Mathinna biography of christopher

Indigenous Tasmanian girl

Mathinna (c.1835 – 1 September 1852) was an Aboriginal Tasmanian girl, who was kidnapped, adopted and later abandoned by the Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Sir John Franklin and his wife Lady Jane Franklin.

Early life

Mathinna was born as Mary at the Wybalenna Aboriginal Establishment on Flinders Island around the year 1835. Her father was Towterer, an exiled leader of the Ninine tribe originally from south-west Tasmania, and her mother was Wongerneep.

Both were captured by George Augustus Robinson, the Chief Protector of Aborigines, in 1833, and sent to Wybalenna as part of the policy of removing all of the Aboriginal people from mainland Van Diemen's Land, later known as Tasmania.^[1]

Lady Jane Franklin requests a "black boy"

In 1837 Sir John Franklin was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land for a term of four years.^[2]

A year later, Sir John Franklin's wife, Lady Jane Franklin requeste