page_title: James Munro (sealer)
hierarchical_section_title: James Munro (sealer)
caption_attribution_description: English: Henry Laing: A view in Tasmania - Preservation Island, off SW corner of Cape Barren Island; view of the establishment of James Munro in centre, on broad plain, surrounded by cluster of trees. 1831 Pen and grey ink and watercolour John Lort Stokes: Discoveries in Australia. Volume 2, Chapter 13, London 1846: "I found Preservation Island inhabited by an old sealer of the name of James Monro, generally known as the King of the Eastern Straitsmen. Another man and three or four native women completed the settlement, if such a term may be applied. They lived in a few rude huts on a bleak flat, with scarce a tree near, but sheltered from the west by some low granite hills; a number of dogs, goats and fowls constituted their livestock. In this desolate place Monro had been for upwards of twenty-three years; and many others have lived in similar situations an equally long period. It is astonishing what a charm such a wild mode of existence possesses for these men, whom no consideration could induce to abandon their free, though laborious and somewhat lawless state."
context_page_description: James Munro was a British convict who was transported to Australia, and established himself as a farmer on Preservation Island, Tasmania, and community leader of the region's community of European seal hunters, known as "King of the Eastern Straits.
  Munro established himself on the island, with himself and his varying female partners being its only inhabitants. There he built structures, raised livestock, and harvested the meat and eggs of mutton birds.
  Munro was appointed local constable in 1825, and opposed George Augustus Robinson's attempts to prevent relationships between sealers and Aboriginal women. It is still disputed as to the consensuality of these relationships, with some arguing that the relationships were often voluntary and mutually beneficial, but Munro was also accused of leading sealers in raiding parties to capture Aboriginal women in 1830.
context_section_description: James Munro (c. 1779 – c. 1845) was a British convict who was transported to Australia, and established himself as a farmer on Preservation Island, Tasmania, and community leader of the region's community of European seal hunters, known as "King of the Eastern Straits.
  Munro established himself on the island, with himself and his varying female partners being its only inhabitants. There he built structures, raised livestock, and harvested the meat and eggs of mutton birds.
  Munro was appointed local constable in 1825, and opposed George Augustus Robinson's attempts to prevent relationships between sealers and Aboriginal women. It is still disputed as to the consensuality of these relationships, with some arguing that the relationships were often voluntary and mutually beneficial, but Munro was also accused of leading sealers in raiding parties to capture Aboriginal women in 1830.
caption: A view in Tasmania - Preservation Island, off SW corner of Cape Barren Island; view of the establishment of James Munro in centre, on broad plain, surrounded by cluster of trees. 1831 Pen and grey ink and watercolour(Henry Laing, 1831)
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