The first incident of Europeans being tried for murdering Aborigines

The first incident of Europeans being tried for murdering Aborigines takes place following the murders of two teenage Aboriginal boys in the Hawkesbury district. Five men appear in Court and after four days of evidence and deliberation the prisoners are found guilty. A despatch from England later relays the news that the five men charged with murder are acquitted. It also conveys that the natives are in future to be treated as humanely as possible (Nichols, Pictorial History: Hawkesbury, p5).