookers tackled the assailant before he could finish the job.
O’Farrell claimed affiliation with the Irish nationalist Fenian brotherhood, which inflamed anti-Irish passions (some cynically whipped up by New South Wales Prime Minister Henry Parkes). Paranoia redoubled when a Fenian assassin killed a Canadian politician a few weeks later.*
Under the circumstances, it was a hopeless struggle for O’Farrell’s attorney, who strove to demonstrate (probably accurately) that his charge was not so much a terrorist as a madman. Even the Duke of Edinburgh’s own intercession for clemency did not secure it, eager as the populace was to make an offering of its loyalty.**
* Irish convicts transported to Australia, especially after the 1798 uprising, formed a significant demographic among early New South Wales settlers. (Source)
** Another offering was a still-extant hospital in Sydney named for Prince Alfred.
On this day..
- 1976: Bayere Moussa, Niger putschist - 2020
- 1831: Gesche Margarethe Gottfried, the Angel of Bremen - 2019
- 1533: The witch of Schiltach - 2018
- 1857: The mutineer Jemadar Issuree Pandy - 2017
- 1895: A quintuple lynching in Greenville, Alabama - 2016
- 1897: William Haas and William Wiley - 2015
- 1975: Sisowath Sirik Matak, Cambodian prince - 2014
- 1913: Bonnot Gang members, anarchist illegalists - 2013
- 1945: The women of the Endphaseverbrechen at Neuengamme - 2012
- Themed Set: The Death Rattle of the Third Reich - 2012
- 1988: Stanislaw Czabanski, the last in Poland - 2011
- 1597: Severyn Nalyvaiko - 2010
- 1792: Tiradentes, for a Brazilian republic - 2008
Entry Filed under: 19th Century,Assassins,Attempted Murder,Australia,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Diminished Capacity,Disfavored Minorities,England,Execution,Hanged,History,Notable for their Victims,Occupation and Colonialism,Racial and Ethnic Minorities,Terrorists,Treason
Tags: 1860s, 1868, clontarf, fenians, henry james o'farrell, nationalism, prince alfred, royal prince alfred hospital, sydney
