[The following is in regards to the treatment of the body of the last living male of the native Tasmanians, by British doctors who wanted to study his bones for supposed scientific gain. The man’s name was William Lanney, and he was just 34 when he died. As he was the last male of the native population known to exist, during his lifetime he was jokingly referred to as King Billy.]
Lanney’s death precipitated a scramble by two august rival organizations – London’s Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal Society of Tasmania – for the prize of his physical remains, and it was the former who gained the initial advantage.
With her urgent invitation to tea, the wife of Dr. William Crowther managed to lure the house surgeon away from the mortuary in which Lanney’s body had been deposited. She had thus provided her husband, who was acting as unofficial agent for the London institute, with a golden opportunity to seize the honours. Crowther and his son gained entry to the locked morgue and were watched through the keyhole by an intimidated gatekeeper as they attended the body. Later it was revealed that Lanney had been decapitated and his skull had been removed, while that of a recently deceased European schoolmaster had been rammed crudely into the skin peeled off Lanney’s head. Returning a short while later, the house surgeon, Dr. Stokell, realized he had been the victim of a gruesome plot and, seeking to thwart further attempts on the remaining trophies, himself removed the hands and feet for the learned body with which he was associated, the Royal Society of Tasmania.
Lanney’s funeral service had been planned for the following day, but rumours of mutilation had already begun to circulate in Hobart. Eventually these precipitated a public inspection of the coffin interior, where the body’s severed head and missing limbs bore macabre testimony to the performances of the night before. Despite the gasps of horror, however, it was decided that nothing could now be done, and in a final act of British betrayal, a Union Jack was draped over Lanney’s coffin as 120 mourners gathered to ponder his tragic end.
Unfortunately, not everyone that day had seen enough of the violated cadaver of poor King Billy. On the evening after the funeral, two rival bodies of learned gentlemen gathered to plan a final assault on the grave. This time the savants of the Royal Society got to the cemetery first, disinterred the coffin and then removed the body to complete a third session of butchery. By the time Crowther and his cronies had realized the grave was empty and had smashed down the morgue door with an axe, there were only a few scraps of flesh left. Amongst the body parts which had been taken to advance biological knowledge were William’s nose, his ears, and a part of his arm, while Dr. Stokell had secured a further piece of skin to press into scientific service – as his personal tobacco pouch.
Crowther’s defeat was almost total. For although he had bagged the ultimate body part of his skull, he was soon to be undone by the laws of physical decay. When he shipped out his prize to London wrapped in a seal skin, the smell from the whole rotting mess became so appalling it was eventually tossed overboard.
Source:
Cocker, Mark. “The Bones of King Billy.” Rivers of Blood, Rivers of Gold: Europe's Conquest of Indigenous Peoples. Grove Press, 2001. 116-17. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Ryan, The Aboriginal Tasmanians, pp. 216-17.
Further Reading:
William Lanne (also known as King Billy or William Laney)
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