Harry Harbord ('Breaker') Morant's Charge Sheets for larceny of pigs and a saddle, Charters Towers
Queensland State Archives Image ID DR2804
An immigrant Englishman who claimed to be the illegitimate son of Admiral Sir Digby Morant, Harry Harbord Morant acquired an outstanding reputation as a horsebreaker throughout inland Australia. He was also a minor bush balladist who contributed to a number of leading journals, including the Sydney Bulletin. In April 1884, Morant was charged with larceny at Charters Towers, both cases being discharged when the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case. This was the beginning of a conflict with authority which would raise Morant to folkloric status and question the constitutional rights of Australians serving in British military forces. When the South African war broke out in 1899 Morant enlisted in the South Australian Volunteers and sailed from Adelaide in early 1900. The following year he received a commission in the British irregular force known as the Bush Veldt Carbineers which was largely composed of colonial troops. After the death in action of his commanding officer, Captain Percy Hunt, Morant took temporary charge of his unit and it was during his period of command that a British Court of Inquiry began investigating allegations that Boer prisoners had been executed. In January-February 1902 a British court-martial found Morant and two other Australians, Peter Handcock and George Whitton, guilty of murder, with all three being sentenced to death. Whitton’s sentence was soon afterwards commuted to life imprisonment, but Morant and Handcock were shot by firing squad on 27 February 1902. When news of the executions reached Australia there was considerable outrage, and debate over the issue reached the highest level of government. Their execution later influenced the inclusion of Section 98 in the Australian Defence Act, which stipulated that no Australian serviceman could be tried by a ‘foreign’ court-martial.
Harry Harbord ('Breaker') Morant's Charge Sheets for larceny of pigs and a saddle, Charters Towers
Queensland State Archives Image ID DR2804
An immigrant Englishman who claimed to be the illegitimate son of Admiral Sir Digby Morant, Harry Harbord Morant acquired an outstanding reputation as a horsebreaker throughout inland Australia. He was also a minor bush balladist who contributed to a number of leading journals, including the Sydney Bulletin. In April 1884, Morant was charged with larceny at Charters Towers, both cases being discharged when the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case. This was the beginning of a conflict with authority which would raise Morant to folkloric status and question the constitutional rights of Australians serving in British military forces. When the South African war broke out in 1899 Morant enlisted in the South Australian Volunteers and sailed from Adelaide in early 1900. The following year he received a commission in the British irregular force known as the Bush Veldt Carbineers which was largely composed of colonial troops. After the death in action of his commanding officer, Captain Percy Hunt, Morant took temporary charge of his unit and it was during his period of command that a British Court of Inquiry began investigating allegations that Boer prisoners had been executed. In January-February 1902 a British court-martial found Morant and two other Australians, Peter Handcock and George Whitton, guilty of murder, with all three being sentenced to death. Whitton’s sentence was soon afterwards commuted to life imprisonment, but Morant and Handcock were shot by firing squad on 27 February 1902. When news of the executions reached Australia there was considerable outrage, and debate over the issue reached the highest level of government. Their execution later influenced the inclusion of Section 98 in the Australian Defence Act, which stipulated that no Australian serviceman could be tried by a ‘foreign’ court-martial.