White woman of Gippsland facts for kids

The white woman of Gippsland was a story about a European woman who people thought was being held by the Aboriginal Kurnai people. This happened in the Gippsland area of Australia in the 1840s. Many people searched for her, but no one ever found proof she was real.

There were different stories about who she was. One popular story said she was one of two women on a ship called the Britannia. This ship crashed on Ninety Mile Beach in 1841. The women were the captain's wife and another woman going to Sydney to marry her fiancé, Mr Frazer. Another story said she was a mother who ran away from her mean husband with her baby girl. She supposedly found safety with local Aboriginal people.

How the Story Started

One idea is that the story started when some early European settlers found an Aboriginal camp near Port Albert. The people had left the camp quickly. The settlers found some women's clothes and a towel. The towel was being used to block the end of a canoe. They also found a heart shape drawn on the ground. Another story says the heart shape was near Sale. It was carved into both the ground and a tree. A farm called Heart Station was later named after this carving.

The Search for the Woman

European settlers asked the government for help. This led to searches by police and native police. One search party left special handkerchiefs for the woman to find. These handkerchiefs had a message in English and Gaelic. People thought she might be from the Scottish highlands. The message said:

WHITE WOMAN! – There are fourteen armed men, partly White and partly Black, in search of you. Be cautious; and rush to them when you see them near you. Be particularly on the look out every dawn of morning, for it is then that the party are in hopes of rescuing you. The white settlement is towards the setting sun.

For about two years, Aboriginal people in the area were hunted. People thought they had taken the woman. A boy named Thackewarren from the Warrigul people was captured. He was taught English and used as an interpreter. He was told to tell his people that the white woman must be found.

The Truth Revealed

The Commissioner of Crown Lands, Mr. Tyer, was happy when the Aboriginal people promised to return her. On the day they were supposed to bring her, everyone got ready. But to everyone's surprise, the Aboriginal people arrived with a carved wooden bust of a woman. This was the figurehead from the ship Britannia.

This figurehead might have been the source of the rumours all along. The Aboriginal people had it, and over time, the story changed. The wooden figurehead became a real woman in the telling.

See also

• Eliza Fraser
• Gippsland massacres
• Missing white woman syndrome