WHO REALLY WAS EYRE? In every way Eyre was great, but also an enigma. This book tackles who he really was as much as taking you along with him in remarkable explorations and adventures. But how can you account for his extraordinarily positive relationships with Aborigines? Imagine yourself as the Aboriginal warrior named Pulcanta who had been captured during a bloody skirmish with colonials. You are being carted to Adelaide by the victors, who have manacled you. There is no time to mourn the friends and relatives you lost during the battle: your yearning to be free is what consumes you now. The cart’s wheels squeal as it lumbers along the cliff top high above the lazy Murray River. Without warning, the longing to escape overpowers your logic and you leap from the cart, tumbling through the air and crashing down into the water far below. Shocked policemen grabbed their carbines and a hail of lead poured down after Pulcanta as he struggled in the water, wounding him in three places. He was bandaged up and placed back in the dray before being taken to Adelaide, where against all expectations he recovered. Charles Sturt described Pulcanta as “the most fearsome-looking warrior I had ever seen and who hated the colonials.” Yet Pulcanta declared later to Sturt, Daniel Brock and others that Edward John Eyre had caused him to now love the white man! How had Eyre wrought this amazing change of attitude in a man so filled with hate? Might we learn some principles about how to bridge the relational gulf that still exists between many Aborigines and other races by reading this book about Eyre’s life and worldview? READ ON!

Papers of and concerning E.J. Eyre, explorer, magistrate and Protector of Aborigines, and later Governor-in-Chief of Jamaica, comprising letters written to Eyre (1844-1901); letters written by Eyre (1835-1901) including letters to Edward Bate Scott, Sub-Protector of Aborigines at Moorundie; testimonials and recommendations in Eyre's favour (1856-1857); and miscellaneous papers (1771-1928). Also includes letters written to Mrs E.J. Eyre (1851-1902) and a ticket to the dinner given on his return from his 1841 expedition (series 21). Also includes a photograph of E.J. Eyre (same as B 2823) but with a pasted on slip, which reads 'Yours very sincerely Edw. John Eyre'. On reverse is 'R. Kyffin Thomas Recd from Mr Eyre with letter dated 9/9/01'.

"In 1839 Eyre made two expeditions, from Adelaide to Lake Torrens, and from Port Lincoln to Streaky Bay. In June 1840 he set out on his most notable expedition, westward from Adelaide along the Great Australian Bight, with one white companion (Baxter) and three natives. Baxter was murdered by two of the natives, and Eyre and the remaining Aborigine reached Albany only after a desperate journey. Eyre includes in his relations considerable valuable material on the Aborigines and their habits". (Ferguson).

Edward Eyre, the mid-nineteenth century explorer, colonial administrator, and later colonial governor, it remembered as the enlightened defender of Aboriginal rights in Australia, and as the reviled 'butcher of Jamaica' in England and the Caribbean. In 1865. Eyre declared martial law in response to an alleged rebellion in Morant Bay, Jamaica, resulting in 439 deaths, over 600 'floggings', and over 1000 homes incinerated. This book explores Eyre's actions through his perceptions of the colonial encounter. It looks at the distinctive colonial cultures in which he lived and works, and the boarder imperial obligations that framed his administrations. Eyre's interventions in Australia and Jamaica reflected a correlation between race, resistance, and repression that characterised British colonialism. Britain's interest in establishing settler colonies is discussed using New Zealand as a case study. Eyre spent six years as Lieutenant-Governor in New Zealand and was responsible for the development of administrative structures and the purchase of Maori lands for settlement.

Biography of Eyre, explorer and administrator ; Protector of Aboriginal people at Moorundie in South Australia where he helped establish good relations between the Aboriginal people and the European settlers ; later disgraced by his brutal treatment of Jamaicans during his twelve years as Governor of the West Indies.