Edward Eyre, Race and Colonial Governance
Edward Eyre, a mid nineteenth-century explorer, colonial administrator and later colonial governor, is remembered in Australia as the enlightened defender of Aboriginal rights. In New Zealand, it is simply recalled that he did not get on with Governor Grey. In England and the Caribbean, he is the reviled 'butcher of Jamaica'. In 1865, in response to an alleged rebellion in Morant Bay, he declared martial law. Over 600 'floggings', 1000 homes incinerated, and 439 deaths was the result. This book explores Eyre's actions through his perceptions of the colonial encounter with local populations.