Jimmy Governor

Jimmy Governor (1875 – 18 January 1901) was one of the Governor brothers (the other brother was called Joe), two Indigenous Australian men who committed a series of murders in the Central West region of New South Wales around the turn of the twentieth century.

Governor had held various jobs, including that of an Aboriginal tracker, and he was continually discriminated against. He married a white woman, who had to endure criticism from other people for having married an Aboriginal man.

In April 1900, Governor was employed by John Mawbey, fencing the Mawbey's property at Breelong, near Gilgandra. Jimmy Governor wanted money from Mawbey, but the latter would not give any more until the contract upon which Governor was engaged was finished. Jimmy and his friend Jacky Underwood (aka Charlie Brown) murdered most of the members of the Mawbey family, including the children, on the night of 20 July. A surviving witness, a little boy, raised the alarm, resulting in a large manhunt of over 100 constables and 12 trackers. Jacky Underwood was quickly caught, but Jimmy teamed up with his brother Joe, and the two fled Breelong, committing a further four murders as they moved east towards the coast.

Jimmy Governor was shot in the mouth on 13 October, and was subsequently captured on 27 October 1900, several months after the massacre. His brother, Joe Governor was shot dead four days later "outside of Singleton". Convicted of murder, Jimmy was hanged the following year. Jacky Underwood was hanged at Dubbo gaol on 14 January 1901.

The police cell in which Jimmy Governor was detained can be seen in Wingham. This cell is on display at the Manning Valley Historical Society Museum opposite Central Park and The Log in the centre of Wingham.

The life of Jimmy Governor was the basis for Thomas Keneally's novel The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.