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A Very Secret Trade
Author of the bestselling Truganini, Cassandra Pybus has uncovered one of the darkest and best kept secrets in Australian colonial history.
In the nineteenth century, collectors and museum curators in Europe were fascinated by the antipodean colony of Tasmania. They cultivated contacts in the colony who could supply them with exotic specimens, including skeletons of the thylacine and the platypus. But they were not just interested in animals and plants. The belief that the original people of the colony were an utterly unique race and facing possible extinction had the European scientific community scrambling for human exhibits.
Many eminent colonial figures were involved in this clandestine trade, among them four colonial governors, several key politicians and even Lady Jane Franklin. In Britain, Sir Joseph Banks, the Duke of Newcastle and Professor Thomas Huxley were among many eminent men who solicited human specimens from the colony. Worse still, the men responsible for the care and protection of the few original people who had survived the ravages of disease and the infamous Black Wars were prominent in the trade.
Cassandra Pybus has uncovered one of the darkest and most carefully hidden secrets in Australia's colonial history. It is time we all knew the truth.
'Truth-telling is every Australian's responsibility. Reading this book will help you to walk with us.' - Thomas Mayo
'A deeply ethical, and deeply disturbing, historical reckoning - a model of truth-telling for white Australians. In spell-binding prose, Cassandra Pybus reveals the continuing legacies of colonial dispossession ...' - Professor Warwick Anderson
'Exhaustively researched and arrestingly told' - Professor Mark McKenna
In the nineteenth century, collectors and museum curators in Europe were fascinated by the antipodean colony of Tasmania. They cultivated contacts in the colony who could supply them with exotic specimens, including skeletons of the thylacine and the platypus. But they were not just interested in animals and plants. The belief that the original people of the colony were an utterly unique race and facing possible extinction had the European scientific community scrambling for human exhibits.
Many eminent colonial figures were involved in this clandestine trade, among them four colonial governors, several key politicians and even Lady Jane Franklin. In Britain, Sir Joseph Banks, the Duke of Newcastle and Professor Thomas Huxley were among many eminent men who solicited human specimens from the colony. Worse still, the men responsible for the care and protection of the few original people who had survived the ravages of disease and the infamous Black Wars were prominent in the trade.
Cassandra Pybus has uncovered one of the darkest and most carefully hidden secrets in Australia's colonial history. It is time we all knew the truth.
'Truth-telling is every Australian's responsibility. Reading this book will help you to walk with us.' - Thomas Mayo
'A deeply ethical, and deeply disturbing, historical reckoning - a model of truth-telling for white Australians. In spell-binding prose, Cassandra Pybus reveals the continuing legacies of colonial dispossession ...' - Professor Warwick Anderson
'Exhaustively researched and arrestingly told' - Professor Mark McKenna
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About the author
Cassandra Pybus
27 books21 followersCassandra Pybus is ARC Professorial Fellow in the School of History and Classics at the University of Tasmania. She is the author of many books including Community of Thieves and The Devil and James McAuley, winner of the 2000 Adelaide Festival Award for non-fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 1, 2024
Excellent in every way, meticulous research, descriptive, the facts are there.
What history we have. Thank you Cassandra
What history we have. Thank you Cassandra
August 10, 2025
Impeccably researched and sensitively told - incredibly tough read
January 15, 2025
As with any history books there are alot of names, relationships and dates to put into context. This book felt like mostly lists of that nature. An important topic, but a bit dry.
June 17, 2024
I read Cassandra’s book Truganini and this one is also extremely compelling reading, which maybe every Tasmanian should read. Some of the most carefully hidden secrets of Australia’s colonial history are uncovered and it made me aware of many ugly truths which have been written out of history. I’m understanding why some statues need to be reassessed. So much was the culture of prestige and curiosity.
May 13, 2024
A VERY SECRET TRADE by Cassandra Pybus
This book explains, in detail, the reality of what actually went on in the 19th century in Tasmania with regards to the native people and, even worse, their bodies after they died. The disregard by many of the Caucasian race, generally from England, is a blight upon the settlers who made Tasmania their home. Yet not all should be condemned.
The six pages of research documents and sources at the end are an indication of just how much time and effort Cassandra put into this project.
Attitudes, such as those possessed by Lady Franklin, (We are a superior race etc.) who virtually ran the state though her husband was nominally in charge, didn’t help matters either. In fact, she would have been a good fit for the Nazi party.
I have to confess that I was also unaware of the affect that sealers played in early Tasmanian history. Native women were kidnapped to serve as prostitutes and males to work alongside the sealers which was arguably better than what would happened to them on land where an oblivious bunch of land grabbers failed to understand, amongst other things, why anyone would want to have an annual burn off and why they would want to hunt there, so they killed them.
If that wasn’t bad enough, disease ran rampant through the natives since their immune system wasn’t geared up to cope with all the new ones that had been brought to their lands.
However, this book deals mainly with the trade in human (read “native”) skeletons (particularly skulls) that surgeons in England and, in Tasmania itself, deemed desirable. Much of it related to the prevailing belief in phrenology, the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities. Thus, skulls were the most prized items.
Invariably, this led to trafficking, and the “resurrection men” could be found unearthing grave sites in many countries on the planet, Tasmania just happened to have some unique human species that were more sought after than most. One shocker was a doctor who, when he passed away, had 187 skeletons in his house! That’s the ones he hadn’t sold of course.
A revealing book of much historical interest, especially to Australians.
This book explains, in detail, the reality of what actually went on in the 19th century in Tasmania with regards to the native people and, even worse, their bodies after they died. The disregard by many of the Caucasian race, generally from England, is a blight upon the settlers who made Tasmania their home. Yet not all should be condemned.
The six pages of research documents and sources at the end are an indication of just how much time and effort Cassandra put into this project.
Attitudes, such as those possessed by Lady Franklin, (We are a superior race etc.) who virtually ran the state though her husband was nominally in charge, didn’t help matters either. In fact, she would have been a good fit for the Nazi party.
I have to confess that I was also unaware of the affect that sealers played in early Tasmanian history. Native women were kidnapped to serve as prostitutes and males to work alongside the sealers which was arguably better than what would happened to them on land where an oblivious bunch of land grabbers failed to understand, amongst other things, why anyone would want to have an annual burn off and why they would want to hunt there, so they killed them.
If that wasn’t bad enough, disease ran rampant through the natives since their immune system wasn’t geared up to cope with all the new ones that had been brought to their lands.
However, this book deals mainly with the trade in human (read “native”) skeletons (particularly skulls) that surgeons in England and, in Tasmania itself, deemed desirable. Much of it related to the prevailing belief in phrenology, the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities. Thus, skulls were the most prized items.
Invariably, this led to trafficking, and the “resurrection men” could be found unearthing grave sites in many countries on the planet, Tasmania just happened to have some unique human species that were more sought after than most. One shocker was a doctor who, when he passed away, had 187 skeletons in his house! That’s the ones he hadn’t sold of course.
A revealing book of much historical interest, especially to Australians.
May 27, 2024
‘It is time we all knew the truth.’
This is a very uncomfortable read. Yes, I knew that some skulls and skeletons of Indigenous Tasmanians had been taken by Europeans. Yes, I knew that some viewed Indigenous Tasmanians as a unique race and sought their remains for scientific examination. And yes, I knew that Truganini’s skeleton was on public display in the Tasmanian Museum well into the twentieth century before being (finally) returned to the Aboriginal community in 1976 and cremated.
What I did not know was how widespread the practice of grave robbing and desecration of human remains was. This book by Ms Pybus lifted the scales from my eyes. I had heard the name of Dr William Crowther mentioned in relation to this, but I did not realise that he was one of many involved.
‘The desecration of graves and mutilation of the bodies of First People no longer looked to be an isolated act by one or two morally deficient individuals; rather, it was a systematic process baked into the colonial project from the very beginning.'
Indigenous Tasmanians were viewed as scientific curiosities, like the thylacine and the platypus. Collectors and museum curators in Europe sought such curiosities for their collections. Reading this book, I learn that amongst their suppliers were several colonial governors, several politicians as well as Lady Jane Franklin, whose callous treatment of the Indigenous Tasmanian girl she called Mathinna was cruel and disgusting. In Britain, I read, that Sir Joseph Banks, the Duke of Newcastle and Professor Thomas Huxley were amongst the many who solicited human specimens from the colony. All of this took place without any regard to the cultural practices of the Indigenous Tasmanians. Skulls became trophies, bodies were mutilated to prevent other collectors from taking entire skeletons.
‘The frontier conflict was a boon to phrenologists. The skulls that were trophies for vigilante settlers were objects of scientific enquiry for the naval surgeons redeployed into the colonial medical establishment.’
In page after page of sobering revelations, three uncomfortable facts in particular stick in my mind. Firstly, that when he died one doctor had more than 180 skeletons. Secondly, that Truganini’s own wishes for the disposal of her body after her death were so callously disregarded. She was buried, despite her wishes, and then her body was exhumed by the Royal Society of Tasmania. Thirdly, the exhumation of Wauba Debar, whose memorial I have visited in Bicheno, in 1893. The exhumation was undertaken by the Tasmanian Museum in Hobart because of a scarcity of Indigenous remains.
As Ms Pybus writes:
‘Most people know the word for a systematic process of total dispossession, destruction and dehumanisation. It is a thorny word, genocide, freighted with much more disquieting baggage than most Australians can bear to own. I would not own it myself for a long time. After years of research into the hidden corners of the history of my beautiful island home, I find the fact of it inescapable.’
In this book, Ms Pybus shines a light on a very uncomfortable aspect of our history.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This is a very uncomfortable read. Yes, I knew that some skulls and skeletons of Indigenous Tasmanians had been taken by Europeans. Yes, I knew that some viewed Indigenous Tasmanians as a unique race and sought their remains for scientific examination. And yes, I knew that Truganini’s skeleton was on public display in the Tasmanian Museum well into the twentieth century before being (finally) returned to the Aboriginal community in 1976 and cremated.
What I did not know was how widespread the practice of grave robbing and desecration of human remains was. This book by Ms Pybus lifted the scales from my eyes. I had heard the name of Dr William Crowther mentioned in relation to this, but I did not realise that he was one of many involved.
‘The desecration of graves and mutilation of the bodies of First People no longer looked to be an isolated act by one or two morally deficient individuals; rather, it was a systematic process baked into the colonial project from the very beginning.'
Indigenous Tasmanians were viewed as scientific curiosities, like the thylacine and the platypus. Collectors and museum curators in Europe sought such curiosities for their collections. Reading this book, I learn that amongst their suppliers were several colonial governors, several politicians as well as Lady Jane Franklin, whose callous treatment of the Indigenous Tasmanian girl she called Mathinna was cruel and disgusting. In Britain, I read, that Sir Joseph Banks, the Duke of Newcastle and Professor Thomas Huxley were amongst the many who solicited human specimens from the colony. All of this took place without any regard to the cultural practices of the Indigenous Tasmanians. Skulls became trophies, bodies were mutilated to prevent other collectors from taking entire skeletons.
‘The frontier conflict was a boon to phrenologists. The skulls that were trophies for vigilante settlers were objects of scientific enquiry for the naval surgeons redeployed into the colonial medical establishment.’
In page after page of sobering revelations, three uncomfortable facts in particular stick in my mind. Firstly, that when he died one doctor had more than 180 skeletons. Secondly, that Truganini’s own wishes for the disposal of her body after her death were so callously disregarded. She was buried, despite her wishes, and then her body was exhumed by the Royal Society of Tasmania. Thirdly, the exhumation of Wauba Debar, whose memorial I have visited in Bicheno, in 1893. The exhumation was undertaken by the Tasmanian Museum in Hobart because of a scarcity of Indigenous remains.
As Ms Pybus writes:
‘Most people know the word for a systematic process of total dispossession, destruction and dehumanisation. It is a thorny word, genocide, freighted with much more disquieting baggage than most Australians can bear to own. I would not own it myself for a long time. After years of research into the hidden corners of the history of my beautiful island home, I find the fact of it inescapable.’
In this book, Ms Pybus shines a light on a very uncomfortable aspect of our history.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
August 9, 2024
If too many Australians thought that The Voice was too hard, then Truth Telling is going to be even harder. Cassandra Pybus' book A Very Secret Trade: The Dark Story of Gentlemen Collectors in Tasmania confronts the clandestine trade in Tasmanian indigenous remains head-on: something we've all long known about but somehow tucked away back of mind.... Webs of influence stretched from wealthy gentlemen collectors back in Britain, who could pull their parliamentary and civil service strings, across the ocean to civil servants in the colonies on a couple of hundred pounds a year. Once here, those local civil servants could pull on their own (rather more threadbare) strings to source animal and human remains which could be forwarded back 'home' to keep the connection strong.
I hadn't realized, though, that once the local functionary was in the colonies, he (and it was almost always 'he') deliberately petitioned and importuned for postings that made it possible to source such objects for his patrons. Pybus introduces us to doctors and surgeons (many of them), constables, merchants, Superintendents and magistrates, surveyors and artists, clergymen and librarians who were part of this network. Most disturbingly, some of them - especially those charged with the 'care' of this 'dying' race- deliberately maneuvered their positions so that they were untrammeled in finding, digging up and shipping human remains. And so many remains, often innocuously labeled as 'specimens' flowed across the ocean into private and institutional collections....
This is a very personal book for Pybus too. It is beautifully written, and her use of 'I' is measured but always warranted. She grew up overlooking the D'Entrecasteux Channel, and although oblivious to it as a child, gradually came to understand her forebears' connection with Oyster Cove. She had always thought of them as altruistic, but as she came to realize the web of patronage and obligation that touched her family too, she began to question this.
...Her love of Tasmania, and especially the eastern coast bursts through her beautiful descriptions, and her own sense of country gives her an added feeling of indebtedness and complicity in the dispossession of the First People who were there before her.
For my complete review, please visit:
https://residentjudge.com/2024/08/09/...
I hadn't realized, though, that once the local functionary was in the colonies, he (and it was almost always 'he') deliberately petitioned and importuned for postings that made it possible to source such objects for his patrons. Pybus introduces us to doctors and surgeons (many of them), constables, merchants, Superintendents and magistrates, surveyors and artists, clergymen and librarians who were part of this network. Most disturbingly, some of them - especially those charged with the 'care' of this 'dying' race- deliberately maneuvered their positions so that they were untrammeled in finding, digging up and shipping human remains. And so many remains, often innocuously labeled as 'specimens' flowed across the ocean into private and institutional collections....
This is a very personal book for Pybus too. It is beautifully written, and her use of 'I' is measured but always warranted. She grew up overlooking the D'Entrecasteux Channel, and although oblivious to it as a child, gradually came to understand her forebears' connection with Oyster Cove. She had always thought of them as altruistic, but as she came to realize the web of patronage and obligation that touched her family too, she began to question this.
...Her love of Tasmania, and especially the eastern coast bursts through her beautiful descriptions, and her own sense of country gives her an added feeling of indebtedness and complicity in the dispossession of the First People who were there before her.
For my complete review, please visit:
https://residentjudge.com/2024/08/09/...
August 29, 2024
My second read of a Pybus book after Truganini, and this one did not disappoint. Shocking and yet not so shocking when you know your history, and understand the mentality of 19th century colonialists including so called scientists. The last section of this book lists these characters, some of whom have statues, streets, and geographical features created in their honour. It reads like a terrible roll call of criminals, grave robbers and ghouls, names that should be regarded with shame. The research for this book is enormous, and must have been painstaking, especially when you consider the veil of hostility and secrecy some institutions and individuals threw up. Even now the French refuse to repatriate the remains of those poor first Tasmanians who were slaughtered, dispossessed, desecrated and treated with utter contempt while alive and dead. To me the saddest story is of little Mathinna, tossed like some plaything from place to place until they became bored of her, and then cast her off like a piece of refuse. The stench of shame will hang over Tasmania forever, until we as a nation truely face up to what was done under the banner of colonialism.
August 18, 2024
Found this an informative and shocking read. The author presents thorough research and detail on the very dark history of the collection and trade in the mortal remains of First Nations people naming individuals and organisations that historically have been admired and yet participated in the darkest of activities. We can't change the past but it is essential we know about it (truth-telling), acknowledge it, and learn from it. I've often heard it said that way back then values were different and society expectations different. However, it was clear that those involved in these terrible acts knew they were wrong (illegal!) attempting to hide such activity. It is good to see the return of the bones of aboriginal people from the institutions here and around the world though some still refuse the remains being returned home. In understanding the history of colonisation of Australia and especially the State of Tasmania this is an essential read.
August 5, 2024
In A Very Secret Trade, Cassandra Pybus opens a horrific window into the colonial history of the trade and mutilation of Tasmanian (and other) Aboriginal bodies and remains. This book is an incredibly disturbing, yet important read. Thomas Mayo’s quote on the front cover says it best: ‘Truth-telling is every Australian’s responsibility. Reading this book will help you to walk with us.’
There are many valid and important reasons to read that don’t necessarily qualify enjoyment: education, respect, understanding, knowledge, information, to name a few. I’m glad I read this book and will take some care in carrying a small piece of the weight of our shared history with me as a result.
There are many valid and important reasons to read that don’t necessarily qualify enjoyment: education, respect, understanding, knowledge, information, to name a few. I’m glad I read this book and will take some care in carrying a small piece of the weight of our shared history with me as a result.
August 19, 2024
Ooof. What a read.
So many things I didn't know, how Indigenous people were referred to (I won't hear, as it's truly awful), how they were treated - in life and death. This book scratches the surface, and it's an iceberg story.
Pybus evokes place, and with a myriad of research from sometimes innocuous places, she puts together a work that that is all about truth telling, and it's an ugly truth.
Very powerful. Eugenics, phrenology, 'gentlemen' - and I use that term loosely.
One thing I will say, and it's just me, but may be you too, there are lots of names at the beginning, preserver, as once you get through that the real journey begins.
So many things I didn't know, how Indigenous people were referred to (I won't hear, as it's truly awful), how they were treated - in life and death. This book scratches the surface, and it's an iceberg story.
Pybus evokes place, and with a myriad of research from sometimes innocuous places, she puts together a work that that is all about truth telling, and it's an ugly truth.
Very powerful. Eugenics, phrenology, 'gentlemen' - and I use that term loosely.
One thing I will say, and it's just me, but may be you too, there are lots of names at the beginning, preserver, as once you get through that the real journey begins.
August 15, 2024
A disturbing story about Australia's past, and it's genocide and exploitation of the first people's of Tasmania. This was a hugely revealing read, and it's insane to me how little of this history was part of my schooling. It's sad how taking the first people's land wasn't enough for the colonists, but they also felt compelled to trade and profit off their remains in order to bolster museums with skeletons and skulls. A tough read, but critical.
May 6, 2025
A difficult read for anyone. It’s hard to credit that people could be so aggressively arrogant to treat other human beings so appallingly. But, history cannot be ignored, regardless of what some may think. This book should be part of all Australian school curricula so that if the opportunity to establish a Voice ro Parliament emerges soon, then a more informed response will be forthcoming.
June 1, 2024
Just like Truganini before it a heavy book indeed. Every Australian should read them both. As Australians we must recognise our bloody past so we can move towards reconciliation. There is no pride in genocide.
November 15, 2024
Important, distressing and pulling no punches, this is a must read for anyone interested in Tasmanian history, in bettering understanding of what our First Nations people endured and endure.
Brilliant research, adding the human side to history.
Brilliant research, adding the human side to history.
December 11, 2025
Meticulous and wide-ranging research reveals the truth of the genocide of the First People of Tasmania and the illegal and secret trade in their remains for museums, medical establishments and other collections. The author is disturbed by what she discovers as is the reader.
May 8, 2024
Chilling.
Read
October 1, 2024amazing, horrific history
October 24, 2024
I really enjoyed the content but parts of the book were dry to read
December 25, 2024
A disturbing yet important read. Hopefully more international countries will agree to send remains back to Tasmania now.
January 23, 2025
Cute fun British cozy witch theme
August 18, 2024
This book acknowledges wrongs in the past of colonial Australian history. Essential reading to show the atrocities our First Nation people suffered. Difficult to read, at times but written clearly.
August 22, 2025
When I borrowed this book from my local library, I didn't know much about it. I'd just been to Tasmania, and had read The Birdman's Wife and for some reason, I thought this book was about the secret trade between gentlemen who collected taxidermied birds and native animals from Tasmania, a topic that is highlighted in The Birdman's Wife. Well, what a shock, to discover that the trade was even worse than this. What Pybus exposes is the even more secretive ways that these collectors traded in indigenous human remains as a way of gaining favour and influence. This was even more disturbing because even in the context of all the grave-robbing was going on all over the world - see The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine or The Knife Man: The Extraordinary Life and Times of John Hunter, Father of Modern Surgery - many of these remains supposedly collected "in the name of science" were almost never used.
What Pybus has done in telling this story is very important. It's tremendously difficult research to do. This was, indeed, a very secret trade. There are almost no records of it; such exchanges were not written about in direct terms, so by the very nature of the work, the book is a mixture of conjecture and solid evidence. Sometimes I found it frustrating that we were left to Pybus' beliefs and suspicions, but I'm not sure what else can be done in such a circumstance. Some of her suspicions seemed out of place for this book though (e.g. she insinuates that Lady Franklin was adulterous, but I have no idea what that has to do with this topic).
I would have liked to see more context about how this was seen as quite acceptable at the time and formed part of a world wide project, where all colonial powers were practicing such a trade, with some (e.g. in Namibia) being perhaps even more abhorrent and extensive.
What I appreciated most about the book was the way that Pybus worked to understand how this practice affected Aboriginal Australians then and now. Her reflections on the relationship between Truganini and the Anglican priest who listened to her distress, and the eventual appropriate honoring of Truganini's remains, with the involvement of the contemporary Anglican church, was particularly moving. There are still actions we can take. While they will never heal the past, they can bring about some reconciliation. Let's get all these remains back to country where they belong.
What Pybus has done in telling this story is very important. It's tremendously difficult research to do. This was, indeed, a very secret trade. There are almost no records of it; such exchanges were not written about in direct terms, so by the very nature of the work, the book is a mixture of conjecture and solid evidence. Sometimes I found it frustrating that we were left to Pybus' beliefs and suspicions, but I'm not sure what else can be done in such a circumstance. Some of her suspicions seemed out of place for this book though (e.g. she insinuates that Lady Franklin was adulterous, but I have no idea what that has to do with this topic).
I would have liked to see more context about how this was seen as quite acceptable at the time and formed part of a world wide project, where all colonial powers were practicing such a trade, with some (e.g. in Namibia) being perhaps even more abhorrent and extensive.
What I appreciated most about the book was the way that Pybus worked to understand how this practice affected Aboriginal Australians then and now. Her reflections on the relationship between Truganini and the Anglican priest who listened to her distress, and the eventual appropriate honoring of Truganini's remains, with the involvement of the contemporary Anglican church, was particularly moving. There are still actions we can take. While they will never heal the past, they can bring about some reconciliation. Let's get all these remains back to country where they belong.
November 9, 2024
Every tasmanian should read this book.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews