The Fremantle Volunteer Heritage Guides Association in association with the Fremantle Round House has announced the John Gavin Writing Competition 2022, with two open categories – The John Gavin Ballad Competition and The John Gavin Flash Fiction Competition.
On 6 April 1844, Easter Saturday, John Gavin was hanged in front of the Fremantle Round House and buried without ceremony in the sand dunes nearby. Thought to be around fifteen years old, and having been sent out to the Colony to be apprenticed labour from the Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, John was convicted of murdering his employer’s son, George Pollard, on a farm in North Dandalup.
John Gavin’s tale is one of hardship and tragedy and an uncomfortable reminder of our not-so-distant past.
Competition closes 12 March 2022
***
