Major Thomas centre with troopers of the Tenterfield detachment of the NSW Mounted Infantry Regiment
Ready Aim James Franics Thomas, the military lawyer who defended Lieutenants Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant, Peter Handcock and George Witton
In the following words of Major James Francis:
‘I was present at the burial and helped to carry them and placed the Australian flag on their grave. I have a photograph of this somewhere. It is not true as stated in Bushman and Buccaneer that the burial was not fully and properly conducted, for it was’. All that I wrote in that letter is true and much more might have been written and may yet be written for the full facts have never been made known, also I have the whole proceedings of the courts martial held at Pietersburg, correspondence etc. The whole affair is a tragedy and might form a tragedy if written for one’.
Matters of justice confront Governments in the Commonwealth. Our histories are riddled with cases of abuse of power, and remedies that seek justice, reparation and apology for injustices done’. – William Woolmore, The Bushveldt Carbineers and the Pietersburg Light Horse, 2002, p 130
The respect for law illustrates the defining principle of trial according to law, a fair hearing that defines values that embrace democratic principles. This has been the cornerstone of law revered and practised in Commonwealth jurisdictions and defined by British common law.
However, there is one case that should be singled out for particular attention that remains one of Australia’s and Britain’s most enduring military and political controversies. For 116 years, the issue of whether Lieutenants Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant and his fellow Australians, Peter Handcock and George Witton, were tried according to British law and treated fairly when convicted and sentenced for shooting Boer prisoners during the Anglo Boer War has been disputed. Since 2009, a dogged war of a legal nature has been waged by the author in an effort to persuade the British and Australian Governments to comprehensively review the case. The execution of Morant and Handcock on the 27th of February 1902 and the sentencing of Witton to life imprisonment continues to ignite passionate debate in Britain, South Africa and amongst the descendants of these men.
The brutality of an episode in British military history between 1899 and 1902 is one that many, particularly in London, would rather forget. In the midst of the Boer war, the trial of these three Australian volunteers highlighted reprehensible tactics ordered by British officers, including reprisal through summary execution as a means of prosecuting the war. It is argued that the Australians who shot 12 Boers did so while acting under orders that they believed were lawful according to Military law of 1900 issued by senior British Regular Army Officers, including the Commander In Chief, Lord Kitchener. Put simply, the accused were not afforded the rights of a person facing serious criminal charges enshrined in military law and procedure of 1902 and were denied their right of appeal to the King and to state a redress of grievance according to military law.
A focus for my career has been the study of injustices, the intriguing aspects of politics, social interactions, the abuse of power and those who have been sacrificed in the process. Thomas is one such victim and it’s the author’s mission to understand Major Thomas’ rightful place in history by understanding his endeavours and character.
Recognised or Forgotten?
Out of djpaulkom.tv generico viagra on line all the issues we all must first concentrate on such issues which are adverse and also could be dangerous. When you are not able to get erection in a natural buy viagra djpaulkom.tv way like every man get. It not only no prescription cialis cures your ED with an impressive rigid and long lasting erection which is achieved after 15 to 20 minutes before the sexual intercourse. We should all take care of ourselves and keeping healthy is the best way to avoid Visit Website levitra no prescription getting erectile dysfunction.
Major Thomas has been recognised by a few historians in various writings, essays, publications and web sites. The contrasts have fluctuated between criticism, scepticism, ignorance, understanding and respect. However, it is time to publish a book about Major Thomas.
James Francis Thomas, (1861-1942). Thomas achieved a notable reputation as a lawyer who represented ‘Breaker’ Morant – horse breaker, poet and soldier of fortune, and Handcock, and Witton, in South Africa during the Boer War. Morant and Handcock both paid the ultimate penalty on the charge of being accessories after the fact to murder, when they were both shot by a firing squad at the direction of British Commander In Chief, Lord Kitchener.
Thomas, however, had other significant parts to his life for he was a lawyer, local historian, and citizen and contributed in major ways to the community of Tenterfield. It is challenging to summarise and assess the achievements of such an active, involved, and colourful character, bachelor, poet, lawyer, soldier, war reporter, newspaper owner and editor, cheese maker, grazier, gardener, local historian, bankrupt, resident of Long Bay Gaol for twenty months, lobbyist for Federation and for a new State of New England, and notable citizen.
It is not so much an irony as a stubborn reality that one of life’s main challenges is to find an outlet for our noblest energies and a home as it were for our best qualities of character. Well placed, these can lead onto success, misplaced, on to tragedy. Thomas had some fine qualities, in his young adulthood; he was poetic, patriotic, and professional. He had compassion and generosity for battlers. He was buoyant and enthusiastic, a man of many words and lots of action. He supported Federation and later the formation of a new State of New England and he wrote a history of Tenterfield. He promoted the erection of the Boer War and Great War Memorials and the War Memorial Hall in Tenterfield, New South Wales . He was articulate, energetic, and public spirited. Two episodes in his life, both related to court cases, combined to destroy his idealism and so his life plummeted downwards and he died at eighty-one, a lonely, malnourished, and stigmatised old bachelor, at the end surviving on his own home-grown raw onions and eking out a miserable in the shadows of Tenterfield which had once celebrated his position as a community leader.
Who was Thomas and has his life been recognised in Australian folk lore? Has his journey in one of the most controversial aspects of Australian military history been recognised? My book (published in November 2018), explores the history of a small town county solicitor from Tenterfield whose dogged determination in legal advocacy for his clients pitted him against the might and dominance of the British Military and Government in a place and time so far from Australia and during a war as Australia emerged from colonialism to nationhood.
My book reveals the history of James Francis Thomas and ensures he is recognised for his tenacity, endurance, community leadership and contribution to Australian life.
Enquiries about purchasing the book, contact me by email: jamesunkles@hotmail.com