William Lanne (‘King Billy’): Remembrance and the ‘Last Tasmanian Aboriginal Man’ Myth

3 March 1869 · Remembrance

Content note: This page names deceased Aboriginal people and discusses colonial violence, racist classifications and the mistreatment of ancestral remains. Linked historical sources contain racist language. Please choose whether and when to continue.

Remembering William Lanne

William Lanne, also known as William Laney and “King Billy”, died in Hobart on 3 March 1869. This remembrance recognises his life and challenges the false claim that he was the last Tasmanian Aboriginal man. His death did not mark the disappearance of Aboriginal men, families or community in Tasmania.

A contemporary Launceston Examiner report published on 27 March 1869 records his death on the third day of that month. This calendar uses the date of his death, not the later newspaper publication date.

A life beyond the colonial label

The Companion to Tasmanian History describes Lanne’s family being captured in 1842 and taken to Wybalenna on Flinders Island. His parents died, and he later spent time at Hobart’s Orphan School before working on whaling ships.

The same account records his close relationship with Truganini and his concern for people at Oyster Cove, including a complaint to the Colonial Secretary about inadequate rations. These details recognise him as a working seaman and a person concerned for others, rather than simply a figure defined by colonial claims about his supposed status as the “last”.

Why the “last Aboriginal man” claim is false

Colonial writers and institutions used racial categories based on supposed blood purity to decide whose Aboriginal identity counted. That framework excluded surviving people and their descendants from accounts of Aboriginal Tasmania.

Stefan Petrow’s historical research discusses how racial science disregarded Aboriginal people of mixed descent living in the Bass Strait islands while seeking bodies categorised as racially pure. These classifications helped sustain a story of disappearance that denied living families and continuing community.

This article rejects that framework. It does not try to identify a different “last” man or rank people by ancestry. Aboriginal Tasmanian identity, survival and continuity cannot be reduced to the colonial categories imposed on Lanne and others.

Dignity and the treatment of ancestral remains

After Lanne’s death, his remains were mutilated and taken by men associated with colonial medicine and scientific collecting. The historical sources document a struggle over possession of his body. That history concerns consent, dignity, racism and institutional power; it does not need graphic retelling to be understood.

His life should remain central to remembrance. Learning about the treatment of his remains should also recognise the work of Aboriginal people seeking respect for ancestors and control over how their histories are represented.

Reflecting and learning

Compare a historical “last man” description with material about contemporary Aboriginal Tasmania. What assumptions made surviving people invisible in the earlier account? How can a biography recognise a person’s work, relationships and advocacy without repeating the categories used to erase their community?

The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre’s current programs provide a starting point for recognising continuing community life. This is an individual remembrance within that continuing history.

Sources and further reading

• Launceston Examiner, 27 March 1869: contemporary death report — National Library of Australia / Trove
• William Lanne(y): biography — Companion to Tasmanian History, University of Tasmania
• The Last Man: The mutilation of William Lanne in 1869 and its aftermath — Stefan Petrow, Aboriginal History, 1997
• William Lanne: portrait and biographical record — National Portrait Gallery
• Contemporary community programs and resources — Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre

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