| History/Origin |
Named after Nemarluk who was a great man by Aboriginal standards, although a convicted murderer. On 10 April 1934, he was convicted of the murder of a Japanese on a lugger off Port Keats. The killing occured in 1931 and, following his apprehension and whilst awaiting trial, he escaped from gaol and was not re-arrested until 1933 following a man-hunt which captured the attention of the whole of Australia. The sentence of death following conviction was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. In his submission seeking commutation, the Chief Protector of Aboriginals stated that it had been ascertained that there were five women of Nemarluk's tribe living on the lugger at the time of the assault on the Japanese. Nemarluk's health deteriorated in Fannie Bay Gaol to the point that an application for a total remission of sentence was actively under consideration when he died in gaol in August, 1940, having served six years of his sentence.
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