Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 - 1908), Friday 22 November 1861, page 4


EXECUTION OF BLACK HARRY. (From the Maitland Mercury.) On Wednesday morning the aboriginal Harry suffered the extreme penalty of the law, at the gaol, East Maitland, for the murder of Mrs. Mills. The execution took place in presence of Mr. Beverley, who attended as acting deputy sheriff, Dr. Wilton, surgeon of the gaol, Mr. Day, the police magistrate, all the available police, and about twenty of the townspeople. We understand that the miserable man made no statement to the officials of the gaol; but some words passed between him and Dean O'Connel, who attended him, and it was thought that he was in prayer. His behaviour was firm, but free from bravado. A gentleman, on the truthfulness of whose word we place full reliance, has communicated to us several important disclosures which Black Harry made to him during frequent visits to his cell, which he paid in course of the last few weeks. Harry said the tomahawk which he took out with him on the morning of the tragedy was not the same as that shown in court; it was a sharp new one, which he had ground that morning. He said that after making fire and roasting the opossum, he lit his pipe and commenced to smoke, when Tommy (the boy who accompanied him) said, "Let me have smoke." Harry refused to allow him, saying, " Do you want smoke, you scamp?" The boy was displeased, and called Harry "a sweep, a black devil, and a cannibal." Harry shook his tomahawk at the boy, and said, "If you'll call me that again, I'll hit you," but the boy replied. "You aint game, you black cannibal." (We give the exact words) Harry, in describing this, pointed to his forehead, saying, "That made me feel in a bad temper," and he struck the boy with the tomahawk On receiving'the blow, the boy fell down, and im-mediately after tried to raise himself, and looked hard at Harry but fell back again. Harry, think-ing he was badly hurt, but not fatally, thought he would go and tell phis mother. As he approached, Mrs. Mills saw him coming alone, and asked him "Where is Tommy?" Harry replied, "I've hit him; I think he is killed." Mrs. Mills then ran into the hut, and took a pannikin of boiling water out of a pot on the fire, in which beef was being boiled for dinner, and, coming outside with it, threw it over Harry, scalding him severely on the thigh. This so enraged him that he immediately "fetched her a blow" with the tomahawk, when she screamed out and fell down. Harry solemnly declared to the last that he did not again touch her. He said she attempted once or twice to rise, but could not. The little girl, when Harry approached the hut, was playing about the door, but when the murder was committed she ran out crying. Harry now made up his mind to go away altogether, and searched in the hut for money, breaking open several boxes, but found none, so he had to content himself with a watch, a gun, a flask of powder, and some provisions. At a short distance from the hut he heard the little girl crying in the bush, and going to her he wanted to take her back, but she refused to go. Harry said, "Well, Mary, I'll take you to Tommy" (her brother), and brought her to the place where he had left him, but he could not find him. She then begged him to take her to her father, and Harry went some distance with the object of meeting him, but did not see him. Harry and the child camped in the bush that night. He said that during the night the little girl cried a good deal.

After that (our informant did not ascertain the exact time) Harry took the girl to a Chinaman's hut, and asked the Chinaman if he would take care of her; the Chinaman said "yes," but she cried bitterly, and would not stop with him Harry said he was vexed that he could not get rid of the child. He next took her to a station, where he thought a woman lived, but when he got to the hut the place was all shut up, and there was no one there. He then intended to go to another station with her, but it came on wet weather and he made a gunyah on the side of a hill, and camped there till it was over. Harry then removed down to the creek and camped there one night. A fortnight had now elapsed since the murder was committed. At this place Harry made a fire and put on some water to boil for tea. He was lying down, watching it, when the little girl caught hold of one of the sticks in the fire, and moving it, upset the billy with the water. Harry said he was not pleased with her for doing so, and beat her a little, for which she cried a little, but not much. He told her at the same time that if she would not stop at the next station he took her to "he would kill her as he had killed her mother." Harry said he was afraid that in conse-quence of his beating her and saying this to her she would leave him and be lost in the bush; and that he told her, if she did leave him, to go along down the creek, and she would come to a station. Next morning, when he woke, he told the girl to get up and gather some sticks to make a fire. She went, and in a short time brought him some in her hands; he said that was not enough, and told her to gather more, and she went again to do so. Harry said he then lay down and covered his head over with a blanket. After thinking she had been a long time gone, he got up and looked round, but could not see her. He called her, but there was no answer. He searched about a long time for her tracks, but the grass was high, and there were a number of wallabies' tracks all round the place, so that he could not find them. Harry said he never saw anything more of the little girl. He described the place as being near a station belonging to one Berrington (or same such name). Harry freely confessed to the other enormities with which he was charged. He also confessed to shooting a German woman, on a station on the M'Intyre River, seven years ago. He said that he was out shooting, when he came to the hut where the woman was and asked her for some dinner, but she refused, and he mur-dered her. On a subsequent occasion he said that he escaped from gaol at Moreton Bay, dragged a boy off a horse, and rode it till it was knocked up, after which he took a racehorse out of a paddock, saddled it, and never halted till he had reached his tribe on the M'Intyre. He was retaken, and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in Darlinghurst gaol. Our readers may recollect that an aboriginal gave some information to the pursuers of Harry, tending to put them on his track. This aboriginal belonged to the Namoi tribe, and, as is usual in such cases, Harry very justly imagined that his tribe (the M'Intyre blacks) would take the first opportunity of avenging his death upon the informer. We believe, however, that Harry, a few days since, sent for one of his tribe, and said he had forgiven everyone, and bade him tell the tribe that they must not injure anyone on his saccount. After the execution, one of these aboriginals stood at the foot of the scaffold weeping, and holding Harry's shoes in his hand. We have been informed that Harry's manner during a few days prior to his execution, became remark-ably mild and docile, and that he even expressed himself more willing to die than to live. We believe he received the rite of confirmation on Tuesday.