Dr William Gilcher delves into hanging of Mahomet Cassim at old Goulburn Jail

Maryann Brownlow's tragic end in 1855 inspired Goulburn playwright David Cole's work The Ballad of Maryann Brownlow performed at the Lieder Theatre in 2004/05.

Bushranger Thomas Whitton life and hanging at the jail in 1840 has generated books and speculation about his final resting place when work was starting on Goulburn's Performing Arts Centre.

Now, US scholar and writer, Dr William Gilcher is researching the story of Mahomet Cassim, who met his end at the jail in May, 1863, and his brother, Abdallah.

Dr Gilcher and his assistant, Australia's best known circus historian, Mark St Leon, will be in Goulburn this week to visit the old prison, Saint Saviour's cemetery and the courthouse. Dr Gilcher will also deliver a talk on his research.

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He, like local historian Roger Bayley, believed Cassim was wrongly convicted.

Cassim and his Muslim Indian brother, Mahomet Abdallah, had arrived in the NSW in 1860. Both were acrobats and performers of the ancient martial art of Malabar - kalarippayattu. It's described as a "strange combination of dance, acrobatics, mock combat and personal reflection."

By spring, 1861 the pair had reached the Lambing Flats goldfields where they entertained diggers. Dr Gilcher said after one performance, an Indian man who spoke English, Casseroti, introduced himself and offered to be their manager. The trio travelled country towns together with their packhorses.

But in November, 1861, Casseroti disappeared with 114 pounds in the brothers' earnings after they'd been camping at Sawpit Gully, between Queanbeyan and Braidwood. He had also taken their horses. The pair returned to Goulburn and Sydney where they became the headline act for Henry Burton's National Circus.

Dr Gilcher's great-great grandfather was a bandmaster with the circus at the time.

When skeletal remains turned up at Sawpit Gully in January, 1863, not far from the campsite, the two Indians were arrested and taken in chains to Queanbeyan.

Two months later the pair were tried over two days at Goulburn Courthouse and convicted. Dr Gilcher said the two men were found guilty of the murder of an 'unknown Indian,' because Casseroti's remains were never formally identified. However, he had been found with "empty bags of gold, clothing and other possessions," which indicated it was Casserotti.

Dr Gilcher contended the verdict was based on no more than "circumstantial evidence and the faded memories of local men who had seen the two performers in Queanbeyan in November, 1861."

They were both condemned to death by hanging. Abdallah subsequently appealed and his sentence was commuted to life with hard labour. Three years of this was to be spent in irons. In 1866, following a plea to NSW Governor Sir John Young, he was pardoned on condition that he "self exile" and never return to the Australian colonies.

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But Cassim hanged from the gallows in May, 1863. His request to be buried with full Muslim rites went unheard and he was interred in an unmarked grave at Saint Saviour's Cemetery.

Dr Gilcher has questioned whether there was a miscarriage of justice.

"Many expressed unease over the verdicts based substantially on circumstantial evidence," he wrote.

It wasn't clear whether the remains were Casseroti's or how long his body was at the campsite.

Newspaper editors raised concerns and a NSW Legislative Assembly inquiry opened into the matter.

"If Cassim and Abdallah did not commit this murder, who did," Dr Gilcher asks.

Mr St Leon, a fellow of the Royal Australian Historical Society, has also delved into primary records as part of the research.

Mr Bayley, a History Goulburn committee member, said he was always fascinated by people who had been executed at Goulburn jail. He has assisted in the research.

"There's a couple here who appear to be innocent," he said.

He has scoured historical records, including those of the Goulburn Jail governor, Reverend Robert Cartwright, witnesses to the hanging and newspaper accounts.

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Mr Bayley argued that while the two Indians had an interpreter at their trial, much could have been lost in translation.

He will show Dr Gilcher and Mr St Leon some of the relevant sites when they visit Goulburn this week.

History Goulburn is also hosting Dr Gilcher's talk about his research at The Workers Club Station Room at 6pm Thursday, September 29.

The presentation focuses on the Goulburn connections and poses the question: "What can we do to correct injustice after 160 years?"

Entry is by gold coin donation.

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