Mathinna

Mathinna ( – 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.

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.

A year later, Sir John Franklin's wife, Lady Jane Franklin requested George Augustus Robinson to send her a "black boy" from Wybalenna along with other curiosities such as snakes. Robinson sent her a nine-year-old boy named Timemendic, whom Lady Jane renamed Timeo and handed over to her step-daughter Eleanor Franklin. He was trained as a household servant but was deemed too "idle and disobedient" and the Franklins attempted to offload him to the Hobart Orphan School. However, Timemendic was refused a place there and was sent to work on a government ship as a deckhand.

Mathinna is believed to have been buried in the Oyster Cove Aboriginal cemetery. Her skull was determined to have been among the dozen or so ransacked from that burial ground in the summer of 1908-09 by Sir William Edward Hamilton Crowther and his friend Wendell Inglis Clark. The skulls were stolen as part of program led by eugenicist and professor of anatomy at the University of Melbourne, Dr Richard Berry, to collect Aboriginal skulls for the university's anatomy museum.

Legacy The town of Mathinna is named after her, as is the mushroom Entoloma mathinnae.

Cultural depictions of Mathinna Mathinna's life has inspired or been mentioned in several literary and dramatic works. These include:

1954: Mathinna, a ballet production by Laurel Martyn, one of the first Australian-made works on Australian themes 1967: Children's historical fiction book titled Mathinna's People by Nan Chauncy 2000: Radio play (BBC, ABC) In Her Father's House, by Carmel Bird 2005: Lady Franklin's Revenge, by Ken McGoogan, a non-fiction work about the wife of John Franklin inspired by the Laurel Martyn work 2008: Novel titled Wanting by Richard Flanagan 2020: Novel titled The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline 2022: A doll given to Mathinna and a pincushion she had made while living with the Franklins were taken away from her in 1843 and stored in England. In 2022 they were returned to Australia and put on display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery as part of the taypani milaythina-tu: Return to Country exhibition. 2024: Mathinna's story, as well as information about her doll and pincushion and their return to Australia, was the subject of an episode in Series 2 of Stuff the British Stole – a coproduction of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.