Henry James O'Farrell
| Henry James O'Farrell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1833 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died |
21 April 1868 Darlinghurst Gaol, Sydney, Australia |
| Occupation | Produce merchant |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Conviction(s) | Attempted murder of Prince Alfred |
Henry James O'Farrell (1833 – 21 April 1868) was the first person to attempt a political assassination in Australia. On 12 March 1868, he shot and wounded HRH The Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria.
O'Farrell was born in Arran Quay, Dublin, Ireland, the youngest child of William O'Farrell, a butcher. The family moved to Liverpool, then later migrated to Victoria. Henry O'Farrell was an alcoholic, and had been released from a lunatic asylum immediately before the attempted assassination. O'Farrell had briefly been employed by his brother, a Melbourne solicitor, who had offices in Ballarat, and is therefore sometimes described as a law clerk. But O'Farrell's most recent occupation was selling fruit and vegetables in Ballarat's Haymarket.
In 1868, Prince Alfred, then 23 years old, went on a world tour, which included the first royal visit to Australia. There were planned stops in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and many other places. On 12 March, the Prince attended the Sailor's Picnic in the harbourside suburb of Clontarf, New South Wales in Sydney.
O'Farrell, aged 35 at the time, came up behind the Prince and fired a revolver into his back. This outraged the attending crowd, and O'Farrell was nearly lynched on the spot before police arrested him. The Prince was shot in the back just to the right of the spine. The wound was serious, but not fatal. The Prince was hospitalised for two weeks, and cared for by six nurses trained by Florence Nightingale, who had arrived in Australia that February under Matron Lucy Osburn.
The attack also caused great embarrassment in the colony, and led to a wave of anti-Irish sentiment, directed at all Irish people, including Protestant Loyalists. The next day, 20,000 people attended an "indignation meeting" to protest "yesterday's outrage". O'Farrell first claimed, falsely, to be under orders from the Fenian Brotherhood. Although anti-British and anti-Royalist, he later denied being a Fenian.
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