The grave of Helena Kerz

Girilambone
Tiny township on the Mitchell Highway
Girilambone is located 666 km north of Sydney and is 195 m above sea level. The accepted definition of the name of the town was that it was an Aboriginal word meaning 'place of many stars'. This should not be accepted as authoritive as it was an explanation provided by the NSW Railways Department when it built the station which was the rationale of the town in the late nineteenth century.

The traveller rushing up the Mitchell Highway from Nyngan to Bourke would be forgiven for almost missing Girilambone. Located 45 km north from Nyngan and 159 km south of Bourke it is little more than a Shell garage, a long disused Railway Station and a few buildings fading into the distance. Yet, if you take the turnoff to the town, cross over the old railway line and head south towards the General Store, you will be heading towards a sad footnote to one of Australia's most famous murder cases.

Two decades ago few people would have known the story of Jimmy Governor. Since then but the combined efforts of Thomas Keneally and Fred Schepisi have made the story of Jimmy Governor or, as Keneally preferred to call it, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, a tale most Australians know. It is the story of an Aborigine who married a white woman, tried to meet whites on equal terms, but was snubbed such that he murdered his tormentors. On 20 July 1900 Governor, reputedly incensed by a snub his pregnant wife had received from the Mawbey family, took a tomahawk and accompanied by his brother Joe and a relative, Jackie Underwood, went to the Mawbey's home where he murdered Mawbey's wife, two daughters, son and the family's schoolteacher, Helena Kerz.

Things to see:  

The Grave of Helena Kerz
If you turn east at the General Store in Girilambone and take the road which is marked 'Brewarrina' and drive approximately 1 km you will see a sign to a cemetery. You have to pass through two gates to reach a tiny, lonely cemetery in the bush with signs clearly marking the denominations of the graves. In the Roman Catholic section is a grave, surrounded by other members of the family, which reads: 'In loving remembrance of our dear daughter Helena Kerz. Born 2 December 1878. Died 20 July 1900.' Her body had been brought home from Breelong so she could be buried with the rest of her family.

This tribute gives little indication of the events behind Ms Kerz's death at the hands of Jimmy Governor.

Jimmy was a part-Aborigine who had worked as a police tracker before marrying a 16-year-old white woman and obtaining a contract to erect fencing for John and Sarah Mawbey, the licensees of the Breelong Inn, near Gilgandra. A dedicated employee who wished to prove himself to white society, he was initially on good terms with his employers and their family. However, it seems that Governor's wife, who worked in the Mawbey house, was belittled for marrying an Aborigine by Mrs Mawbey and Helena Kurz, the local schoolteacher who was residing with the Mawbeys.

Whatever the contributing factors, Jimmy and Jacky Underwood confronted the women at the new Mawbey abode while all of the males were staying at the inn. Jimmy claimed that Mrs Mawbey called him 'black rubbish' and stated that he should be shot for marrying a white woman. Whatever transpired the two men went into a rage and brutally murdered Sarah Mawbey, three of her daughters and Helena Kurz with clubs and a tomahawk. Sarah's sister was also badly injured.

Jimmy, his brother Joe, and Jacky then went on a three-month, 3200-km rampage, inflicting revenge for past grievances. They murdered five more people, wounded another five, committed seven armed hold-ups and robbed 33 homes. A massive manhunt involving hundreds of policemen and trackers and 2000 volunteers failed to capture the men who ridiculed their pursuers by advertising their whereabouts and sending satiric letters to the police.

In October a 1000-pound reward was offered and later in the month they were outlawed, meaning they could be shot on sight by anybody. By the end of the month Jacky was captured, Joe was shot and killed near Singleton and Jimmy was captured by a group of farrmers near Wingham two weeks after being shot in the mouth. Jimmy and Jacky were hung in January, 1901. In his last days Jimmy sang native songs, read the Bible and blamed his wife.

General Store
The old general store, built in 1883, retains the marks on the door of an attempted robbery by bushrangers.

Accommodation
There is no accommodation available in town.