At least two men, sons of ‘kings’, refused to accept a plate. In one of these cases, Michael Fearnought of Merrigal stepped forward for the title instead, but was refused by the pastoralist because he was not a native of the lands in question. A compromise was reached and he was dubbed ‘Prince Henry of Duchess’.

Europeans sometimes misunderstood the basis of leadership in Indigenous communities. However, when the conferring of ‘kingship’ was welcomed, the honoured individual often enjoyed material benefits as well as enhanced prestige.

Such benefits depended on the availability of resources and seemed to influence how breastplates were perceived. In areas where traditional food supplies had been seriously disrupted, a breastplate could facilitate greater access to European food and provisions.