1812 to 1831
1812-1831: A note on Structure
Because the period covered is so extensive this past of Pondering the Abyss is arranged
somewhat differently from previous parts. The structure is:
 A Note on Sources
 1812-1831: Overview
 A chronology of events 1812-1831
 Families, Farms, Floods and Droughts: 1812-1816
 Comings and Goings:1812-1816
 Interactions and the Development of a New Paradigm: 1812-1816
 Farms, Floods and Droughts: 1816-1831
 Comings and Goings:1816-1831
 Interactions and the Development of a New Paradigm: 1816-1831.
A Note on Sources
A study of various memorandum, payments and rewards, trial evidence and memoirs strongly
suggest that Governor Macquarie’s journal, his despatches and the Sydney Gazette, provide
only an incomplete picture for the period under study, particularly the declaration of martial
law in the second half of 1816.
A number of memoirs and reminiscences have proven particularly valuable in illuminating
official records. Despite some chronological and factual mistakes, James T Ryan,
Reminiscences of Australia, 1894 Reprinted 1982, provides insights not covered in official
sources. Samuel Boughton (1841-1910), under the nom-de-plume of Cooramill1 published a
series of recollections in the Hawkesbury Herald from 1903-1905 which also are valuable.
Alfred Smith, 1831-1917, provided another viewpoint in the Windsor and Richmond Gazette
around 1910.
Despite my commitment to primary sources there are a number of authoritative secondary
works which it would be churlish to ignore. In particular I have directly referenced: V. Ross,
A Hawkesbury Story, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1989; J. Brooks and J.L. Cohen,
The Parramatta Native Institute and the Black Town, University of New South Wales Press,
1991; J. Brook, Shut out from the World, The Sackville Reach Aborigines Reserve and
Mission 1889-1946, Jack Brook, 1994; and Sue Rosen, Losing Ground, Hale and Iremonger,
1995.
1812-1831: Overview
The period 1812-1831 saw the emergence of a paradigm in the minds of settler society in
which they, the settlers, had an active, interventionist role and the First Peoples of Australia
had a passive and receptive role. The paradigm was shaped by the growing triumphalism of
British victories over Napoleon, the combination of theology and classicism, the growth of
evangelism; the influx of free settlers; and the resistance of First Peoples to the attractions of
civilisation as the settlers saw it.
1
Whilst I am unsure of the meaning of the word, Boughton used it as a name of his home at Mountain Lagoon.
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The growth of settlement on the Nepean Hawkesbury valley shaped Governor Macquarie’s
interventionist policies, prompting Macquarie to formalise the term Aborigines in an official
way to describe the native people of NSW.2
Macquarie’s policies in 1814 towards Aboriginal people displayed a zealous endeavour to
civilise and evangelise. His views were those of the paternalistic master: “it seems only to
require the fostering Hand of Time, gentle Means, and Conciliatory Manners, to bring these
poor Un-enlightened People into an important Degree of Civilization”3 However, by 1816
his thinking had shifted towards proscribing “certain Rules, Orders, and Regulations to be
observed by the Natives, and rigidly enforced and carried into Effect by all Magistrates and
Peace Officers in the Colony of New South Wales.”4 This shift in his thinking probably
reflected not only an Aboriginal rejection of Macquarie’s paradigm of the relationship
between settlers and Aboriginal people, but also the pressure of influential free settlers, in
particular William Cox on the Nepean Hawkesbury.
Macquarie was not alone in his determination to control and engineer the lives of the lives of
the First People of Australia. Whether it was Robert Howe calling for civilisation and
evangelisation, Fidelis calling for extermination, or Saxe Bannister using the plight of the
First People to justify the end of transportation; the voices from this period were uniform in
their assertion of the right of the settlers to determine the fate of the First People of Australia
in the pursuit of their ambitions. Macquarie’s intervention initiated nearly two centuries of
deliberate social engineering.
This period also saw Hawkesbury properties become springboards for the original settlers and
their families to expand beyond the County of Cumberland as exhausted soils, crop diseases,
pests, floods and droughts reduced the Hawkesbury’s ability to meet the needs of an ever
increasing population.
1812-1816: Families, farms, floods and droughts
By 1816 much of the Nepean Hawkesbury valley was settled. The Hawkesbury was closely
settled, mainly with small holdings granted to convicts and soldiers. Many of these small
holdings had been sold and consolidated. Robert Forrester5 by 1813 had lost his Cornwallis
farm. Simon Freebody6 lost his farm at Cornwallis in 1818. Obadiah Aiken, the ex-soldier,
sold his farm on the junction of the Nepean and Grose Rivers to Matthew Kearn in 1806.
When it was rented to the Lewis’ in 1816 it was still known as Kearn’s Retreat – despite
Kearn having been executed in 1813 for murder.
There were large holdings; Clarendon, a 400 acre grant in 1804 to William Cox’s children,
was the base of his holdings. Cox was entrepreneur, property owner, magistrate and
commander of the garrison. William Cox received 2,000 acres as a result of his road building
2
It appears to have been first used by Matthew Everingham in 1795, page 52, Ross, Valerie, The Everingham
Letterbook, Anvil Press, 1985.
3
Governor Macquarie to Earl Bathurst, 8th October 1814, Pages 367-373, HRA, Volume VIII, The Library
Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1916.
4
Sydney Gazette, 4th May 1816.
5
Robert Forrester was investigated in 1794 for the murder of a Aboriginal lad. His wife, Isabella, was a witness
in the 1799 trial of five settlers for the murders of Little George and Little Jemmy.
6
Simon Freebody was one of the five men found guilty in 1799 of the murders of Little George and Little
Jemmy.
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activities. This was the first grant of land west of the Blue Mountains. Edward, George and
Henry, the sons of William Cox received grants at Mulgoa between 1810 and 1816. Later
they were involved in the settlement of the Mudgee district. George Cox also became a
member of the Legislative Council. Archibald Bell was granted 1,500 acres at Richmond Hill
in 1809. Eliza Bell, one of Archibald Bell’s daughters, married George, son of William Cox
in 1822. John Brabyn, soldier and magistrate, had 1,100 acres by 1828, including Clifton
Cottage, Richmond. His youngest daughter, Elizabeth, by a second marriage, married
Charles, son of the Reverend Samuel Marsden7. His eldest daughter, Jennifer, by an earlier
marriage, appears to have been unaware of her father’s holdings as she received only the
cutlery on his death, the land going to his other daughters. The Reverend Samuel Marsden
had numerous land holdings stretching along South Creek, from Mamre in the south to Creek
farm which stretched into the town of modern Windsor. As the trustee of the estate of George
Barrington who died in 1804, Samuel Marsden bought Barrington’s fifty acre farm on
Freeman’s Reach.8 John Bowman was a free settler who arrived in 1798 with his wife Honor.
He was given a 100 acre grant at Richmond which he called Archerfield; it was to become
the base for extensive family landholdings. His eldest son, George, was an early settler on the
Hunter. His youngest son, William, became a landholder on the western plains. Both William
and George were members of the Legislative Council in the 1850s. Edward Lutterell/Luttrell,
a surgeon with an impeccable background arrived in 1804 bringing his wife and eight
children. Hungerford, his eldest son, who had twice sailed with Captain Withers, captain of
the ship which brought the Lutterells to NSW, deserted in Sydney. Hungerford, a surgeon
like his father died of a fever off the coast of Africa. One of Edward’s daughters eloped with
Captain Withers. Further disappointment came with a four hundred acre land grant at
Mulgrave that was inadequate for Lutterell’s needs. A naval appointment by Governor Bligh
ended in ignominy. Macquarie was contemptuous of Lutterell’s behaviour and only helped
Lutterell because of the size of his family. His second eldest son, Edward, who shot Tedbury
at Parramatta, was lost at sea in 1811. Robert was killed by Aboriginal warriors, probably
near Penrith in 1811. It was one of Edward’s younger sons who led a punitive party in 1816.
In January 1816 Lutterell transferred to Hobart and died there in 1824. His fifth son, Oscar,
was killed by Aboriginal people in 1838 near Melbourne.9
Hawkesbury families formed strong networks through marriage. Class and background
appear to have had a strong influence on marriages. Some of these networks got on well with
Aboriginal people. Others not so.
James Raworth Kennedy and his sister, Elizabeth Moore Kennedy, the children of a Kent
clergyman, arrived on the Sovereign on the 5th of November 1795. Elizabeth Moore Kennedy
married Andrew Hume10 in 1796; Hamilton Hume, 1797-1873, the explorer, was their son. In
1825, Hamilton Hume married Elizabeth Dight, daughter of the surgeon, John Dight and his
7
Marsden bought fifty acres on South Creek from Privates Thomas Westmore and William Anderson in the late
1790s. This property appears to have been downstream from Ann Blady’s farm and on the north side of the new
bridge across South Creek. It was probably on this farm that Narsden encountered Musquito for the first time.
Pages, 110-111, 149-150 and 283, Jan Barkley-Jack, Hawkesbury Settlement Revealed, Rosenberg, 2009.
8
Page 62, Keith Binney, Horsemen of the First Frontier” Volcanic Productions, 2005.
9
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/luttrell-edward-2381 and
http://theluttrells.homestead.com/edwardluttrellborn1757.html
10
Andrew Hamilton Hume, 1762-1849, was another clergyman’s son. He was cashiered in 1786 after a duel
with a superior officer. He came to NSW and took up various government positions which he appeared to have
jepodised by his actions. He was a one time Hawkesbury settlers ruined by fire and the 1806 floods.
Respectability came with land grants at Prospect and Appin, Australian Dictionary of Biography.
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hume-andrew-hamilton-2210
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wife Hannah. The Dights were Hawkesbury settlers who resettled at Richmond after the loss
of their property in the 1806 flood.
James Raworth Kennedy was the father of John, Jane, Eliza Charlotte and Louisa Sophia.
John Kennedy married Caroline Best in 1813 at Appin. At Appin they were neighbours to the
Broughtons and Byrnes.
Eliza Charlotte Kennedy married William Broughton. Louisa Sophia Kennedy died
unmarried.
Jane Kennedy became John Howe’s second wife in 1811. Their son, James Howe, 18141861, married Ann Dight, the sister of Elizabeth Dight in 1847. James Howe’s sister, Sophia
Howe, married Samuel Billingsby Dight in 1838; who, upon Sophia’s death, married her
older sister Emma Howe.
Catherine Broughton Howe, another sister of James Howe, married Andrew Hastings Doyle,
son of Cyrus Matthew Doyle and Frances Biggers, in 1837. Frances Jane Howe, another
sister to James and Catherine, in 1832 married James George Doyle, son of Andrew Doyle
and Isabella Norris.
Elizabeth Anne Moore Howe, another of James’ sisters married George Dight, brother to
Samuel in 1841.
As well James Howe had two half sisters, Elizabeth Charlotte and Mary from John Howe’s
first marriage to Frances Ward who died in 1802. Elizabeth Charlotte was Thomas Dargin’s
first wife, dying in 1834. Mary had three husbands, George Loder, who she married in 1816,
Thomas Dargin who she married in 1835 and Laban White who she married in 1846.
Thus in one generation, the families of Kennedy, Howe, Broughton, Hume, Dight, Doyle and
Dargin were all related by marriage and became first cousins. These families spread across
the Nepean, Hawkesbury and Hunter valleys.11 It is possible to speculate that the Broughton,
Kennedy, Hume and Byrne family network had positive connections with the Aboriginal
community around Appin in 1816.
Sarah, widow of Thomas Hodgkinson, gave birth to his son John Hoskisson, shortly after her
husband had been killed in 1799. John Hoskisson married Sarah Freebody12 in 1818. John’s
mother married again to Thomas Upton and their daughter, Lucy, probably born in 1802,
married Henry Forrester, son of Robert and Isabella Forrester in 1819. Serjeant Fleming’s
widow, Elizabeth, married Benjamin Jones and they farmed the 30 acre grant made to her
son, Henry Fleming, at Bardonarang. Elizabeth’s older daughter, Eleanor, married the
constable, David Brown,13 in 1800. Young Henry was a successful farmer. In 1810 he
married Elizabeth Hall, daughter of George Hall, a Coromandal free settler. His first son,
Joseph, born 1811 became the MLA for West Moreton. His third son, John Henry born 1816,
led the Myall Creek massacre in 1838. Murder charges against John Henry did not appear to
11
Pages 164 and 173-178, R. M. Arndell, Pioneers of Portland Head: Builders of Ebenezer Church and School,
Early Settlers of the Hawkesbury and Hunter Rivers and Squatters of the North-West New South Wales and
Southern Queensland including Family Genealogies, W. R. Smith and Paterson, 1976.
12
daughter of Simon Freebody.
13
David Brown had been speared in the throat in 1798.
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have hindered him from becoming a Justice of the Peace in later life. Richard Rouse gave his
Berkshire Park estate on the west bank of South Creek to his daughter Mary on her marriage
to Jonathon Hassall in 1819. William Faithfull had benefitted from the patronage of his old
company commander, Captain Joseph Foveaux. In 1804 he married Susannah Pitt, again
benefitting through land grants, as Susannah was related to both Prime Minister Pitt and Lord
Nelson. William Faithfull’s third marriage was to one of Archibald Bell’s daughters. By 1828
he owned nearly 3,000 acres, most of it in the Hawkesbury. Two of his sons, William, born in
1806, and George, born in 1814, were involved in the Broken River massacre and subsequent
punitive expedition near Benalla in April 1838.14 After a few months at Bontharambo they
“abandoned their squattage on account of the depredations by the blacks who murdered six
of their men”; William retired to his father’s Springfield grant on the Goulburn Plains and
George to Wangaratta. William later became a member of the Legislative Council. The
Reverend Joseph Docker, curate of St. Matthews at Windsor, 1829-1833, resigned and
bought John Brabyn’s Clifton at Clarendon before selling and moving south and settling in
the Faithfull’s slab hut at Bontharambo. Unlike the Faithfulls, Docker got on well with the
local Aboriginal people and prospered. 15
Joseph Holt’s vision of the Hawkesbury being “finest land in the world” was narrow and illfounded, but typical of the period, even as poor farming methods, pests, disease, floods,
drought and soil exhaustion led to new frontiers to the north south and west. Hawkesbury
families were in the forefront of that expansion.
‘The Hawkesbury lies low under the Blue mountains and is the finest land in the world. It
produces two crops a year and I lived in that part of the world thirteen years and thirteen
years before I went there the land was in cultivation and it never got one pound of manure,
14
On the 8th of September 1853, in a letter to Governor La Trobe, George Faithfull concluded a description of
the retributive expedition by writing: “The fight I have described gave them a notion of what sort of stuff the
white man was made, and my name was a terror to them ever after.
I picked up a boy from under a log, took him home and tamed him, and he became very useful to me, and I think
was the means of deterring his tribe from committing further wanton depredation upon my property; my
neighbours, however, suffered much long after this.”
http://www.voea.vic.edu.au/resources/curriculum/pioneerletter_georgefaithful.html.
15
‘In proof of his tact with, and sympathetic treatment of, the natives it is also recorded by Mr. F. G. Docker: —
'At one- time, a tribe of blacks numbering about three hundred, roamed over the country from Bontharambo
down to the junction of the Murray and Ovens Rivers and on the south side of the Ovens River to Yarrawonga,
but held their corroborees on a small island near our stables. Some of the early day squatters in the
neighborhood took harsh measures to punish them, but my father, from the first, treated them kindly, and they
never molested his employees or his stock. My father's humane treatment had good results, though no doubt he
ran a considerable risk. The blacks, at a time when the shepherds absconded, took charge of the 7,800 sheep on
Bontharambo, for a period of twelve or eighteen months, taking good care of them. They were perhaps
expensive shepherds, as they ate as many of the sheep as they required for meat, but they also protected them
from wild dogs and acted most faithfully, and they never molested the cattle or other stock. An incident occurred
shortly after my father settled at Bontharambo which no doubt promoted the friendly relations between the
natives and himself. The blacks were allowed to come about the homestead whenever they liked, sometimes
chopping wood or rendering some other light service, but if they saw a horseman riding up to the homestead,
they always hurried away and swam over a creek, fearing that the new arrivals might be mounted troopers, of
whom they stood in awe. On one occasion a blackfellow was at the back of' the hut and did not notice the arrival
of two troopers in time to take the usual method of escape, so he rushed into the hut, and. hid himself under my
mother's bed for about two hours until the troopers departed. My father and mother and sister knew that he was
there, but did not betray him. No doubt this was talked about among the tribe and they had sufficient gratitude
to do us no injury.' Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 30th August 1929.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/85925955
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nor did it want any. At my leaving the country, the farmers throws the dung in the rivers and
burns the straw, to get it out of the way.”16
The harvest of 1812 appeared to have been the last good one for a number of years as drought
set in during the year and was not broken till the floods of 1816.
‘The accounts of the harvest are equally favorable in all the Settlements of the Territory. The
work of reaping has almost every where subsided, and the nimble flail succeeds. The grain is,
it may be said without exception, very fine and full; smut, blight, and other diseases that are
incidental to this valuable grain have been less observable than at any former season, and
the crops are in general said to be uncommonly productive.’17
On the 16th of August 1813, Hannibal Macarthur noted: “The season for the Stock is very
unfavourable, a colder winter has never been remembered, and as the Frosts have been
attended by a most astonishing Drought the grass is cut off and the cattle are starving
throughout the Colony.”18
Macquarie’s note in April 1814 that the “seasons appear to have undergone a complete
change in this climate within the last three years”19 confirmed the Gazette’s observation of
22nd January 1814 that in the Hawkesbury “the long succession of drought has been very
severely felt indeed”.20 The drought continued into December 1815 with no sign of
abatement.
‘The general appearance of the harvest is by no means gratifying. The best lands are not
expected to yield 20 bushels of wheat, per acre, while others will be scarcely worth the
reaping. The length of the droughts that have been so disastrous in their consequences is
unprecedented, as we cannot recollect so totally uninterrupted a succession of dry weather to
have ever before lasted beyond the middle or somewhat nearer the latter end of October.’21
The effects of the drought were so bad that some settlers were given permission to take their
stock across the Blue Mountains. Magistrate Robert Lowe received permission to do so in
December 1815.22 It is likely that Cox and Hassall also shifted their flocks and herds across at
this time.23
As in previous years the drought coincided with expansion of settlement and outbreaks of
violence: in 1814 on the Nepean; and in 1816 along the Nepean Hawkesbury Valley and
across the Blue Mountains at the Government depot on the junction of the River Lett and the
Cox River. The pattern was repeated in 1824 and 1838, but not in the Nepean Hawkesbury
Valley. While the relationship is clear, the reasons are not. The paradigm, which continues to
cloud our understanding of relations between Aboriginal people and settlers, is a
16
Page 56, Joseph Holt, A Rum Story, The Adventures of Joseph Holt, Thirteen Years in New South Wales,
1800-1812, Edited Peter O’Shaughnessy, Kangaroo Press, 1988.
17
Sydney Gazette, 11th January 1812, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628396
18
Page 300, Sibella Macarthur Onslow, (ed), Some Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden, Angus and
Robertson Ltd., Sydney, 1914.
19
Governor Macquarie to Bathurst 7/10/14, Page 314, HRA.
20
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628845
21
Sydney Gazette, 2nd December 1815, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/629240
22
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lowe-robert-2375
23
Page 14, The Bigge Report, Australiana Facsimile Editions, No. 70, Libraries Board of South Australia,
Adelaide, 1966.
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dichotomous one developed initially by David Collins, in which Aboriginal people
encroached upon the farms and had to be driven off. It may have been, however, that it was
settlers who encroached upon Aboriginal people for food and water during times of drought. I
do not believe that there is enough evidence to indicate why there was increased conflict in
years of drought.
The drought broke in the last week of May 1816 with four days of heavy rain that caused
flooding in the Nepean Hawkesbury Rivers in early June, sweeping away houses, crops and
animals. At the end of the month there was another flood of similar intensity. The rough
weather extended to sea and affected a number of boats operating out of the Hawkesbury.
Floods may have been a greater challenge for hunter gatherers than drought.
1812-1816: Comings and Goings
23rd of May, 1812: Daniel Moowattye
Daniel Moowattye, the Aboriginal lad taken to England by George Caley returned to Sydney
in May 1812. Despite his veneer of civilization he disappointed his mentors by taking to the
bush, further reinforcing settler disappointment in their efforts.24
1st of January, 1814: will any white man or woman keep me company?
The editor’s contemplation of the impossibility of civilising “the native by bringing him into
our way of life” in the following passage was framed within the conventional discourse of
degenerate savagery. It reinforced, and vented the frustration of settlers at the resistance of
Aboriginal people to the supposed attractions of civilisation. It was, however, quite unusual
in that it reflected a conversation with a Aboriginal man who pointed out the contradiction in
settler expectations of civilisation when no white woman would form a relationship with him.
The fact that the Aboriginal man spoke English and had been to sea did not appear to have
registered with the editor as being evidence of civilisation.
‘A well known native who has been many short voyages to sea, and always acquitted himself
well, was a few days since asked why, upon his return to port, he should prefer rejoining his
native acquaintances? His reply went no further than to oppose one interrogatory to another:
"Will you, said he, keep me company: or will any white man or woman keep me company?
white women will marry white men; but no white woman will have me; then why wish me to
keep away from my own people, when no other will look upon me? Whether this was a
rational argument or not let the civilized man enquire. It is in point the best reply that could
have been urged to the presumed impracticability of their civilization: in support of which
opinion, examples have been produced of some who have been reared from infancy among
us, at length abandoning our customs for their own. But how did they live among us? not as
equals, but as creatures not possibly to be associated with. If we admit that they possess
ideas, would it be fair or rational to imagine that when the judgment forms itself, and the
time arrives when man naturally looks forward to the pleasures of social life, a poor creature
possessed of reflection and manly faculties could still submit to a state of abstraction from his
kindred, and in preference to a state of equality among them, voluntarily devote himself to
abject insignificancy and endless celibacy? What would any of us civilized folks think of a
black man who under contrasted circumstances could argue so illiberaly? We despise their
manners, customs, and general habits, because we prefer our own and is it not a clear case
that they reverse the matter? We consider them as a degenerate species of mankind, because
they prefer the state of nature to the refinements of art; and if we come closely to challenge
24
Sydney Gazette, 23rd May 1812, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628477
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our conceptions in this particular, we shall perceive, that this contempt of their manners is
subject to all the variations of our own particular circumstances and conditions; or to speak
a little more intelligibly, that the white man who is obliged to content himself with the bare
necessaries of life, administered in slender proportion to himself and family, does not set that
very great value upon his difference of condition which the easy, gaudy, and voluptuous do.
To those who enjoy every thing they wish for, privation appears a punishment; and yet we
know, that bread and water in a state of complete starvation would be more acceptable than
wine and custards to the sated appetite. Diogenes broke his cup, when he found he could do
without it: and who was Diogenes? a philosopher, a casuist, a censor, who received his food
from the hand of nature only, and was nevertheless held so high in estimation by the
conqueror of the world, that in an excess of admiration he exclaimed, "Were I not Alexander,
I should wish to be Diogenes." If, then, our most esteemed philosophers have been regarded
for their temperance and moderation, why despise the native, to whom this mode of life is
natural and unaffected.
With habits so diametrically at variance we can as little hope to civilize the native by
bringing him into our way of life, as he can hope to barbarize us by reversing the position;
Desirable, therefore, as it may be, to give them a relish for improvement, yet under such
contrasted prejudices it is scarcely to be hoped for a considerable length of time at least.’25
On 17th August 1814, Thomas Campbell, the colonial Secretary wrote to Lieutenant
Governor Davey requesting that Mosquito be returned from Van Diemen’s Land. Phillip,
Mosquito’s brother, sailed in the Kangaroo to bring Mosquito home. Davey did not return
Mosquito.26 On Friday the 19th of August, 1814 “His Majesty’s brig Kangaroo, Captain
Jeffries, sailed for the Derwent.”27
1812-1815: Interaction
11th of January, 1812: Aboriginal complaints
The following passage is illuminating in that a group of Aboriginal people felt able to
complain to Matthew Locke, the chief constable and he responded to their complaint. The
outcome of the complaint remains unknown. The passage indicates that an ongoing
negotiated truce was in place; in the past and indeed in the future, an offence against a
Aboriginal was likely to be reciprocated in kind, as the author was aware of. The passage is
also of importance in that it reinforces my contention that the authorities were determined to
prevent the convict settlers taking the law into their own hands.28
25
Sydney Gazette, 1st January 1814, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628834
Colonial Secretaries’ Index, AONSW, Reel, 6004, page 251
27
20th August 1814, Sydney Gazette, Trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628966
28
The following observation by Francois Peron illustrates the control that the authorities exerted over the
convicts. ‘A formidably strict chief of police resides in Sydney. He carries out the duties of his office in such a
way a to make the boldest convict tremble: the slightest misdemeanours are punished by two or three hundred
strokes of the cane, and it is rare for a day to pass without twenty or so such penalties being administered in the
prison yard – without trial and on the simple order of a constable. Among people so profoundly depraved, it is
not hard to find informers and spies. They are paid a small sum, and the government keeps great numbers of
them, always ready to tell it of conspiracies that might be hatched by the convicts.’ Pages 398-399, Peron,
François and Freyincet, Louis, Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Lands, Translated by
Christine Cornell, The Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 2006.
26
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‘A few days ago a party of Natives went to the house of Mr. Locke, Chief Constable at
Windsor, with a representation that one of their tribe had been fired at and supposed to be
killed, at Richmond.
They appeared very positive in the truth of their information, and vehemently solicited an
immediate cognizance of the complaint; with which Mr. L readily complied. Attended by a
party of his sub-ordinates, he went accordingly to the farm whereat the circumstance was
alleged to have taken place, and as not traces were visible that could give colour to the
information, the enquiry was extended to the surrounding hamlets; the consequence of which
was, that a white man and woman were taken in to Windsor, where, as stated by the latest
accounts from thence, they awaited an investigation of the challenge.-Whether the Natives
were correct in their information or otherwise a short period doubtless will developpe: that it
may be unfounded we sincerely wish, as it is our undoubted duty to avoid every excitement to
acts of hostility from these uninformed tribes, who, acting from momentary impulse upon all
occasions, have it ever in their power to reek their vengeance upon the solitary unoffending
settler, or the unguarded traveller. These considerations should restrain the civilized
inhabitant even in cases where excessive provocarion29 might shelter him from the imputation
of inhumanity; but should this be obvious, the aggression becomes an act of cruelty beyond
the hope of palliative.’30
31st of December, 1812: the killing of Richard Evans
The Gazette report and the inquest into the death of Richard Evans are, like many other
primary sources of the period, informative, tantalising and obscure.
Richard Evans had been a serjeant in the NSW Corp and received a 150 acre grant in 1804 at
the bend of what was then Sawyers and Boston Reaches and is now called Cambridge and
Cumberland Reaches. He had formed a liaison with, or married Elizabeth Jackson, who had
been married to or connected with John, eldest son of Thomas Arndell. John had drowned in
1805. One of Elizabeth’s sons, known variously as Samuel Evans and Samuel Arndell, had
been promised land at the Branch, possibly the 30 acres which later became China Farm.31
The killing took place on the Branch farm on the night of 31st December 1812. The inquest
provided insights into relations between Aboriginal people and settlers. The farm produced
pigs, poultry, wheat and corn. There was a hut on the farm. The farm obviously required
regular attention. It was not like some farms where a crop was sown and then left till harvest.
Despite hiding articles such as blankets to prevent them being stolen, relations between
Aboriginal people and settlers appeared good. An Aboriginal man had helped Richard plant
corn that day. Richard was apparently comfortable to spend the night alone with six
Aboriginal people. What caused his killing is not clear. Dick – Coohairy, an Aboriginal man was
prepared to go with Angelo Ferugo, a Maltese assigned servant, until his sister told him to stay as they
had a long way to go, suggesting that there was no premeditation. Evans’ body was not mutilated
suggesting that his killing was not motivated by revenge.
Other Aboriginal people were brought in to examine the body and were of the opinion that the injuries
were inflicted by Aboriginal people and they vowed to either kill the perpetrators or bring them in. The
inquest was held on Andrew Doyle’s farm on the opposite bank at what is now Dargle. Andrew was an
29
This appears to be an archaic form of provocation. It was not unusual for Howe to show off his learning.
Sydney Gazette, 11th January 1812, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628396
31
Page 73, Valerie Ross, Hawkesbury Story, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1989.
30
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educated man and somewhat of a leader in the district. A jury was formed of neighbours including
Michael Lamb, William Knight and Benjamin Singleton, all of whom had previous encounters with
Aboriginal people. It is logical to expect that viewing the body and hearing the evidence hardened their
solidarity and their hostility towards Aboriginal people. It is also logical to draw the conclusion that any
killing of a settler would not pass without retribution. There is no record of what, if anything, happened to
“Guttermutting”, “Mary-Ann”, “Munningjoy”, “the unknown woman”, “Dick Coohairy” and
“Yaring”.
‘An account has been received of the murder on Friday se'nnight of - Evans, a settler at or
near Portland Head, and formerly a serjeant in the New South Wales Corps, now the 102d
Regiment. The perpetration of the horrible offence is attributed to several natives, said to
belong to the Lower Branch; but whether this supposition be accurate or not we have no
present information.’32
I have maintained the spelling, grammar and layout of the inquest.
‘Cumberland
An Inquest taken at Sawyers Reach in the said County the 3rd day of January 1813. Upon the view of the
body of Richard Evans then and there lying dead before Thomas Hobby Gentleman. Coroner and the
jurors following. –
John Campbell - foreman
Cyrus Doyle
Michael Lamb
Benjamin Singleton
William Field
John Dyke
William Hubbard
John Hanson
William Knight
William Leach
Charles Walker
Thomas Riley
Evidence
Angelo Ferugo A Maltee sworn – Was at his masters-sons farm at the Branch on Thursday last 31st
Decr. And was requested by his master to go to his own farm at Sawyers Reach for some seed Corn (a
distance of about 7 miles) his master desired him first to get his dinner which he did; there were at
the time 6 Natives on the farm 3 men named, Guttermutting, Munningjoy, and Dick Coohairy, and 3
women - Mary-Ann belonging to Gunnermutting, and Yaring belonging to Coohairy, the other he does
not know her name. When at Dinner his master gave Dick Coohairy something to eat as he had been
planting corn for him. He then got ready the boat and Dick – Coohairy and himself got into it, he
proposing to go with Deponent to his masters farm for the corn; On Dick - Coohairys sister (Mary
Ann) calling to him he objected going with Deponent saying he had a long way to go with her and the
other natives. Deponents master then desired him to go by himself with the boat and to return in the
morning, took the boat by himself to his Masters farm and remained there all night Started the following
morning before sunrise In the event Ferugo went on his own in the boat to Sawyers Reach, stayed
there the night and returned the following morning starting before sun rise with the seed corn and
deceaseds son Saml. Evans. Both on foot and when opposite the farm which he had left his master at
called, on receiving no answer both swam over Depondent taking part of the corn on his head and
leaving other articles behind them intending to fetch them over at low water which they could then
do without swimming. On reaching the opposite shore they searched but could not find the deceased,
but apprehending no harm they ground some wheat and had some breakfast, then going to search
for his blanket (as they knew where he usually hid it for fear of it being stolen by the natives) they
found his body, quite naked and covered with some bush and grass, his blanket and all the other
articles they usually hid were gone and some of the poultry. Both swam back immediately and
32
Sydney Gazette, 9th January 1813, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628604
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informed Deponents mistress at the farm at Sawyers Reach, she called on some neighbours who
fetched him to his own farm.
Questn. by the jury
Did you not find the house in that manner as to give you reason to think
somewhat particular had happened?
Anr. Did not take any notice till he had had his breakfast, then he went to look for the blanket as
before mentioned
(Signd) Angelo X Ferugo
Samuel Evans (a boy about 14 years of age, son of the deceased) stated that the last witness came
home on Thursday night last and on the following morning before sun rise, went with him, called
when opposite the farm and receiving no answer both swam over went to the hut and called but
received no answer, observed the straw in the hut which they lay upon tossed much, the meal sieve
out of its usual place and the knives missing, but considering his father was looking after the pigs,
clearing corn or doing something or other they got their breakfast went then to the place where his
father usually hid the blanket (at the instance of Angelo) where he found his father lying dead, strip’d
naked covered with bush and grass, both swam back and informed his mother who sent some
neighbours for the body
(signed)
Samuel X Evans
Andrew Doyle Sworn on Fryday 1st Inst was informed by the first witness, John Campbell & others, of
the death of Evans and went at their request to learn what particulars they could on the road (taken) took
some natives with them to the place where the deceased lay and from the blows on the head considered
he had been beat by an axe or a tomihawk; on account of the distance being so great and no person
on the farm they thought it prudent to bring the body to his own house;43 on asking the natives what
they thought of it they said they thought it was done by Natives and on their names being mentioned
that were left with the Deceased they promised to bring them in dead or alive the place the body was
found in was an aperture among the rocks about four rods from the hut.
(Signed
Andw Doyle
Mr Surgeon Mileham states he examined the scull of the deceased and found it fractured in several
places but from the very putric state cannot say by what means
(Signed)
James Mileham33
Verdict
Wilful murder against afore said Natives - .
Guttermutting,
Mary-Ann
Munningjoy
(woman name unknown)
Dick Coohairy
Yaring’34
9th of January, 1813: Bennelong’s death
The Gazette’s report of Bennelong’s death served as a platform to condemn Aboriginal
reactions to the benefits of civilisation. The final sentence widened the abyss of
misunderstanding by separating Bennelong from mankind and portraying him as a “thorough
33
James Mileham came free in 1797 as an Assistant Surgeon. He was sent to the Hawkesbury in 1808 and was
made Justice of the Peace and Magistrate at Castlereagh in June 1811. His daughter, Lucy, married Samuel Otoo
Hassall. Mileham died 28th September 1824.
34
Source: Australian Archives of NSW: Reel 6021; 4/1819 pp.193-198
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savage, whose form and character” were given to him by “nature”. That Bennelong’s
“propensity for drunkenness” was a response to “civilized life” does not appear to have
occurred to Howe.
‘Bennelong died on Sunday morning last at Kissing Point. Of this veteran champion of the
native tribe little favourable can be said. His voyage to, and benevolent treatment in Great
Britain produced no change whatever in his manners and inclinations, which were naturally
barbarous and ferocious. The principal Officers of Government had for many years
endeavoured, by the kindest of usage to wean him from his original habits, and draw him into
a relish for civilized life; but every effort was in vain exerted, and for the last few has been
little noticed. His propensity to drunkedness was inordinate; and when in that state he was
insolent, menacing and overbearing. In fact, he was a thorough savage, not to be warped
from the form and character that nature gave him, by all the efforts that mankind could
use.’35
23rd of January, 1813: royal birthday celebrations
Royal birthday celebrations brought together at Government House one hundred and twenty
government officials and landed property owners with many agendas. The combination of
native flora and scenes of Aboriginal people in the decorations showed that the settlers
bundled flora, fauna and Aboriginal people together in response to the unwillingness of
Aboriginal people to embrace the wonders of civilisation. This legacy continues in many of
our museums.
Michael Robinson,36 whose skill with his pen led to his transportation, was responsible for a
number of Odes. His Odes of 1811 and 1813 shared a common theme of race. In 1811 he
urged the benefits of civilisation on the “sable race”; however, in 1813 after Wellington’s
Peninsula victories his focus was on Albion’s “illustrious race”, ignoring George’s Germanic
origins and Queen Charlotte’s African ancestry.
While Governor Macquarie described Robinson as “the Poet Laureat”, it may be that
Robinson’s position was more that of a bard to the fancy of a Highland chieftain.
‘Monday last the 18th, being the BIRTH-DAY of HER MAJESTY, was celebrated with the
fullest demonstrations of duteous loyalty and respect. As Usual, the Royal Standard was
displayed from Fort Phillip, whence it was an object of interesting admiration. The Union
was hoisted at Dawes's Battery: At twelve o'clock a Royal Salute was fired from the latter;
and shortly afterwards three vollies proceeded from the 73d Regiment, who were paraded in
Hyde Park, in honor of the Day. At one o'clock the GOVERNOR, having returned from the
Park, received the congratulations of the Civil, Naval, and Military Officers, and of the
Gentlemen, Residents of the Colony; as a proof of the general feelings of respect for Her
Majesty we have to observe, that the Levee Was most numerous. All seemed alike disposed to
mark their loyalty, and we did not miss a single person who could express his zeal by his
attendance at the Levee.-During the Levee, an Ode (the production of a Gentleman whose
poetic talents we have had repeatedly the pleasure to bear our small tribute, of praise to) was
35
Sydney Gazette, 9th January 1813, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628604
Mr. Robinson enjoyed a peculiarly exalted position in Macquarie’s world. “Saturday. 31. January 1818 This
day gave an Order to Mr. Michl. Robinson to receive Two Cows from the Govt. Herds, as a Gift, &
remuneration from Government, for his Services as the Poet Laureat (sic) of the Colony.”
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1818/1818jan.html
36
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recited by the Author, Mr. M. Robinson. We refer our Readers to our present columns for the
satisfaction which we anticipate their deriving from the perusal of the Poem itself.
The Ball and Supper Room in the evening at Government House surpassed by far any thing of
the kind yet attempted in this Colony, and excited general admiration. The decorations of the
Ball Room were composed of native shrubs and flowers, joined into festoons, and suspended
from pillars ejected for the purpose, which were lighted by transparent, lamps, representing
the native inhabitants of the Colony in their different occupations and scenes of life, and the
whole produced a novel and pleasing effect.-The Company consisted of 120 persons.
At ten o'clock the Supper Room was opened; to which succeeded a renewal of the sprightly
Dance that continued till three o'clock in the morning when the Company retired highly
gratified with the Entertainment of the Evening.’37
‘ODE
FOR, THE QUEENS BIRTH-DAY,
1813.
By MR. MICHAEL ROBINSON.
RETIR'D within the silent Glen
Far from the busy Haunts of Men,
The Muse!-albeit her humble Lyre
Teems with no proud Pindarick Fire:
Yet borne on Fancy's magic Wings,
Her wild Notes wake the trembling Strings;
And pleas'd to range the winding Vale,
The woodland Walk, and shelter'd Dale,
With sage Philosophy her Guide,
And Nature drest in rural Pride:—
No more the splendid Dome invites,
No more Ambition's Charm delights;
Consign'd to solitary Toil,
O'er Books she wastes the midnight Oil;
From History gleans her genuine Lore,
And traces Deeds of Days of Yore:
But wberesoe'er she turns the Page,
She finds her ALBION great in ev'ry Age!
Finds fadeless Laurels crown the martial Strains
That sing of AGINCOURT’s and CRESSY'S Plains:Or, swelling high in Naval Glory, tell
Where Spain's "invincible Armada" fell!
What Time pale Terror seiz'd their scatter'd Train,
And BRITAIN'S BULWARKS triumph'd on the MAIN!
These are Themes of warlike Glory,
Chronicled in ancient Story:Modern Annals, crown'd by Fame,
More illustrious Trophies claim:37
Sydney Gazette, 23rd January 1813, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628610
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Tho' PITY pleads a kindred Sigh
For suffering HUMANITY!
Tho' NATURE mourns, when from afar
Rude roars the angry Din of War!
Yet, when provok'd th' avenging Spear to wield,
ALBION commands, and Valour bears her Shield!
When Maida's Plains were crimson'd o'er
With vital Streams of human Gore;
When Legions of the despot Host
Swaim'd on Corunna’s ravaged Coast,
And vainly hop'd one Wreath to save,
To deck their toil-worn Warriors’ Grave:When Talavera's Fate reveal’d
The Ruins of the carnag'd Field:Then ALBIQN bade her Thunders sound,
And CONQUEST came, with GLORY crown'd!
When Badajoz, that long had stood
The Pride of Guadiana’s Flood,
Whose frowning Fort, and Tow'rs sublime
Seem'd to have brav'd the Wreck of Time,Beheld her shatter'd Ramparts, prostrate, laid,
And saw her - venerable Splendor fade:
Then, proudly deck'd with many a Hero's Name,
Rose a new Monument to BRITISH FAME!
Long, Oh long may Freedom's Smiles
Exalt our peerless QUEEN of ISLES,
And her MONARCHS, crown'd with Glory,
Swell the Page of future Story:Then shall GEORGE'S sacred Name
Stand pre-eminent in Fame:Then shall rise in native Grace,
The Pride of HIS LLUSTRIOUS RACE!
Then shall Memory fondly pay
A grateful Tribute to this hallow'd Day,
And each new Morn, with brighter Ray serene.
Return to hail the Birth of ALBION'S QUEEN!
To sound HER Virtues thro' remotest Climes,
And bear HER Meed of Praise to unborn Times!
New South Wales,
Jan. l8, 1813.’38
1814: Macquarie’s First Intervention
While the Gazette was keen to point out parallels with conflicts in the past that coincided
with the harvest; there had been no such reports in the Gazette for a number of years. Drought
was certainly a contributory factor in the fighting in 1814 as it had been in past years. The
38
Sydney Gazette, 23rd January 1813
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outbreak of fighting in 1814 on the Nepean River can be linked directly to the escalation of
land grants to free settlers upstream of the Hawkesbury.
Settlement along South Creek and between the Georges and Nepean Rivers differed
significantly from the Hawkesbury. Large grants were made to free settlers, clergy, officers
and the families of Governors King and Bligh. These were large estates that stocked sheep
and cattle rather than crops. Samuel Marsden bought 128 acres on South Creek, near St
Marys in 1804. He called it Mamre and bred sheep there.39 In 1805 in the district of Evan,
Governor King granted 1,300 acres to William Chapman, 1,000 acres to Captain Daniel
Woodriffe (site of modern Penrith) and 1,000 acres to Thomas Jamison. To the south
Governor King granted 880 acres to Darcy Wentworth at Bringelly in 1805. Governor King
made grants to his family at Dunheved on South Creek in 1806 of over 2,000 acres.
Governors King and Bligh reciprocated grants of land to each other’s families in 1806 and
1807. Settlement was forbidden on the west bank of the Nepean except for the farms of
Macarthur, (Camden Park 1805) and Davidson (Belmont 1805). Macquarie continued the
trend of large grants to free settlers, clergy and officers. Governor Macquarie either
confirmed earlier grants or made new ones. O’Connell’s 2,500 acre Riverston Farm was an
1810 wedding gift made to the commander of the 73rd Regiment and his bride, Mary, the
widowed daughter of Governor Bligh.40 John Oxley received Kirkham and Elderslie in 1810;
by 1815 he had increased his holdings to 1,000 acres. John Campbell, Macquarie’s secretary,
received Shancomore, a 1,550 acre grant, on the junction of Bringelly Creek and the Nepean
River in 1811. The Luttrell family received 1,170 acres to the south of modern Penrith in
1811. Governor Macquarie granted 1,500 acres at Upper Minto to Charles Throsby, surgeon,
which Throsby called Glenfield. William Broughton, the acting commissary, was granted
1,000 acres near Appin. Gregory Blaxland’s, Cubbady farm, (Governor Macquarie named the
area Cobbedee, but it is now known as Cobbity) was granted in 1812. Robert Lowe, a free
settler, was granted 1,000 acres at Bringelly in 1812. Wivenhoe was granted to the Reverend
William Cowper in 1812. Macquarie Grove, 1812, was granted to the Reverend Rowland
Hassall and passed on to his son Samuel Hassall. Denbigh was granted to Charles Hook in
1815. Freshfields was granted to James Hassall in 1816. He later bought Matavai which had
been granted to his brother Jonathon.
The fighting that broke out in 1814 according to Broughton was related to the killing of
Botagallie’s wife and two of their children. In the attack Botagallie’s wife was scalped and an
arm was cut off. When fighting broke out Governor Macquarie was sanguine about it,
appreciating the retributive nature of Aboriginal attacks and in the latter half of the year made
preparations for the opening of the Native Institute.
39
The Reverend Samuel Marsden appropriated to himself the role of God’s estate agent in New South Wales. In
Genesis 18:1 the Lord appeared to Abraham “in the plains of Mamre” and promised a child to Abraham and his
wife Sarah, despite their age and told Abraham that “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him”. In
1822, Elizabeth Hawkins crossing the Blue Mountains encountered the Reverend Marsden who was returning
from across the Blue Mountains. ““Oh,” he said, “I congratulate you. You are all going to the Land of
Goshen.” The Land of Goshen was the best land in the Egyptian delta and given by the Pharaoh to Joseph.
(Page 117, George Mackenass, Fourteen Journeys Over the Blue Mountains of New South Wales 1813-1841,
Howitz Publications and The Grahame Book Company, Sydney, 1965). James Hassall, writing about a sermon
preached by his grandfather, the Reverend Samuel Marsden in St John’s at Parramatta, recalled, “A High pulpit
stood in the middle of the church. I remember my grandfather preaching from it about the patriarchs and
saying that Abraham was a squatter on Government ground.” (Page 11, James S. Hassall, In Old Australia,
Records and Reminiscences from 1794, Originally printed 1902, Facsimile edition 1977).
40
Riverton Farm is now better known as Riverstone. John Powell, Place Names of the Greater Hawkesbury
Region, Hawkesbury River Enterprises, 1994.
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2nd of February, 1814: the spearing of William Reardon
The spearing of William Reardon well illustrates the difficulties of working with early
records. I first came across his killing in the St Matthew’s Church of England burial records:
“William Reardon aged 50 free, came as a prisoner, speared by natives, buried at
Castlereagh.”41 At that time all births, marriages and deaths in the surrounding areas were
recorded at St. Matthew’s. There is, however, a record of an inquest in the Papers of the
NSW Colonial Secretary, which have been placed on line.42 The inquest reveals that William
Reardon was a timber cutter on George Cox’s Fernhill estate. He was was probably speared
in mistake for a settler who had accused some Aboriginal men on Fernhill, of ripping up his
vegetable garden. There is a possibility that Reardon may have been taken as far as William
Cox’s Claendon estate. Reardon died at Jamison’s Regentville Estate and was buried in the
Castlereagh cemetery.
March to September 1814: Croppy Beach and the Marramarra Creek middens
The short and violent careers of Patrick Collins and Dennis Donovan as bushrangers throws
an important light on relations between Aboriginal people and settlers on the Nepean and
Hawkesbury Rivers in 1814. In February 1814 Patrick Collins and Dennis Donovan were
transported to Newcastle. Shortly after they escaped and headed back to Sydney. They
reached the Hawkesbury River and crossed at “Croppy Beach” by unknown means. Croppy
Beach was, according to local Aboriginal people, the favoured spot for convict escapees to
cross the river. The name Croppy Beach apparently came from the local Aboriginal people.43
The name indicates that Aboriginal people were aware of the lowly status of the convicts.
The name Croppy comes apparently from the crop-headed haircut of the convicts.
The convict escapees Collins and Donovan appear to have made their way upstream on the
right bank of the Hawkesbury where they came upon a Hawkesbury vessel moored at Maher
Creek to the north of Berowra Creek. Maher Creek was an anglicised version of the
Aboriginal name Marra Creek. It was also known as Mother Maher Creek, which was an
approximation of its present name, Marramarra Creek. Marra apparently means fish,
suggesting it was a good fishing spot.44
The boat belonged to Joseph Mann and William Alder who shared a farm near the
MacDonald River. They left Sydney on the 13th of March and reached Maher Creek about 14
to 15 miles upstream of Croppy Beach on the 14th. On board were William Alder, Thomas
White and his partner Hannah Schuller.
On the evening of the 14th John Winch, a lime burner sent a young Aboriginal boy to the boat
to borrow some sugar. On the 15th some other Aboriginal people told John Winch’s boss,
41
St Matthews Church of England Windsor NSW Parish Registers 1810 to 1856.
Lake Macquarie Family History Group Inc, Hawkesbury City Council, 2003.
42
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/AUS-PT-JACKSON-CONVICTS/2003-01/1041501880
43
“Croppy Beach, which was near the place where the murders and robbery were effected, is named Croppy
Beach by the natives, as a place which fugitives from Hunter's River cannot avoid in their escape from that
settlement.” Sydney Gazette, 2nd July, 1814, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628943
44
Page 76, John P. Powell, Placenames of the Greater Hawkesbury Region, Hawkesbury River Enterprises,
1994.
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William Stokes, that the boat was empty. This evidence is significant, not just because it
shows Aboriginal people and settlers living and working together, but because of John
Winch’s work. As a lime burner Winch was burning Aboriginal middens to produce lime to
be used in mortar for brick laying. Middens are an important part of Aboriginal cultural life.
They are part of the cycles of regeneration and rebirth and are central to Aboriginal belief.
The presence of Aboriginal people around the lime burners points to the cataclysmic affect of
settlement upon Aboriginal life.
William Alder, Thomas White and Hannah Schuller were bashed and hacked to death by
Collins and Donovan. Clothing and goods taken from the boat were used as evidence against
Donovan who had been arrested after raping a woman in Sydney. Donovan was hung shortly
after. Collins was captured in mid September at the ‘Devil’s back” by a party of soldiers from
Liverpool. John Warby was the chief guide and Collins was captured after being speared by
an Aboriginal warrior. All this happened while the Nepean River was supposedly in a state of
war.45
7th of May, 1814: killings on the Nepean
I have included accounts of trouble on the Nepean River in 1814 and 1816 in this work
because it is relevant to the Hawkesbury. As well, some of these accounts come from letters
written by literate free settlers, which both illuminate and contrast with events on the
Hawkesbury where literacy levels were not as high among settlers with a convict background.
Macquarie’s assessment of the hostilities that broke out in May 1814 was quite objective.
William Reardon, who was buried in March 1814, may have been one of the “Europeans”
killed. The soldier who was killed was probably Private Eustace. Macquarie’s description of
the killing of the Aboriginal woman and two children differs significantly from the account in
the Gazette of 14th May 1814.
7th of May, 1814: Governor Macquarie to Earl Bathurst
‘Some Hostilities have been lately exhibited in the remote parts of this Settlement by the
Natives, who have killed one Soldier and three other Europeans. In consequence of this
Aggression, I dispatched a small military Party to the disturbed District, on whose approach
the Natives retired without being attacked or Suffering in any degree for their Temerity. In
course of this Business, I have caused enquiry to be made into the Motives that might have
produced it, and from thence I have learned that Some idle and ill disposed Europeans had
taken Liberties with their Women, and had also treacherously attacked and killed a Woman
and her two children whilst Sleeping, and this unprovoked cruelty produced that retaliation
whereby Persons perfectly innocent of the Crime lost their lives. Having had their Revenge in
the way they always Seek for it, I am not at all apprehensive of their making any further
attacks on the Settlers unless provoked, as before, by Insults and Cruelties.
I have, &c.,
L. MACQUARIE.’46
The following accounts of attacks on the farms of Cox and Macquarie’s secretary, Campbell,
suggest that the owners were absentees, leaving the management to overseers and convicts. It
45
Sydney Gazette, 2nd July, 1814, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628943, Sydney Gazette, 24th
September 1814, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628986
46
Pages 250-251, HRA, Volume VIII, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1914.
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certainly was an early model for transferring the blame for trouble from the free settlers to
their convict servants.
‘The mountain natives have lately become troublesome to the occupiers of remote grounds.
Mr. Cox's people at Mulgoa have been several times attacked within the last month, and
compelled to defend themselves with their muskets, which the assailants seemed less in dread
of than could possibly have been expected. On Sunday last Mr. Campbell's servants at
Shancomore were attacked by nearly 400; the overseer was speared through the shoulder,
several pigs were killed, one of which, a very large one, was taken away, together with a
quantity of corn, and other provisions; the overseer's wearing apparel, and cooking utensils.
Similar outrages have been committed in other places; which it is to be hoped will cease
without a necessity of our resorting to measures equally violent to suppress the outrages.’47
While the article described conflict in the Appin district it was important and relevant to the
Hawkesbury for several reasons. It highlighted that the peace had endured for up to seven
years. It showed that Aboriginal warriors had lost their fear of muskets and were becoming
adept in fighting musket-armed soldiers and settlers. Private Eustace was killed while
reloading his musket, the time in which he was most vulnerable to attack.48 Chopping his
hand off was almost certainly designed to prevent him from using a musket in his next life.
The difference between Governor Macquarie’s despatch and the Gazette’s account of the
killing of the Aboriginal woman and her two children highlighted the unreliability of the
Gazette. By placing the blame for the hostilities on the “wild temperament of fury natural to
the savage state of Man” the Gazette continued its demonisation of Aboriginal people within
the framework of the colonial discourse. The authoritative tone of “Repulsive measures we
have had frequent necessity of resorting to, as the only means of self defence” strongly
supports my contention that punitive expeditions, both official and unofficial were frequent
and under-reported. That some “small tribes” who straggled in settled areas came in at this
time strongly suggested that Aboriginal numbers were declining and resistance was not
universal.
‘Our public duty once more lays us under the painful necessity of reporting violences
between the natives and ourselves, which from the tranquillity and good understanding that
for the last 5 or 6 years has subsisted we had entertained the flattering expectation were not
again likely to occur. - It appears from information received, that on Saturday last three
privates of the Veteran Company49 in the district of Appin, fired on a large body of the
natives who were plundering the corn fields of a settler, and refused to desist, at the same
time making use of every term of provocation and defiance, and in token of a determined
spirit, menacing with their spears. – A native boy was unfortunately killed, and the small
party was immediately attacked with a promptitude that put it out of their power to re-load.
They were compelled to fly: and two escaped: but the third, whose name was Isaac Eustace,
was killed on the spot. This unhappy rencontre took place on the grounds of one Milehouse,
47
Sydney Gazette, 7th May 1814, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628910
The Gazette, of 25th February 1815 identified that Private Eustace was killed on 7th May.
49
The Veteran Company of the NSW Corps was formed in 1792 from marines who wished to stay in the
colony. In 1806 the company was reinforced with 100 recruits from Britain’s 2 nd and 4th Royal Veteran
Battalions. When the NSW Corps became the 102nd Regiment, and was relieved by the 73rd Regiment, the
Veteran Company was topped up with men from the 102 nd who wished to stay. The Veteran Company was a
supernumerary to Royal battalions in NSW till 1823 when the company was disbanded. Page 21, Leonard
Barton, The Military History of Windsor NSW, Len Barton, 1994.
48
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contiguous to which lay the farm of a settler of the name of Bucher, which being also
reported to be attacked, a party of 14 went thither to prevent injury, if possible, to the persons
residing on it: The mangled body of the deceased Eustace had been previously found,
stripped, and one of the hands taken from the wrist. The party fell in with a groupe (sic) of
the natives, and fired upon them: - they fled, leaving a woman and two children behind them,
dead. The next day they made an attack on a stock-keeper's hut belonging to Mrs. McArthur,
when the stock-keeper, Wm Baker, and a woman named Mary Sullivan, generally called
Hirburt, were both killed. Some other atrocities have this day been reported, but we have no
present reason to treat them with any degree of confidence. - Without offering an opinion to
which side the first act of aggression may justly be attributed, we feel confident in asserting
that every effort will be used by Government in ascertaining the fact; and we have every hope
that the measures judiciously acted upon will put a speedy termination to those evils to which
the lonely settler is exposed from the predatory incursions of an enemy whose haunts are
inaccessible, distant, and unknown, and who by surprise or stratagem accomplish every
project they devise in a wild temperament of fury natural to the savage state of Man. The care
of Government, and the general disposition of the inhabitants to preserve a friendly
intercourse with them had in former years seldom been disturbed but at this identical season
of the year, when the fields of ripened maize were open to their pillage. Without property, or
a wish to obtain any thing by industry, they respected it not in others, and the slightest
opposition they retorted with the bitterest hostility - which we may almost venture to affirm,
was until within the last 6 or 7 years periodically repeated. Repulsive measures we have had
frequent necessity of resorting to, as the only means of self defence, and we have always
found a temporary banishment effect a speedy reconciliation, as those accustomed to live
among us derived benefits from the intercourse which the woods of the interior could not
replace: Those of the latter description, whose small tribes straggle about the part of the
coast, are already coming in, as an evidence of their taking no part in the excesses of their
brethren of the mountains; who, on the other hand, are reported to have wholly disappeared
from the settlements of the interior which they visited, but whether with a view to their own
security, or for the purpose of alarming the yet more distant inhabitants, seems doubtful. In
the present state of things with them, it would be advisable for settlers and travellers to be
well upon their guard; to be ready to give assistance in every case of alarm, and to be
cautious at the same time not to provoke or irritate them by ill treatment, but endeavour on
the contrary to soothe them into a better disposition than their present seems to be. Travellers, and more especially those who are but little acquainted with their manners,
should in the mean time be very wary, as they are liable in a moment to be surprised and
surrounded from the sides of the roads, and subjected to very ill, most likely barbarous
treatment.’50
While the following account from page 105, Old Times, May 1903, differs from the other
accounts in some respects, e.g., Eustace becomes Hewitt, it provides additional insights. It
locates the killing of the old soldier on Broughton’s farm. It shows that by burying the
murdered woman and two children on his property, Kennedy maintained his good
relationship with local Aboriginal people. It identifies another two men, Price and Noonan,
whose deaths do not appear to have any other record. The account of the two Sykes children
escaping death in two separate incidents strongly suggests that revenge was measured and
directed, rather than haphazard as some would have. While it appears that the ninety year old
recollections contain a possible anomaly by linking Captain Wallis’ 1816 expedition directly
to these incidents, it is more likely that the story simply moves from 1814 to 1816 in the final
50
Sydney Gazette, 14th May 1814, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628911
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paragraph.The reference to a government reward for decapitated heads receives no mention
elsewhere in Australian records; however, the exactness of the government reward of thirty
shillings and a gallon of rum for each of them suggests this happened. In 1820, Sir George
Mackenzie published, Illustrations of Phrenology with engravings, London 1820. It
contained an engraving of Carnimbeigle’s skull and an account of how the skull was
collected by Lieutenant Parker, forwarded to Surgeon Patrick Hill, who in turn forwarded it
to Edinburgh, where it came into the hands of Sir George Mackenzie. The book carried an
advertisement for the sale of plaster casts of the skulls of Carnimbeigle and two others.51
Decapitation was not uncommon, but was not mentioned in official reports or records,
showing that records were selective in what was recorded. 52
I first found this story by an old settler in a genealogical site53 before sourcing the original in
the State Library.
‘“As a matter of fact,” said Mr. William Byrne, Sen., when the “OLD TIMES” representative
expressed surprise at the excellence of his memory. “I can remember the events of seven and
eighty years back better than more recent ones. My parents arrived in Sydney in 1798. My
father was a member of the 102nd Regiment, or “condemned regiment,” as they were called.
On January 26th, 1808, he took part in the celebrated arrest and deposition of Governor
Bligh, in which Major Johnston was nominally the leader. While doing duty during these
disturbances he caught a severe cold, which resulted in his death in the June following, and I
was born on October 24th of the same year at Parramatta.
“My earliest recollection is Howell’s mill, which was owned by the grandfather of Howell,
the cricketer.
“We left Parramatta in December 1812, when I was four years old. My mother had in the
meantime married a Mr. Sykes, who had received a grant of land at Appin. We were the first
settlers there, and I remember having our Christmas dinner in the barn before our house was
built. After we arrived, there was considerable trouble with the blacks. This was largely due
to the fault of the settlers themselves, who often treated the blacks with a great deal of
cruelty. Outrages by both blacks and whites extended over the years 1813, 1814, and 1815,
up till 1816, when the settlers were granted military protection.
“Our neighbours were Commissary Broughton and Mr. John Kennedy, my brother-in-law.
The latter treated the aboriginals very kindly, and was popular with them in consequence.
51
www.horden.com/hh/pdf/acquisitions/acq_102011_large.pdf
http://lanternerougepublishing.wordpress.com/tag/aborigines/
52
Mackenzie’s account of Carnimbeigle’s death “being placed at bay, he died manfully, having received five
shots before he fell" was provided to him by Surgeon Hill, who in turn would have received it from Lieut.
Parker who hung the bodies of Carnimbeigle and Durelle. Captain Wallis in his journal described how “some
had been shot and others met their fate by rushing in despair over the precipice”. Wallis had “considerable
difficulty in getting up the precipice” the bodies of Durelle and Carnimbeigle. Perhaps the differences in the
accounts of Carnimbeigle’s death may be reconciled in Wallis’s veiled reference to the horror of the close
quarter fighting in his description of capturing two women and three children: “They were all that remained to
whom death would not be a blessing. “Wallis made no reference to the 1816 fighting in his An Historical
Account of the Colony of Nw South Wales amd its Dependent Settlements, London, 1821.
Sir G. S. Mackenzie, Bart., Illustrations of Phrenology, with engravings, London, 1820.
https://archive.org/stream/illustrationsofp00mack/illustrationsofp00mack_djvu.txt and NSW Archives,
Microfilm Reel 6045 AONSW CSO 4/1735.
53
http://www.sykesfamily.com.au/history/history01william.htm
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“The first murder of the blacks was by an old soldier named Hewett, who was a servant on
the Broughton Estate, and saw some of them in the cornfields. He and two other men fired a
volley in to them. The blacks showed fight. They killed Hewett, cut off his hands and went
round to the settlers mockingly, asking them to place a piece of bread in the outstretched
palm, which they worked by pulling the sinews.
“After this Mr. Broughton's men went into Campbelltown, and brought out a party of settlers,
who fired into the blacks' camp and killed an inoffensive old lady, and two children. The
blacks found out the names of these men — Price and Noonan — and lay in wait for them on
the plantation. They killed Noonan on the spot, but Price, though he had several spears
sticking into him, managed to run about two hundred yards, as far as Mr Kennedy's gates,
when a well directed spear went right through his heart. My eldest sister went past the body a
few minutes later, but was unharmed. The fact that Mr Kennedy had buried the lubra and two
piccaninnies mentioned above, and fenced the graves off on his ground, probably had
something to do with this.
“After this the blacks expressed their determination of murdering a white woman and two
children as a blood revenge. They were then under the leadership of a chief named Wallah,
and one day surrounded my brother John. Things looked pretty queer for him till Wallah
interfered and said, 'No; him mother (Mrs Sarah Sykes) given um bread; no kill.' Shortly
after they crossed the river and killed an old man and his wife who lived in a hut by
themselves. The Government then sent up a detachment of soldiers who ran a portion of the
tribe into a drive and shot sixteen of them, and hanged three on McGee's Hill. They
afterwards cut off their heads and brought them to Sydney, where the Government paid them
thirty shillings and a gallon of rum for each of them. After this we had three soldiers billeted
on each homestead, and things were fairly quiet after 1816, when they were removed back to
Sydney’.54
John Macarthur sent his nephew Hannibal Macarthur home in 1812 to manage his trading
ventures. Hannibal, in a letter to his uncle of the 16th of May 1816, offered another insight
into the killing of William Baker (this was not William Baker, the former marine in Tench’s
Company, who had been the superintendent of government stores at Windsor). ‘The natives
have become extremely troublesome and amongst others we have become sufferers in the
Death of a Shepherd’s wife and your old favourite Wm. Baker who were inhumanly murdered
at the Upper Camden Yards. This horrid event was represented to the Governor but he is so
much taken up with a Parade of a garrison that he has “no means of Defence or Protection
for those distant Establishments” so that the possession of Stock is rendered very precarious
as in addition to the Natives numbers of convicts are roving uncontrolled through the country
committing all kinds of depredations, and, I have every reason to believe some of them were
concerned with the Natives in the attacks of our yards.’55
Hannibal’s letter is important in that it shows that remonstrations were made directly to the
Governors when killings took place and that records of such requests for assistance were not
often recorded. As well, it shows anger towards the Governor for his perceived inaction. In
1805 the killing of MacArthur’s stockmen appeared to have been the catalyst for Governor
54
Page 105 Old Times, Sydney, May 1903,
Pages 301-302, Sibella Macarthur Onslow, (ed), Some Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden, Angus
and Robertson Ltd., Sydney, 1914.
55
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King’s General Orders. Consideration must be given to the incremental affect of such
complaints upon the Governor.56
4th of June, 1814: Watch on the Nepean
On the 4th Of June 1814 the Gazette printed an alarming report of a coalition of warriors
poised to descend upon the Cowpastures. On the same date in his journal Governor
Macquarie recorded the celebration of the King’s birthday. “I entertained 84 Officers Civil &
Military, & other Gentlemen of the Colony at Dinr. at Government House on this occasion in
honor of the Day. — Mrs. Macquarie also entertained the principal Ladies at Sydney, in the
Evening at Govt. House, with Tea & Coffee, Cards & Music.”57 There can be little doubt that
the gentry pressed Macquarie for action at this gathering. Although the following passage is
not set in the Hawkesbury it has relevance. The passage shows that, as in the Hawkesbury,
the combination of a shifting frontier, drought and harvest precipitated hostilities. As in 1805,
this conflict involved a coalition of warriors. As in the Hawkesbury, the more isolated settlers
came in from the edge of the frontier. As in 1805, Aboriginal ranks were not solid. Cowgye,
also known to us as Gogy, never one for half measures, abandoned his fellows, claiming the
mountain tribes were cannibals. As revealed in Barrallier’s journal, the Gundungurra had a
longstanding grievance with Cowgye/Gogy which was the real reason for his precipitate
flight.
‘The hordes of Natives that shew themselves at a distance in the environs of the Cow Pasture
Settlement, excite considerable alarm among the Settlers. Many of their wives and children
have forsaken their dwelling; and sought shelter in securer places. The natives of Jarvis's
Bay are reported in good authority to have coalesced with the mountain tribes; they commit
no depredations on the corn fields, but have declared a determination, that when the Moon
shall become as large as the Sun, they will commence a work of desolation, and kill all the
whites before them. —
The full of the moon, which yesterday took place, was clearly understood to be the fixed
period alluded to; and the settlers, in self defence, had formed a resolution to watch their
respective farms by night, and by voice or gun communicating to each other any immediate
danger of attack; in case of which all within the Settlement were to repair to the place of
danger: But by the advice of Mr. Moore, the worthy Magistrate of Liverpool, this plan,
however meritorious or excellently designed, underwent an alteration which seems to
promise greater security. This was the constituting a regular corps-de-garde at the farm of
Mr. Hume, which is nearest the Nepean in Appin, comprising 8 or 10 settlers of the district;
who alternately keep a night watch, and are intent on making the best defence practicable, in
case of attack; and if hard pressed by their assailants, who appear to have less dread of fire
arms than formerly, they retire upon the district of Airds, which being more numerously
settled, will be capable of affording them a shelter. The natives of Jarvis's Bay have never
been otherwise than inimical to us; for small vessels have never touched there without
experiencing their hostility in some degree or other. Small crews have been obliged to fire
upon them (we should hope in self-defence alone), and these skirmishes may have
strengthened their aversion, in which they have ever appeared determined. The mountaineers
However, in March 1816, Elizabeth Macarthur recorded in a letter to her friend Eliza Kingdon: “Yesterday the
Governor was pleased to order a non-commissioned Officer and six soldiers out to protect our establishments
from further injuries.” This was in response to attacks on her Cowpasture farm. Page 307, Sibella Macarthur
Onslow, (ed), Some Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden, Angus and Robertson Ltd., Sydney, 1914.
57
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1814/1814june.html
56
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are a much more athletic and hardy race than those of this part of the sea coast. They are
taller, lighter coloured, much more comely in their persons and features, and wear their hair
tied in a bunch behind:58 but one circumstance is observable in their present encampments
which seems to prognosticate that their designs are not so hostile as might have been feared
(not by a body of armed men), but by the remote families who are most exposed to their
attack: This is, a knowledge we have gained that the mountain natives, unlike those of the
coast, go to war unattended by their women and children — who are now along with them.59
Their chief, whose name is Cowgye, has wholly abandoned them, and gone to Broken Bay,
from a personal wish to maintain a friendly footing with us.60 He calls the mountain tribes
cannibals; but that they are so has never yet been known to us. As soon as the whole of the
maize is gathered, we may hope they will retire; but we cannot before expect it, although it is
certain they have not for the last fortnight committed any act of depredation whatever. We
are happy to learn that the settlers have adopted the best possible measures for their own
security, and the best calculated to prevent any further mischief.’61
14th June 1814: Elizabeth Wilberforce
Elizabeth Wilberforce was probably born on the 14th of June 1814 at Wilberforce. Her father
was a “White man”, her mother an “Aboriginal native”. Elizabeth was baptised by the
Reverend John Cross on the 10th of July 1825. Elizabeth was buried in the Wilberforce
Cemetery on the 8th of January 1829.62 It is likely that Elizabeth died as a result of the 1828
influenza epidemic.
Elizabeth’s short life provides important insights into the complex relationships between
Aboriginal people and settlers. It would appear that Elizabeth’s father was a convict assigned
to Edward Reynolds. Edward Reynolds and his younger brother James were transported in
1791 and by 1820 were both quite prosperous. Edward was literate. Edward also apparently
adopted James Thomas Levy, the son of Joseph Levy, a convict assigned to Edward and an
Aboriginal woman.63 Elizabeth’s surname almost certainly came from the location of her
birth. However, her Christian name, Elizabeth, may have come from, Elizabeth, daughter of
William and Barbara Wilberforce. Elizabeth did not attend the Native Institution. John Pilot
Rickerby and Elizabeth Wilberforce, are the only people of Aboriginal parentage that I have
found, so far, buried in a Christian cemetery in the Hawkesbury. Unfortunately it is not
possible to identify where she was buried.64
The report referenced Caley’s letter of 12th March 1804 to Banks in which he suggested that the mountain
tribes were of a different race to those on the Sydney Plain and raised Polygenesis again.
‘I fell in with some natives who had never seen white men before. I should not have seen them had I not met with
a native who knew some and gave me their history and he conducted me to the place where they were along with
some others, who also knew me. On his shouting to his party they came running in a hurry towards him, and the
strangers along with them, and were close upon me before they perceived me. They seemed to be quite of a
different race to those that I am acquainted with. Not only by their features, but also in size; their hair was
black, and in height they were about 5 foot 10 inches, and very stout made.’
http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/images/banks/digitised/800590.jpg and
http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/images/banks/digitised/800591.jpg
59
The camp which was attacked and destroyed by Captain Wallis in 1816 consisted of men, women and
children.
60
In describing Cowge as “Their chief” the Gazette is referring to the “Liverpool tribe” not the “Mountain
tribe”.
61
Sydney Gazette, 4th June 1814, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628924
62
Entry 32, Page 111, St. John’s C of E, Wilberforce parish records, Microfilm, Reel 15, Windsor Library.
63
http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Richard_Beale_Reynolds_(1769-1837).
64
Cemeteries can provide evidence of discrimination in that Aboriginal burials used to be in a separate section.
It is not possible to tell where Elizabeth was buried. While her burial was registered no records were kept of
where she, or any other person, was buried. Burials in Wilberforce cemetery began on the Eastern side and
58
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18th of June, 1814: Macquarie’s Proclamation
The following article was an official order, reprinted on the 25th June 1814 and on the 2nd
July 1814. It very much reflected Macquarie’s despatch of 7th May 1814 and sheeted the
latest hostilities home to the actions of some settlers in killing an Aboriginal woman and two
children. His order was important for several reasons. While Macquarie made it clear that he
would not sanction settlers taking the law into their own hands; the killer of the woman and
two children remained at large. For those settlers so inclined, the implication was clear –
don’t get caught – leaving the historian again without adequate evidence of unsanctioned
killings. Macquarie’s instruction that the order be read during Divine Service on two
occasions indicates the strong links between these two pillars of authority. And while the
order was objective and even handed, it was very much a line in the sand, suggesting that the
free settlers had moved Macquarie in their discussions on the 4th of June.
‘The Governor and Commander in Chief feels much Regret in having to advert to the
unhappy Conflicts which have lately taken place between the Settlers in the remote and the
Natives of the Mountains adjoining those Districts; and He sincerely laments that any Cause
should have been given on either Side for the sanguinary and cruel Acts which have been
reciprocally perpetrated by each Party.
The number of Lives sacrificed, as well by the Settlers as the Natives, in Retaliation for real
or supposed Injuries, but without due Regard either to previous Aggression on the Part of the
unfortunate Sufferers, or to the Dictates of Humanity, have already given Rise to a legal
Investigation before a Bench of Magistrates; and although it was not sufficiently clear and
satisfactory to warrant the Institution of Criminal Prosecution, it was enough so as to
convince any unprejudiced Man that the first personal Attacks were made on the part of the
settlers and of their servants.
It appears, however, that the Natives have lately shewn a Disposition to help themselves to a
Portion of the Maize and other Grain belonging to the Settlers in these District, in a Manner
very different from their former habits; and the latter have of course just Grounds of
Complaint for the Depredations committed upon them.
But whilst it is to be regretted that the Natives have thus violated the Property of the Settlers,
it has not appeared in the Examination of Witnesses that they have carried their
Depredations to any alarming Extent, or even to the serious Prejudice of any one individual
Settler.
moved progressively to the West. Most early burials were on the right or Northern side, however, there were
also burials at this time against the Southern side of the cemetery. Sarah, Edward’s wife, died in 1828, but she
does not appear to have a gravestone. She may have been buried with her first husband, Thomas Sibrey. Edward
Reynolds died in 1830 following a fall from a horse. His grave does have a headstone, row 7, plot 24. Page 34,
Lake Macquarie Family History Group Inc. St. Matthews Church of England Windsor NSW Parish Registers
1810 to 1856, Hawkesbury City Council, 2003; Parish of Wilberforce Burial Register, Sections 1-2, nos. 1-71;
Wilberforce Cemetery Conservation Management Plan, 2008,
http://www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/6303/Wilberforce_Cemetery.pdf and
http://www.hawkesbury.net.au/cemetery/wilberforce/wwc590.html.
Stan Stevens on page 15, Hawkesbury Heritage, refers to “Jane, an Aboriginal, supposed 20, no service, the
woman being unbaptised.” I have looked at the microfilm of the St Matthew’s parish records and, so far, have
been unable to find any record of her. Being unbaptised, Jane was probably buried at the back of the cemetery.
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From this Review of the past occurences, the Governor desires to admonish the settlers from
taking the law into their own Hands for the future, and to beware of wanton Acts of
Oppression and Cruelty against the Natives, who are, in Like Manner with themselves, under,
and entitled to the Protection of the British Laws, so long as they conduct themselves
conformably to them. And it is a Duty which the Governor will be always prompt in the
Performance of, mutually to restrain the Aggressions of the one and other Party, and to
punish in the most exemplary Manner every Person, whether Settler or Native, who shall
premeditately violate those Laws.
When it is taken into Consideration that several Years have elapsed since any thing like a
Principle of Hostility has been acted upon, or even in the slightest Degree exhibited in the
Conduct of the Natives, it must be evident that no deep rooted Prejudice exists in their Minds
against British Subjects or white Men; indeed, the free and kindly Intercourses that have
subsisted between them from the Foundation of the Colony (now upwards of 26 Years ago) to
the present Time, with the Exception of a few slight Interruptions, prove beyond a Doubt that
the Natives have no other Principle of Hostility to the Settlers than what arises from such
casual Circumstances as the present may be attributed to.
In such Circumstances it will be highly becoming and praiseworthy in true British Settlers to
exercise their Patience and Forbearance, and therein to shew the Superiority they possess
over these unenlightened Natives by adopting a conciliatory Line of Conduct towards them,
and returning to the Performance of those friendly Offices by which they have so long
preserved a good Understanding with them. In acting thus, they will reflect Credit on
themselves, and most effectually secure their own personal Safety; but should Outrages be
then further committed by the Natives, on information being given to the Magistrate of the
District, the most active Measures will be taken for the Apprehension and Punishment of the
Aggressor, in like Manner as under similar Circumstances would take Place when British
Subjects only were concerned. The Governor has lately taken much personal Pains to
impress this Circumstance on the Minds of several of the Cowpasture and other Natives of
the Interior, and to point out to them the absolute necessity for their desisting from all Acts of
Depredation or Violence on the Property or Persons of the Settlers; and he has had strong
Assurances from them, that if they be shot at, or wantonly attacked (as in the Case which
occurred lately in Appin, wherein a Native Woman and two Children were in the dead Hour
of Night, and whilst sleeping, inhumanly put to death), they will conduct themselves in the
same peaceable Manner as they had done previous to the present Conflict; they have at the
same Time the fullest Assurance from the Governor, that any Complaint they may be
disposed to make to him will be duly attended to; and any Person who may be found to have
treated them with Inhumanity or Cruelty will be punished according to the Measure of their
Offences therein.
Some few sacrifices May be required; and it is hoped they will be cheerfully made by the
settler, towards the Restoration of Peace; but should the Governor be disappointed in his
Ardent Wish for the Reestablishment of Good Will between the Settlers and the Natives,
minute Enquiries will be made into the Motives and Conduct of each Party, and the
Aggrieved will receive the fullest Protection, whilst the Formenters of those Hostilities will
meet with the most exemplary Punishment.
This Order requiring the earliest and greatest Publicity, His Excellency the Governor desires
that shall be read on Sunday the 26th Instant, and Sunday the 3rd of July next, during the
Time of Divine Service, by the Chaplain, at their respective Churches or Places of Worship
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throughout the Colony; and the Magistrates are also directed to assemble the Settlers with all
convenient Expedition in their respective Districts, and to impress fully on their Minds the
Necessity for their prompt and implicit Obedience to this Order.
By Command of His Excellency
The Governor,
J. T. CAMPBELL, Secretary’65
Tuesday, 15th of July, 1814: The killing of two Daly children
It is not possible to deduce whether this incident was related to earlier ones or was
precipitated by a fearful woman firing at a group of Aboriginal people. The fact that two
children were killed while the woman and infant were spared suggests that Bottagellie, who
had lost his wife and two children, may have been involved. The recollections of the Sykes
family that Wallah was the leader of a group determined on the killing of “a white woman
and two children as a blood revenge” suggests that Wallah was also involved.66 Certainly
Bottagellie and Wallah were identified in Macquarie’s subsequent orders to Warby and
Jackson. The article reinforces my contentions that fear was an important and under-reported
cause of settler hostility towards Aboriginal people; and that Aboriginal revenge was targeted
and measured. The woman may have been spared because she was breastfeeding the infant.
The article is also of interest because of gender bias. It was not only Aboriginal women who
were invisible. The woman in this account was simply “the wife of a person named Daly”.
‘We have reluctantly to record another unhappy instance of the dreadful effects of a warfare
with the natives of the interior. - Yesterday se'nnight the wife of a person named Daly, at
Mulgowy, having only 3 days lain in was alarmed by the noise and shouts of a number of
native unexpectedly and rising from bed fired a musket at them to intimidate them - which
had the contrary effect. The poor woman immediately exited the house, leaving 2 fine
children, besides the infant that was in bed; and on her return had, the wretchedness to
behold the two eldest lifeless on the floor, and the little infant tumbled out of the bed, which
they had stripped but the child other-wise unharmed. The natives, before assistance could be
assembled, had escaped towards the mountains.’67
22nd of July, 1814: Warby and Jackson’s expedition
On 22 July 1814, Macquarie authorised John Warby68 and John Jackson to lead an armed
party of twelve Europeans and four native guides to track down and capture five Aboriginal
people; “Goondel, Bottagellie, Murrah, Yellamun, and Wallah”, who had been identified as
being responsible for attacks on settlers. Apart from Warby and Jackson who were
constables, the other Europeans were assigned servants. The party was provided with
provisions (salt pork, biscuit, rice, sugar, tea and tobacco) and weapons (twelve muskets, 144
rounds of ammunition and 24 lbs (?) of buckshot). They returned without making contact.
‘To John Warby
And John Jackson,
Some of the wild Mountain Natives having lately committed most cruel and wanton acts of
hostility and barbarity against the persons and property of several of the European
65
Sydney Gazette, Saturday, 18th June 1814, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628932
Page 105, Old Times, May 1903.
67
Sydney Gazette, 23rd July 1814, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/628951/7188
68
http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/all/journeys/people/profiles/warby.html
66
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peaceable settlers, their wives and children, particularly in recent instances in the District of
Bringelly, and near the South Creek, having in the former district barbarously murdered two
infant children, on the farm belonging to a man named Daley and there being good reason to
suppose that the five following natives have been principal actors in, and formentors of all
the late acts of Hostility and murders committed on the Europeans settlers and their families,
namely Goondel, Bottagellie, Murrah, Yellamun, and Wallah; you are hereby authorised and
directed, together with the ten armed Europeans and four friendly Native Guides,69 placed
under your orders, to proceed forthwith in quest of the said five Hostile Natives and
endeavour, if practicable to apprehend and take them alive, and bring them in Prisoners (sic)
to Sydney, in order that they suffer the punishment due to their crimes. – In case, however,
you may not find it practicable, to seize the said five natives alive by surprise or stratagem,
you are authorised to use force in taking or compelling them to surrender at discretion,
without making terms with them, or holding out to them any promise of pardon or indemnity
for the various crimes they have committed; observing at the same time every possible
precaution not to molest, kill or destroy any of the innocent Natives who may happen to be in
company with those hostile ones when you come up with them. – Much however must be left
to your own discretion and humanity, and I confidently trust and hope that the authority you
are both thus invested with will not be abused and I feel Confident you will both act with
mutual cordiality and unanimity, and to the best of your respective judgements, in the
execution of the very important service you are now engaged in and entrusted with as the two
principal Conductors.
Given under my hand at Government House Sydney. New South Wales, this Friday the 22nd
day of July 1814.
L. Macquarie’70
The Gazette, Saturday 6th August, 1814, recorded that the Governor allocated £24-0-0 to “Mr
Lewin, John Warby, and John Jackson, as a remuneration for their trouble, whilst recently
visiting the Native Tribes in the Interior of the Country.” The others who accompanied
Warby and Jackson appeared to have received no reward. One of these men, Joseph Bridge
ended up in irons again. His widow, Elizabeth, and their children took up a grant at Screech
Owl Creek on the Hawkesbury. His son, Joseph, married Sarah Woodbury, daughter of a
Hawkesbury constable.71
In 1816 Bottagellie and Yellaman were protecting the farms of Kennedy and Broughton.
27th of August, 1814: Colebee and Joe Molgowy work for William Cox
Further evidence of the collaboration of settlers and Aboriginal people can be found in
William Cox’s journal when building the road over the Blue Mountains. “Joe from Mulgoa
“was also known as “Joe Molgowy” and “Coley” was almost certainly Colebee,
Yarramundi’s son. Colebee may well have been named after Colebee who visited
Yarramundi with Governor Phillip in April 1791. The fact that one of these men shot a
kangaroo challenges stereotypes about relations between Aboriginal people and settlers.
‘August 8.
69
The guides were Mary Mary, Budbury, Quayat (?) and Karrijong.
70
71
Page 44, Valerie Ross, A Hawkesbury Story, Library of Australian History, 1989.
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Timber and brush very heavy and thick from the ninth to tenth mile. Thos. Kendall ill, unable
to work. Mr. Hobby, with R. Lewis,72 went forward with John Tye73 about four miles, and
marked the trees. Two natives from Richmond joined us; one shot a kangaroo.
August 27.
Measured to the 16th mile, immediately after which the ground got very rocky, and in half-amile we came to a high mountain, which will cost much labour to make a road over. Got two
natives, who promise to continue with us--Joe from Mulgoa and Coley from Richmond”.74
7th of October, 1814: the first official use of the word Aborigines by Macquarie
While Matthew Everingham’s use of the word Aborigines in 1795 may have been its first
recorded usage in New South Wales,75 the earliest evidence of the word being used officially
with specific reference to the First People of Australia appears to have been by Macquarie in
the following despatch. While the Historical Records of Australia have transcribed the word
as Aborigines, he originally wrote Ab-origines in his proclamation of the Parramatta Native
Institution on the 10th of December 1814. While it can be argued that his choice of words
placed Aboriginal people within the mantle of God’s creation, it can also be argued that it
placed Aboriginal people at the lowest level of humanity. In the following despatches
Macquarie put forward a proposal to establish a native institute for Aboriginal children as the
first step in their civilization.
7th of October, 1814: Macquarie to Earl Bathurst
‘I have great Pleasure in reporting to Your Lordship that this Country is at present in a State
of perfect Peace and Tranquility. In My former Dispatch76 I had to Notice Some Sanguinary
Acts on the part of the Natives, but since that Period they have Entirely discontinued their
predatory Incursions and Savage Attacks on the Settlers. They have even Made such
Advances towards a good Understanding for the future as to Make Submissions for the past.
It has long been in Serious Contemplation with me to Endeavour to Civilize the Ab-origines
of this Country so as to render them Industrious and Useful to the Government, and at the
same time to Improve their own Condition. Having made some Arrangements for this
purpose, I shall address a Separate Dispatch*77 to Your Lordship on that Subject by the
present Opportunity.’78
8th of October, 1814: the next step to civilization
‘GOVERNOR MACQUARIE TO EARL BATHURST.
My Lord,
8th October, 1814. I feel
peculiar Pleasure in submitting to Your Lordship's Consideration some Reflections, which, in
the Course of My government, have Occurred in My Mind in regard to the Character and
R. Lewis, a free settler who lived at Richmond and Cox’s Chief Superintendent for building the road across
the Blue Mountains, 1814-15, was not the husband of the Mrs. Lewis killed at Grose Vale in 1816. George
Bowman identified her as the wife of William Lewis. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400191.txt
73
Tye, or Tigh, was rewarded with land on the Hawkesbury.
74 William Cox, Journal 1814, MS C708-2/CY Reel 1022:25 ML.
http://www.megalong.cc/Ambermere/william_cox__the_road_builder.htm
75
Page 52, Ross, Valerie, The Everingham Letterbook, Anvil Press, 1985. David Collins also used aborigines in
1801, Pages 454 and 456, Collins, David, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume I,
London 1802, A. H. and A. W. Reed, 1975.
76
Despatch of 7th May, 1814.
77
Despatch of 8th October, 1814.
78
Page 313, HRA, Volume VIII, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1916.
72
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General Habits of the Natives of this Country; by A Communication of Which, I trust I shall
be enabled to Interest Your Lordship's humane and liberal Feelings in behalf of this
Uncultivated Race.
Scarcely Emerged from the remotest State of rude and Uncivilized Nature, these People
appear to possess some Qualities, which, if properly Cultivated and Encouraged, Might
render them, not only less wretched and destitute by Reason of their Wild wandering and
Unsettled Habits, but progressively Useful to the Country According to their Capabilities
either as Labourers in Agricultural Employ or among the lower Class of Mechanics.
Those Natives, Who resort to the Cultivated Districts of this Settlement, Altho prone like
other Savages to great Indolence and Indifference79 as to their future Means of Subsistence,80
Yet in General, are of free open and favorable Dispositions, honestly Inclined, and perfectly
devoid of that designing Trick and Treachery, Which Characterize the Natives of New
Zealand and those of the Generality of the Islands in the South Seas. The Natives of New
South Wales have never been Cannibals. In fact they seem to have as great an Abhorrence of
practices of that kind as if they had been reared in a Civilized State. The principal part of
their Lives is Wasted in Wandering thro' their Native Woods, in Small Tribes of between 20
and 50, in Quest of the immediate Means of Subsistence, Making Opossums, Kangaroos,
Grub Worms, and such Animals and Fish, as the Country and its Coasts Afford, the Objects
of their Fare.
The Introduction of Herds and Flocks has not even Yet tempted them to Alter their Mode of
living, Which is a Circumstance .to be Calculated on as peculiarly fortunate; since, had they
been Inclined to Make prey of them, it would have been a Matter of the Greatest Difficulty, if
not altogether Impossible in the early state of the Colony, to have guarded against their
Depredations, and the Consequence would have been that Instead of the Numerous and
promising Herds and Flocks, which now extend over the face of the Country, very few would
have been preserved, and the Supplies of Animal Food would not have been in any Degree
equal to our Wants.
Those Natives, who dwell Near Sydney or the other principal Settlements, live in a State of
perfect Peace, Friendliness, and Sociality With the Settlers, and even Shew a Willingness to
Assist them Occasionally in their Labours; and it seems only to require the fostering Hand of
Time, gentle Means, and Conciliatory Manners, to bring these poor Un-enlightened People
into an important Degree of Civilization,81 and to Instil into their Minds, as they Gradually
open to Reason and Reflection,82 A Sense of the Duties they owe their fellow Kindred and
Society in general (to Which they Will then become United), and taught to reckon upon that
Sense of Duty as the first and happiest Advance to a State of Comfort and Security.
From Whatever Motives or Causes Some of these Natives have been Induced to Commit Acts
of Hostility against the Settlers, it seems to bear a reasonable Inference that Provocation or
Aggression from some Undiscovered or Unacknowledged Cause may have given Rise to
them, Under an Impression of temporary Revenge; but when once Induced to forego this
Vindictive Spirit, which Kindness and Encouragement and, Social Intercourses together
This phrase “indolence and indifference” is used in A Treatise on Human Nature, David Hume, 1739.
The phrase “means of subsistence” was used by both Mathus and Ricardo.
81
Lord Kames used the phrase “degrees of civilization” in Sketches of the History of Man, 1778.
82
The phrase “reason and reflection” was used by John Locke in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,
1690.
79
80
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Would Sooner or later bring about, their next Step towards Civilization would be rapid and
easy, and they Would learn to Appreciate that Degree of Importance to Which they had thus
progressively Attained.
From Considerations of this kind, Which in a great Measure have been Guided and
Strengthened by My own personal Knowledge and Observation, I have determined to make
an Experiment towards the Civilization of these Natives, Which is the Object I have in View
by this Address, and trust it Will Meet Your Lordship's benevolent Patronage. As a
preliminary Measure I intend to establish an Institution at Parramatta, first on a Small Scale
under the Direction of a Mr. William Shelley (formerly a Missionary), Whom I shall Appoint
as Superintendant for Educating, and bringing up to Habits of Industry and Decency, the
Youth of both Sexes, Commencing at the Outset with Six Boys and Six Girls. Mr. Shelley
Appears to be Well Qualified for such an Undertaking, is a Moral, Well Meaning Man,, and
has Manifested great Zeal and Promptitude On this Occasion, Insomuch that I Consider him
a very fit Person to be Entrusted for such a Purpose.
Herewith I do Myself the Honor to transmit Your Lordship Mr. Shelley's Plan and Estimate of
the Annual Expence of such an Institution, and I trust they Will Meet Your Lordship's
favorable Consideration and Approval. The Expence Appears high for so small a Number of
Scholars, but it Will diminish in proportion to the Increase of Scholars to be expected.
Whatever Degree of Doubt May Impend over An Attempt of this Nature, it Appears to Me to
be Worth the Trial of two Years, and the Expences will be defrayed from the Colonial Fund.
I have it Also in Contemplation to Allot a piece of Land83 in Port Jackson bordering on the
Sea Shore for a few of the Adult Natives, Who have promised to Settle there and Cultivate the
83
While the text refers to a grant made to Bungaree, the HRA note refers to a grant made to Colebee in the
district of Bathurst, which lay between the Richmond and Windsor Roads across East Creek. The HRA note is
anachronistic because Colebee was not promised the land till 1816. The HRA note is followed by a Gazette
account of the grant to Bungaree.
‘Note 86. A Piece of Land
Governor Macquarie made several attempts to civilize the aborigines (sic) and raise them to the level of the
white races. An example of this policy is found in the issue of a land grant of thirty acres in the district of
Bathurst to a native, name Colebee. This grant was dated 31 st August, 1819.’
The Gazette provided an account of the grant to Bungaree.
‘On Tuesday last, at an early hour, His Excellency the GOVERNOR and Mrs. MACQUARIE, accompanied by a
large party of Ladies and Gentlemen, proceeded in boats down' the Harbour to George's Head.
The object of this excursion, we understand, was to form an establishment for a certain number of Natives who
had shewn a desire to settle on some favourable spot of land, with a view to proceed to the cultivation of it. The ground assigned them for this purpose (the peninsula of George's Head) appears to have been judiciously
chosen, as well from the fertility of the soil as from its requiring little exertions of labour to clear and cultivate;
added to which, it possesses a peculiar advantage of situation; from being nearly surrounded on all sides by the
sea; thereby affording its new possessors the constant opportunity of pursuing their favorite occupation of
fishing, which has always furnished the principal source of their subsistence.
On this occasion, sixteen of the Natives, with their wives and families were assembled, and His EXCELLENCY
the GOVERNOR, in consideration of the general wish previously expressed by them, appointed Boongaree (who
has been long known as one of the most friendly of this race, and well acquainted with our language), to be
their Chief, at the same time presenting him with a badge distinguishing his quality as "Chief of the Broken Bay
Tribe," and the more effectually to promote the objects of this establishment, each of them was furnished with a
full suit of slop cloathing, together with a variety of useful articles and implements of husbandry, by which they
would be enabled to proceed in the necessary pursuits of agriculture: - A boat (called the Boongaree), was
likewise presented them for the purpose of fishing.
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ground. Such an Example Cannot, I think, fail of Inviting and Encouraging other Natives to
Settle on and Cultivate Lands, preferring the productive Effects of their own Labor and
Industry to the Wild and precarious Pursuits of the Woods.
Whilst it is Well known that Considerable Sums of Money are Expended, by the Missionary
Societies of London and other parts of England, in Attempting to Evangelize the Natives of
New Zealand and Otaheite, it may be Allowed to be an Object favorable to the Interests of
Humanity to see an Attempt of this kind made on a frugal and prudent Scale in the Territory
of New South Wales, the Natives of Which Appear to Me to have peculiar and strong Claims
to the philanthropic Protection of a British Government. I have, &c.,
L. MACQUARIE.’84
10th of December, 1814: Establishing the Parramatta Native Institute
On the 10th of December 1814, Governor Macquarie’s plans for the Native Institute were
announced, echoing his earlier use of the word “Ab-origines”, though the Gazette changed it
to “aborigines” in the lower case.85 The plan reflected the Governor’s determination not only
to change Aboriginal people but to assert his right to do so. By using the word “Ab-origines“
and asserting the colony had ‘never met with any serious or determined Hostility from them,
but rather a Disposition to submit peaceably to such Establishments' as were necessarily
made on the Part of the British Government on the Formation of this Settlement’ the Gazette
the Governor placed the First peoples of Australia on the lowest levels of creation to justify
the taking of land, language and lives. Such a reductionist myth also enabled reprisals by
magistrates, settlers and soldiers to escape scrutiny.
On 27th December the first annual feast was attended by about 60 Aboriginal people. Quite
insightfully the Gazette attributed the paucity of numbers to Aboriginal fears “that they were
to be forcibly deprived of their children, & themselves sent to labour”.
The Gazette of 31st December 1814 justified the Native Institution on the grounds that
Aboriginal people were increasingly dependent upon the settlers because of the shortage of
Kangaroos, possums and yams caused by the clearing of land for farming. While it is true that
the infectious nature of influenza and tuberculosis was still unknown the editor’s claim that
“in June, July and August, when the weather is cold, the woods afford them little or no food,
and they become a prey to many loathsome diseases which poverty entails upon the human
frame” was spurious. In this article Howe reinforced the paradigm of an active and caring
role for the settlers and a passive one for Aboriginal people. It marked a shift in the discourse
About noon, after the foregoing ceremony had been concluded, HIS EXCELLENCY and party returned to
Sydney, having left the Natives with their Chief in possession of their newly assigned settlement, evidently much
please with it, and the kindness they experienced on the occasion. ‘
Sydney Gazette, 4th February, 1815, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/629052
84
Pages 367-373, HRA, Volume VIII, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1916. I have
not included William Shelley’s proposal for the Native Institution. It can be found at pages 370ff., HRA,
Volume VIII. The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1916.
On the 4th of December 1815 Bathurst replied favourably to the proposal, providing “the Expence of the
Establishment, which you deem adequate for making the Experiment, is not more than the Colonial funds, aided
by private Subscriptions of individual”s. Page 645, HRA, Volume VIII, The Library Committee of the
Commonwealth Parliament, 1916.
85
Sydney Gazette, 10th December 1814, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/629022
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of settlement towards blaming anything but the act of settlement for declining Aboriginal
numbers.
10th of December, 1814: rules and regulations for the Native Institute
‘Government House Sydney
Saturday 10th December 1814
Civil Department
His Excellency the Governor having long viewed with sentiments of Commiseration the very
wretched State of the Ab-origines of this Country; and having resolved in his Mind the most
probable and promising means of ameliorating their condition, has now taken the Resolution
to adopt such measures as appear to him best calculated to effect that Object, and improve
the Energies of this innocent, destitute and unoffending Race.
With this Anxiety to make one Experiment so interesting to the Feelings of Humanity, and to
endeavour to ascertain how far the Condition of the Natives may be improved by the
Application of such Means as are within his Power, His Excellency feels that he is making an
Acknowledgement to which they are in some Degree entitled, when it is considered that the
British Settlement in this Country, though necessarily excluding the Natives from many of the
natural Advantages they had previously derived from the animal and other Productions of
this Part of the Territory, has never met with any serious or determined Hostility from them,
but rather a Disposition to submit peaceably to such Establishments as were necessarily
made on the Part of the British Government on the Formation of this Settlement.
With a View, therefore, to effect the Civilization of the Ab-origines of New South Wales, and
to render their Habits more domesticated and industrious His Excellency the Governor, as
well from Motives of Humanity as of that Policy which affords a reasonable Hope of
producing such an Improvement in their condition as may eventually contribute to render
them not only more happy in themselves, but also in some Degree useful to the Community,
has determined to institute a school for the Education of the Native Children of both sexes
and to assign a Portion of land for the Occupancy and Cultivation of adult Natives, under
such Rules and Regulations as appear to him likely to answer the desired Objects, and which
are now published for general Information.
First, that there shall be a School for the Ab-origines of New South Wales, established in the
Town of Parramatta; of which His Excellency the Governor is to be Patron and Mrs
Macquarie, Patroness.
Secondly, That there shall be a Committee, consisting of seven Gentlemen, for conducting
and directing the Institution; one of the Committee to act as Treasurer and Secretary.
Thirdly, That the Institution shall be placed under the immediate management and care of Mr
William Shelly as Superintendant and Principal Instructor.
Fourthly, That the Main Object of the Institution shall be Civilization of the Ab-origines of
both Sexes.
Fifthly, That the Expences of the Institution shall be defrayed for the first two years by
Government, in such Manner as the Governor may deem expedient; but with a View to extend
the Benefits of it after that Period, that Subscriptions shall be solicited and received from
public Societies and private Individuals.
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Sixthly, That this Institution shall be an Asylum for the Native Children of both sexes, but no
child shall be admitted under four, or exceeding seven years of Age.
Seventhly, That the Number of Children to be admitted in the first Instance, shall not exceed
six Boys and six Girls; which Numbers shall be afterwards increased according to
circumstances.
Eighthly, That the Children of both sexes shall be instructed in common, Reading, Writing,
and Arithmetic; That the Boys shall also be instructed in Agriculture, Mechanical Arts, and
such common Manufactures as may best suit their Ages, and respective Dispositions; That
the Girls Shall also be taught Needle-work. For all which Purposes, Instructors, properly
qualified, will be employed.
Ninethly, That the Manager or Superintendant shall have the immediate Care of the
Children, the Purchase of Provisions, and of the Materials for employing them, together with
the Disposal of the Articles manufactured by the Children.
Tenthly, That a Portion of Land shall be Located for the use of adult Natives, which shall be
invited and encouraged to cultivate it and that such Assistence shall be rendered them for
that Purpose by Government, as may be deemed expedient: That the Management and
Superintendance thereof shall be also vested in Mr Shelly; and under his immediate
Inspection, subject to such Directions as he shall receive from the Committee.
Eleventhly, That the Committee shall meet Quarterly at the Town of Parramatta, on the first
Wednesday in each succeeding Quarter, for the Purpose of inspecting and auditing the
Quarterly Accounts of the Manager; and also of examining the Pupils as to their Progress in
Civilization, Education, and Morals; and how far the necessary Attention has been paid to
their Diet, Health, and Cleanliness.
-That the Committee (which shall at no time consist of less than five members) shall have
Power to take cognizance of and correct any existing Abuses, and frame such additional
Regulations as may appear necessary for the Improvement and benefit of the Institution.
Twelthly, That the Committee shall make a written Report of the Result of their Observations
and Enquiries, at their Quarterly Meeting, to His Excellency the Governor, as a Patron of the
Institution; and also of such Rules and Regulations as they may deem necessary to frame for
the Benefit of the Institution; which must receive the Sanction of the Governor, previous to
their being carried into Effect.
Thirteenthly, That the proposed Institution shall be opened for the Reception of the
Prescribed Number of Children, on Wednesday the 18th Day of January next, being the
auspicious Anniversary of the Birth of our Most Gracious Queen.
Fourteenthly, That no Child, after having been admitted into the Institution, shall be
permitted to leave it, or be taken away by any Person whatever (whether Parents or other
Relatives) until such Time as the Boys shall have attained the Age of Sixteen Years, and the
Girls Fourteen Years; at which Ages they shall be respectively discharged.
Fifteenthly, The undermentioned Gentlemen having expressed their Willingness to forward
and promote the Objects of the proposed Institution, His Excellency is pleased to constitute
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and appoint them (with their own Concurrence) to be the Committee for Conducting and
Directing All the Affairs connected therewith.
Committee
1. John Thomas Campbell, Esq
2. D’Arcy Wentworth, Esq
3. William Redfern, Esq
4. Hannibal McArthur, Esq
5. The Revd William Cowper
6. The Revd Henry Fulton
7. Mr Rowland Hassall
His Excellency is further pleased to appoint John Thomas Campbell, Esq. to be Secretary and
Treasurer of the Institution.
By Command of His Excellency
The Governor,
(Signed) J T Campbell,
Secretary.’86
‘THE Governor wishing to hold a public Conference with all those Tribes of the Natives of
New South Wales who are in the Habit of resorting to the British Settlements established in
this Colony, in order to make a personal Communication to them on the Subject of the Native
School or Institution which His Excellency is now about to establish, requests that they will
assemble and meet him at the Market Place, in the Town of Parramatta, at the Hour of
Eleven o'Clock in the Forenoon of Wednesday, the 28th of the present Month of December,
that being the next Day after full Moon.
All District Constables and other Peace Officers are hereby directed to make this
Communication known to the Natives residing in, or resorting to their respective Districts, in
due Time to enable them to attend and assemble accordingly. The Gentlemen of the
Committee appointed to Conduct the Affairs of the Native Institution are requested to meet
His Excellency the Governor, on this Occasion, at the Time and Place herein before
mentioned.
By Command of His Excellency
The Governor,
J. T. Campbell, Secretary GOVERNMENT and GENERAL ORDERS.
Government House, Sydney, Saturday, 10th December, 1814.’87
31st of December, 1814: The first Annual Feast.
‘On Wednesday His Excellency the GOVERNOR went to Parramatta, for the purpose of
seeing and conferring with the Natives, agreeably to the benevolent design intimated in the
General Orders of the 10th instant. At one o'clock His Excellency, accompanied by the
Lieutenant Governor, and a number of Officers Civil and Military, went to the Market-place,
where the interview had been appointed to be held, und conversed with them for an hour,
86
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/digital-gallery/lachlan-macquarie-visionary-and-builder/publicnotices/full-transcript-establishment-of-the-native-institution-1814
NRS 1046 [SZ759, pages 11-14; Reel 6038]
87
Sydney Gazette, 10th December 1814, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/629022
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pointing out in an affable and familiar way the advantages they would necessarily derive
from a change of manners, and an application to moderate industry. The whole number
assembled, of all ages and sexes, did not exceed sixty, owing, as it was conjectured, to some
false impressions which the more distant tribes had given way to, relative to the design of the
convocation, suspiciously imagining that they were to be forcibly deprived of their children,
& themselves sent to labour. Those who did attend gave information that numbers were in the
neighbourhood, but unwilling to come forward, owing to their doubts, which they had in vain
endeavoured to appease and satisfy - After a length of conversation, three children were
yielded up to the benevolent purposes of the Institution: and after HIS EXCELLENCY, His
Honor the LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, and the accompanying Officers had bestowed every
possible pains in producing a confidence necessary to the proposed ends, the natives were
seated in a circle, and served with a fine dinner of roast beef, and a cheering jug of ale. At
two o'clock His Excellency took leave of them, and returned to Sydney, accompanied by Mrs.
MACQUARIE. During the afternoon their number increased, and the strangers were
welcomed by Mr. Shelly, who continued the same hospitable treatment to all that arrived,
from the remaining stock, which had been provided for a much greater number. Another
child has since been offered, without solicitation or persuasion, and added to the list of
candidates for civilization. That the proposed number will very shortly be obtained there can
be no reason to doubt; while on the other hand it may readily be believed, that in the course
of a very few months that number might, if required, be very considerably increased. The
house preparing for their reception is near the Church of Parramatta, and will be inclosed
only by a paling; one good effect of which will be, that they will be frequently in the view
perhaps of their parents, as well as other persons; and when those become eyewitnesses of
the benefits accruing to their children from the change, it cannot be doubted they will feed
thankful to the beneficence that projected and accomplished it. The plan that has been
adopted must appear the best suited to the ends proposed. At a tender age it affords to the
children an asylum against the distressing wants they feel, more especially in June, July and
August, when the weather is cold, the woods afford them little or no food, and they become a
prey to many loathsome diseases which poverty entails upon the human frame. The kangaroo
has almost disappeared about the Settlements; the opossim, long substituted as their chief
dependence, has at length become as scarce; the roots of the earth are by nature too
sparingly administered to constitute any thing like a dependence to them; and the tribes of
each district dare not incroach upon any other. In the summer those of the coast subsist by
fishing; but in the winter, only for the occasional aid they derive from us, their situation
would be equally miserable: -And whence have those evils originated, but in the clearing of
the immense forests which formerly abounded in the wild animals they lived upon? This
admission certainly gives them a claim upon the consideration of the British Settler; and we
cannot imagine for a moment, that any one who bears that character will withhold any means
that may fall within his power of forwarding the benevolent views of the Native Institution.’88
1815: Overview.
Despite the ongoing drought, relations between settlers and Aboriginal people remained
relatively peaceful. The Native Institute was opened on 18th January 1815, and despite the
parents taking half of the children away before the end of March, Governor Macquarie
remained positive and received support for his initiative from the British government.
However, the report of the 5th August 1815, of an attack on Hannibal Macarthur’s farm at
Bringelly was a portent of things to come.
88
Sydney Gazette, 31st December 1814, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/629028
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24th of March, 1815: Macquarie to Bathurst
‘Macquarie to Bathurst
In pursuance of the Intention, I did myself the Honor of Communicating to Your Lordship in
my Letter under date the 8th of October last, of establishing a Native Institution at
Parramatta for Civilizing and Educating the Children of both Sexes, the School was opened
on the 18th of January last, that day being Chosen for the purpose as being the Auspicious
Anniversary of Her Gracious Majesty's Birth Day, when a few Children were voluntarily
given up by their Parents and received into the Institution. Some others were afterwards
brought in by their Parents, whereby the proposed Number of Six Boys and Girls were soon
Completed, and in a Short time these Children Appeared to be perfectly happy and
reconciled to their new Mode of Life. Some of their Parents, however, from an unaccountable
Caprice, have since decoyed away their Children, and Six only remain now at the Institution
instead of twelve. I have no doubt however of the Ultimate Success of the Institution, when
the Elder Natives shall see and be Convinced that the few Children, who now remain in it,
benefit so essentially from the Change in regard to their Health, Cleanliness and personal
Appearance. The Natives, Naturally timid and suspicious, have not yet sufficient Confidence
in Europeans to (believe that this Institution is solely Intended for their own Advantage and
Improvement; but, by bearing with their Caprices patiently and Indulging them a little in
their Prejudices, I have no Doubt but their Repugnance to Civilization will soon yield and be
entirely Overcome. I have already succeeded in getting Sixteen Adult Natives of this part of
the Colony to settle permanently on a small Farm*89 on the Northern Shore of the Harbor of
Port Jackson about Six Miles from the Town of Sydney, where I have had Comfortable Huts
built for them, and they and their families appear to be perfectly Contented. I established
these Sixteen families on their New Farm on the 31st of January last, and furnished them with
some Slops, Agricultural Tools, and a Boat for Fishing, of which latter Occupation they are
very fond; they have already made Some little progress in Cultivating the Ground, and by
giving them some trifling assistance now and then from Government in the way of Slops and
Provisions, I doubt not they will become Industrious, and set a good Example to the other
Native Tribes residing in the Vicinity of Port Jackson.’90
5th of August, 1815: Ongoing violence at Bringelly
‘On Sunday last in the afternoon a body of natives between 30 and 40 in number collected at
the farm of H. McArthur, Esq. at Bringelly, and went to the hut of the overseer (James
Waxted), who remonstrated with them on the misconduct of some among them who had a few
days before stolen a blanket from one of the stockmen. The rebuke inclined them apparently
to retire; until, as one of them had engaged the unfortunate man in a conversation, another
planted a barbed spear in his body, the point entering a little above the loins on one side, and
shelving itself in an oblique direction on the other side. His wife, who is a daughter of
Serjeant Johns, formerly of the 102d, was wounded in the foot with another spear, in the act
of attending her husband, but escaped from their further fury. They afterwards plundered the
hut of five or six bushels of wheat, a steel mill, a sieve, musket, and other property, with
which they went off; and to prevent the possibility of the unfortunate man's deriving aid from
89
‘* Note 86. A Piece of Land
Governor Macquarie made several attempts to civilize the aborigines (sic) and raise them to the level of the
white races. An example of this policy is found in the issue of a land grant of thirty acres in the district of
Bathurst to a native, name Colebee. This grant was dated 31st August, 1819.’
90
Pages466-467, HRA, Volume VIII, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1916.
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the labourers on the farm, then three in number, they were surprised and guarded by a large
party of the assailants, who, with their spears pointed at them, kept them in a constant state
of terror while their associates were more fatally employed, The wounded man was removed
with every expedition that his condition would permit to Parramatta Hospital, where he
remains with little hope of his surviving the extracting of the spear head.’91
4th of December, 1815
Bathurst’s reply to Macquarie’s despatch showed an approval of Macquarie’s efforts to
extend the benefits of civilisation to the natives. This was a significant change in attitude of
the home government that was to articulated in future instructions to governors.
Bathurst to Macquarie
‘I learnt with much pleasure, from your dispatch, No. 15,‡:92 that you had reason to entertain
a more favorable opinion of the General Character and Habits of the Natives of New
Holland, who were resident in the Vicinity of the Colony, than that which I has been hitherto
generally promulgated. Any project for extending to them the Benefits of Civilization and
Instruction was sure to meet with the cordial Approbation of The Prince Regent, and as the
Expence of the Establishment, which you deem adequate for making the Experiment, is not
more than the Colonial funds, aided by private Subscriptions of Individuals, can defray, no
Objection whatever can exist to immediately adopting the plan which you have suggested for
carrying it into effect.’93
1816-1831: Farms, floods and droughts
The drought broke in 1816 with a series of floods. Heavy rain in January further damaged
wheat crops already weakened by drought.
‘The late rains have spoiled a great proportion of the present wheat crop; and upon a
moderate estimate, has shortened the general production of the harvest, which was at best a
very poor one, at least one-sixth.’94
These rains resulted in a flood in February. In the same article the author noted that poor
farming methods and weeds may have been more damaging to the wheat crop than drought or
floods.
‘The heavy rains we have lately experienced, are by no means unusual to the season, though
they set in some week's earlier than usual. The Hawkesbury River has several times shewn a
fresh during their continuance, but has never risen to any alarming height. Their much
further duration would be alarming, as most of the hollow grounds are filled, and all excess
must naturally tend to inundate the country. The growing maize is for the most part strong
enough to bear the wet, without being much injured; and will therefore prove a happy relief
to the scarcity of wheat which it is more than probable we should otherwise have felt.
A settler of much experience attributes the general failure of the late wheat crops more to a
neglect of the soil than to the droughts. … From a want of proper attention to the destruction
of the roots of weeds some farms exhibit an almost impenetrable scrub of wild oats.’95
91
Sydney Gazette, 5th August 1815, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/629160
‘‡ note 156.
The despatches of 8th and 7th of October.’
93
Page 645, HRA, Volume VIII, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1916.
94
Sydney Gazette, 13th January 1816, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176505/492960
92
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31st of May, 1816: Breaking of the drought.
‘It having rained incessantly and very heavily for these last four days including the present
Day, there is reason to apprehend that we shall have a Flood, and that there will be a serious
inundation of the Rivers Hawkesbury and Nepean and South Creek;
L. M.’96
3rd of June, 1816: Flood
In June there was further flooding.
‘At 3. P.[M]. this day I received an Express from Wm. Cox Esqr. Magistrate at Windsor,
reporting to me, that, at the Hour of 12, O'Clock yesterday, the Waters began to subside, but
had risen to immense Height the preceding Evening – being as high as the Flood which took
place in 1806 – and which was the highest that ever took place since the original
Establishment of the Colony in 1788 – having risen in some parts of the rivers Hawkesbury
and Nepean to the enormous Height of Ninety-one feet!!! —
Mr. Cox's Report states that all the late sown Wheat will be lost, and great part of the Early
Wheat, now in the Ground, as well as a great part of the Maize still out.
I drew of this date on the Police Fund in favor of Wm. Tyson Constable in Appin for £5 Cury.
as a reward for his late Services as a Guide with Capt. Wallis after the Hostile Natives. — ‘97
29th of June, 1816: Flood
At the end of June there was another flood on the Hawkesbury.
‘A second flood at Hawkesbury was occasioned by the succession of rains experienced the
last fortnight. Last Thursday se'nnight the rise in the main river became rapidly perceptible,
and in the course of the following day all land travelling was put a stop to, the water having
attained nearly to as great a height as on the recent previous occasion. Great quantities of
maize have been washed away, and it is feared the destruction of the whole of the wheat that
had been sown is thoroughly compleated (sic).’98
16th of December 1816
In December there was more flooding.
‘Not having received any well authenticated information of the extent of damage sustained by
the various settlements from the late rains, we venture to give the following partial
representations, received from persons who can have no interest in deceiving us: - The
Hawkesbury River, we are assured, did not overflow its banks generally, but a considerable
influx took place from the Creeks. The low flat lands between Lapstone Hill and Howe
Bridge99 were covered. The farms low down the River, at and in the vicinity of Portland
Head, were considerable sufferers: we are informed by Mr. Burn, a settler there, that his
crop was laid under water, and that Mr. Churchill lost entirely fifty acres of forward maize.
The range of farms along the South Creek and Cow Pastures also suffered considerably, as
95
Sydney Gazette, 24th February, 1816, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176562/492992
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816may.html#may31
97
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816june.html
98
Sydney Gazette, 29th June 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176711
99
Howe’s bridge over South Creek.
96
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did Bunbury Curran, and all low situations generally; but the chief damage which the
Hawkesbury itself has sustained has been, as our information assures us, from the long
continuance of the heavy beating rains; the laying down of the uncut wheat and its growing
in the sheaf, as well as that that was cut. The unprecedented fall of rain at this season of the
year happens the more unfortunately as the crops were mostly ready for reaping; but not
being reaped, the owners lost the benefit of lodging them securely on the higher grounds
allotted by HIS EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR for that purpose. The fields of forward
maize that have been lost, there is time to replant where the seed is, this being the best time
for sowing maize on stubble ground of barley or wheat; a practice which has been much
condemned when avoidable; on account of its wearing out the ground too quickly for the
want of the necessary supply of manure. The effects of the rains, considering their vast
inclemency, we do not understand, however, to be so much to be dreaded as was generally
considered during their continuance; but as this is hazarding an opinion that proceeds much
less from certainty than a zealous wish for the prosperity of our growers, we beg to advance
it as an opinion that a frugality in the use of grain would appear to claim the attention of the
heads of families.’100
15th of February, 1817
While only part of a lengthy article this extract well illustrates the problems of farming on the
Hawkesbury. The floods of early 1817 spread the seeds of introduced weeds across the fields
of farms, fouling the crops and turning farmland into wastelands. Combined with the effects
of the last drought and the destruction of Aboriginal resistance in 1816 this was to be another
factor leading to the search for new frontiers.
‘THE CROP.-We much regret the general understanding of a less productive harvest than
from early appearances we had to flatter ourselves with; and therefore wish, by every aid we
can obtain, to trace and detect the causes that have more especially led to a comparative
failure in our late crops.
The principal cause has not only been the foulness of the sown land, which is in general so
infected with the wild oat and tare, as not only to render difficult the process of reaping, but
considerably to stunt the grain, and render its separation from the spontaneous growths in
many instances impracticable. It happens unfortunately that after the wheat has sprung for
some weeks the oat begins to rear its head; the tare frequently accompanies or soon after
follows it, and both combine to give the sprouting field more the appearance of a bed of
weeds than of a cultivated soil. The wild oat may possibly be indigenous, the profuse
scattering of the tare throughout the Hawkesbury farms is attributed to a plantation of that
seed which by way of experiment a gentleman put in practice 15 or 16 years ago near
Windsor. The drake, which was once obnoxious to the Hawkesbury farmer, has of late years
considerably declined, but finds a dangerous successor in the wild mustard seed, and in many
places in the wild cotton bush, all or either of which, wherever they make their appearance,
tend to the injury of the cultivated crop.’101
15th March, 1817: Flood
The following extract from the Gazette well illustrated the ongoing impact of floods and
more importantly, for this work, mentioned Branch Jack whom most readers of the Gazette
assumed had been mortally wounded in 1805.
100
101
Sydney Gazette, 16th December, 1816, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2179946
Sydney Gazette, Saturday, 15th February 1817, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2177075/493251
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‘The accounts of the Hawkesbury inundation are fraught with the most distressing picture of
calamity. Besides a great number of wheat stacks being carried away, comprehending indeed
almost the whole that were left on low grounds to the mercy of the chances, the maize, of
which there was the promise of an abundant crop, that would have been ripe and fit for
gathering in three weeks or a month, has been every where upon the river totally spoiled, and
rotted on the stalk. The going off of the waters was observed to be almost as rapid as the rise.
We have before mentioned its extreme height to have been observable on Wednesday the 26th
ult. By the following morning, as we are credibly informed, it had gone down full 19 feet at
the Nepean, though at Windsor the perceptible recession was not quite 4 feet, which will of
course, be accounted for by the numerous head lands which the windings of the lower parts
of the river present in opposition to its course. We are told of a father and son of the name of
Duff saving their lives, the one in a washing tub, the other in a pig trough, to which the
dreary approach of night, and the expectation of perishing if they remained where they were,
compelled them to trust their safety, and fortunately the bark proved both sea-worthy. At
midnight on Tuesday the roads liable to inundation were all impassable, the rising grounds
were insulated, and could only be gained at the hazard of life; many families were at that
dreadful juncture involved in perils not to be imagined. Without food, fire, or light of any
kind, sadly listening to the howlings of the angry storm that threatened them with dissolution;
then suddenly aroused to greater terrors by the Crashing of immense trees that carried all
before them in their course; and at length driven to the extremity of climbing their own roofs,
there to endure the rude combustion of discordant elements until the morning should bring to
their relief some vehicle employed in the humane duty of saving the lives of the unfortunate.
At Mangrove, whither a Mr. R. Connor informs us he went on Friday morning, a native well
known by the name of Branch Jack declared to him that he had seen a young man with a
bluejacket & white trowsers sink under a pile of rubbish, and rise no more. Such piles of
rubbish, which are frequently driven down with considerable force, often accumulate within a
very short space of time, and are a compound of numerous floating substances, such as
masses of corn stalks, weeds and grasses, trunks of trees, posts, pales, and whatsoever else
the strength of the torrent forces towards the centre of the river, from whence they drive upon
some head land, where they continue to augment, until the superior height and consequent
rapidity of the flood forces them downwards to the sea, together with the stacks of grain; one
of which latter was met by the Elizabeth Henrietta six miles at sea, with several dead pigs
upon it, that had either famished or perished from the severity of the weather.’102
1819
'...in 1819: "A respectable settler, in the neighbourhood of Parramatta, early one morning
observed a chief of, of the name of Harry, and several of his tribe, passing with their fire
rather too near his stacks of corn: the settler went to them, and remonstrated on the
impropriety of, saying, the fire might easily be communicated to the loose straw, hence to the
stacks: and, however unintentionally, cause the destruction of his property. the chief calmly
replied, 'You know we must have our fire; the country is ours, you must take care of your
corn'." '103
102
Sydney Gazette, 15th March 1817, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2177134
Page 39, Baiba Berzins, The Coming of the Strangers, Collins Australia, 1988.
From .H. Clark, Field Sports &c. of the Native Inhabitants of New South Wales, 1813. I have not yet tracked
down the original source to check its veracity.
103
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4th of October, 1822: Crop failure
‘The caterpillar has been threatening destruction to the next year's crop of wheat. About
three weeks since the lands in the interior, particularly cultivated parts, became suddenly
invaded with hosts of this devastating insect. A respectable farmer at Castlereagh has given
us an account of the manner in which they take possession of a field; they extend to a great
length in equal line, and thus in myriads regularly march forward, carrying all before them.
The leaf is first devoured, and then the stem down to the surface of the ground. What is most
astonishing in those destroying creatures is, that they disappear as suddenly as they come
forth; they become buried in the earth, and of them no more is perceived. In about April 1810
the fields were ruined for some months; no herbage was left for the cattle; but, in that season
of the year, the effects could not be so serious as is contemplated at this juncture; the
mischief that may be done with the wheat, if we are not blessed with a few heavy showers, it
is feared, will be incalculable.
In addition to the above, we have just learnt from Dr. Harris, of the South Creek,104 that the
ravages of this terrible insect (a kind of grey grub) are deplorable. This Gentlemen informs
us, as a specimen of the effects, that are likely to be apprehended, that 70 acres of promising
wheat, upon the estate of Sir John Jamison, have been so far destroyed, as to remove even the
expectancy of 20 bushels being saved!105
1824: Drought
On the 16th of January 1824, William Macarthur wrote from Camden to his brother John in
England concerning the effects of the latest drought: “This is the third successive dry season
with which we have been visited and truly we agriculturists have good reason to complain of
their disastrous effects. … Every tree every shrub curling up its leaves, the fruit not a quarter
its usual size, withering and dropping from the trees utterly unfit for use at the time when we
usually enjoy it in perfection. The grass not displaying a vestage of verdue on the open
grounds and scarcely any in the Forests. The Earth cracked in every direction with seams
one and a half and two inches wide and several feet deep. The streams, the pond, all shrunk
into insignificance and many completely dried up.”106
The anonymous X. Y. Z. wrote a number of letters describing his journeys around the colony.
This extract from an account of a journey to Bathurst is important in showing the
transformation in the wealth of those settlers who were able to send their herds over the Blue
Mountains. It is important in showing how the settlers attempted to emulate their English
heritage.
‘The south creek can boast of a number of rich and substantial settlers, who, making their
farms home stations, have their large flocks and herds depasturing over the mountains—some
in Argyle, and some at Hunter's River. The immense and certain profits of breeding stock in
those fine countries, have raised to wealth and independence, many in this neighbourhood,
who, but for their sheep and cattle, must have remained in their original obscurity. Now their
houses are furnished with all good things in abundance, at whatever price, and two or three
104
Shane Park.
Sydney Gazette, Friday, 4th October 1822, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2181367
106
Page 407, Sibella Macarthur Onslow, (ed), Some Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden, Angus and
Robertson Ltd., Sydney, 1914.
105
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hundred pounds is not considered an object for the advantages of sending a son a voyage to
England, for the benefit of a good education.’107
1816-1831: Interactions
1816-1822: Macquarie’s second intervention – Overview
In 1814 Macquarie was quite sanguine about the hostilities as the settlers had largely
provoked an Aboriginal response. However, in 1816 Macquarie unleashed a co-ordinated
series of civil and military measures that were largely successful in their aim to permanently
remove the threat of the “hostile natives.”
Drought was always an indicator of conflict. By 1816 the drought had lasted for
approximately four years and came to an end with heavy rains in January and floods in
February, June and December of 1816. Perhaps the floods only exacerbated relations as much
as drought. Macquarie may have taken the lukewarm response of Aboriginal people to the
Native Institution as a personal insult. Macquarie was also under pressure from the propertied
free settlers who suffered from the loss of stock and by the threat posed by musket-armed
Aboriginal people. Macquarie in 1816 was not a well man. From June to September he was
racked by an inflammation of the bowels which coincided with the implementation of martial
law in the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Grose River valleys. As well, Macquarie had to deal
with enemies at his own table. W. C. Wentworth’s March 1816 doggerel only exacerbated the
hostility of Colonel Molle and the officers of the 46th Regiment to Macquarie’s policies
towards their position and emancipists.108 Samuel Marsden had lost no time in supporting
Ellis Bent, the deputy judge advocate and his brother Jeffery, a judge, in their struggle against
Macquarie.109 Bent and Marsden fanned the outrage prompted by Governor Macquarie’s
order to flog three free men who were in the Domain illegally in April 1816.110 Macquarie
was ill during much of 1816. The effectiveness of the campaign to get rid of Macquarie was
apparent in a December 1816 letter from the exile in England, John Macarthur, to his wife
Elizabeth, in New South Wales: “It is however generally understood that his removal has
been determined upon as several persons have been named as candidates for the
appointment. The one spoken of with greatest confidence is Sir Thomas Brisbane a very
distinguished Officer of the highest character.”111 Macquarie did offer his resignation in
1817 and Brisbane did eventually succeed him.
The historical record of 1816 is confused, incomplete and inadequate. In large part this is due
to the perfunctory reporting of the imposition of martial law in the second part of the year. As
in 1805 and 1824, the paucity of reporting of operations under martial law in 1816 has
impacted on the historical interpretation of this period.
As well, the scattered nature of Australian record keeping is a challenge all of its own. Few, if
any, of those Australians who attended a school in the nineteenth and early twentieth
107
X. Y.Z. A Ride to Bathurst, Letter II, The Australian, 17th March, 1827,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/37072089
108
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/molle-george-james-2465
109
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bent-ellis-1772
110
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/HistoryGovernorLachlanMacquarie
111
Page 279, Sibella Macarthur Onslow, (ed), Some Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden, Angus and
Robertson Ltd., Sydney, 1914.
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centuries were taught Australian history.112 Their knowledge of their country’s past came
from oral traditions and newspapers; most historical records were still in England. The
centenary in 1888 and Federation in 1901 provided opportunities to explore and mythologise
the past. These accounts celebrated the triumphs of free settlers and stigmatized convicts. The
history of contact with First Peoples was characterised by silence, denial and distortion,
particularly in regard to what was in effect martial law in 1816. Charles White, an early
Australian historian wrote The Story of the Blacks. The Aborigines of Australia which was
serialised in newspapers across the continent. The Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal,
in the late 1880s and early 1890s included it in an Early Australian History series, dealing
with the governors, Aboriginal people, convicts and bushrangers. White’s work appeared in
the Windsor and Richmond Gazette in 1904. The section dealing with events on the Nepean
Hawkesbury in 1814-16 typified the confusion and misinformation of these accounts. In
dealing with the events of 1816 Charles White jumbled the events together, creating the
erroneous impression that hostilities ended with the killing “of two of the most hostile of the
natives, called Durelle and Conibigal”.113
Text books, such as Pinnock’s Comprehensive Grammar of History and Geography, 1827, were in short
supply, published in Britain and focused on the northern hemisphere. One page of Pinnock’s 460 pages dealt
with Australia. History was introduced into NSW public schools under the 1880 Education Act. In avoiding
religious controversy the focus was on the succession of English monarchs and Australian explorers. Pages 36
and 118, Sydney and the Bush, NSW Department of Education, 1980.
113
Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 7th December 1889,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/62224222
112
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‘CHAPTER V. - GOVERNOR MACQUARIE'S SYSTEM.
For six or seven years preceding 1814 there was
Previous hostilities were closely aligned with
a period of comparative quiet between the
increases in settlement and drought. The author
colonists and the natives but the year mentioned
made no mention of the impact of 1814-16
drought. The author blamed settlers for declining
was marked by the outbreak of fresh hostilities.
natural food supplies causing Aboriginal raids on
The rapidly diminishing natural food supply, for
corn fields. This is not a proven causal
which the Europeans were chiefly responsible,
relationship.
their encroachments on the one hand and their
fishing and hunting excursions on the other,
The facts surrounding the killing of Private Isaac
Eustace in May 1814 differ from the adjacent
making fish and animals either shy or scarce,
account. Eustace was killed after he and two
drove the natives to the verge of destitution and
other privates from the veterans company killed
despair; and it was very natural that their anger
a boy in a party taking corn from a field. A
towards the usurpers should find vent in deeds of Aboriginal mother and two children were killed
robbery and violence. In the district of Appin, a
and mutilated by settlers and William Byrne
recounted the killing of settlers in response. A
body of natives marched into a field of ripe
maize in the open day and began carrying off the shepherd and woman were killed by Aborigines
corn when three of the military settlers advanced on Macarthur’s farm.
with firearms to defend their fields. But the
blacks were not to be thus intimidated. Putting on a bold front, a party of them went to meet
the settlers, and poised their spears in a threatening manner, while their companions
continued to pluck the corn. The Europeans fired, and the blacks at once replied with a
shower of spears, one of the settlers falling mortally wounded, and the others beating a
retreat. Next day the settlers assembled in large force and pursued the aggressors into the
bush, where a pitched battle was fought, lives being lost on both sides. This was the
commencement of a sanguinary warfare which raged along the borders of the colony for
several weeks. It is needless to say that the superiority of the whites made itself manifest and
that many natives fell before the organised forces that were
Governor Macquarie
arrayed against them. Shortly after this Governor Macquarie, who
did not visit the
settlement at George’s
recognized that the natives were entitled to a little consideration,
head until 31st January
set apart a tract of land at George's Head, near Sydney exclusively
1815 some eight
for the use of those of them who resided in the neighbourhood. In
months after the killing
order that they might be enabled to follow to greater advantage
of Private Eustace.
their favourite pursuit of fishing, he presented to them a boat with
the necessary gear. The Governor and Lady Macquarie attended personally at the founding
of the settlement, and caused to be distributed to the blacks a suit of clothes each, together
with an assortment of implements of industry. The little community, all told, numbered only
sixteen male adults, with their, wives and families, and one of the former, at the request of his
companions was formally appointed chief. But the experiment was not so successful as the
Governor expected it to be, and after a little time the blacks grew tired of the spot and
wandered off in search of variety and entertainment. The habits of a lifetime could not so
easily be changed by the adults, and it was not to be expected that the younger members of
the community would take kindly to the spade and hoe without encouragement and example
from their elders.
Early in 1816 several organized raids were made by the blacks on the settlers who had
located on the banks of the Nepean. At Bringelly, twenty or thirty of the natives suddenly
came from their retreats in the bush and plundered the farm of one of the wealthier settlers,
carrying off large quantities of corn, as well as other effects. On the day following seven
white men, well armed, crossed the river hoping to recover the stolen property and to punish
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the robbers; but the blacks, in anticipation of such movement,
On the 2nd March 1816
had prepared themselves. No sooner had the Europeans
Palmer’s farm was
plundered. Four farm works
crossed the water than the aborigines, rushing from their
were killed and one
lurking places, surrounded the party, and before he knew what
wounded on the following
had happened every man of them was disarmed and powerless.
day when they crossed the
Then commenced the work of murder. Their own muskets, as
Nepean in pursuit.
well as the spears and nulla-nullahs of the enemy turned
On Monday the 4th of March
against the whites, and four were killed outright, one was
Aboriginal warriors
severely wounded, and two only escaped. Emboldened by their
plundered Captain Fowler’s
success, next day the blacks assembled in superior numbers,
farm, which was near
and again attacked the farms, carrying off everything they
Palmer’s farm. They spared
deemed of any value, and destroying what they did not take
Mrs Wright and a worker
who were sheltering in the
away, At the first alarm the settlers fled for their lives. In one of
roof.
the farm houses the mistress, and a servant man alone
remained, having no time to escape. These two took shelter in the upper story of the barn,
fastening the door inside; but the blacks were not to be foiled in their murderous enterprise.
They drove their spears through the crevices of the house, and as they could not thus reach
the inmates, they proceeded to unroof the barn. The servant man now recognized one of the
attacking party as a former acquaintance, and ventured to open the window and make
himself known, at the same time urging the black to influence his companions in the direction
of mercy. Recognizing the man as one who had been kind to him in the past, the black
complied, and his companions conceded the mercy sought, and desisted, saying they would
not "kill un this time," and they went away after calling out in chorus "good-bye." But
another woman and her man-servant were not so fortunate, for they were murdered in cold
blood by the natives, who further indulged by their savage ferocity mangling the bodies of
their victims after death. Large numbers of blacks, never before seen within the limits of the
settled districts, came in from the mountains and reinforced the frontier tribes. At Cow
Pastures, they were exceedingly troublesome, and on the newly-formed Bathurst Road
travellers on their way over the mountains to the new country were stopped and their drays
plundered and their cattle killed. At Lane Cove, in the vicinity of Sydney Harbour, also at
least one raid was made upon the settlers, a body of nearly a hundred aborigines making
their appearance suddenly and committing various depredations - the Indian corn, which was
then extensively grown, being the chief attraction, that being with them a favourite article of
food.114
The Story of the Blacks. The Aborigines of Australia. (Continued).
In order to intimidate the offending tribes, and check the outrages which .were becomingly
common, a detachment of the 46th Regiment, under Captain Shaw and Wallis, was sent out to
make a circuit round the outstations.
At the same time a Government proclamation was issued, prohibiting any aboriginal from
appearing armed within one mile of any town or village, and prohibiting even unarmed
aboriginals from assembling in larger numbers than six. To the well disposed blacks who
cared to provide themselves with such protection passports were given by the Government;
and in the same proclamation, evidently moved by a desire to shew the natives that he was as
anxious to promote their welfare as to check their outrages, the Governor made known that
he would grant to such of them as desire to conform to the habits of civilized life, allotments
114
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 25th June 1904, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/85891533
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of land in suitable localities, with provisions for
six months for themselves and families, together
with agricultural implements and seed, and a suit
of clothes and a blanket for each person.
The second instalment of the article is either
deliberately or accidentally confusing. A
detachment of the 46th under Captain Schaw
marched out on the 10th of April 1816.
Captain Wallis was already in the field and
In order to
destroyed a Aboriginal group on the 17th of
The congress of the aborigines of
make this
April 1816, near Broughton's farm at Airds.
the colony in order to make this
proclamation
proclamation widely known, did
Macquarie’s Proclamation was issued on the
widely known, a
not take place till the end of 1816!
4th of May about a week after he ordered the
congress of the
troops home on the 30th of April when it was
aborigines of the colony was invited to be held at
obvious that the combined forces of Schaw,
Parramatta. At this meeting; some hundreds of
Wallis and Dawes were not going to deliver
the anticipated victory.
blacks were induced to attend, and the whole
thing was explained to them. Shortly afterwards a
The Proclamation of martial law on 4th May
school for young natives was established in
1816 was not the order that sent Schaw and
Parramatta, and a considerable number of the
Wallis into action. It was a follow up.
children were handed over by their parents to be
educated. This assembly of the blacks at
Parramatta resolved itself into an annual affair, and was continued during a number of
years. The school continued to be well attended until the near tribes from whom the
fluctuating school roll was kept up had so far decayed that very few, either of young or old,
remained within the then settled districts of the colony.
The military detachment sent out for the protection of the
The author jumped back in time
remote settlements returned after scouring the country,
to recount Wallis’ encounter of
reporting that at a place called Airds they had encountered a
the 17th April 1816 near
large tribe of blacks, gave battle, and were not vanquished
Broughton's farm at Airds.
until fourteen of their number had been killed, and five taken
prisoners. Numbers of others were also arrested and marched in chains to Sydney, where
they were imprisoned for a time - as a warning to others not to disobey a proclamation the
terms of which they could not understand, and the conditions of which they could not possibly
fulfil. Ten of the most troublesome of the blacks were
The author’s reference to the outlawing
solemnly outlawed by name, and a reward of £10
of ten men came from the proclamation
each was offered by the authorities for their capture,
th
of the 20 of July 1816.
alive or dead.
The author then proceeded to quote the
proclamation of 4th May 1816.
The proclamations that were issued by the Governor
are unique as specimens of labored composition and
grandiose sentences, and are well worth preserving among the curiosities of the early days of
Australia. The preamble set out the various offences committed by the aborigines, and the
lenity, humanity, forbearance, protection, assistance and indulgence shewn by His Excellency
towards them in the effort to conciliate them to the British Government, followed by the
sending out of a military force which had unavoidably killed and wounded several natives,
including some few innocent ones ; and then the proclamation ran as follows:--115
115
The above paragraph replaced the following paragraph that appeared in the Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 7th
December 1889, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/62224222
‘The proclamations that were issued are unique as specimens of laboured composition, and are well worth preserving
among the curiosities of the earlier days.’
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And whereas the more effectually to prevent a Recurrence of Murders, Robberies, and
Depredations by the Natives, as well as to Protect the Lives and Properties of His Majesty's
British Subjects residing in the several Settlements of this Territory, His Excellency the
Governor deems it his Indispensible Duty to prescribe certain Rules, Orders and Regulations
to be observed by the Natives, and rigidly enforced and carried into effect by all Magistrates
and Peace Officers in the Colony of New South Wales, and which are as follows : First. - That from and after the Fourth Day of June next ensuing, that being the Birthday of
His Most Gracious Majesty King George the Third, no Black Native or Body of Black Natives
shall ever appear at or within one mile of any Town, Village, or Farm, occupied by or
belonging to any British Subject, armed with any Warlike or Offensive Weapon or Weapons
of any Description, such as Spears, Clubs, or Waddies, or Pain of being Deemed and
Considered in a state of Aggression and Hostility and treated accordingly.
Second. - That no number of Natives exceeding in the whole six persons, being entirely
unarmed, shall ever come to lurk or loiter about any Farm in the Interior, on Pain of being
considered Enemies, and treated accordingly.
Third. - That the practice hitherto observed among the Native Tribes, of assembling in large
Bodies or Parties armed, and of fighting and attacking each other on the plea of inflicting
Punishment on Transgressors of their own Customs and Manners, at or near Sydney, and
other Principal Towns and Settlements in the colony, shall be henceforth - wholly abolished
as a barbarous custom, repugnant to the British Laws, and strongly militating against the
Civilization of the Natives, which is an Object of the highest Importance to effect, if possible.
Any armed Body of Natives, therefore, who shall assemble for the foregoing Purposes, either
at Sydney or any of the other Settlements of this Colony after the said Fourth Day of June
next, shall be considered as: Disturbers of the Public Peace and shall be apprehended and
Punished in a summary manner accordingly. The Black Natives are therefore Hereby
enjoined and commanded to discontinue this Barbarous Custom, not only at and near the
British Settlements, but also in their own Wild and Remote Places of Resort.
Here is an exact copy, culled from the official Gazette of the time:- PROCLAMATION By his Excellency Lachlan
Macquarie, Esq., Captain General and Governor-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Territory of New South Wales and its
Dependencies, &c, &c, &c. Whereas the Aborigines, or Black natives of this colony have for the last three years manifested
a strong and sanguinary spirit of Animosity and Hostility towards the British Inhabitants residing in the Interior and Remote
Parts of the Territory, and been recently guilty of most atrocious and Wanton Barbarities, in indiscriminately murdering
Men, Women and Children, from whom they had received no Offence or Provocation; and also in Killing Cattle, and
plundering and destroying the Grain and Property of every Description, belonging to the Settlers and persons residing on
and near the Banks of the River Nepean, Grose and Hawkesbury, and South Creek, to the great Terror, Loss and Distress of
the Suffering Inhabitants - And whereas, notwithstanding that the Government has heretofore acted with the utmost Lenity
and Humanity towards these Natives, in forbearing to punish such Wanton Cruelties and Depredations with their merited
Severity, thereby hoping to reclaim them from their Barbarous Practices, and to conciliate them to the British Government,
by affording them Protection, Assistance and Indulgence, instead of subjecting them to the Retaliation of Injury, which their
own wanton cruelties would have fully justified; yet they, have persevered to the present day in committing every species of
sanguinary Outrage and Depredation on the Lives and Properties of the British Inhabitants, after having been repeatedly
cautioned to beware of the Consequences that would result to themselves, by the continuance of such destructive and
barbarous Courses - And whereas his Excellency the Governor was lately reluctantly compelled to resort to coersive and
strong Measures to prevent the recurrence of such Crimes and Barbarities, and to bring to Condign Punishment such of the
Perpetrators of them as could be found and apprehended; and with this view sent out a Military Force to drive away these
hostile Tribes from the British Settlements in the remote parts of the Country and to take as many of them Prisoners as
possible; in executing which services several Natives have been unavoidably, killed and wounded, in Consequence of their
not having surrendered themselves on being called to do so; amongst whom it may be considered fortunate, that some of the
most guilty and atrocious of the Natives concerned in the late Murders and Robberies are numbered. And although it is to be
apprehended that some few innocent Men, Women and Children may have fallen in these Conflicts, yet it is earnestly to be
hoped that this Unavoidable Result, and the Severity which has attended it, will eventually strike Terror among the surviving
Tribes, and deter them from the further commission of such sanguinary Outrages and Barbarities –‘
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Fourth. - That such of the Natives as may wish to be considered under the Protection of the
British Government, and disposed to conduct themselves in a peaceable, inoffensive and
honest manner, shall be furnished with Passports or Certificates to that Effect, signed by the
Governor, on their making application for the same at the Secretary's Office, at Sydney, on
the First Monday of every succeeding month; which Certificates they will find will protect
them from being injured or molested by any Person, so long as they conduct themselves
peaceably, inoffensively, and honestly, and do not carry or use offensive Weapons, contrary
to the Tenor of this Proclamation.
The Governor, however, having thus fulfilled an imperious and necessary Public Duty, in
prohibiting the Black Natives from carrying or using offensive Weapons, at least in as far as
relates to their usual Intercourse with the British Inhabitants of these Settlements, considers
it equally a Part of his Public Duty, as a Counter-Balance for the Restriction of not allowing
them to go about the country armed, to afford the Black Natives such means as are within his
power to enable them to obtain an honest and comfortable Subsistence, by their own Labour
and Industry. His Excellency therefore hereby proclaims and makes known to them that he
shall always he willing and ready to grant small Portions of Land in suitable and convenient
Parts of the Colony, to such of them as are inclined to become regular Settlers, and such
occasional Assistance from the Government as may enable them to cultivate their Farms,
Namely: Firstly. - That they and their Families shall be victualled from the King's Stores for Six
Months, from the time of their going to reside actually on their Farms.
Secondly. - That they shall be furnished with the necessary Agricultural Tools; and also with
Wheat, Maize, and Potatoes for Seed;
Thirdly. - To each person of a Family, one Suit of Slops, and one Colonial Blanket from the
King's Stores shall be given. But these indulgences will not be granted to any Native unless it
shall appear that he is really inclined and fully resolved to become a Settler, and
.permanently to reside on such Farm as may be assigned to him for the purpose of cultivating
the same for the support of himself and his Family.
His Excellency the Governor therefore earnestly exhorts, and thus publicly invites the Natives
to relinquish their wandering, idle and predatory Habits of Life, and to become industrious
and useful Members of a Community, where they will find Protection and Encouragement. To
such as do not like to cultivate Farms of their own, but would prefer working as Laborers for
those Persons :who may be disposed to employ them, there will always be found Masters
among the Settlers who will hire them as Servants of this Description. And the Governor
strongly recommends to the Settlers and other Persons, to accept such services as may be
offered by the Industrious Natives desirous of engaging in their employ. And the Governor
desires it to be understood that he will .be happy to grant Land to the Natives in such
Situations as may be agreeable to them selves and according to their own particular Choice,
provided such Lands are disposable, and belong to the Grown.
And. whereas his Excellency the Governor, from an anxious Wish to civilize the Aborigines of
this Country, So as to make them useful to themselves and the Community, has established a
Seminary or Institution at Parramatta, for the purpose or educating the Male and Female
Children of those Natives who might be willing to place them in that Seminary;116 His
116
The Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 7th December 1889,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/62224222 included the following sentence which has been deleted from
the Windsor and Richmond Gazette. “His Excellency now therefore earnestly calls upon such Natives as have
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Excellency deems it expedient to invite a general Friendly Meeting of all the Natives residing
in the Colony, to take place at the Town of Parramatta, on Saturday, the 28th December next,
at Twelve O'clock Noon, at the Public Market Place there, for the purpose of more fully
explaining and pointing out to them the Objects of the Institution referred to, as well as for
Consulting with them on the best means of improving their present Condition. On this
occasion and at this public general meeting of the Natives, the Governor will feel happy to
reward such of them as have given proofs of Industry and an inclination to be Civilized.
And the Governor, wishing that this General Meeting, or Congress of the Friendly Natives
should in future be held Annually, directs that, the 28th Day of December, in every
succeeding year, shall be considered as fixed for this Purpose, excepting when that day
happens to fall on a Sunday; when the following day is to considered as fixed for holding the
said Congress.
And finally, His Excellency the Governor hereby orders and directs that on the Occasions of
any Natives coming armed, or in a Hostile Manner without arms, or in unarmed parties
exceeding Six in number, to any Farm belonging to or occupied by British Subjects in the
Interior, such Natives are first to be desired in a civil manner to depart from the said farm,
and if they persist in remaining thereon, or attempt to plunder, rob, or commit any kind of
Depredation, they are then to be driven away by Force of Arms by the Settlers themselves;
and in Case they are not able to do so; they are to apply to a Magistrate for aid from the
nearest Military Station; and the Troops stationed there are hereby commanded to render
their Assistance when so required. Given under my Hand at Government. House, Sydney, &c,
LACHLAN MACQUARIE.
By Command of His Excellency,
J. T. Campbell, Secretary.
God Save the King!
The other Proclamation was issued by the Governor in July of the same year. It recited that
the military parties had been sent to punish the "Banditti" or Tribes of Black Natives, for
their "sanguinary disposition" and "wanton and barbarous murders;" and that an invitation
had been given them in a previous proclamation to become peace able and law-abiding
citizens.117
It then proceeded: - And whereas since the issuing of the said proclamation (with which it is
well known the said natives soon became fully acquainted) it has appeared that there are still
among these People some individuals far more hostile and mischievous than the rest, who by
taking the lead have lately instigated their deluded followers to commit several further
atrocious Acts of Barbarity on the unoffending and unprotected Settlers and their Families:
And whereas the ten natives whose names are hereunder mentioned are well known to be the
principal and most violent Instigators of the late Murders, namely –
1 Murrah
6 Bunduck
2 Myles
7 Kongate
3 Wallah, alias Warren
8 Wottan
4 Carbone Jack alias Kurringy
9 Rachel
Children to embrace so desirable and good an opportunity of providing for their helpless offspring, and of
having them brought up, fed, clothed and educated in a Seminary established for such humane and desirable.
purposes. And in furtherance of this measure,’
117
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 2nd July 1904, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/85892667
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5 Narrang Jack118
10 Yallaman.
Now it is hereby publicly proclaimed and declared that the said ten natives abovenamed, and
each and every of them are deemed and considered to be in a State of Outlawry, and open
and avowed enemies to the Peace and Good Order of Society, and therefore unworthy to
receive any longer the Protection of the Government which they have so flagrantly revolted
against and abused.
And all and every of His Majesty's Subjects, whether Free Men, Prisoners if the Crown, or
Friendly Natives, are hereby authorised and enjoined to seize upon and secure the said ten
outlawed Natives, or any of them, wheresoever they may be found, and to bring them up to
the nearest Magistrate to be dealt with according to Justice. And in case the said Ten
proscribed Hostile Natives cannot be apprehended and secured for that purpose, then each of
His Majesty's Subjects hereinbefore described are and shall be at liberty by such Means as
may be within their Power, to kill and utterly destroy them as Outlaws and Murderers as
aforesaid; and with this view, and to encourage all His Majesty's said Subjects, whether
White Man or Friendly Natives, to seize upon, secure, or destroy the said Outlaws, a Reward
of Ten Pounds Sterling for each of the said ten proscribed Natives, will be paid by
Government to any person or persons who shall under the circumstances bring in their
persons, or produce satisfactory proof of their having killed or destroyed them within a
period of Three Months from the Date hereof.
And the Settlers are further hereby strictly enjoined and commanded, on no Pretence
whatever to receive, harbour, or conceal any of the outlawed Banditti, or afford them any
countenance or assistance whatever; nor are they to furnish aid or provisions to any of the
friendly natives who may visit their farms, but upon the express Condition of their engaging
and promising to use their best endeavours to secure and bring in the said Ten Outlaws, and
deliver them up to the nearest Magistrate, or lodge them in Prison; And these friendly
Natives are to be given to understand that if they faithfully and earnestly exert themselves in
apprehending and bringing in the said Outlaws, every reasonable Indulgence and
Encouragement will be afforded them by the Government ; whilst, on the contrary, until this
Object is attained, no Peace or Amnesty with the Natives at large in this Territory will be
made or conceded … With a view to overawe the hostile Natives generally, in those parts of
the colony where they have committed the more flagrant and violent acts of Cruelty and
Outrage, three separate Military Detachments will be forthwith stationed at convenient
distances on the rivers Nepean, Grose and Hawkesbury, to assist and afford protection to the
Settlers whenever Occasion may require it, each Detachment to be provided with an
European and also a Native guide."
118
Carbone Jack, who had many variations on his name, was the father of Narrang Jack. While Louisa
Atkinson’s account of how Nerang Jack ended up on a farm is suspect, it is important in highlighting the close
interaction of setters and Aborigines.”A man named Cobbon Jack, i.e. Big Jack, had a son which received the
diminutive of Jackey Nerang (little or the less). This man's gin was given to the practice of infanticide, which he
objected to, and requested a lady to adopt his son should he die, and leave it to the heartless Jinny's care. She
promised to do so, and inquired by what name the child should call her, "nowar," (mother) queried Cobbon; on
her assenting and repeating the word, he manifested great delight; little Jackey was henceforth called Garrida,
from his birthplace ; the blacks explaining that he was going to be gentleman now, implying that a name
emanating from landed possessions carried rank with it, as the Scotch lairds were called by the names of their
estates.” The Sydney Morning Herald, 25th September 1863, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13094036
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A week later a notice appeared in the Gazette to the effect that
In quoting the report in the
several of the natives who were suspected to be the most
Gazette on the 3rd of August
atrocious actors in the late barbarities had been apprehended
1816 that several Aborigines
and placed in confinement. One of the natives, named Dewal
had been placed in
was banished by the Governor to a distance settlement, in
confinement and Dewall was
order to strike alarm into the minds of others of the tribe. It
banished, the author created
the impression that the
was also stated that the proclamation prohibiting them
proclamation of 20th July
travelling armed about the Settlements had proved effectual in
1816 was responsible for their
stopping attacks upon travellers. Several of the ten natives
capture. Dewal had been
named were either killed or captured, and the proclamation of
nd
captured on the 22 of April
their outlawry was annulled; but the natives were solemnly
1816.
assured that if any further outrages occurred measures "more
strong and effective" would be resorted to for the purpose of punishing the transgressors.
The first military “drive” was thus described in the
The author then returned to Wallis’
Government organ, the Gazette of current date:-119
action and made the claim that: Amongst
"The three military detachments despatched on the
the killed were found the bodies of two;
10th ultimo, under Captains Schaw and Wallis, and
of the most hostile of the natives, called
Lieut. Dawe, of the 46th Regiment, in pursuit of the
Durelle and Conibigal, despite the
names of these men not being among
hostile natives returned to Head Quarters on the 4th
those outlawed.
instant. In the performances of this service the military
encountered many difficulties, and underwent considerable fatigue and privations, having to
traverse a widely extended range of country on both sides of the River Nepean, from the
Banks of the Grose, and the second ridge of the Blue Mountains on the North, to that tract of
country on the Eastern Coast, called 'The Five Islands.' Captain Schaw, with his party,
scoured the country on the banks of the Hawkesbury, making degressions East and West, but
observing a general course to the Southward; whilst Captain Wallis proceeding by Liverpool
to the districts of Aird and Appin, and thence into the Cow Pastures, made his digression
East and West of the Nepean, taking his course generally Northwards, with a view either to
fall in with the Natives or by forcing them to flight to drive them within the reach of the
Central Party, under Lieutenant Dawe, stationed at Mrs. McArthur's farm in the Cow
Pastures ; or if they should elude his vigilance that they might in with Captain Schaw, who
was advancing from the second ridge of the Blue Mountains, and the banks of the Grose. It
appears that the party under Captain Wallis fell in with a number of the Natives on the 17th
ultimo, near Mr. Broughton's farm, within Airds district, and killed fourteen of them, taking
two women and three children prisoners. Amongst the killed were found the bodies of two of
the most hostile of the natives, called Durelle and Conibigal.
We are also informed that Lieutenant Dawe had on
the 12th ultimo, nearly surprised a small encampment,
but having been discovered the natives suddenly took
to flight, leaving only a boy about 14 years old, whom
he took prisoner, and there is every reason to believe
that two of them had been mortally wounded. Without
being enabled to trace more particularly the progress
of the military parties on this expedition, we learn
The third article referred to Lieutenant
Dawes’ encounter on the 12th of April,
and finished by referring to the stopping
of a government supply waggon on the
road to Bathurst in March 1816.
In this article the author mocked both
the editor of the Gazette and Aborigines.
119
In Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 7th December 1889,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/62224222, this sentence read: “The Gazette of 11th May same year thus
describes the first "Black Drive":-“
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generally that several of the natives were taken prisoners and have since been brought to
Sydney and lodged in the gaol. The humanity with which this necessary but unpleasant duty
has been conducted throughout by the officers appointed to this command, claims our
warmest commendations, and although the result has not been altogether so successful as
might have been wished, yet there is little doubt but it will ultimately tend to restrain similar
outrages, and a recurrence of those barbarities which the natives have of late so frequently
committed on the unprotected Settlers and their Families."
In a subsequent number of the Gazette, the editor, after stating that a body of natives had
stopped and robbed a cart belonging to Government carrying provisions for the supply of the
persons stationed on the mountains, and that they demonstrated considerably less
apprehension than formerly from the effects of firearms, thus sought to shew the natives how
full of Christian charity he was. "In justice to those who do not engage in these mischievous
acts," said he, "we should be at all times ready to receive corrected statements in favour of
any whose names may have been erroneously reported as present on such occasions." The
reader can imagine how gratified the innocent aborigines would have been at this display of
generosity - if they had been able to read and understand the paragraph; and how many
"corrected statements" they would have sent in to the editor - if they had been able to write.
But, alas, for the darkness of the savage state, they were not able to do one or the other.’120
Charles White was not alone in misshaping our understandings of our past. A four thousand
word article in the Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 4th of January, 1896, extolling the virtues
and achievements of Governor Macquarie, made only one enigmatic reference to Aboriginal
people: “His action as to the aborigines seems peculiar, as seen in these days.”121 The Sydney
Morning Herald in 1904 made the following fallacious comment: “It was a troublesome
district between 1796 and 1816, for the settlers and blacks constantly waged war against
each other, but Governor Macquarie quieted the feud, when, on December 28, 1816, he held
the first annual friendly conference with the aborigines in the market place.”122
20th of January, 1816
Queen Charlotte’s birthday was the subject of Mr. Robinson’s latest Ode. In it he managed to
insert a tribute to Governor Macquarie, very much in keeping with the image that Macquarie
liked to present – the visionary leader, dispenser of justice and mercy. It also probably
explains why Mr. Robinson was the colony’s poet laureate and his occasional slips with a pen
did not get him into too much trouble. Robinson’s Odes are significant because anniversaries
and celebrations naturally lend themselves to the mythologizing of the past and the blurring
of what actually happened.
‘A BRITISH CHIEF! Who, on Australia’s Shore,
First cherish'd Arts, and bade young Science
soar;
Bade active Labour course the distant Soil,
But sent bright Hope to animate their Toil;
And when His Justice dealt the gracious Meed,
MERCY- stood by - to consecrate the deed.
120
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 9th July, 1904, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/85892140
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 4th January 1896, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/72547534
122
Sydney Morning Herald, 31st December 1904, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/14622830
121
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The Ode was largely indistinguishable from its predecessors, extolling Britain over other
countries, celebrating the triumph of Britain bringing light into the darkness. The only
originality in this work was its reference to cannibalism.
Apart from inserting some apostrophes, I have retained Mr. Robinson’s spelling and the
Gazette’s layout.
‘ODE
FOR THE QUEEN's BIRTHDAY, 1816
BY MR. MICHAEL ROBINSON.
WHEN Spain's proud Genius saw COLUMBUS brave
The Western Course of the Atlantic Wave;
Saw his aspiring Mind, adventurous, soar
To trace the Bearings of an unknown Shore:
What Time Castilian Barks, with Sails unfurl'd
First wav'd their Banners to a wondering World,
O'er whose rude Race, by humble Nature led,
Proud Science yet no radiant Gleams had she:Tho' Superstition saw her spell-bound Hand,
Form'd, to pervade an unenlightened Land
As round their Shrines, to Pagan Darkness giv'n,
Their Idol's stood - the Passports to their Heav'n;
And, as the Sun thro’ Space empyreal rode,
Instinctive Impulse pointed to their GOD!
Till Time, maturing REASON'S dawning Ray,
Bade happier Prospects gild their brightling
Day;
And Christian Faith, with heav'n taught Truths
refin'd,
Rouse to new Energies the human Mind!
Hence Wisdom's scientific Lore
Diffusive spread from Shore to Shore,
And patriot Worth, reserv'd for Glory,
Swell'd the proud Page of letter'd Story.
But, in Columbus' wayward Days,
Envy deform’d his Meed of Praise,
And Slander, with envenom'd Breath,
Tarnish'd the living Hero's Wreath;
Yet grateful Sympathy surviv'd, to wave
The Cypress Laurel o'er his hallow'd Grave!
Far brighter Trophies ALBION'S Heroes bore,
When Glory call'd them to a distant Shore;
When, on the raging Bosom of the Deep,
They watch'd the giddy Mast's impending Steep;
Heard the rude Howling of the swelling Gale,
And the wild Flapping of the shatter'd Sail,
Firm as the Oak that bound their Vessels' Sides,
They brav'd the Fury of contending Tides;
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Trac'd desart Coasts, where prowling Natives
Stood,
Eager to snatch their Feast of human Blood;
Eplor'd the length'ning Beach, the land lock'd
Bay,
Where treach'rous Shelves in lurking Ambush lay;
Mark'd the lone Sea Bird, whose portentous
Flight
Presag'd the brooding Horrors of the Night –
Left to encounter Danger's varying Form,
As Billows stirr'd and ruthless burst the Storm;
Till, the dire Conflict past, bright Morning came,
Hope cheer'd the Dawn, and led the Course to
Fame!
True to the great Example of their Sires,
Where Duty calls, and Ardour fires;Advent'rous Britons still that Impulse feel,
Which prompts to Glory, and their Country's
Weal!
But not, alone, on Ocean's vast Domain
They glean the Spoils his deep dark Caves contain,
Or where the Harpoon's lengthen'd Line is hurl'd,
Grapple the Giants of the watery World Tracts of untravers'd EARTH their Toils ex
plore,
And add new Triumphs to AUSTRALIA’S Shore!
Where yon Blue Mountains, with tremendous
Brow,
Frown on the humbler Vales that wind below,
Where scarcely human Footsteps ever trac'd
The craggy Cliffs that guard the lingering Waste
O'er the wild Surface of the Western Plains,
- Erst the lorn Range of isolated Trains: Where, from the Birth of Time the slumbering
Soil
Had borne no Traces of the Peasant's Toil Behold,
where Industry's encourag'd Hand
Has chang'd the lurid Aspect of the Land;
With Verdure cloath'd the solitary Hills,
And pour'd fresh Currents, from the limpid
Rills;
Has shed o'er darken'd Glades a social Light,
AND BOUNDLESS REGIONS OPEN TO OUR
SIGHT!
Ere yet their Tasks the sturdy Swains began,
Invaded Nature startled at the Plan;
With Wonder gaz'd, when human Art appear'd
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To burst thro' Bounds in untrac'd Ages rear'd:
But when they brav'd the noon tide sultry Ray,
Scal'd the steep Cliff, and pierc'd the pathless
Way,
Taught the reluctant stubborn Glebe to yield,
And in the Desart sprung the cultur’d Field –
She shar'd their Triumph, and, with liberal Smile,
Disclos'd the rich Resources of the Soil,
And pointed where th' ALMIGHTY Hand had
giv'n
True balmy Manna, pure as Dew from Heav'n!
Trophies like these shall spread from Clime to
Clime,
Shelter'd thro' Ages from the Spoils of Time;
And proud Posterity shall prize the Land
That owes its Culture to a BRITON'S HAND!
And, when some future Bard's historic Lays
Shall trace AUSTRALIA thro' progressive Days,
Describe the Plains, where first, to Reason led,
Their Sires were civiliz’d, their Hamlets spread;
When early Commerce, borne by fav'ring Gales,
First in the Offing loom'd with swelling Sails;
- Here shall he Pause to venerate a Muse –
Virtue bequeath'd in sacred Charge to Fame;
A BRITISH CHIEF! Who, on Australia’s Shore,
First cherish'd Arts, and bade young Science
soar;
Bade active Labour course the distant Soil,
But sent bright Hope to animate their Toil;
And when His Justice dealt the gracious Meed,
MERCY- stood by - to consecrate the deed.
Here shall charm’d Fancy's glowing Tints
retire
And Themes coeval wake "the living Lyre;"
Themes Science saw her Isis nurse with Pride,
And on CAM'S Margin swell her classic
Tide; And still, wherever cherish'd Genius smiles,
Or Britain's Sceptre guards her happier Isles,
The Muses, sacred to this festive Day,
Shall pour their earliest - their proudest Lay;
And Songs of Triumph hail th' auspicious Morn,
On which our Albion's Hope - her peerless
QUEEN was born!
And tho' usurping Time's rude Hand appears
To mark the Lapse of CHARLOTTE'S silver'd
Years
In calm Seclusion, midst Her WINDSOR'S
Bow'rs,
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Reflection gilds the retrospective Hours;
Brings to fond Mem'ry when her Bosom's
Lord
Liv'd! (and still lives!) by grateful Worlds
ador'd!
While his proud Navies aw'd the subject
Main,
And new Discov'ries mark'd His glorious
Reign:
Reviews the smiling Dawn of opening Youth,
When mutual Virtue pledg'd connubial Truth;
Whence graceful Scions, like the Olive Vine,
Branch'd, to perpetuate the BRUNSWICK
Line And thro' succeeding Æras long shall prove
Their EMPIRE'S GLORY, and their PEOPLE'S
LOVE!
New South Wales,
Jan. l8, 1816.’123
On the 2nd March 1816, 20 to 30 Aboriginal warriors plundered Palmer’s farm at Bringelly.124
On the following day, seven workers crossed the Nepean in pursuit. In the fight that followed
four of them were killed and one wounded. The incident is particularly noteworthy in that it
was the first recorded use of muskets by Aboriginal warriors against settlers. On Monday 4th
March, about sixty warriors plundered Wright’s Bringelly farm. Around the 12th March a
stock keeper was killed at Cowpastures and an attack made on a government cart on the road
to Bathurst, suggesting that Aboriginal unrest was widespread.
2nd of March, 1816
Bringelly District lay between the Nepean River and South Creek. Apart from the use of
firearms by Aboriginal people, the account is important in that it signals a degree of coordination not previously recorded in Aboriginal attacks. The spearing of William Bagnell
and Mrs. Wright is further evidence that Aboriginal violence was discriminate.
‘Unpleasant accounts are received from the farm of Captain Fowler, in the district of
Bringelly, of the murder of several persons by the natives frequenting that quarter. The above
farm was occupied by Mr. Edmund Wright; whose account of the transaction states that on
Saturday last the Servants' dwellings of G. T. Palmer, Esq. at the Nepean, were plundered by
a groupe of 20 or 30 of the natives. On Sunday four of Mr. Palmer's men, namely Edw
Mackey, Patrick M'Hugh, John Lewis, and --- Farrel, accompanied by John Murray, servant
of John Hagan, Dennis Hagan, stock keeper to Captain Brooks, and William Brazil, a youth
in the employ of Mr. Edmund Wright, crossed the Nepean in the hope of recovering the
property that had been taken away the day before, and getting into a marshy flat ground
nearly opposite Mr. Fowler's farm, about 200 yards distance from the bank of the river, they
were perceived and immediately encircled by a large body of natives, who closing rapidly
123
Sydney Gazette, 20th January 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176512
George Thomas Palmer was a free settler with a military background. He acted as Provost Marshall 1810-11
and Superintendent of Government Stock in1813-1814. He received his grant of 700 acres at Bringelly in 1812.
His chief place of residence was Pemberton Grange near Parramatta. Palmer was also one of the earliest settlers
west of the Blue Mountains. http://adb.anu.edu/biography/palmer-george-thomas-2532
124
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upon them, disarmed those who carried muskets, and commenced a terrible attack, as well by
a discharge of the arms they had captured, as by an innumerable shower of spears. M'Hugh,
Dennis Hagan, John Lewis, and John Murray, fell in an instant, either from shot, or by the
spear, and William Brazil received a spear in the back between the shoulders, which it is
hoped and believed will not be fatal.
Some of the natives crossed the river over to Capt. Fowler's farm, and pursued the remaining
white men up to the farm residence, but being few in number they retired, and re-crossing the
river, kept away until the day following (Monday last), when at about ten o'clock in the
forenoon a large, number, sixty it was imagined, crossed again, and commenced a work of
desolation and atrocity by beginning to destroy the inclosures of the various yards. The house
they completely stripped, and Mrs. Wright, with one of the farm labourers, having secreted
herself in the loft in the hope of escaping the cruelty of the assailants, their concealment was
suspected, and every possible endeavour made to murder them. Spears were darted through
the roof from without, and through sheets of bark which were laid as a temporary ceiling,
from which the two persons had repeated hair breadth escapes. William Bagnell, who was
the person in the loft with Mrs. Wright, finding that their destruction was determined upon, at
length threw open a window in the roof, and seeing a native known by the name of Daniel
Badbury, begged for their lives; and received for answer, that "they should not be kill'ed this
time.'' After completely plundering the house, they recrossed the river, very dispassionately
bidding Mrs. Wright and Bagnell a good bye! Mr. Wright's standing corn has been carried
away in great quantity and all provisions whatever were also carried off.’125
16th of March, 1816
The following account of the spearing of a stock keeper at the Cowpastures and an attack on
a cart on the western road confirms the widespread nature of Aboriginal hostility and the
diminishing fear of firearms by Aboriginal people. The correction regarding the presence of
Budbury in the attack on Wright’s farm points to the complicated nature of the presence of
Aboriginal people on the farms. Alienating Budbury risked making an enemy of a friend.
‘We have to regret the death of another white person, a stock keeper at the Cow Pastures;
who was a few days since speared by three natives, who are reported to have come from the
mountains in very alarming force, to join the nearer hordes in plundering the maize fields.—
A body of them has stopped and robbed a cart belonging to Government on its road to
Bathurst Plains with provisions for the supply of the persons stationed there, and
demonstrate considerably less apprehension than formerly from the effect of fire arms. In
justice to those who do not engage in these mischievous acts, we should be at all times happy
to receive corrected statements in favor of any whose names may have been erroneously
reported as present on those occasions. — The Gazette of last week stated from information
that Budbury was present at the attack on Mrs. Edmond Wright and her servant; which we
are now convinced must have been a mistake, as we are requested to declare, upon the most
undoubted authority, that he was far from the scene, and is perfectly a friendly and welldisposed native towards us. The report, which originated from the mistake of his person,
under the circumstances of alarm and terror, we feel it our duty to correct, as a bad name in
such a case might be attended with the most unhappy result to an innocent person, and
become even doubly fatal, in making an enemy of a friend, and giving him to a condition of
extremity that might justify hostility in him, as palpably an act of self defence. Mistakes of so
serious a nature should carefully be avoided, and individual offenders pointed out in such
cases only where their identity is undoubted — for it would be even better that the guilty
125
Sydney Gazette, 9th March 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176580
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should escape the rigors of a resentment they bring down upon themselves, than that the
faultless should participate in those evils from which justice and humanity should alike
defend them.’126
March, 1816
In March 1816 Elizabeth Macarthur wrote to her friend Eliza: “Attempts have been made to
civilise the natives of this country, but they are complete savages, and are as lawless and
troublesome as when the Colony was first established. Our out settlements are constantly
subjected to their depredations.”127
James Hassall, grandson of the missionary Rowland Hassall included two letters in his
memoirs dealing with Aboriginal attacks in March 1816. The first, written on 16th March
1816, was from his uncle, Samuel Otoo Hassall (married to Lucy, daughter of the
Hawkesbury magistrate, James Mileham) to his brother the Reverend Thomas Hassall
(married to Anne, daughter of Samuel Marsden). The second letter was from Henry Byrnes
who was in charge of the Hassall property Macquarie Grove.
In the first letter Samuel described the arrival of a messenger at Macquarie Grove warning
that warriors planned to attack the farms of Macarthur and Oxley and then move on to
Macquarie Grove. Hassall went to the Magistrate, Mr. Lowe128 who gathered together troops
and settlers and sent them to Macquarie Grove. On the following day, upon hearing that three
of Macarthur’s stock keepers had been killed on the Upper Camden, Mr. Lowe led the settlers
and soldiers out with some Aboriginal guides. The settlers approached the Aboriginal
warriors who were stationed on a high rock. They displayed no fear of firearms, dropping to
the ground when the weapons were fired. The warriors drove the settlers off with spears and
stones. The settlers split. The majority went to Macarthur’s stockyard to defend three stock
keepers there. Hassall and Scott returned to look after their women.
Mr. Henry Byrnes, from Macquarie Grove, of which place he seemed to be in charge; also
wrote a letter about the same time to Samuel Hassall informing him of the death of the
shepherd, Bromby, and the failure of Mr Oxley’s party to track down the killers.
Apart from a couple of ineffectual skirmishes reported by Watkins Tench the following two
letters are to the best of my knowledge the only first-hand account of a military encounter
between Aboriginal people and settlers from this period. They provide details such as
Aboriginal warriors dancing in front of their enemies; diving to the ground when muskets
were fired at them; and the confusion of the settlers in the face of a determined enemy. The
most amazing aspect of the encounter described was that no one appeared to have been hurt.
16th March, 1816
‘It seems strange to us that as late as the year 1816, the settlers no farther than some forty
miles from Sydney should have been in danger from attacks by the blacks. That they were so,
the two following extracts shew very plainly indeed. The first is from a letter to my father,
126
Sydney Gazette, 16th March 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176587
Page 306, Sibella Macarthur Onslow, (ed), Some Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden, Angus and
Robertson Ltd., Sydney, 1914.
128
He was made magistrate for Bringelly and Cooke districts in 1815 and in December of that year was allowed
to take some of his stock across the Blue Mountains because of the drought on the County of Cumberland.
Given that Lowe led the above expedition it is possible that the attack by Aboriginal warriors from the
Cumberland Plain on stock at Glenroy on the Cox’s River later in 1816 was a payback for the expedition
described in the letter.
127
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written at Macquarie Grove, a farm on the Cowpasture River, near Camden, by my uncle,
Samuel Hassall, on 16th March, 1816.
“… The departure of all my family … took place on Monday last, with no small pleasure to
some of them, as I have reason to believe they were very much alarmed on account of the
desperate outrages of the natives, which are really awful.
“On last Lord’s Day, as I was in my little room, composing and committing to paper a
Morning Prayer, about five in the afternoon, a messenger arrived with news that two natives
had just informed him that the whole body of Cundorah natives129 intended to attack Mr.
Macarthur’s farm, to plunder and murder all before them, and from thence to proceed down
to Mr. Oxley’s to act with them in the same manner, and from thence to our farm, which you
must judge gave me a severe alarm, on account of the little ones.
“I immediately proceeded to Mr. Lowe for protection, whom I found ready to afford every
relief to assist. He immediately sent off the guard of soldiers stationed at his farm, also all the
arms, with men, that he could raise, leaving his own farm unprotected. He also sent and
pressed all the arms and ammunition in his district, with men to use them. When we
assembled at this place on Monday morning, four or five women came with terrible tidings,
saying that three of Mr. Macarthur’s servants were fallen victims to the dreadful hostilities of
the savage natives at the Upper Camden, and that they were on their way to the Lower
Camden, when we all fell in and distributed our ammunition … but a small proportion to
each man. We marched to Lower Camden, where we were joined by another party of men. …
We mustered about forty armed men, some with muskets, some with pistols, some with
pitchforks, some with pikes, and others with nothing, from the Upper Camden, with an intent
only to act on the defensive and if possible to take them prisoners, that being the Government
orders.
“On our arrival there, we found that the most mischievous party of the natives were moved to
the N.W. of that place, with an intent as before mentioned. We took from thence a small
company of the more friendly natives, who informed us they could take our party to the camp
of hose natives, at the same time telling us that they would shew fight whenever attacked,
which proved to be the case.130 We had not gone far before our guides told us that they were
there, when Mr. Lowe desired Budberrah to interpret to them our intent. They would not
adhere to what he said but immediately began to dance, in a manner daring our approach.
“We immediately advanced towards them, when they threw a shower of spears among us. We
commenced a fire, but to little effect, owing to the disorder of our men and the bad and
dangerous situation we were in.
“They were posted on a high perpendicular rock and we underneath, where the spears and
stones came in great abundance, which caused us to retract but … in such a manner that I
wonder a great number of us were not killed. Some even threw off their shoes to enable them
to run fast; others, being weak and feeble, rolled down the hill, the natives still pressing hard.
…
129
130
Now usually spelt Gundungurrah.
Contrast this sentence with the previous one about being on the defensive.
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“They continued their retreat to the top of another very high hill, which my horse was
scarsely able to ascend, but had scarse reached the top when they turned down again, and I
could scarse keep up with some of them.
“At the same time, I must not forget to tell you, some of the party appeared to be too bold in
their following them and firing, when the Natives would fall down as soon as the men would
present their muskets at them, and then get up and dance. In a short time they disappeared,
when we thought it most expedient to march to the stockyard, to save the lives of three men
that had the care of Mr. Macarthur’s sheep there, as we had every reason to believe they
were gone thither.
“Scott stated his fears of his wife and family’s coming home; that the natives might go and
kill them all, and asked for one to go with him. I mentioned it to Mr. L., he objected, saying
we had better not separate, lest we should be speared by natives. Feeling for the poor women
and children, I rode with him myself, the distance being about four miles more or less.
“When we came to the place all was very quiet and still, the women and children just coming
home from our farm. We told them they must return, that the natives had obliged us to
retreat. They appeared quite distressed. One said she would not go till her husband went with
her, or she would die with him. The others turned to the settlement.
“Our party soon arrived with the men, leaving their flocks behind to the mercy of the storm.
Part of the men remained at Scott’s for the protection of his place and the remainder of the
party went to Macquarie Grove, where we took quarters for the night, quite fatigued.
“The next morning we were all under arms, Mr. Lowe and his men just returning home, when
Croneen came running to inform us, that the natives were at their yard and he feared, had
killed one or more of the Government stockmen. We immediately collected all we could of the
men just gone, and sent off a messenger to Mr. Lowe. He came immediately and brought all
he could muster again, and lent me his horse to take Mother to his farm for the night.
“I returned about ten o’clock in the night, when to my very agreeable surprise, I found a
reinforcement, Henry Byrnes, and ammunition.
“We kept watch all night, expecting an attack, my watch, with H. B.,131 coming on at four
o’clock in the morning, which gave us but three hours to rest. Nothing took place but
marching to and from Mr. Oxley’s farm, Mr. B. being our commander, which I am sure
would make you laugh, were you there to see the fun, provided you could hide yourself, as I
am persuaded you would rather hide than fight. …
We are in daily expectation of their paying us another visit. …’
Mr. Henry Byrnes, who is referred to in the preceding letter, wrote to Mr. Hassall, informing
him of the death of the shepherd, Brumby and the failure of Mr. Oxley’s party to track down
the killers. Perhaps the most interesting part of his account occurs in its conclusion describing
an encounter between one of Mr. Lowe’s men and five Aboriginal people who greeted him
and passed on. This again strongly suggests that violence on the part of the Aboriginal people
was personal and targeted.
131
Henry Byrnes.
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‘With much regret I have to inform you of the Natives return to this quarter, and of the awful
death of poor Bromby, one of your shepherds, who was cruelly murdered by them on Friday,
between four and five o’clock in the evening.
“About an hour before the murder, Abraham Hearn came up on horseback to inform us that
the Natives were then at the Shepherds’ Huts. We sent him to Mr.Oxley’s, in order to get the
Soldiers, which he did, and in the meantime Mr. Bradley and I prepared to go and assist
them. But before we had time to get off Geo. Ambridge arrived, stating that they had cast two
spears at him. I gave him a musket and ammunition, and he ran back.
Mr. Bradley and I ran down As soon as possible, and on our arrival there we found Mr.
Oxley and a few soldiers, together with a native guide, who was then searching for the tracks
of the Murderers, but in vain.
Mr. O.132 told us that he had found a flock of sheep without a keeper, and wished some
person to search for him. Accordingly, Mr. Bradley and I, accompanied by G. Ambridge,
went round the Cut Hill in quest of the Body, but to no purpose. We at length got to the top of
the hill, when we discovered a smoke in two places, one bearing about a mile and the other
two miles to the west of us, but as the sun was then down, Mr. B. thought it useless for him
and me to go over without the soldiers.
“On our return from the Hill, we met Hearn and his men, who informed us they had found
the body of Bromby. We then took them up the Hill, but as it was too dark to see the smoke,
we could only describe the place upon which we had seen it. Hearn said he had no doubt of
its being the Natives, and promised to take the soldiers to the place that night, provided they
would go with him.
‘We then went to where the Body lay and there I saw an awful sight indeed. … After we had
extended the limbs and placed the Body as regular as we could, Mr. B. and I then returned
home, it being too dark to remove the Body before morning.
“We went to inform Mr. Oxley of what we had seen and what Hearn said respecting the
smoke. Mr. O. then requested the Soldiers to go with him that night in search of the offenders,
but when they came to where we saw the smoke they could see no Natives, but their Native
Guide soon got into their track and, it being Daylight, they followed the track until they came
to a very high rock, on top of which was a thick Brush, where they soon discovered a Camp,
as they supposed of Women and Children, and got so near under them as to hear a woman
tell a child not to cry, for that his father was gone to kill white men.
“The party found that before they could get at the Camp they must go a round of three miles
(by reason of the very high rock upon which the natives had encamped). They therefore went
round, but before they could reach the place the Natives had fled, nor could they find their
track for upwards of an hour. At length they found the track and soon discovered the Natives
a short distance before them, along the river side, but in travelling over some rocks they
again lost the track, as well as sight of the Natives.
132
Oxley
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“Mr. Oxley and his party, being both weary and hungry, were obliged to return without
doing any execution whatever.
“On Saturday one of Mr. Macarthur’s shepherds was chased from his flock over to the
Government Stockyard by, as he said, upwards of two Hundred Natives, who retreated when
they found the Man getting quite close to the Huts.
“Finding the Natives so near us, I rode over to inform Mr. Lowe. Lest he should be suddenly
attacked. He informed me that on Thursday one of his men was going through the Bush from
Mr. Oxley’s, and met five Natives, within a mile of his House. One of them wishing good
morning, they passed on without taking further Notice.133 Mr. Lowe kindly offered to send his
party to our assistance, at any hour we chose to send.
“If you can send us a little powder, it will be very acceptable as Mr. Saml. left us rather short
when he went away.”’134
18th of March, 1816: Governor Macquarie to Earl Bathurst
Governor Macquarie’s dispatch to Earl Bathurst is informative in a number of ways. It
confirms that there had been a severe drought which had lasted for three years before being
broken by rains in December 1815. This drought caused a heavy loss of stock. Governor
Macquarie signaled his intention to take military action against Aboriginal people, who had
in March 1816 killed “no less than five White Men”. Macquarie signaled his intention “to
Inflict exemplary and Severe Punishments on the Mountain Tribes who have lately exhibited
so Sanguinary a Spirit against the Settlers”. The killings on the Lewis farm and the attacks at
Ryde in late March 1816 widened the scope of Macquarie’s planned military expedition.
Whether the attacks on the Nepean were from “Mountain Tribes” and whether they were in
any way related to the killings on the Lewis farm and the attacks at Ryde is a moot point.
‘I have the Pleasure to report to Your Lordship that this Colony continues in a progressive
State of Improvement.135 The Very Extraordinary and Unprecedented Droughts, We have
Experienced for the last three Years, have, as might be Expected, Occassioned a very great
Mortality amongst the Horned Cattle and Sheep throughout the Colony, as well as greatly
Injured the Crops of Wheat, Maize, Oats, Barley and Potatoes; which Consequently
occasioned a Considerable Rise in the price of Animal Food and Grain during that Period
tho’ never Amounting to an Actual Scarcity. But as the last harvest promised to be a very
indifferent one, I deemed it a necessary Measure of precaution to Commission One Hundred
and fifty Tons of Wheat from Bengal for the Use of this government, and this Quantity
together with a Supply of Sugar and Spirits at reasonable prices for the Use of the King’s
Stores, Arrived here a few days Ago, Which proves a Very Seasonable Supply as it will be the
Means of preventing Monopolizers from raising the Prices of those Articles on the poorer
classes of the People. By the latest Accounts from the two settlements on Van Diemen’s Land,
the Harvest there has promised to be a Most Abundant one; the Droughts We had here not
extending to that Island, and besides the Soil being Infinitely Superior to that of the
Settlements of Port Jackson excepting Immediately on the Banks of the Rivers Hawkesbury
133
This incident is significant in showing that from the Aboriginal perspective, conflict was individualised. The
five Aboriginal men obviously had no quarrel with the stock keeper.
134
Pages 177-183, James S. Hassall, In Old Australia Records and Reminiscences from 1794, Originally printed
1902, Facsimile edition 1977.
135
A phrase used by Adam Smith.
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and Nepean Where the Lands Are Occasionally flooded and Consequently much enriched;
there is now, I am happy to say, every Reason to expect that We shall have more favorable
Seasons for the time to Come, as We have lately had Very Copious and Seasonable Falls of
Rain throughout every part of the Colony, which were greatly Wanted, the Lands every
Where being quite parched and burnt up, Affording Neither Grass nor Water for the poor
famished Cattle, which Were dying in Hundreds 'till this favorable Change took place in
December last. About the latter End of that Month, the Rain fell in such Torrents that We
were threatened with a Flood, the River Hawkesbury having risen in the Course of a few
Days No less than twenty two Feet above its Usual Level. The Rains however soon
Moderated, and We are again relieved from the Apprehension of a Flood for this Season.
I much Concerned to be under the Necessity of Reporting to Your Lordship that the Native
Blacks of this Country, Inhabiting the distant Interior parts, have lately broke out in Open
hostility against the British Settlers residing on the Banks of the River Nepean near the Cow
Pastures, and have Committed most daring Acts of Violence on their Persons and
Depredations on their Property, in defending which no less than five White Men have been
lately Killed by the Natives, who have not been known to act in such a ferocious Sanguinary
Manner for many years past. I have Uniformly made it my Study since my first arrival in the
Colony to do every thing in my power to Conciliate the Native Tribes by Shewing them on all
Occasions much Kindness, and frequently Supplying them with Provisions and Slops. Indeed
I had entertained Very Sanguine Hopes of being enabled to Civilize a great proportion of
them in a few Years by the Establishment of the Native Institution and School at Parramatta
for their Children, and Settling Some few Grown up Men and Women on Lands in the
Neighbourhood of Sydney; but I begin to entertain a Fear that I shall find this a More
Arduous Task than I at first Imagined, tho' I am Still determined to persevere in My Original
Plan of endeavouring to domesticate and Civilize these Wild rude People. In the mean time it
will be Absolutely Necessary to Inflict exemplary and Severe Punishments on the Mountain
Tribes who have lately exhibited so Sanguinary a Spirit against the Settlers. With this view it
is my Intention, as soon as I shall have Ascertained What Tribes* Committed the late
Murders and Depredations, to send a Strong Detachment of Troops to drive them to a
Distance from the Settlements of the White Men, and to Endeavour to take some of them
Prisoners in order to be punished for their late atrocious Conduct, so as to Strike them with
Terror against Committing Similar Acts of Violence in future. Many of the Settlers have
entirely Abandoned their Farms in Consequence of t he late Alarming Outrages. In Order,
however, to Induce them to return to their Farms, I have sent some small Parties of Troops as
Guards of Protection for those Farms which are Most exposed to the Incursions of the
Natives; but these have of late become so very Serious that Nothing Short of Some Signal and
Severe Examples being made will prevent their frequent Recurrence. However painful, this
Measure is Now become Absolutely Necessary.
Unwilling hitherto to proceed to any Acts of Severity towards these People, and if possible to
Conciliate and Keep on friendly Terms with them, I have forgiven or Overlooked Many of
their Occasional Acts of Violence and Atrocity, exclusive of Numberless petty Thefts and
Robberies Committed by them on the defenceless remote Settlers for the last three Years.’136
23rd of March, 1816
On the 23rd of March a letter appeared in the Gazette; signed T.P, who, from other similarly
signed letters was somewhat of a Francophile. A cynical reader with the benefit of hindsight
136
Pages 52-54, HRA, Vol. IX, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1917.
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would suspect that the letter was deliberately written to massage the minds of the reader. Dog
whistling has a long history in Australian politics. The letter drew upon observations of
differences between Aboriginal people of Van Diemen’s Land and New Holland. As well, the
letter drew the attention of the reader to the “humane laws, and a mild and conciliating
deportment towards the natives” displayed by British colonial governors.
I have not been able to identify T.P., the author of this letter who also wrote at least one other
letter of a Francophile nature around this time. By extolling British colonial administrations
the author was legitimating the British presence. By continuing the Gazette’s ongoing
denigration of Aboriginal people T.P. was engaging in an early example of dog whistling, i.e.,
appealing to the baser nature of the populus. It was not uncommon for the Gazette to publish
a letter critical of Aboriginal people in times of strife.
‘To the EDITOR of the SYDNEY GAZETTE.
SIR,
Every thing connected with this Country, or illustrative of its physical or moral condition,
cannot but be highly interesting to the intelligent part of the Colony: -- I have therefore
quoted, for the perusal of your Readers, some remarks from a publication I saw in
Gaglionnani's library137 entitled "Voyage, des Decouvertes aux Terre Australes," speaking of
the inhabitants of Van Diemen. - Monsieur Peron says, they are a totally different race from
those of New Holland. In size they resemble pretty much Europeans, but they differ from them
by their singular conformation - with a large head, especially remarkable by the great length
of the diameter from the chin to the sinciput.138 with broad well formed shoulders, well
marked loins, and hips generally large, they have almost universally –weak extremities, of
great length, and little muscularity, and a large, prominent, and as it were distended belly.Without chiefs, laws, or any form of Government; without arts of any kind; without any idea
of agriculture, the use of metals, or domestication of animals; without clothing, or any fixed
abode, or any habitation, except a miserable shed of bark to protect them from the coldness
of the south winds; without other arms than the club and sagay,139 always wandering in the
middle of forests, or by the sea-shore. – The inhabitant of these regions undoubtedly unites
all the characters of the savage – he is truly the child of nature. The inhabitants of New
Holland are a distinct race from those of Diemen. - Their stature is nearly the same, but
besides other characteristics, they differ from them in having long and smooth hair, in the
colour of their skin, being much taller, and the remarkable configuration of the head, which,
less bulky, is compressed in the back part, while that of the people of Van Diemen's Land is
elongated in the same direction. - The breast of the New Hollander is also developed, but
there is the same disproportion between the limbs and the trunk, the same weakness, same
slenderness of the limbs and often the tumefaction of the belly. In point of civilization they are
but one step further advanced than the people of Diemen's Land, and have domesticated the
dog alone. - In manual force the weakest Frenchman is equal to the strongest native of Van
Diemen’s Land, and the weakest Englishman superior to the strongest New Hollander. - And
in a commentary upon L'Abbé Banier’s production, entitled "Histoire Générale des
Cérémonies, Mours et Coutumes Religieuses de lons les Peuples du Monde," will be seen the
following observation, highly creditable to the British character: “the constituted authorities
appointed from the Mother Country do not act like those sent from Spain to America ; but,
on, the contrary, by humane laws, and a mild and conciliating deportment towards the
137
Giovanni Antonio Galinani, 1757-1821, was an Italian newspaper publisher who started an English library in
Paris in 1800. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Antonio_Galignani
138
The upper part of the head.
139
Sagay is a French Creole word, from the Seychelles, meaning spear.
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natives, have been enabled to command their assistance, instead of being compelled to quell
their commotions." - And in another work, by Le Chevalier Nollet, de l'Académie Royale des
Sciences, entitled "Histoire et Commette des Angloises, will be found the following remark;
"that in the act of governing, the English laws are wisely and widely construed for the better
administration of these dependencies; since the exigencies of the moment admit of a
discretionary power in the, Viceroys appointed; or otherwise, an Absolute adherence to the
mere letter of the laws of the mother country would only endanger, and not secure her remote
colonies." - Thus, Mr. Editor, it is evident from the authors cited, that this Colony has
already excited the attention of the literati of Europe; and that it becomes every philosophical
mind to improve the physical and promote the moral interests of this country, either by his
conduct or talents. - If this slight research should at all encourage the well regarded scholar,
in similar views, I shall be happy to renew my subject at some future period - and am, Sir,
Your's, &c. T. P.’140
The Gazette on the 30th of March, reported that hostilities had moved downstream. An attack
was made on the Lewis farm on the Grose River, probably around 25th March, and on farms
at Lane Cove a few days later. Lewis’s farm, more widely known as Kearns’s Retreat was on
the old junction of the Grose and Nepean Rivers.141 It was Obadiah Aiken’s old farm and still
on the edge of settlement. In the attack Mrs. Lewis142 was decapitated and the convict
servant’s body mangled. As I have mentioned elsewhere, the mutilation of bodies was
common when Aboriginal people had a grievance against a particular settler. It was also
entirely possible that Mrs. Lewis was decapitated in response to the settler practice of
decapitating Aboriginal people and sending their heads to phrenologists in Edinburgh.
Lieutenant Archibald Bell,143 on 27th November 1819, threw additional light on the matter
when he told Commissioner Bigge that some work had been done by Aboriginal people for
some settlers and that the promised remuneration was refused with very rough usage. Bell
focused on the way in which the settlers on the Lewis farm had brought their deaths upon
themselves. However, he made no mention of the part he played in capturing and executing
the Aboriginal men allegedly responsible.
George Bowman’s Memorandum to Mr Scott, clarified the location of the Lewis farm,
highlighting the proximity of the killings to those of Cooling and Gallagher, servants to Mr.
Crowley whose farm was only a short distance upstream of the Lewis’s. It suggests that the
killings may have been related.
30th of March, 1816
‘At the beginning of the week an attack was made by a body of natives upon the farm of
Lewis, at the Nepean, whose wife and man servant they cruelly murdered. The head of the
unfortunate woman was sever'd from the body, and the man was dreadfully mangled with a
tomahawk. The furious wretches afterwards plundered the house, and wantonly speared a
number of pigs, the property of Lewis.
140
Sydney Gazette, 23rd March 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176591
i.e., the old junction of the Grose and Nepean Rivers before the 1867 flood shifted the junction downstream.
142
Mrs Lewis was the wife of William Lewis.
143
Archibald Bell came to the colony in 1807 as an ensign in the NSW Corps. He was appointed magistrate in
1808, replacing Thomas Arndell (who never recovered the position). He received considerable land grants and
lived at Belmont, Richmond Hill. He returned from the trial of Major Johnson in 1811 as a lieutenant in the New
South Wales Royal Veterans Company. He commanded the military detachment at Windsor from 1812 to 1818.
141
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A number of the natives, supposed 80 or 90 at the least, a few days since made their
appearance at Lane Cove, and committed depredations on several farms. As these hordes are
known to belong, mostly, if not all, to the more retired tribes, it is difficult to propose a
remedy to their mischievous and truly horrible incursions; for while they attack in sufficient
number to over power any force that a single settler can bring against them, they have the
advantage of security by the distance of their accustomed places of resort, whether they may
retire without the possibility of being pursued. -The necessity of settlers and others travelling
in company as much as circumstances will permit has become generally obvious, and affords
an effectual protection against the attacks of bush-rangers, as well as the natives, who are
known never to attack a force capable of resisting or punishing their temerity. As soon as the
maize is off the farms it is likely the present hordes of offenders will retire, but not before, as
this is the only grain they can make use of, and it affords so strong a temptation to them that
the plunder of the corn fields has in every instance furnished a prelude to their
barbarities.’144
In explaining the violence of 1816 The Gazette focused on the horror of the killings and
related them to the ripening corn crops. No mention was made of the affects of drought or the
expansion of the frontier. However, Lieutenant Archibald Bell’s response on 27th November
1819 to Commissioner Bigge provided an entirely different reason for violence on the
Hawkesbury. His response confirms my contention that many Aboriginal people and settlers
on the Hawkesbury were finding ways to get on with each other and that Mrs Lewis and her
assigned convict brought their deaths upon themselves, not in this case for breaking
traditional law but for breaking a commercial transaction.
‘Have you or the Settlers around you [at Windsor] experienced any interruptions from the
natives [Aborigines] of late?
About 3 years since they were troublesome, the aggression was on the part of the
Settlers. Some work had been done by the natives for some of the settlers under a
promise of remuneration, which was refused when applied for with very rough usage;
This caused retaliation on the part of the natives who killed a white woman near the
Grose River.’145
5th of April, 1816
Charles Throsby’s letter of the 5th of April 1816, to D’arcy Wentworth, the chief magistrate,
Throsby expressed his concerns at the planned military offensive. While not directly relevant
to the Hawkesbury, it throws light on the causes of previous conflict and informs our
understanding of relations between Aboriginal people and settlers. Throsby expressed his
concern that Governor Macquarie was contemplating action against Aboriginal people who
were innocent of the accusations being made against them. In his letter he mentioned the fear
that Warby and Jackson inspired in Boodbury and others. Read in isolation it suggests that
Warby had threatened Boodbury, but when placed in the context of Warby’s later refusal to
assist Captain Wallis it suggests that Warby did not threaten Boodbury but warned him of
what was coming. It was not a letter that endeared Throsby to the Governor. On the 1st of
December 1817 in a despatch to Lord Bathurst Macquarie identified Doctor Throsby as being
“discontented”.
144
Sydney Gazette, 30th March 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176603
Pages 173-174, Selected and Edited by John Ritchie, The Evidence to the Bigge Reports, New South Wales
Under Governor Macquarie, Volume 1 The Oral Evidence, Heinemann Melbourne, 1971.
145
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‘Glenfield Farm
April 5th 1816
Dear Wentworth
Having been informed this morning that His Excellency the Governor is about taking some
steps to punish the natives, I feel it necessary in consequence of my former information and
having been at your farm with your son when we heard some of the most absurd assertions
and obstinate threats of vengeance against several of the natives, whom 1 have every reason
to suppose are perfectly innocent of any of the murders that have recently taken place; those I
allude to are Bitugally; Duel; Yettooming; and some others, natives of the place where Mr.
Oxley's stock are, for I am convinced had they been inclined to have committed such crimes
they would most certainly have murdered some of that Gentleman's men, not that I mean to
assert they were not assisting in the murders of the men on Mr Broughton's farm last year146,
but when the cause is considered it cannot be so much wondered that savage ferocity should
seek revenge for the barbarity practised by our own countrymen on the persons of the wife
and two children of the former and a child of the latter, which perhaps is not sufficiently
known, that the people not content at shooting at them in the most treacherous manner in the
dark, but actually cut the woman's arm off and stripped the scalp of her head over her eyes,
and on going up to them and finding one of the children only wounded one of the fellows
deliberately beat the infant's brains out with the butt end of his musket, the whole of the
bodies then left in that state by the (brave) party unburied! as an example for the savages to
view the following morning, therefore under these circumstances I hope I may be pardoned
asserting that I do not wonder at the savages then seeking revenge in retaliation.
The whole of these men I have seen since that time, have been in the woods with some of them
and have had much conversation with them, and as far as I can judge by the manners and
dispositions of then natives I firmly believe they are now perfectly friendly towards the white
people. With respect to Gogee and his family, with Nighgingall and his family, they have
within my own knowledge been in this Neighbourhood and to and fro about the house for the
last three months. Boodbury, Young Bundle, with their families and several others are now
here - the whole of whom I also have heard threatened.
1 have yesterday, the day before, and this morning, had much conversation with them,
particularly as to the substance of the information I before gave you, who all, both
collectively, and separately, confirm that statement, (which was given me by a native who is
not with them) as fully and clearly as I can possibly understand them and further add they
have come here for protection and that all the friendly natives have quitted those now
collected on, and about the flat on the other side of the river from your farm, who are
composed of the tribes I before mentioned, and if I understand them right are determined to
be troublesome, from their information as well as what I have heard from various of the
white people, I am of the opinion, under the circumstance of a party having run from them,
that they would attack any party if not in appearance too formidable that might cross the
river after them, provided they were not dressed as soldiers where they might be provided as
they deserve, without the danger of injuring any friendly native for I am assured all those
have left them, yet the spot they have chosen is situated, as to afford so many retreats into the
146
Private Eustace
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rocks, &c that any party ought to act with caution, those natives who have been brought up
amongst the white people being extremely cunning.
1 am well aware that the fears and aversions of the ignorant part of white people will lead
them to accuse the whole, indiscriminately. therefore it is to be hoped, steps will as much [as]
possible be taken to prevent any friendly native being injured, lest the lives of some of our
stockmen or others in remote unprotected situations may fall a sacrifice in retaliation.
Warby and Bush Jackson whom you know well was here the other day in search of Gogee,
and I understand from Mr. Moore went afterwards to him stating they had been looking after
him &c and had been at our place a quarter of an hour sooner they would have been enabled
to have got him &c&c. The fact is he and several others was in my boat having gone down
The river the day before with your son, fishing and which I told them, they was here again
yesterday and took Boodbury and several others with them out of my yard. Boodburry and
the others returned shortly afterwards, apparently under a considerable impression of fear,
which I have as much as possible endeavoured to dissipate as has also Mr. Moore by a
communication through me, I have no doubt they will remain in this neighbourhood some
time, and will I am confident give every information in their power whenever required.
I remain
Dear Wentworth
Yours Truly
Chas. Throsby
Sydney’147
To D. Wentworth
&c&c
While Macquarie’s journal provided additional light on the orders he issued to the military on
9th April 1816, it also left some issues clouded. Macquarie’s insistence that Aboriginal
people “manifested a strong and sanguinary hostile spirit” for “the last three years” was not
consistent with previous entries or the historical record. Likewise his assurance that
Aboriginal people had been treated with “the greatest kindness and forbearance by
Government” was disingenuous and paternalistic. His use of the word “chastise” was also
paternalistic and implied that Aboriginal people were childlike. Certainly this journal entry
signified a change in attitude upon Macquarie’s part. It should also be placed in the context of
his ill health at the time.
Macquarie planned a conventional military operation against Aboriginal people on the
Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers. He planned a co-ordinated combination of forces; with
European and Aboriginal guides; which should have successfully surrounded and crushed a
conventional enemy. Captain Schaw of the 46th Regiment was instructed to “apprehend and
inflict exemplary punishment on such of the guilty natives” as he was able to take alive along
the Nepean, Grose and Hawkesbury Rivers. Whether “exemplary punishment” was ever a
legal term is unclear. However, the intent for it to be the ultimate deterrent is implicit.
Macquarie gave Captain Schaw a list of hostile natives. They were Murrah, who speared
Macarthur’s overseer, Wallah, Yellaman, Dewall, Bellagalle – Bidjeegurry, Daniel,148
Goggie and Mary–Mary who came from Mulgoa. It is likely that most of the others came
147
I found this in Michael Organ, Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines, 1770-1850. University of Wollongong,
1990. The original is in Mitchell Library, D'Arcy Wentworth Correspondence, MLA752, CY699, pages 183-6. I
have yet to check it.
148
This was not Daniel Moowattee who was executed for the rape of the daughter of a settler in August 1816.
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from further upstream. Charles Throsby was adamant that Dewall was not hostile. Dewall
had acted as a guide for Hamilton Hume. The Hume’s and Kennedy’s were related by
marriage. Dewall surrendered on Kennedy’s farm. The mother and two children killed in
1814 were buried on Kennedy’s farm. Goggie was almost certainly not hostile, being more
afraid of the Mountain tribes than the settlers.
Macquarie also arranged for a number of European and Aboriginal guides to support
Captains Schaw and Wallis. Bidgee Bidgee and Harry were native guides ordered to
accompany Schaw from Sydney. Harry may have been the Aboriginal boy brought up by
John Macarthur. William Possum and Creek Jemmy, also known as Nurragingy, were to join
Schaw at Windsor, suggesting they were locals. Creek Jemmy came from South Creek.
The European guides were John Warby, John Jackson, William Parson, Thomas Simpson,
Joseph McLoughlin, Thomas Nobles and Henry McKudding. Tyson, Bundell, Colebee and
Tindall were Aboriginal guides.
In his written instructions Macquarie ordered Captain Schaw to imprison all Aboriginal
people that he may encounter as a means to maintain secrecy as well as minimising the loss
of innocent lives. Aboriginal people who resisted or attempted to escape were to be fired
upon compelling their surrender. The bodies of Aboriginal men who were killed were to be
hung from a tree – which to a modern reader suggests that the element of surprise would be
lost thereby. While Macquarie ordered Schaw to save “the Women and Children if possible”,
his orders on this point were weaker than Governor Phillip’s orders of 13th December 1790
for a similar expedition whereby “Every possible attention is to be paid not to injure any
women or children.”
In his journal Macquarie clarified that the prisoners were to be hostages until the guilty ones
surrendered. In 1805 Samuel Marsden had employed the same strategy to break resistance. It
is unclear whether “by clearing the Country of them entirely, and driving them across the
mountains” he meant all Aboriginal people or only the hostiles.
Schaw was ordered to march to Windsor and consult with the magistrates. He was ordered to
scour the Kurry Jong Brush and the banks of the Grose River. He was then to march south to
the Bringelly district where he would join Captain Wallis’s and Lieutenant Dawe’s units.
Hopefully, on his return he would bring twelve Aboriginal boys and girls to be enrolled in the
Native Institution.
9th of April, 1816: Punitive expeditions
Macquarie's orders to Captain Schaw were essentially to scour and clear the Nepean,
Hawkesbury and Grose valleys. From a traditional military view the orders were sound,
proposing a series of co-ordinated operations that would combine in the Cow Pastures. Schaw
was, however, unable to make contact with his enemy.
‘Instructions for Captain Schaw
Instructions for Capt. W.G.B. Schaw 46th Regt. Commanding a detachment of that Corps
ordered on a particular service
Sir
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1. The Aborigines, or Black Natives of this Country, having for the last two years manifested
a strong spirit of hostility against the Settlers and other White inhabitants residing in the
Interior and remote parts of the Colony, and having recently been guilty of the most cruel
and wanton outrages on the Persons and Properties of several of the Settlers and other White
Inhabitants residing on and near the banks of the Rivers Nepean, Grose, and Hawkesbury, by
committing many cruel and barbarous murders, and Robberies, to the great terror of the
surviving inhabitants residing on the said Rivers, it now becomes indispensably necessary for
the protection of the lives and properties of His Majesty's Subjects residing in this Colony, to
adopt such measures as may prevent a recurrence of such daring and sanguinary atrocities
on the part of the Black Natives.
2. 1 have accordingly deemed it advisable to order out a detachment of Troops under your
command, into the interior, for the purpose of apprehending and inflicting exemplary
Punishments on such of the guilty Natives as you may be able to take alive; the names of
those Natives who have committed the late atrocious murders, outrages, and Robberies,
being pretty well known, you will herewith receive a list of them for your guidance and
information, which guilty Natives will be pointed out to you, in case you should be able to
apprehend the; by the friendly Native Guides who will accompany you. - In the execution of
the Service you are thus ordered upon, you will be generally governed in your conduct by the
following instruction; leaving you, however, at liberty, to act according to your own
discretion and judgement in all cases and matters not particularly specified in these
Instructions.
3. The great objects in view being to Punish the guilty with as little injury as possible to the
innocent Natives, Secrecy and Dispatch must be particularly attended to, so as if possible to
surprise and surround them in their lurking Places, before they have any information of your
approach. - You will therefore do everything in your power to prevent any information of
your approach and designs being made known to the Natives; and with this view it will be
necessary to make Prisoners of all the Natives of both sexes whom you may see or fall in with
on your route after you march from Sydney, and carry them with you to be lodged in places
of security, at Parramatta and Windsor respectively until after the present Service is over,
delivering them over in charge of the Magistrate at those two places.
4. You will march with the Detachment under your command from Sydney or Parramatta
tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock, attended by the Guides specified in the margin149 and a light
two Horse Cart for conveying the Bread and other Baggage of yourself and Party; it being
intended that the Detachment shall be served with nominal Food at the several stations you
have occasion to halt at, to save carriage, and order to this effect have been given to the
Commissariat Department. - You are to halt at Parramatta tomorrow night, and set out from
thence early the following morning for Windsor - where you will halt that night and also the
whole of the day following, in order to afford you sufficient time to consult with the
Magistrates at that station, and the Guides they are to furnish you with, relative to your
future operations in the Districts of the Hawkesbury River. 149
+1
Wm. Possum
+2
Creek Jemmy
3
Bidjee Bidjee
4
Harry
(N. B. ++ Those two Guides are to join Capt. Schaw's detachment at Windsor.)
Harry may have grown up with the Macarthurs or Marsdens
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5. After consulting with the Magistrates at Windsor, and being supplied with the necessary
Guides, you will cross the Hawkesbury and commence your operations in that part of the
Country called the Kurry-Jong-Brush scouring the whole of it and Country adjacent as far as
the Second Ridge of the Blue Mountains,150 and taking all such Natives as you may meet or
fall in with in your route Prisoners. - On any occasion of seeing or falling in with the Natives,
either in bodies or singly, they are to be called on, by your friendly Native Guides, to
surrender themselves to you as Prisoners of War. - If they refuse to do so, make the least
show of resistance, or attempt to run away from you, you will fire upon and compel them to
surrender, breaking and destroying the spears, clubs, and waddies of all those you take
Prisoners. - Such Natives as happen to be killed on such occasions, if grown up men, are to
be hanged up on trees in conspicuous situations, to strike the Survivors with the greater
terror. - On all occasions of your being obliged to have recourse to offensive and coercive
measures, you will use every possible precaution to save the lives of the Native Women and
Children, but taking as many of them as you can Prisoners. - After scouring the Kurry-JongBrush you will proceed by Lieut. Bell's Farm to the River Grose to examine the Country
along the right and left banks of it as far as the Second Ridge of Mountains, taking all such
Natives as you meet with in that march Prisoners, or destroying them if they run away or
refuse to surrender. Having completely explored the Kurry-Jong-Brush and all the suspected
parts of the Country to the Northward of the Hawkesbury and Grose Rivers, you will recross
the former at Richmond, halting there a sufficient time to enable you to send such Prisoners
as you may have taken to Windsor, where they are to be delivered to the Magistrates and kept
in a place of security till they receive my orders respecting their future disposal. 6. Having refreshed your Party at Richmond and received such supplies of Provisions as you
may require for your men from the King's Stores at Windsor, you will set out from the former
by such route as your Guides will point out, along the River Nepean, to Mr. Secretary
Campbell's Farm in the Bringelly District, travelling through Mulgoa and the other
intermediate Districts, between the Nepean and South Creek, generally frequented by the
Natives, taking all such as you may meet with on your march Prisoners. -In case of resistance
or running away, you are to fire on them and compel them to surrender, as is herein before
directed; hanging up such men as are killed on trees in the most open parts of the Forest,
near the River Nepean - or South Creek.
7. On your arrival at Mr. Secretary Campbell's Farm (called Shankomore) in the Bringelly
District, you will be so good as to consult with that Gentleman and Mr. Lowe the resident
Magistrate of the same District, as to your future operations, and obtain from them every
information you can relative to the hostile Natives generally frequenting that part of the
Country, and where they first commenced their recent outrages and Depredations. - In the
event of you having any Prisoners on your arrival at Bringelly, you are to send them to
Parramatta under a small Escort of a couple of soldiers and some of the neighbouring
Settlers - to be delivered over to the Magistrates, and kept in a place of security till they
receive my orders relative to their future disposal. The Native Prisoners are always to be
hand-cuffed, or tied two and two together with ropes, on all these occasions to prevent their
running away. - After you have consulted with Messrs. Campbell and Lowe and explored all
the suspected parts of the Bringelly and Cook Districts, you will cross the Nepean to the
Cow-Pasture side of it, as near the Western or Warragombie River as may be found
practicable. - Having once crossed the Nepean, you must be entirely governed by the
150
Southwards to the Grose River where it intersects the escarpment.
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information of your Guides in your future operations in the Cow Pastures, - the whole of
which however, from the Warragombie to the Mountains of Natai, including the tracts of
Country called Winjee-Winjee-Karrabee, Bargo, Marrajan or Minikin (in which last place
Mr. Oxley has his cattle grazing at present) and the whole of the Country in the vicinity of the
Stone-Quarry-Creek,151 and southern parts of the banks of the River Nepean towards the
District of Appin and the Five Islands. - As however it does not appear that any of the Five
Islands Natives were concerned in the recent murders and outrages committed by the Cow
Pasture and Mountain Natives, I do not wish them to be molested or injured in any way
whatever, but, in case any of the guilty Hostile Natives should have taken refuge amongst
those of the Five Islands, they must be called on to surrender and deliver them up to you.
8. It being my intention to detach Lieut. Dawe and Ten Privates of your Company to reinforce
the Party of the 46th Regt. at present stationed in the Cow Pastures at Mrs. McArthur's Farm,
he will be instructed to cooperate with you on your arrival in the Cow Pastures, of which you
are to apprise him immediately as soon as you have crossed the River Nepean. at the same
time instructing him as to the measures he is to pursue in co-operating with you in the
Operations to be carried on in the Cow Pastures; so as, if possible. to prevent the Hostile
Natives residing there from making their escape to the Southward or across the Nepean to
the Eastward of it., which may be prevented by a timely and judicious movement of Lieut.
Dawe's Detachment, in a south easterly direction from Mrs. McArthur's Farm, thereby cutting
off the retreat of the Natives at the several Passes of the Nepean and Stone Quarry Creek, but
such movements must be made with the greatest secrecy and celerity to insure their having
the desired effect.
9. As the great Body of the Hostile Natives are known to reside chiefly in the Cow Pastures,
the whole of that part of the Country between the Western River on the north, and the Bargo
branch of the Nepean River on the south, must be completely explored and scoured; making
Prisoners of all Natives, young and old, whom you may see and be able to apprehend in the
course of your march through that Country. - In case they make the smallest resistance or
attempt to run away after being ordered by the friendly Native Guides to surrender
themselves as Prisoners, you are to fire upon them, saving the Women and Children if
possible. - All such grown up men as may happen to be killed you will direct to be hanged on
the highest trees and in the clearest parts of the Forest where they fall. Such Women and
Children as may happen to be killed are to be interred wherever they may happen to fall. The Prisoners taken - young and old - are to be brought in with you to Parramatta and
delivered over there to the Magistrates, to be secured at that station till they receive my
instructions respecting their future disposal. - Being desirous to procure Twelve Boys and Six
Girls - from between four and six years of age - for the Native Institution at Parramatta, you
will select and secure that number of fine healthy good - looking children from the whole of
the Native Prisoners of War taken in the course of your operations, and direct them to be
delivered to the Supt. of the Native Institution at Parramatta immediately on their arrival
there.
10. Having completely explored the whole of the Districts herein named, and all other parts
of the Country in which you may be informed there is a probability of apprehending any of
the Hostile Natives, you will return with your Detachment and Prisoners to Parramatta and
from thence to Sydney, leaving only a Corporal and three men of the 46th Regt. as a Guard of
Stone Quarry Creek runs into the Nepean from the west. It is upstream of Macarthur’s farm, also on the west
bank of the Nepean and the site of modern Picton.
151
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Protection at Mrs. McArthur's Farm in the Cow Pastures, after your operations in that part of
the Country have terminated. Lieut. Dawe, and the rest of the Party under his immediate
orders, returning with you to Sydney and also bringing back the European and Native Guides
with you to Head Quarters. - On your arrival at Sydney you will be pleased to make a written
Report to me of your Proceedings, and of the measures you pursued in the execution of my
instructions as herein detailed. - In all difficult or unforeseen exigencies, I have only once
more to repeat that I leave you entirely at liberty to act according to your own discretion and
judgement in which I have the fullest confidence.
1 have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your most Obedt. Servt.
L.M.
Govr. in Chief of
N.S.Wales.
Government House
Sydney, N.S.Wales
Tuesday 9th April
1816
X The magistrates at Parramatta, Windsor, Bringelly and Liverpool, will be directed to
afford every possible assistance in their power, in respect to information and guides to
enable you the more promptly to carry these Instructions into execution, and you will
therefore call upon them – for any assistance you may stand in need of, as often as you may
find occasion for to bring.
The Depty. Comy. Genl. has received Instructions to furnish you with the necessary orders
for victualling your detachment at your different Halting Places, whilst employed on this
Service; and a quantity of Biscuit and Salt Pork will be sent along with the Detachment.
P.S. It having been deemed advisable to send another detachment of the 46th. Regt.
Commanded by Capt. Wallis, into the District of Airds and Appin (where the Hostile Natives
have recently assembled in considerable force.) for the purpose of Protecting the settlers and
other inhabitants residing in those Districts from the Incursions of the Hostile Natives, and
Clearing the Country of them, by making Prisoners of them or destroying them in the event of
resistance; Capt. Wallis has been instructed to co-operate with you, and to afford you such
support and assistance as you may have occasion to call for from him after your arrival in
the Cow-Pastures of which you will of course give him the earliest intimation on commencing
your operations in that quarter. –
Sydney
L.M.
l.
’152
9: Ap 1816.
It is difficult to tell who had what lists of guides and hostiles because in the AONSW they
follow on from Serjeant Murphy’s orders. They follow below in the AONSW order. The first
list is from a letter by the Reverend Cartwright. Some of the names on the list, such as
Bundook appear to be of men from the Hawkesbury. Hannibal Macarthur was probably
informed by his managers and Aboriginal people on or around his property in compiling his
list. The reference to Murrah “who threw spears at the soldiers at Cox's River some time
since” allows us to place the attack on the Government depot at Glenroy, on the junction of
the River Lett and Cox’s River at some time in March 1816. Following that is a list of guides.
The last list came from a letter by Doctor Throsby on the 24th of March 1816 to Doctor
152
AONSW, Reel 6045, 4/1734, pages 149-168
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Wentworth. Throsby’s list is important in that seven of the eleven men on his list came from
the Hawkesbury.
‘From Mr. Cartwrights letter
1. Wootan
2. Corkey
3. Gerriang
4. Rachel
5. Narrang-Jack
6. Yarroway
7. Marro
8. Mongang
9. Marrow
10. Emray
11. Korial
12. Koongnang
13. Wootooboy
14. Yarrangy
15. Bundock
16. Young Cummain
17. Joe
18. Retingoro.
Names of Hostile bad Natives! Mr. McArthur:
1. Murrah – very bad – x
2. Wallah - - do
3. Yellaman - do
4. Dewall –
5. Bettagallie
------------------------6. Daniel
All
7. Goggie
Suspects
8. Mary-Mary.
-------------------------------X This is the same man who speared Mr. Mc.Arthur’s overseer, and who threw spears at the
soldiers at Cox’s River some time since. List of Names of White and Black guides employed with Capts Schaw & Wallis vizt.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
John Warbey
John Jackson
William Parson
Thomas Simpson
Joseph McLoughlin
Thomas Nobles
Henry McKudding
Tyson
Bidgee Bidgee
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)
)
)
)
)
White or
European Guides
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1
11
12
13
14
Harry
Bundell
Creek Jemmy
Colebee
Tindall.
als. Nurragingy
Cogie
An eldery native belonging to the Richmond District.153
Corriangii
Do
Do
Alias
Cobbon Jack
My-ill and Two brothers the former brought up or lived a long time at Mary
Yarranbii
Giles’s of Richmond.154 – The latter was brought up or lived a
long time with a person called Old Mick at Freemans Reach.
Toongroii
Brothers belonging to or about Richmond the latter lives at or is
and
frequently at Benjamin Touse’s (or some such name) close to
Worlorbii
Wm. Bells at Richmond.
Donmorii
Belong to or about Richmond
Murraah
These four natives of the tribes of the Western River and as far up
Turiill
as Nattii were the men who killed the Government stockmen in
Buriac
the Cowpastures, who with their tribes and the tribes between the
Nooringii
Western River and Richmond are the Natives no doubt who have
committed the late acts, as I think from their customs the natives
of the more distant parts dare not to go there. N.B. The foregoing List and memorandum was delivered to me by Doctr. Wentworth to whom
it was sent by Doctr. Throsbey in a letter of 24th March 1816.
L.M.’155
Wednesday 10. April 1816: Macquarie’s Journal.
‘The Aborigines, or Native Blacks of this Country, having for the last three years manifested
a Strong and Sanguinary Hostile Spirit, in repeated instances of murders, outrages, and
Depredations of all descriptions against the Settlers and other White Inhabitants residing in
the Interior and more remote parts of the Colony, notwithstanding their having been
frequently called upon and admonished to discontinue their hostile Incursions and treated on
all these occasions with the greatest kindness and forbearance by Government; — and
having nevertheless recently Committed several cruel and most barbarous murders on the
Settlers and their Families and Servants, killed their Cattle, and Robbed them of their Grain
and other Property to a considerable amount, it becomes absolutely necessary to put a stop
to these outrages and disturbances, and to adopt the strongest and most coercive measures to
prevent a recurrence of them, so as to protect the European Inhabitants in their Persons &
Properties against these frequent and sudden hostile and sanguinary attacks from the
Natives. — I therefore, tho, very unwillingly felt myself compelled, from a paramount Sense
of Public Duty, to come to the painful resolution of chastising these hostile Tribes, and to
inflict terrible and exemplary Punishments upon them without further loss of time; as, they
might construe any further forbearance or lenity, on the part of this Government, into fear
and cowardice.
153
Cogie may have been Cocky who was hung by William Cox.
Mary Giles appears to have arrived in 1794 and married William Bowman in 1806.
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/AUS-NSW-HILLS-HAWKESBURY-HUNTER-VALLEY/201206/1340944567
155
Letter Macquarie to Murphy, 22/04/1816, NLA mfm N257, Reel 6065 AONSW CSO 4/1798, pages 39-50.
154
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In pursuance of this resolution, and on the grounds of the most imperious necessity, arising
from their own hostile, daring, outrageous, and sanguinary Proceedings, I have this Day
ordered three Separate Military Detachments to march into the Interior and remote parts of
the Colony, for the purpose of Punishing the Hostile Natives, by clearing the Country of them
entirely, and driving them across the mountains; as well as if possible to apprehend the
Natives who have committed the late murders and outrages, with the view of their being made
dreadful and severe examples of, if taken alive. — I have directed as many Natives as
possible to be made Prisoners, with the view of keeping them as Hostages until the real guilty
ones have surrendered themselves, or have been given up by their Tribes to summary Justice.
— In the event of the Natives making the smallest show of resistance – or refusing to
surrender when called upon so to do – the officers Commanding the Military Parties have
been authorized to fire on them to compel them to surrender; hanging up on Trees the Bodies
of such Natives as may be killed on such occasions, in order to strike the greater terror into
the Survivors. — These Military Detachments consist of the two Flank Companies of the 46th.
Regt., Commanded severally by Capt. Schaw, Capt. Wallis, and Lieut. Dawe of the same
Corps, and marched this forenoon from Sydney for Windsor, Liverpool, and the Cow
Pastures respectively; furnished with proper Guides of Europeans and friendly Natives,
Ammunition, Provisions &c. &c., the Officers Commanding these Detachments respectively
being directed by their Instructions to commence their Operations at and from the several
Points herein mentioned of Windsor, Liverpool, and the Cow Pastures; exploring and
scouring the whole of the Country on the East side of the Blue Mountains from the KurryJong Brush on the North side of the River Hawkesbury, to the Five Islands, alias Illawarra,
on the South and Eastward of the Cow Pastures and River Nepean. — I have sent an Orderly
Dragoon (mounted) – and a light Cart with each of the two large Detachments Commanded
by Capts. Schaw and Wallis the Detachment commanded by Lieut. Dawe being intended to
remain Stationary in the Cow Pastures for some time. —
L. M.’156
10th of April, 1816: The troops march out.
‘A detachment of the 46th Regiment marched on Wednesday for the protection of the out
settlements against the violent and flagitious conduct of the hostile natives.’157
On the 10th of April, Captain Wallis, who was already in the field, became aware that Gogy
was with a group of nearby Aboriginal people and was keen to capture him. John Warby, his
chief guide told him that the group was friendly and shortly afterwards Warby told Wallis
that he would no longer take charge of the Aboriginal guides. When the nature of the military
expedition became apparent to them, Bundle and his kinsman, Bootbarrie,158 absconded on
the night of the 11th of April. On the 15th, Wallis marched pointlessly to Dr. Redfern’s farm in
response to a message from Redfern’s overseer, who summoned the troops apparently out of
personal fear, or to scare Aboriginal people away from his master’s farm. On the 17th, on the
advice of settlers, Captain Wallis, alerted by the cry of a child, found a Aboriginal
encampment and killed fourteen Aboriginal people in a gully near Mr. Broughton’s farm in
the Airds District. As the party contained women and children and were hiding there is a
strong possibility that the camp was not hostile. He took five women and children prisoner.159
156
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816april.html#apr10
Sydney Gazette, Saturday, 13th April, 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176619
158
Budburry?
159
Captain Wallis, AONSW, Reel 6045; 4/1735 pages 50-62.
157
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Captain Wallis was later handsomely rewarded with the command of Newcastle. Lieutenant
Dawes, on the advice of one of Mrs. Macarthur’s men, surprised a Aboriginal camp, killed at
least one person and captured a fourteen year old boy. Lieutenant Dawes revealed a racist
attitude in his report with the observation: “On Saturday the 13th I went in company with
Jackson and Tindal to the top of Mount Hunter with a view of discovering by means of their
fires if any natives infested the neighbourhood.”160
Captain Schaw’s report clearly illustrated the difficulties conventional forces had in operating
against irregular forces. He arrived at Windsor on the 11th of April and met with the
magistrates. On the 12th, with constables, settlers and additional guides he marched to Bell’s
farm at Richmond Hill. On the 13th, he marched up to the Grose River, followed it upstream
before swinging north through the Kurry Jong Brush to Singleton’s Hill.161
His Aboriginal guides pointed out tracks and led him to a camp that had been slept in on the
12th, but no contact was made. On the 14th, despite splitting his party, no tracks were seen.
The reunited party slept that night at Howe’s farm.162 He returned to Windsor on the 15th and
commenced his march south to Bringelly; but a summons from Doctor Arndell, informing
him that farms around Cattai were being attacked saw him march north to Arndell’s Cattai
farm. In the early hours of the 16th he failed to surprise an encampment and spent the rest of
the morning pursuing fifteen warriors. After resting his men, who must have been exhausted,
he came to Douglas’s farm and was told that a neighbouring farm had been plundered. Once
more he attempted a surprise attack on a camp, sending out a detachment in the early
morning of the 17th. However, after marching nine miles, the guide, a white stock man,
declined to lead the party to the spot.
On the 18th Captain Schaw led his men south. Despite showing considerable skill and
fortitude Captain Schaw failed to make contact with an elusive enemy. His account raises
important issues. In scouring the Kurry Jong Brush he found one set of tracks, one camp and
no Aboriginal people. On the other side of the river he pursued some fifteen warriors,
attempted attacks on two camps, one of which was at least nine miles from Cattai. His
account suggests that there was significantly less hostile activity and fewer Aboriginal people
on the Hawkesbury than in previous years.
On the 22nd April Lieutenant Parker marched to Mr. Woodhouse’s farm and took into custody
Duall/Dewall and Quick, both of whom had been taken prisoner on Mr. Kennedy’s farm.
Duall/Dewall was sent to Parramatta and Quick volunteered to guide the troops to the
Aboriginal people that he belonged to. Tyson and Nobles went with Quick, but the group of
Aboriginal people was too large to attack. Quick was sent to Liverpool with Noble. On the 3rd
of May, Lieutenant Parker took nine Aboriginal people; mostly women and children and
probably the family of Duall who had surrendered on Kennedy’s farm; into custody. He then
marched north to Liverpool and Sydney with his prisoners.163
160
Lieutenant Dawe, AONSW, Reel 6045; 4/1735 pages 29-32.
Benjamin Singleton built a mill on Little Wheeny Creek in 1811. It can be identified by Mill Road which
crosses and runs alongside it. Singleton’s Hill is near the junction of modern Bell’s Line of Road and Comleroy
Road. The area later became known as Rawlinson’s corner.
162
John Howe in 1805 had a 100 acre farm on the left bank of the Swallow Rock Reach.
163
On the 9th of May 1816 Lieutenant A G Parker's reported on his activities on the expedition. Archives: Reel
6045; 4/1735 pages50-62.
161
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Also on the 22nd April, Serjeant Murphy was ordered to take a party of soldiers across the
Blue Mountains to protect the government depot at Glenroy on the junction of the Rivers Cox
and Lett, which had been attacked and plundered by Aboriginal people from the County of
Cumberland. Murrah had been identified by Hannibal Macarthur as “the same man who
speared Mr McArthur's overseer, and who threw spears at the soldiers at Cox's River some
time since”. When combined with the attack on the government cart around the 12th of
March and the killing of the soldier at Springwood it is logical to conclude that the rising of
1816 was far more widespread than records indicate and that it probably involved not just
Aboriginal people from the Cumberland Plain but also those west of the Blue Mountains.
Following Serjeant Murphy’s orders were several lists, some of which may or may not have
formed part of Serjeant Murphy’s orders.164 I have included those that are relevant.
22nd of April, 1816
‘Instructions of Serjeant Jeremiah Murphy
Commanding a Detachment
of the 46th Regiment ordered on a
particular Service. –
1st. A body of Hostile Natives having recently crossed the Blue or Western Mountains from
this side to the New discovered Country, and attacked or plundered the Government
Provision Depot established at Cox’s River165 in the said Country, and driven away from
thence the Government Stock-Men as well as the Stock-men of Private Individuals who were
attending their Masters herds in that Country;166 You are hereby directed to proceed in
Command of the Detachment of the 46th Regiment, specified in the margin,167 to Cox’s River,
- Marching from Sydney at 9. O’Clock tomorrow Morning by the way of Parramatta, Penrith
(or 1st. Depôt), Emu Ford, Spring-Wood (or 2nd. Depôt), Jamison’s-Valley, Blackheath and
Cox’s Pass, to Cox’s River; where you are to halt with your Party and remain stationed till
further Orders, for the purpose of affording Protection to the Government Stockmen and
Cattle and the Government Depôt of Provisions at that Station – as well as for keeping open
the Communication between this part of the Country and Bathurst. –
2nd. You will halt with your party tomorrow night at Parramatta, and march from thence on
the following Morning to Penrith. – At Parramatta you will be joined by an overseer and
some stock-men proceeding to Cox’s River to take charge of the Government Cattle there;
whom together with the provision carts attending them, and the Provision Cart for your own
party, you are to remain with and escort safe to Cox’s River. – Biscuit, Sugar, and Salt for
one Month, and a small allowance of Spirits, will be sent for the use of yourself and Party
along with you; and you will be furnished with the usual rations of Fresh or Salt meat at
Cox’s River. –
3rd. As long as you remain at Cox’s River you are to mount a regular Guard daily of a Lance.
Corporal and 3 Privates, Posting One sentry both Night and Day over your Arms and the
164
One was dated 10th of April, nearly a fortnight before Serjeant Murphy was ordered out.
The government camp was at the junction of the Cox’s River and the River Lett.
166
It is difficult to determine whose cattle this refers to. Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson were all granted land
west of the Divide for their efforts, as was William Cox for his road building efforts. Marsden was granted land
there in 1814 as a reward for his missionary activities in N.Z. Lawson was the first to drive his cattle over the
Blue Mountains in December 1815. Page 28, C. J. King, An Outline of Closer Settlement in New South Wales,
Department of Agriculture, 1957.
167
1 Corporal and 15 Privates,
165
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Provision- Depôt at that station; and as often as the Overseer of the Government Stock
applies to you for assistance you are to furnish him with a couple of soldiers to protect the
Stockmen when they go out with the Stock to graze, or to collect them when required to be
brought home. –
On occasion of any Convoys of Provisions belong to Government going from hence to
Bathurst, you are to furnish an Escort of three soldiers to escort the said Provisions thither;
and also for any Herds of cattle belonging to Government that Mr. Hassall the
Superintendent of Stock may think proper to order from Cox’s River to Bathurst; or from the
former station to the 2nd. Depôt at Spring Wood, where you (sic) Escort will be relieved by
the Guard at that Station.
4. In the event of any Natives coming to or near your Post at Cox’s River, armed with spears
or other weapons, you are on no account to permit any of them to approach nearer than Sixty
Yards to your Post – but to order them immediately away. – In case they refuse to go, and
still remain near your post, you are to fire upon them and compel them to retire, or to take as
many of them Prisoners as you can. – On taking any of them Prisoners, you are to have them
handcuffed, or have their hands tied together with ropes – and send them on to the 2nd Depôt
under an Escort, in Order to their being forwarded in the same manner from thence to
Parramatta. – In case you should fall in with any Hostile Natives in the course of your march
from Parramatta to Cox’s River, you are to attack them, and take as many Prisoners as you
can – sending them back to Parramatta in the same manner as is herein already directed. –
You are however, on all occasions of attacking the Hostile Natives, to save the Lives of their
women and children if possible.L. Macquarie
Gov. in Chief of N.S.Wales.
Government House,
Sydney, 22nd. April
1816’168
Saturday, 4th of May, 1816: The troops march in.
‘The three Separate Military Detachments belonging to the 46th. Regt., Commanded
severally by Captains Schaw, Wallis, and Lieutenant Dawe, sent out on the 10th. of last
month to scour the interior of the Country and drive the Natives from the Settlements of the
White Inhabitants, returned this Day to Head Quarters, after having executed the several
parts of their Instructions entirely to my satisfaction; having inflicted exemplary Punishments
on the hostile Natives, and brought in a few of them as Prisoners to Sydney. —
L. M.’169
8th of May, 1816: Captain Schaw’s report
I have deleted from Captain Schaw's report the latter section after he left the Hawkesbury as
it has no particular relevance to this work; except to note that Colbee probably accompanied
him as Captain Wallis’ journal entry for the 28th noted his detachment “by capt. Schaw from
Wingee Carribee. Marched for about twelve miles along the course of the river. Tracked the
natives for some miles, and guide Coloby informed us they were about two days before
us.”170
168
169
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816may.html#may4
170
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‘Captain Schaw's Report
Sydney 8th May 1816
Sir
In obedience to Your Excellency's commands I have the honour to Report the proceedings of
the Detachment of the 46th Regt. under my command, ordered on a particular service, and
enclose for Your Excellency's information some extracts from the journal. In addition to
which I beg leave to state that every individual competing on this Service evinced the utmost
good and anxiety to forward the same as far as lay in their power, and underwent the fatigue
and privations necessarily attendance and without uttering the least complaint.
It would be an act of injustice on my part were I to omit to mention on this occasion the very
marked attention and assistance we experienced from the Windsor Magistrates while we
remained in their District, as also from Mr. Secretary Campbell and Mr Oxley at their
respective farms. The latter gentlemen accompanied the Detachment several days and
rendered the most particular services.
I beg leave to observe that I have omitted in the journal to mention the particular services on
which Captain Wallis and Lieut. Dawe were employed in co-operation with my Detachment. I
am being in possession of the Reports of those officers.
It only remains for me to express my regret that it was not in my power to carry the
instructions more fully into effect.
1 have the honor to be.
Sir.
Your most obedt. Servt.
W. Schaw
Capt. 46th Regt.
Extracts
From the Journal of the Detachment of the 46th Regt.
under my Command on a particular Service
Wednesday 10th April
Marched from Sydney to Parramatta according to Orders, and halted for the night.
Thursday 11th
Marched for Windsor, and arrived there at 2 o'clock, communicated with the Magistrates
according to Instructions, and not receiving any information of importance, halted for that
night.
Friday 12th
In pursuance of a plan of co-operation arranged by the Magistrates, with some constables
and Settlers, marched to Lieut. Bell's Farm with additional Guides and two Constables.
Halted for the night.
Saturday 13th
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Marched from Lieut. Bell's Farm to the River Grose, and through the second ridge of
Mountains, and Kurry Jong Brush. The Black Guides discovered the track of natives, which
we followed to a Camp, that appeared to have been slept in the night before, left the tracks in
the deep ravines, between the second and higher ridges, and proceeded to Singleton's Hill.
Halted for the night.
Sunday 14th
Detach'd Lieut. Grant, with ten men to Flying Fox Valley, being informed that it was a likely
place to find some natives. Proceeded with the rest of the Detachment along the Colo Ridge,
and detached a Serjt. and five men to the left. The whole arrived at Mr. Howe's Farm in the
evening, without having discovered any tracks of Natives, and halted for the night.171
Monday 15th
Returned to Windsor & communicated with the Magistrates, who could not obtain any
information. After refreshing the men, proceeded on the route pointed out in the instructions,
but being followed by an express with a letter from Doctor Arundel, requesting immediate
assistance, countermarched and arrived at Caddy's.172 at nine o'clock that night.
Tuesday 16th
Marched at 3 o'clock in the morning to a place where it was supposed the Natives had retired
after plundering some neighbouring Farms. A 7 o'clock fell in with their tracks, a party of
about 15 men were seen at some distance, which we followed until 1/2 past 12, without being
able to come up with them. Halted to refresh the men and again proceeded on the same track,
when we came to a Farm belonging to a man of the name of Douglas where we were
informed that the same Party had a short time before plundered a small Farm adjoining, and
had made their escape. Returned to Dr Arundel's to wait for further information.
Wednesday 17th
Received information of an Encampment and detached Lieut. Grant, who was accompanied
by Asst. Surgeon Bush. with a Party to surprise it at day light. They marched at 1/2 past 2
o'clock in the morning under the guidance of a White Stock Man, and after marching nine
miles arrived at a place where the natives were said to be encamped; but the Guide thro' fear
or some other reason, declined leading the Party to the spot, affecting to be ignorant of that
part of the Country, in consequence of which the Detachment were unable to find the
Encampment, and after fruitless search of many hours, returned, and joined me at Windsor,
where we halted for the night.
Thursday 18th
Receiving no further information, marched to Col. O'Connell's Farm, near the Western Road,
& halted for the night.’173
4th of May, 1816: Governor Macquarie's Proclamation
Governor Macquarie’s Proclamation of 4th May 1816 was made as the light and grenadier
companies of the 46th regiment returned from the field. Choosing the 4th June 1816 as the
. It would appear that Captain Schaw camped at Singleton’s Hill, near the junction of modern Comleroy Road
and Bell’s Line of Road and made his way down the Grain Road, now called Kurmond Road, to Howe’s farm
which was on the Hawkesbury River just below the Ebenezer church.
172
Arndell’s Cattai farm.
173
O’Connell’s farm was uphill of the old Riverstone meat works. AONSW, reel 6045, 41173 5, pages 33-41.
171
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date for the proclamation to be enacted was a politically adroit move. It gave time for the
proclamation to be circulated before being enacted; but more significantly it enabled
Macquarie to neutralise any potential criticism from the gentlemen who would gather in
Government House on the night of 4th June 1816 to celebrate the King’s birthday. It also gave
the gentlemen time to digest and explore the implications of the proclamation.
The opening of Macquarie’s Proclamation reflected his journal entry of 10th April 1816,
signalling that while his first attempt at a military solution had failed, his determination to
end the Aboriginal threat by force had not changed.
In his Proclamation Macquarie banned the carrying of weapons by Aboriginal people within
a mile of any farm or settlement. No more than six Aboriginal people could approach a
settlement or farm together. Gatherings for ritual punishments were banned. Any Aboriginal
person who wished to have government protection could apply monthly for a passport, at
Sydney. Those Aboriginal people who wished to become civilised could apply for a small
land grant. The governor established 28th December as the date for the annual feast at
Parramatta. Settlers were empowered to drive off hostile natives; magistrates and troops at
Sydney, Parramatta and Windsor were ordered to support settlers in this. The co-ordination of
soldiers, settlers and magistrates under what was effectively Martial Law broadened the
operations and minimised the potential of murder charges being laid for the killing of
Aboriginal people. Insights into this proclamation can be gathered from Saxe Bannister, the
Attorney-General, 1824-26, who was responsible for drafting Governor Brisbane’s
declaration of Martial Law in 1824. While writing about Bathurst in 1824 his arguments were
relevant to the County of Cumberland in 1816: “… it was perfectly clear that that the parties
were those who had been living in familiarity amongst the settlers, and to a considerable
extent mixed with them; so that war could not be declared as between nations. With the
exception of a few, no accurate description could be obtained of their persons to satisfy the
requisition of warrants, in the execution of which, if resisted, death would be justifiable. The
difficulty was extreme, of catching them in the acts of violence or with the indicia of crime
about their persons. General warrants were clearly illegal. The excellent law of Hue and Cry
did not apply to the Colony in its then state, and easy as it is to say that Martial Law is too
terrible an engine for such an occasion, I found it has been used before, and after much
anxious research, I am convinced that, as the law stands, it is the sole means available for all
the requisites in such a state of things”.174
The crux of proclaiming Martial Law was found in Saxe Bannister’s opinion “… if the
extreme interference of the troops be thought necessary to enforce the demand of certain
individuals known to have committed murder, I am not aware that the soldiers can be
indemnified in certain possible cases of mistake, without martial law being proclaimed in a
limited district.”175 The authorities did not want another Mary Archer.
The unique position of Magistrate Cox, who, as a property owner, was to suffer in these
attacks, and who was also the commander of the local garrison, did not auger well for
Aboriginal people.
174
Pages 125-126, Saxe Bannister, Statements and Documents relating to proceedings in New South Wales in
1824, 1825 and 1826, Capetown, Printed by W. Bridekirk, Heeregracht, 1827.
175
Pages 96-98, Saxe Bannister, Statements and Documents relating to proceedings in New South Wales in
1824, 1825 and 1826, Capetown, Printed by W. Bridekirk, Heeregracht, 1827.
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This Proclamation was a recognition of the failure of conventional forces to crush Aboriginal
resistance. Macquarie's Proclamation in condemning Aboriginal people having “for the last
three years manifested a strong and sanguinary Spirit of Animosity and Hostility”
contradicted his earlier writings on the matter in 1814, reflecting the influence of the free
settlers. As well his condemnation of the Aboriginal people did not recognise the impact of
the drought on the outbreak of violence. It set up conditions and a timeframe that gave
Aboriginal people little choice except to civilise or perish; and through the co-ordination of
settlers, magistrates and military it legitimised the use of force at the local level to achieve
this end.
‘Proclamation
By his Excellency Lachlan Macquarie, esquire, Captain General and Governor in Chief in
and over His Majesty's Territory of New South Wales and its dependencies, &c. &c. &c.
Whereas the Aborigines, or Black Natives of the Colony, have for the last three years
manifested a strong and sanguinary Spirit of Animosity and Hostility towards the British
Inhabitants residing in the Interior and remote Parts of the territory, and been recently guilty
of most atrocious and wanton barbarities, in indiscriminately murdering Men, Women, and
Children, from whom they had received no Offence or Provocation; and also in killing the
Cattle, and plundering the grain and Property of every Description belonging to the Settlers
and Persons residing on and near the Banks of the Rivers Nepean, Grose and Hawkesbury,
and South Creek, to the great Terror, Loss, and Distress of the suffering inhabitants.
And whereas, notwithstanding that the Government has heretofore acted with the utmost
Lenity and humanity towards these Natives, in forbearing to punish such wanton Cruelties
and Depredations with their merited Severity, thereby hoping to reclaim them from their
barbarous Practices, and to conciliate them to the British Government, by affording them
Protection, Assistance, and Indulgence, instead of subjecting them to the retaliation of Injury,
which their own wanton Cruelties would have fully justified; yet they have persevered to the
present day in committing every species of sanguinary Outrage and Depredation on the Lives
and Properties of the British Inhabitants, after having been repeatedly cautioned to beware
of the Consequences that would result to themselves by the Continuance of such destructive
and barbarous Courses.
And whereas His Excellency the Governor was lately reluctantly compelled to resort to
coercive and strong measures to prevent the Recurrence of such Crimes and Barbarities. and
to bring to condign Punishment such of the Perpetrators of them as could be found and
apprehended; and with this View sent out a Military Force to drive away these hostile Tribes
from the British Settlements in the remote Parts of the Country, and to take as many of them
Prisoners as possible, in executing which Service several Natives have been unavoidably
killed and wounded in Consequence of their not having surrendered themselves on being
called on to do so; amongst whom, it may be considered fortunate that some of the most
guilty and atrocious of the Natives concerning in the late Murders and Robberies are
numbered. And although it is to be apprehended that some few innocent Men, Woman, and
Children may have fallen in these conflicts, yet it is earnestly hoped that this unavoidable
Result, and the Severity which has attended it, will eventually strike Terror amongst the
surviving Tribes, and deter them from the further Commission of such sanguinary Outrages
and Barbarities.
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And whereas the more effectually to prevent a recurrence of Murders, Robberies. and
Depredations by the Natives, as well as to protect the Lives and Properties of His Majesty's
British Subjects residing in the several settlements of this Territory, His Excellency the
Governor deems it his indispensable Duty to prescribe certain Rules, Orders, and
Regulations to be observed by the Natives, and rigidly enforced and carried into Effect by all
Magistrates and Peace Officers in the Colony of New South Wales and which are as follows:
First, - That from and after the Fourth Day of June next ensuing, that being the Birth-Date of
His Most Gracious Majesty King George the Third, no Black Native, or Body of Black
Natives, shall ever appear at or within one Mile of any Town, Village, or Farm, occupied by,
or belonging to any British Subject, armed with any warlike or offensive Weapon or Weapons
of an Description, such as Spears, Clubs, or Waddies, on Pain of being deemed and
considered in a State of Aggression and Hostility, and treated accordingly.
Second, - That no Number of Natives, exceeding the Whole Six Persons, being entirely
unarmed, shall ever come to lurk or loiter about any Farm in the interior, on Pain of being
considered Enemies, and treated accordingly.
Third - That the Practice hitherto observed among the Natives, of assembling in large Bodies
or Parties armed, and of fighting and attacking each other on the Plea of inflicting
Punishments on Transgressors of their own Customs and Manners, at or near Sydney, and
other principal Towns and Settlements in the Colony, shall be henceforth wholly abolished,
as a barbarous Customs, repugnant to the British Laws, and strongly Militating against the
Civilisation of the Natives, which is an Object of the highest importance to effect, if possible.
Any armed Body of Natives, therefore, who shall assemble for the foregoing Purposes, either
at Sydney or any of the other Settlements of this Colony after the said Fourth Day of June
next, shall be considered as Disturbers of the Public Peace, and shall be apprehended and
punished in a summary Manner accordingly. The Black Natives are therefore hereby
enjoined and commanded to discontinue this barbarous Custom, not only at and near the
British Settlement, but also in their own wild and remote Places of Resort.
Fourth, - That such of the Natives as may wish to be considered under the Protection of the
British Government, and disposed to conduct themselves in a peaceable, inoffensive, and
honest Manner, shall be furnished with Passports or Certificates to that Effect, signed by the
Governor, on their making Application for the same at the Secretary's Office, at Sydney, on
the First Monday of every succeeding Month, which Certificates they will find will protect
them from being injured or molested by any Person, so long as they conduct themselves
peaceably, inoffensively, and honestly and do not carry or use offensive Weapons, contrary to
the Tenor of this Proclamation.
The Governor, however, having thus fulfilled an imperious and necessary Public Duty, in
prohibiting the Black Natives from carrying or using offensive Weapon, at least as far as
relates to their usual intercourse with the British Inhabitants of these Settlements, considers it
equally a Part of his Public Duty, as a Counterbalance for the Restriction of not allowing
them to go about the Country armed, to afford the Black Natives such Means as are within
his Power to enable them to obtain an honest and comfortable Subsistence by their own
labour and Industry. His Excellency therefore hereby proclaims and makes known to them,
that he shall always be ready to grant small Portions of Land in suitable and convenient
Parts of the Colony, to such of them as are inclined to become regular Settlers, and such
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occasional Assistance from Government as may enable them to cultivate their Farms: Namely:
First, That they and their Families shall be victualled from the King's Stores for Six Months,
from the Time of their going to reside actually on their farms.
Secondly, -That they shall be furnished with the necessary Agricultural Tools; and also with
Wheat, Maize, and Potatoes for Seed; and
Thirdly, - To each Person of a Family, one Suit of Slops, and one Colonial Blanket from the
King's Stores shall be given. But these Indulgences will not be granted to any Native, unless it
shall appear that he is really inclined, and fully resolved to become a Settler, and
permanently to reside on such Farm as may be assigned to him for the Purpose of cultivating
the same for the Support of himself and his Family.
His Excellency the Governor therefore earnestly exhorts, and thus publicly invites the Natives
to relinquish their wandering, idle, and predatory Habits of Life, and to become industrious
and useful Members of a Community where they will find Protection and Encouragement.176
To such as do not like to cultivate Farms of their own, but would prefer working as
Labourers for those Persons who may be disposed to employ them, there will always be
found Master's among the Settlers who will hire them as Servants of this description. And the
Governor strongly recommends to the Settlers and other Persons, to accept such Services as
may be offered by the industrious Natives, desirous of engaging in their Employ. And the
Governor desires it to be understood, that he will be happy to grant Lands to the Natives in
such Situations as may be agreeable to themselves, and according to their own particular
Choice, provided such Lands are disposable, and belong to the Crown.
And whereas His Excellency the Governor, from an anxious Wish to civilise the Aborigines of
this Country, so as to make them useful to themselves and the Community, has established a
Seminary or Institution at Parramatta, for the Purpose of educating the Male and Female
Children of those Natives who might be willing to place them in that Seminary: - His
Excellency therefore now earnestly calls upon such Natives as have children, to embrace so
desirable and good an Opportunity of providing for their helpless Offspring, and of having
them brought up, clothed, fed, and educated in a Seminary established for such humane and
desirable Purposes. And if furtherance of this Measure, His Excellency deems it expedient to
invite a general friendly Meeting of all the Natives residing in the Colony, to take Place at the
Town of Parramatta, on Saturday the 28th of December next, at Twelve o'clock at Noon, at
the Public Market Place there for the Purpose of more fully explaining and pointing out to
them the Objects of the Institution referred to as well as for Consulting with them on the best
Means of improving their present Condition.
On this Occasion and at this public general Meeting of the Natives, the Governor will feel
happy to Reward such of them as have given Proofs of Industry, and an Inclination to be
civilised.
And the Governor, wishing that this General Meeting, or Congress of the friendly natives
should in future be held annually, directs that the 28th Day of December in every succeeding
176
It is unknown whether any Aborigines took up the Governor’s offer.
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Year shall be considered as fixed for this Purpose, excepting when the Day happens to fall on
a Sunday; when the following Day is to be considered as fixed for holding the said Congress.
And finally, His Excellency the Governor hereby orders and directs, that on Occasions of any
Natives coming armed, or in a hostile Manner without Arms, or in unarmed parties exceeding
Six in Number, to any farm belonging to, or occupied by British Subjects in the Interior, such
Natives are first to be desired in a civil Manner to depart from the said farm, and if they
persist in remaining thereon, or attempt to plunder, rob, or commit any kind of Depredation,
they are then to be driven away by Force of Arms by the Settlers themselves, and in case they
are not able to do so they are to apply to a Magistrate for Aid from the nearest Military
Station - and the Troops stationed there are hereby commanded to render their Assistance
when so required. The Troops are also to afford Aid at the Towns of Sydney, Parramatta, and
Windsor, respectively, when called on by the Magistrates or Police Officers at those Stations.
Given under my Hand, at Government House, Sydney, this 4th Day of May, In the Year of
Our Lord 1816. God Save The King!
"LACHLAN MACQUARIE."
By Command of His Excellency,
J. T. CAMPBELL, Secretary.’177
8th of May, 1816
On 8th May Governor Macquarie issued instructions for Serjeant Broadfoot178 of the 46th
Regiment to take sixteen soldiers; Jackson, Powson, Creek Jemmy and Tindall as guides; and
scour Bringelly and Cooke. If he encountered hostile natives his orders were to “attack them,
and to compell them by force of arms to surrender themselves as prisoners of war, sparing
the lives of all the women and children, if possible, when you have occasion to fire on the
natives.” Serjeant Broadfoot made the sweep as ordered and reported on the 23rd of May
1816 that no contact had been made.179
Circa June, 1816
Toby Ryan’s account of a soldier being killed at the Springwood depot and 20 Aboriginal
men, women and children being killed in retribution, near McCanns Island at Emu Plains is
rejected by some historians because of chronological inconsistencies. He linked the incident
with the building of Cox’s road across the mountains (1814-15) and 1817, the year of his
birth. This is not an inconsistency as Cox was involved in maintenance work for a number of
years after the initial building of the road. Toby was born at Bird’s Eye Corner, now the
Castlereagh Lakes, and the story of the killings by Coolan, Gratten and Kibble was told to
him by his parents. Coolan, one of the killers, may have been Thomas Cowling, who was a
farmer at Castlereagh when Ryan’s parents were also living there, so it may have been
common knowledge in the area.180 The spearing, at the Kurry Jong Brush, of a man called
Cooling was reported in the Sydney Gazette of 29th June 1816 leaving the exact identity of
177
Sydney Gazette, 4th May,1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176637
Serjeant Broadfoot appeared to be a most capable soldier. “In May 1815, Sergeant Robert Broadfoot and six
privates, on detachment at Hobart Town in Van Dieman’s Land, received a bounty of one hundred pounds for
the capture of the bushrangers Maguire and Burne, who were later executed.” Page 41, Leonard Barton, The
Military History of Windsor NSW, Len Barton, 1994. Serjeant Broadfoot was the first depositor in the Bank of
New South Wales.
179
Colonial Secretary’s Index, Reel 6045: 4/1735, pages 44-49, and 72-73.
180
http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/con329.htm
178
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this man open. As yet, I have found no record of Gratten, spelt Gratton in Ryan’s index. The
Gazette recorded a Kibble living at Fitzgerald’s Valley (now Sun Valley) in the 1830s and
there was a record of a Kibble receiving a reward in 1820 for the capture of a
bushranger.181James McClelland recorded: “A soldier is murdered by natives at Springwood”
in 1816, however, I have not yet identified his source. 182 The military depot at Glenbrook
Lagoon, established in 1815, was shifted to Springwood in 1816.183 The Sydney Gazette of
11th May 1816 recorded William Cox being paid ₤225 for “erecting the new depot and other
necessary buildings for Government, at Spring Wood”. It is likely that the killing of the
soldier and the reprisal raid took place shortly afterwards and before the floods. Ryan’s
account is accurate in describing the barracks being manned by three soldiers. Elizabeth
Hawkins, who stayed there in an 1822 crossing of the Blue Mountains, described it as being
“inhabited by a corporal and two soldiers”.184 As well, there were obviously settlers living in
the area, which would not have been the case in 1814.
The extract is of interest for several reasons. Firstly it is only one of a few accounts of a
massacre where the participants were named. As well, Kibble, Coolan and Gratten were
according to Ryan old hands in this line of work. Secondly the quick response to the killing
of the soldier which reinforces my contention that there were few killings that were not so
responded to. Thirdly it raised the possibility that the Aboriginal guides in taking the settlers
to the camp placed their own self interest above common cause with other Aboriginal people.
It is possible to speculate on the identity of at least one of the guides.185 Fourthly the
chopping off of the soldier’s hands, as happened to Private Eustace and others, clearly
indicated that in his afterlife the dead soldier would not be able to harm Aboriginal people.
Fifthly the attempt of the mother to climb a tree with her child demonstrated the still palpable
Aboriginal fear of guns and the ease with which settlers could kill Aboriginal people in such
circumstances. Sixthly when placed in the context of the raid on the government depot on the
other side of the Blue Mountains this account suggests that there was an alliance between
Aboriginal people on either side of the ranges. Finally, Ryan’s rejection of the assertion “that
these men were in the pay of the Government” needs to be placed in the context of the
payments made to settlers who acted as guides and the land grants made to Ralph Turnbull
“Dunn, Kibble, & others, for apprehending 5 Bushrangers 5 0 0” The Sydney Gazette, 11th November 1820.
Page 13, James McCelland, Book No. 5, The Nepean River Valley, Its History, Its Floods, Its People,
McCelland Research, 1978
183
Page 2, Alan Searle in Springwood Notebook 1788-1977 Springwood Historical Society, 1978.
184
Page 74, Michael Duffy, Crossing the Blue Mountains, Journeys through Two Centuries, Duffy and
Snellgrove, 1997.
185
It is possible to speculate about the identity of one of the trackers. Jean Renee Constant Quoy passed over the
Blue Mountains in November 1819 and noted: “… it was in one of these pleasant retreats that we first saw any
of the wretched inhabitants of these lofty regions; there were only two; one was a sick old man, lying on
kangaroo skins, near a fire, and receiving the attention of a younger man. Mr Lawson recognised this old man
as Karadra, supreme chief or king of that part of the mountains. No-one, according to him, had proved more
dangerous to the English, many of whom had perished at his hand, without anyone being able to catch him in
the act. For a long time, however, this man had been peacefully disposed towards the settlers; he even served
them either in waring against inland aborigines when the latter wanted to approach the Nepean, or by warning
the English depots of their approach, if he was not strong enough to repel them without outside help, or finally
by acting as a guide to the English troops when hostile tribes were over-running the country to commit
depredations. We asked the youngest of these natives to fetch us a gourd of water, which he art once did; we
then left them after making them several presents.” Quoy, Rene Constant, Charles Gaudichaud and Alphonse
Pellion 1950[1819], ‘Excursion to the Town of Bathurst, 1819’, in Fourteen Journeys over the Blue Mountains
of New South Wales 1813–1841, George Mackaness (ed), Australian Historical Monographs, Sydney: 7–12.
181
182
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and William Stubbs by Macquarie in 1816 “for services rendered the colony in a serious
conflict with the black natives.”186
‘A Ferocious tribe occupied a very advantageous retreating ground from the Grose River via
Bell's Line, and in the south via the Cox's River, and could reach any place beyond Bathurst
at will.187
Just after the penetration of the Blue Mountains a soldiers' barracks was erected at
Springwood, only three soldiers occupying the building, two having to do duty daily a little
further up the line, where a road party was making a pass over the mountains, under Captain
Cox. The blacks watched their opportunity, killed the soldier stationed at the barracks, and
robbed the place, taking the red coats with them, after cutting off the hands of the poor
unfortunate victim, and when afterwards they were captured were found playing with the
murdered man's hand.
There were three well known men then living. Kibble, of Windsor; Tom Coolan, and
Gratten,188 of Nepean, who were always foremost in the slaughter of the blacks. It has been
stated that these men were in the pay of the Government, but there is no foundation for such
an assertion.
It was quite evident that no trouble was taken to investigate this affair until many years
subsequently.
On the occasion alluded to the three men, together with two black trackers, who took great
delight in killing what they called wild blackfellow, "Murry mutong" (that is to say, very
savage), went in pursuit. On the morning after the murder they were on their track, and
followed on until they reached the camp of the night before, and then down McCann's Ridge
leading on towards the river.189 Here the pursuers received information that a mob of blacks
had passed in sight, some wearing red coats.
They followed on the track the whole day, and just about nightfall the trackers got sight of the
camp fires on the mountain side, south of the Grose River.
The trackers were sent to reconnoitre after the night got dark, and as the blacks had pitched
their camp close under some cliffs of rock, they were able to get close up without being
observed, and saw what was taking place.
Two of the black gins, wearing soldiers' coats, were sitting on a log, each having a hand of
the murdered soldier and pulling the sinews together, at the same time singing "Soldier make
a do-boy, a do-boy, a do-boy," thus making a song of this cruel and bloody deed.
James Meehan’s Surveyor’s Notebooks 114 and 145 and Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 6th July 1889.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/72559770
187
Bell's Line was unknown to settlers at this time.
188
Spelt Gratton in the index.
189
McCann received an early land grant at what is now Emu Heights. McCann’s Island, in the bend of the
Nepean River is the only reminder of his presence there. It is logical to identify McCann’s Ridge as that on
which Rusden Road, Mount Riverview, now runs. This theory is supported by the fact that the Aborigines were
seen on their way to the river from Springwood. Early settlers in the Blue Mountains clung close to the road and
Aboriginal people used Cox’s Road.
186
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The trackers returned and related what they had seen, and advised the party to wait till
morning for the murderous attack.
At daybreak next morning they proceeded towards the blacks' camp, and coming stealthily in,
they got close up to it when a little dog gave the alarm, and one of the blacks got up, but was
shot down almost immediately. The gins and piccaninnies set up a scream, but many were
shot before they could rise, others running here and there trying to escape from their
pursuers. One of the gins, who climbed up a short bushy tree with her child in her net on her
back (the usual mode of carrying children), was shot by Kibble, who also took the piccaninny
and dashed its brains out against a tree near where its mother lay, saying as he did so, "Nits
would come to lice." About one-half (numbering about 20) were slaughtered on that
memorable morning by the three bloodthirsty wretches.
This was the last of Kibble in Cumberland. He soon after left for Bathurst, and subsequently
he and a party went to a place now known as Rylestone and other places, committing similar
atrocities.’190
Ryan’s account may possibly be substantiated by J. C. L. Fitzpatrick, in the Windsor and
Richmond Gazette, 9th September 1893, and chapter five of his 1900 work, The Good Old
Days.
‘When a young man, I remember news came from the settlers that the Emu blacks were very
troublesome, and had been spearing the settlers' cattle; and the soldiers quartered at
Windsor were sent in pursuit to what is now known as Emu Plains, and caught some of the
culprits red-handed, the spears sticking into some of the bullocks. Notwithstanding the fact
that no opposition to their capture was made by the blacks, the soldiers shot several of the
poor wretches down, and when I went over the place a day or two afterwards, I counted
seventeen of them lying dead with in about four rods of ground.’191
Soon after the return of the expeditions there was a period of tidying up and social
engineering. On the 7th of May Macquarie rewarded the soldiers and guides who took part in
the punitive expedition.
In rewarding the guides it is noteworthy that John Warbey, who on 10th April refused to assist
Captain Wallis in his duties, received the same amount as his colleagues.
Tuesday, 7th of May 1816: Pay
‘I this day paid the following Sums of money – or granted Orders on the King's Stores for
Liquor, Provisions, and Slops, to the undermentioned European and Native Guides,
Constables, Carters &c. who accompanied the Military Detachments recently employed
against the Natives: Vizt. —
Remunerations in Cash —
To John Warbey – Guide £12. –. – Curcy.
To John Jackson – Guide £12. –. – do.
To John Pawson – Guide £12. –. – do.
To Thomas Simpson – Guide £12. –. – do.
To Joseph Mc.Loughlin – Guide £12. –. – do.
190
191
Page 4-6, James T Ryan, Reminiscences of Australia, 1894 Reprinted 1982.
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 9th September 1893, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/72543762
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To Christopher Anderson – Carter £5. –. – do.
To Henry Mc.Kudding – Cart Hire &c. £9. 5. – do.
To Thomas Nobles – Guide £3. –. – do.
To Corpl. Partridge 46th. Repairing Carts £3. –. – do.
To Private Lidstone 46th. Repairing Carts £3. –. – do.
Total Cash Remunerations £80. 5. – Curcy.
The 5 first mentioned Guides received also from the Store each a Complete Suit of Slops
including Shoes and Blankets – and also four Days Provisions. —
To each Noncomd. Officer & Soldier employed on the late Service, there were issued from
the King's Store one Pair of Shoes and Half a Pint of Spirits.
Remunerations to Native Guides: —
To Bidjee Bidjee
To Harry
To Bundell
To Tindall
To Colebee
To Creek-Jemmy – or Nurragingy
Each a Complete Suit of Slops including Blanket – 4 Days Provisions, Half Pint of Spirits –
and Half Pound of Tobacco.
I also gave Orders on the Store to the undermentioned Commissioned Officers employed on
the late Service against the Natives for the quantities of Spirits specified against their
respective Names – as Donations from Government to defray in part their Extra Expences
whilst Employed on the said Service: Vizt.
To Captain Schaw 15 Gallons
To Captain Wallis 15 Gallons
To Lieut. Dawe 10 Gallons
To Lieut. Grant 10 Gallons
To Lieut. Parker 10 Gallons
To Asst. Surgeon Bush 10 Gallons
N.B. To each of the Noncomd. Officers & Soldiers of the 46th. Regt. left out on Duty in the
Bush, the same indulgences are intended to be given on their return to Head Quarters as
have been granted to their Brother Soldiers already come in. —
L. M.’192
8th of May 1816
Serjeant Broadfoot with a small body of troops was sent back by Governor Macquarie on the
8th of May to scour both banks of the Nepean River from Mulgoa to Bringelly with orders to
kill or imprison hostile natives.
11th of May 1816: Public Report on Punitive Expeditions
A week after his proclamation Governor Macquarie made a public report on the punitive
expeditions. The report detailed the movements that the three columns had made, their
contacts with Aboriginal people and Aboriginal casualties. The report made no mention of
Magistrate Lowe’s expedition with a party of the 46th or of Serjeant Broadfoot’s expedition.
192
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816may.html#may7
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‘11 May 1816: {Sydney Gazette} Report on retaliatory military expeditions against the
Aborigines in areas west and south-west of Sydney:
The three military detachments, dispatched on the 10th ult. under Captains Schaw and
Wallis, and Lieut. Dawe, of the 46th Regt. in pursuit of the hostile natives, returned to Head
Quarters on the 4th inst. In the performance of this service the military encountered many
difficulties, and underwent considerable fatigue and privations, having to traverse a widely
extended range of Country on both sides of the River Nepean, from the Banks of the Grose,
and the second Ridge of the Blue Mountains on the North, to that tract of Country on the
Eastern Coast, called "The Five Islands".
Captain Schaw, with his party, scoured the Country on the Banks of the Hawkesbury, making
digression East and West, but observing a general course to the Southward; whilst Captain
Waills, proceeding by Liverpool to the Districts of Airds and Appin, and thence into the Cow
Pastures; made his dispersions East and West of the Nepean, taking his course generally
Northwards, with a view either to fall in with the Natives, or by forcing them to flight, to
drive them within the reach of the central party under Lieut. Dawe, stationed at Mrs.
McArthur's farm in the Cow Pastures, or if they should elude his vigilance, that they might
fall in with Captain Schaw, who was advancing from the second Ridge of the Blue
Mountains, and the Banks of the Grose.
It appears that the party under Capt. Wallis fell in with a number of the natives on the 17th
ult, near Mr. Broughton's farm in the Airds District, and killed fourteen of them, taking two
women and three children prisoners. Amongst the killed were found the bodies of two of the
most hostile of the natives called Durelle and Conibigal.
We are also informed that Lieut. Dawe has on the 12th ultimo, nearly surprised a small
encampment, but having been discovered, the natives suddenly took to flight, leaving only a
boy about 14 years old, whom he took prisoner and there is every reason to believe that two
of them had been mortally wounded.
Without being enabled to trace more particularly the progress of the military parties on this
expedition we learn generally that several of the natives were taken prisoners and have since
been brought to Sydney and lodged in the gaol.
The humanity with which this necessary but unpleasant duty has been conducted throughout,
by the Officers appointed to this command, claims our warmest commendations and although
the result has not been altogether so successful as might have been wished, yet there is little
doubt but it will ultimately tend to restrain similar outrages, and a recurrence of those
barbarities which the natives have of late so frequently committed on the unprotected Settlers
and their Families.’193
25th of May, 1816: Return of Serjeant Broadfoot’s expedition
On 23rd May 1816, Serjeant Broadfoot reported to Governor Macquarie from John Blaxland’s
Mulgoa farm. On the 12th he had met with Mr. Lowe, the magistrate, and a party of the 46th
Regiment at Bent’s Basin. He left them, crossed the river and followed Aboriginal tracks for
193
Sydney Gazette, 11th May 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176653
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two days before losing them where cattle had crossed their path. He then swung north into
Mulgoa before returning to Bringelly. He reported no contact.
On the 25th of May 1816 rewards were made to Serjeant Broadfoot’s guides. Nurragingy, also
known as Creek Jemmy, was rewarded with a brass gorget194 naming him as chief of the
South Creek tribe. The awarding of a brass gorget to Nurragingy drew upon earlier colonial
experiences in North America and was part of Macquarie’s failed strategy to create a tribal
hierarchy. Along with Colebee he was promised a land grant on South Creek. Despite
announcing his intention to make the thirty acre grant on South Creek, the actual grant in
1819 was on marginal land at Bell’s Creek, on the Richmond Blacktown Road near the where
the Native Institution was later relocated.
‘The two European Guides and three friendly Natives ones who lately accompanied Serjt.
Broadfoot's Detachment of the 46th. Regt. in pursuit of the hostile Natives having yesterday
returned to Sydney after scouring the Parts of Interior the Natives were last seen in; I
rewarded those White & Black Guides as follows: Viz:
To Wm. Pawson & Jno. Jackson White Guides, I gave £6 Curcy. each in money, 1 Pr. Shoes,
7 Days Provisions, and a quarter Pound of Tobacco. —
To each of the 3 Black Guides, Nurragingy, Colebee, and Tindall, I gave 7 Days Provisons, a
quarter Pound of Tobacco, and a Blanket for each of their Gins.
On this occasion I invested Nurragingy, (alias Creek-Jemmy –) with my Order of Merit by
presenting him with a handsome Brass Gorget or Breast Plate, having his Name inscribed
thereon in full — as Chief of the South-Creek-Tribe. — I also promised him and his friend
Colebee a Grant of 30 acres of Land on the South Creek between them, as an additional
reward for their fidelity to Government and their recent good conduct. —
To William Pawson I have promised to give 80 acres of Land, and to John Jackson 50 acres
– as additional rewards for their recent Services – with the usual indulgencies [sic] granted
to Free Settlers.’195
June 1816: Celebrations
On the 1st of June Captain Wallis was rewarded with the command of the Newcastle outpost
for his “zealous exertions and strict attention to the fulfilling of the instructions”.196
Macquarie carefully stage managed the king’s birthday on the 4th of June with the enactment
of his proclamation of the 8th of May and the release of fifteen Aboriginal men, women and
children. The enactment of the proclamation on the King’s birthday allowed him to disarm
criticism from the free settlers and engage them in the implementation of the proclamation.
The release of the prisoners, with the exception of Dewall, whose detention may well have
been punishment for Throsby, projected Macquarie’s military prowess and his humanity.
194
Gorgets, brass plates worn around the neck, were a largely anachronistic relic of feudal armies; worn by
eighteenth century officers. Both the French and English gave them to Native American allies as part of a well
established strategy of dividing and conquering.
195
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816may.html#may25
196
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wallis-james-2770
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This being the anniversary of the Birth of our most gracious sovereign, who this day complets
[sic] the 78th. year of his age, the same was observed as a Holiday throughout the Territory,
and kept with the usual Demonstration of joy and respect. — I held a Levee at Government
House at 1,O'Clock, and entertained the Gentlemen of the Colony and a few of the Ladies at
Dinner – to which 78 Persons sat down; – 21 having excused themselves from the Country
Districts on account of the badness of the Weather.197 Mrs. Macquarie entertained the Ladies
of Sydney in the Evening with Tea Coffee, Cards, Music, and a little Dance: – all which went
very well off.
In honor of the Day, I released all the Black Native Prisoners who were some time since
taken and confined in Jail on suspicion of being concerned in the recent Hostilities, with the
exception of Dûal who is still retained in Prison; the remaining 15 Men, Women, & Children
being allowed to return to their Friends. —
L. M.’198
Four children taken on the punitive expedition were placed in the Native Institution on the 6th
of June. The fact that these children were older than the age limit of seven set by Macquarie
for the school in 1814 suggests that his original plans for the native school were failing. On
the same day Bidgee Bidgee was awarded with a brass gorget naming him chief of the
Kissing Point Tribe. One of his first actions was to bring the arch survivor, Coggie, in to
surrender to the Governor. Governor Macquarie was able to report to Earl Bathurst as to the
success of his operations on the 8th of June 1816.
‘I sent two fine Boys named Nalour and Dooro – and two Girls named Mybah and Betty –
Black Natives – all being about 8 years of age, lately taken Prisoners along with the Hostile
Native Tribes, to the School or Native Institution some time since established at Parramatta
for the Civilization of the Aborigines of [of] this Country; these 4 Children having themselves
expressed a wish to go to the Institution and to remain in it. — They were accordingly sent up
thither this morning in the Passage Boat in charge of one of the Sydney Constables.
I this day appointed Bidgee-Bidgee Black-Native, to be the Chief of the Kissing Point Tribe,
and invested formally with a Brass Gorget having his name and Title engraved thereon.
Bidgee Bidgee brought in Coggie, the late Chief of the Cow Pasture Tribe, who made his
Submission, delivered up his arms, and promised to be friendly in future to all White People.
—
L. M.’199
Governor Macquarie's report to Earl Bathurst on the 8th of June 1816 is of interest in his
claim that of the killed by Captain Wallis’s detachment “there is every reason to believe that
Two of the most ferocious and sanguinary of the Natives were included.” If these two men
were “Durelle and Conibigal”, as stated elsewhere, they were not on the list of “hostile
natives”. An end note to this report provides more information on Wallis’s encounter. “This
detachment had a moonlight skirmish” (full moon was on the 12th of April)200 “with the
natives near William Broughton’s farm in the Appin district. Fourteen of the natives were
killed, and a considerable number were taken prisoners. The killed included several women
197
The bad weather he referred to were the drought-breaking rains.
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816june.html
199
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816june.html
200
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phases1801.html
198
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and children, who met their deaths by rushing in despair over precipices.”201 The fear that
firearms and soldiers had on Aboriginal people is well documented in Pondering the Abyss,
however, the reference to women and children hurling themselves over cliffs is another
example of Aboriginal people being made responsible for what happened to them,
particularly in the case of women and children being killed in an encounter with the military.
His report is also of interest in the last sentence seeking Earl Bathurst’s approval for his
actions. It strongly suggests that, like all good bureaucrats he was circumspect in his
reporting.
‘Governor Macquarie's Report to England
8 June 1816: Governor Macquarie to Earl Bathurst re measures to address Native unrest
In my dispatch No 7 of the present Year p’r H.M.C. Emu which sailed from hence on the 25th
of March last, I had the honor to inform Your Lordship that, in consequence of the hostile
and sanguinary disposition manifested for a considerable time past by the Aborigines of this
country, I had determined to send out some military Detachments into the interior, either to
apprehend or destroy them.
Pursuant to this determinations and in consequence of various subsequent acts of atrocity
being committed by the natives in the remote parts of the Settlement, I found it necessary on
the 10th of April to order three detachments of the 46th Regiment under the several
commands of Captains Schaw and Wallis, and Lieutenant Dawes of that Corps, to proceed to
those districts most infested and annoyed by them on the Banks and in the neighbourhood of
the rivers Nepean, Hawkesbury and Grose, giving them instructions to make as many
Prisoners as possible; this Service occupied a period of 23 days, during which time the
Military Parties very rarely met with any hostile tribes; the occurrence of most importance
which took place was under Captain Wallis's direction, who, having surprised one of the
native encampments and meeting with some resistance, killed 14 of them and made 5
prisoners; amongst the killed there is every reason to believe that Two of the most ferocious
and sanguinary of the Natives were included, some few other prisoners were taken in the
course of this route and have been lodged in Gaol. This necessary but painful duty was
conducted by the Officers in Command of the Detachments perfectly in conformity to the
instructions I had furnished them.
Previous to the return of the Military Party, I issued a Proclamation dated the 4th Ult. a copy
of which I do Myself the honor to transmit herewith for Your Lordship's information, stating
in the first instance the causes which had led to the necessity of resorting to Military Force,
and holding out to the Natives various encouragement's with a view to invite and induce them
to relinquish their wandering predatory habits and to avail themselves of the indulgences
offered to them as Settlers in degrees suitable to their circumstances and situations. It is
scarcely possible to calculate with any degree of precision on the result that this
Proclamation may eventually have on so rude and unenlightened a race; but it has already
produced the good effect of bringing in some of the most troublesome of the Natives, who
have promised to cease from their hostility and to avail themselves of the protection of this
Government by becoming Settlers, or engaging themselves as Servants, as circumstances may
suit; and upon the whole there is reason to hope that the examples, which have been made on
201
Page 854, HRA, Series 1, Volume 1X, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, Sydney,
1917.
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the one hand, and the encouragement's held out on the other, will preserve the Colony from
the further recurrence of such Cruelties. Under all these Considerations I trust Your
Lordship will approve of the Measures I have taken.’202
On Monday, 17th June 1816 Governor Macquarie “Granted an Order on the Police Fund for
Five Pounds Currency drawn in favor of Thomas Acres203 (Son of a Settler in District of
Airds) as a remuneration for Services rendered by him as a Guide to Capt. Wallis's
Detachment when employed in pursuit of the Hostile Native. —
L. M.”204
June – July, 1816: Kurry-Jong Brush hostilities
Hostilities continued at the Kurry-Jong Brush. By June 1816 there were only about a dozen
Aboriginal warriors actively resisting the settlers: “Miles, Warre, Carbone Jack (alias
Curringie), Narang Jack, Bunduck, Congeatt (or Kangate), Wootten, Rachel, Cockey, Butta
Butta, Jack Straw and Port Head Jamie”.
Two men, Cooling and Gallagher, assigned servants of a Mr. Crowley were killed on his
Grose River farm on the 19th of June.
‘Last Thursday-se'nnight- the bodies of a man and a very fine youth, a native of the colony,
were found in the Currajong Brush having been murdered a few days previously by the
natives. A number of spears had entered the bodies of the unfortunate persons, one of which
had penetrated the heart of the younger; whose name we are informed was Cooling; the
other, Gallagher.’205
On the 8th of July, Joseph Hobson was speared to death and his body mangled. Hobson was
apparently the last settler left on a line of farms at Kurry Jong Brush, all the others having
been driven off.206 It is difficult to determine what precipitated these killings. William Cox
was of the opinion that Hobson had good relations with the Aboriginal people. While
settlement was expanding this area had been settled for a number of years. Ben Singleton
probably built his mill on the headwaters of Little Wheeny Creek in 1810. The Grain Road,
now Kurmond Road, took Singleton’s flour down to Wilberforce where it was shipped to
Sydney.
Joseph Hobson’s death is of particular interest as he appeared to be the last settler left in the
area, all others having been driven off.
202
Pages 139 - 140, HRA, Series 1, Volume 1X, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament,
Sydney, 1917.
203
John Akers was attacked and wounded on the Argyle Reach in September 1794. I do not know if it is the
same family.
204
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816june.html
205
Sydney Gazette, 29th June 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176711
206
George Bowman wrote that the two men came from Mr Crowley’s farm which was a short distance up the
Grose River from the Lewis farm. According to The Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 21st December 1889, “In
1816, Joseph Hobson was killed by blacks, where Richmond now stands.” I believe that this was a
misunderstanding of what Bowman wrote. I believe that Bowman described the deaths of Hobson and another
man at Richmond. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/72561112 Cooramill caused even more confusion on
page 87 in his Reminiscences when he recorded “A headstone erected to a Mr. Dobson, who was killed by the
natives in 1817.”
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‘Another murder was perpetrated by the natives on Monday last, at the Corrajong Brush The victim to their barbarity was Joseph Hobson, who is stated to have been the only settler
remaining on that line of farms, in consequence of the excesses lately committed. - He had
left his house to go in quest of a calf; and when about 200 yards distant was speared through
the heart. - The miscreants afterwards clove the head of the unfortunate sufferer, and brutally
mangled the body.’207
11th of July, 1816: Cox’s report to Macquarie
Many of the documents relating to the punitive expeditions in the second half of 1816 are to
be found in Sir William Dixson’s Documents relating to Aboriginal Australians, 1816-1853.
Exactly how or why the correspondence between Governor Macquarie and Magistrate Cox
became part of Sir William Dixson’s personal collection is unclear. The end result was that
they were not readily available to the General Public. They are now available online at
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=446953. The correspondence,
while illuminating, has many gaps. There is no report of any Aboriginal casualties under
martial law in the second half of 1816 on the Hawkesbury despite the active efforts of parties
of soldiers, settlers and Aboriginal guides. There are, however, a number of other comments
that indicate the casualties were not officially reported.
William Cox’s report of the 11th of July 1816 to Governor Macquarie addressed a number of
issues: billeting Serjeant Broadfoot’s party, flood relief, the road over the Blue Mountains,
hostile natives and the killing of Joseph Hobson.
The report is illuminating for several reasons. It well illustrated the difficulties faced by
regular troops attempting to bring irregular forces to battle in frontier warfare. William Cox
in his capacity as magistrate and commander of the local garrison organised his forces well,
but to no avail.
On the 23rd of May Serjeant Broadfoot was at Blaxland’s Mulgoa farm. One would imagine
that William Cox would have been in Macquarie’s ear seeking assistance at the Royal
Birthday celebrations on the 1st of June 1816 at Parramatta. Serjeant Broadfoot arrived in the
Hawkesbury on the 6th of July and his party was lodged in a commanding position on the left
bank of the Grose River, south of Bell’s Belmont property at Richmond Hill.208 On Monday,
the 8th of July Cox formed a party of eight settlers to meet two constables, Colebee and Creek
Jemmy who were already at Crowleys on the Grose and to make a sweep to Singleton’s Hill
on Little Wheeny Creek. The party was probably led by Alfred Luttrell.209 Luttrell’s party
went to Bell’s that night on receiving word that Joseph Hobson had been killed on his Kurry
jong Brush farm. On Tuesday morning Cox sent three veterans to the farm of Phillip Roberts
to act as a guard before crossing the river to Bell’s farm. When he got there he found
Luttrell’s party had already left for Hobson’s farm. Cox followed to Hobson’s farm, with
Serjeant Broadfoot’s soldiers, some settlers and Aboriginal guides. Unable to follow any
tracks they marched to Singleton’s mill on Little Wheeny Creek and left two soldiers there.
207
Sydney Gazette, 13th July 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176725
Belmont may have been a pun on the family name and the original meaning of a lovely hill.
209
Edward Luttrell, the father had gone to Tasmania in January 1816. Robert had been killed in 1811 and
Edward was lost at sea off the Governor Macquarie also in 1811. Alfred was 24 in 1816. I t was unlikely to
have been Oscar who was seventeen in 1816. Oscar was killed by Aborigines near Melbourne in 1838,
http://theluttrells.homestead.com/edwardluttrellborn1757.html
208
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Four warriors were finally seen by a stockmen but no contact was made which raises the
question of how committed the guides were to the settlers.
‘Clarendon
Thursday morning 9 A.M.
11th July 1816
Sir,
th
I have the Honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellencys Letters of the 1st and 6 Inst.
and on Saturday last210 I went to Captn Forrests Farm to get a place for Sergt Broadfoots
party to sleep in case they came that evening. They arrived there in about an hour after I left
& crossed the River to examine Kearns premises211 but finding they aforded (sic) no shelter
they went to the left Bank of the Grose and have now a position a little below Mr Bells in an
empty House that commands the Ridge leading to the roads North and West as well as the
Grose.
Your Excellencys Instructions with respect to distressed settlers being put on the store for
payment till January next shall be duly attended to. It is an unpleasant task as I shall refuse
many more than I can think of recommending for relief & which of course will be demanded
by them. Hand on heart is best (?)
I never knew the Lands here dry so slowly after a flood, a Horse cannot yet work on my low
lands. Nor have I yet been able to sow an item on them since the last Floods. The Lands on
the front of the River are much dryer than those at the back, we got a few days drying winds
when it rains again so as to keep it to wet to chip the seed in with Hoes.
The Timber Carriage I wish to remain at Sydney until I see if the chains on are Complete for
it, after which if Your Excellency will send it to Parramatta I will take charge of it then,
Lewis212 left this on Saturday last and I am not to expect his return for 3 or 4 weeks as he
intends going to Bathurst before he returns, we have brought one of the Boats to the Fish
River to get the Provisions cargo, and there are six of the Bathurst Men at Work on the
Roads west of the Mountains.
I have now the Honor of Reporting to Your Excellency that I formed a party on Saturday last
to go in quest of the Hostile Natives and sent two Constables & two friendly natives (Coleby
& Creek Jemmie as guides cross the River to Crowleys on Sunday, and on Monday
Morning213 they were joined by Mr Luttrell & seven other Men making 12 in number & I
agreed to cross the River on Tuesday or Wednesday to meet them. On that day they
proceeded by the track towards Singletons Hill214 and in the evening information was
brought to Mr Bells that the Natives had been to Joseph Hobsons Farm and murdered him (it
is the first farm in the range of the Curry John Brush ones) I received this information at one
o’clock on Tuesday Morning and after directing Serjt Hays to send three veterans down the
River to Philip Roberts the Constables Farm until further orders. I went across the River to
Mr Bells, when I found Serjt Broadfoots party all ready for Marching. On Mr Luttrells party
hearing of the murder of Hobson they returned to Mr Bells in the night and on Tuesday
210
the 6th of July
Kearns premises was Obadiaeh Aikens old farm. It was where Mrs Lewis and her assigned servant would be
killed.
212
Richard Lewis.
213 th
8 July 1816
214
On Little Wheeny Creek.
211
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Morning215 two Hours before I got there they had again marched for Hobsons Farm to get
the Track of the Natives. I went the same Road with the Sergt, some soldiers, 2 young men
knowing the country & a native to track them, the party had left the deceased’s Farm before
we got there but as we could not learn whether they had crossed the Grose & gone up the
River or taken the range of hills down the River I deemed it prudent to drop the pursuit &
crossed the country to Singletons Hill who had not seen their own party or the Natives, we
left two soldiers with Singleton & returned to Mr Bells before dusk. On Wednesday morning
the Coroners Inquest sat on the body when I attended and explained Your Excellencys
determination as to the four Natives by name and gave them direction who to give the alarm
to in case they saw or heard of any Natives. I also settled my Plan with the Serjt who appears
just the sort of man for such a Duty and crossed the River at 5 last evening, just as I was
getting into the Boat a stockman gave information that 4 natives had crossed the river two
hours before near Singletons Hill.
I immediately sent two young Men who I had ready (Carver & Blackmans sons) with a Native
across the River to Mr Bells with directions for them to find the Serjt on the track where these
4 natives were seen at day light this morning and if they found it to pursue it.
The Natives here appear so determined on Mischief that very prompt Measures are necessary
or the settlers & stock will get Murdered in detail and if neither of the parties now out are
fortunate enough to fall in with them I will wait on Your Excellency on Monday or Tuesday
night to make some other arrangements.
Hobson was a very Hard Working quiet Honest Man & was always on the best of terms with
the Natives. His death wound was in the Heart and he was also stripped quite naked he had
removed his family after the murder of the 2 stockman to the front of the River and went out
Monday Morning to sow a little barley.
I have the Honor to Remain
Your Excellency’s
very obedient servant
Wm Cox.
To His Excellency Govn Macquarie
&&&
Sydney’216
Macquarie received Cox’s letter of the 11th of July and replied on Saturday the 13th July.
There appears to be no record of Macquarie’s reply.217
On the 15th of July 1816 Magistrate Cox wrote at least one and probably two memorandum to
Governor Macquarie. Our record of these memorandum appear to be Governor Macquarie’s
copies from the 19th of July 1816. One memorandum recommended stationing three military
parties for some time at the Grose River, Windsor and Portland Head.
215
the 9th of July 1816.
Pages 177-181, Sir William Dixson - documents relating to Aboriginal Australians, 1816-1853
ML, reel CY2743; DL Add 81, State Library of NSW
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid=862003&suppress=N&imgindex=190
217
William Dixson - documents relating to Aboriginal Australians, 1816-1853
DL Add 81
Digital order No. 1893182
State Library of NSW
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid=862003&suppress=N&imgindex=190
216
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‘Memorandums
Friday 19 July 1816
1.
Mr. Cox recommends that the 3 Military Parties intended to be stationed for some
time in the Districts of the Hawkesbury should be posted as follows, so as to afford security
to the Settlers (?)
- Vizt.
st
First.
- The 1 Party with the Serjt at the Grose.
d
Second.
- The 2 Party at the Town of Windsor.
rd
Third.
- The 3 Party to be at Portland Head.N.B. Each Party to consist of at least 1 Noncom.d Offr. & Six Privates.’218
The other memorandum probably formed the basis for Governor Macquarie’s Proclamation
of the following day, the 20th of July 1816. The eight men named by Magistrate Cox were all
included in the Proclamation.
‘Memorandums
Rec.d from Mr. Cox Esqe.
J.P – on Fridy. 19 July
1816
Firstly.
Secondly.
Thirdly
Fourthly
Fifthly.
Sixthly. –
Seventhly.
It appears to us that no friendship or good points existing between the Natives
& settlers protect the latter from Revenge or Murder whenever the former are
insulted or find themselves agrieved by any White people.
That the determined spirit of Revenge they have lately championed in
committing so many murders call for a strong arm to suppress them & protect
the settlers.
That the country between the Warrajambie and the lower branches of the
Hawkesbury a distance of at least fifty miles is so extremely mountainous and
broken that it is very difficult to track them and almost impossible to come up
with them unobtrusively.
That it is our opinion the Natives from long habits cannot Subsist at this
season of the Year without getting Provisions from the settlers, and that they
chiefly live by plundering them of Maize, Pumkins & &.
That to put a stop to such an Evil we think at least three parties of soldiers of
ten each should be stationed in the aforesaid tract of country with a constable
of local knowledge attached to each party, as also a friendly Native as a guide
to track the Hostile Tribes when found.
That to strengthen the hands of this force we would propose that two parties of
six determined convicts having local knowledge of the country under the
direction of a Constable with a Native guide should scan the Country and for
their reward should receive an Emancipation for securing such Natives as
Your Excellency should proscribe by Name, and that a pecuniary reward
should be given to any Free Person taking or killing the proscribed Natives.
That the Natives should be officially informed of Your Excellencys
218
Page 182-183, Sir William Dixson - documents relating to Aboriginal Australians, 1816-1853
ML, reel CY2743;
DL Add 81,
State Library of NSW
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid=862003&suppress=N&imgindex=190
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determination, and that no peace will be granted them, until such proscribed
Natives are secured & given up to the civil power.
It is also necessary that some instructions should be adopted with regards to the friendly
natives now at Windsor.
Also that no settler whatever should harbour or conceal any native or give him food until
such proscribed Natives are given up under a severe penalty, but on seeing any of them give
the earliest possible Notice to the nearest District Constable.219
The 4 Most Notorious offenders in the District are,
Miles
Warren
Carbone Jack (alias Curringie)
Narang Jack.
------------------------------------------The following four Natives were also at the Murder of Lewis wife & the stockmen.
Bunduck
Congeatt (or Kangate)
Wootten
Rachel.
--------------------------------------------The four Natives who were killed are.
Cockey
Butta Butta
Jack Straw
Port Head Jamie.220
----------------------------------------------Windsor
Mr Cox. J.P.
15 July
Robt. Cartwright J.P.221
1816.
J Mileham, JP’222
Fortunately for the historian there are a number of accounts of the capture and execution of Cockey,
Butta Butta, Jack Straw and Port Head Jamie. While they vary in details, containing
contradictions and mistakes; they tend to corroborate each other and provide far more information
than given by Magistrate Cox. Alfred Smith, 1831-1917, was the foster son of George James,223
219
Page 184-186, Sir William Dixson - documents relating to Aboriginal Australians, 1816-1853
ML, reel CY2743;
DL Add 81,
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220
Probably short for Portland Head Jamie.
221
Robert Catrwight was the chaplain of the Hawkesbury since 1810 and appointed by Macquarie to the
magistracy.
222
Page 187, Sir William Dixson - documents relating to Aboriginal Australians, 1816-1853
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DL Add 81,
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223
George James and “Daddy” Merrick were, according to Cooramill, the Hawkesbury’s first policemen.
“Speaking of the boys who used to help George James, Alf Smith was the first I remember. He was the old
man’s foster son, and to his credit he still speaks of the old man with respect and affection. Jack Whoolemboy
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first assigned to William Cox224 and later the Hawkesbury’s first policeman. George James
was responsible for the capture of the alleged killers of Mrs Lewis and her servant. Alfred provided
his version in the Windsor Richmond Gazette, 5th November, 1910, when he was nearly eighty.
According to Smith there were four killers, there was a reward of 50 acres for the killers and that
they were turned in by an Aboriginal man called Stevey and that “Mr Cox, of Clarendon, and
Captain Brabyn, who then lived at Clifton” were involved in the capture and execution.
Captain Brabyn was definitely not present. He returned to the colony in 1817, became a
magistrate in 1818 and Clifton Cottage may not have been built until the 1820s. 225
‘Then I knew old Stevey, a blackfellow. There was a widow murdered at the Grose by four blacks
and a grant of 50 acres of land was offered to anyone who could catch these four blacks.
Stevey knew their whereabouts and told Mr James, and he, with old William Carver, came on them
early one morning while they were asleep. They sent Stevey away to let Mr Cox, of Clarendon, and
Captain Brabyn, who then lived at Clifton (both magistrates and high officials then) know about
it. Both these men went out, and the blacks were hung out there.’226
Samuel Boughton (1841-1910), under the nom-de-plume of Cooramill227 published a series
of recollections in the Hawkesbury Herald from 1903-1905 when he was in his sixties.
Boughton provided two accounts of the capture and execution: the first which supported that
of Alfred Smith’s and the second which provided more detail, and differed in that he said
there were three Aboriginal men and that they were turned in by a white man called Carr.
Cooramill's account included Bell as well as Cox and Brabyn. Cooramill was wrong about
Bell serving in India; he had served as a yeomanry officer in England and he was a
Lieutenant, not a Lieutenant-Colonel.
was the other. I do not know where Jack came from, or what became of him. But I fancy I can remember the
name in Kurrajong many years ago.
During James turn of office as policeman lawlessness was rife. The old man could tell of many adventures with
the bushrangers. Grovenor (who was 6ft. 3in. high), Lynch, and Garey, Walmseley, Donohoe, Webber,
Armstrong and a host of others he knew. And the encounters he had with the blacks!”
Page 272, S. Boughton (Cooramill), Reminiscences of Richmond, From the Forties Down, Cathy McHardy,
2010
The Sydney Gazette, 2nd September 1826 carried further information about Wool-loom-by, alias Bugle Jack, of
Richmond.
224
William Cox arrived in 1800 as Lieutenant and paymaster of New South Wales Corps. Financial
irregularities while paymaster led to the resignation of his commission in 1809. He was fortunate in being in
England during the deposal of Governor Bligh and as his wife signed a petition in support of Governor Bligh
from their Clarendon home, Governor Macquarie was probably quite glad to appoint him a magistrate in the
Hawkesbury from 1810. He supervised construction of the road across the Blue Mountains 1814-1815. He
owned land at Dundas, Windsor, Bathurst and Mulgoa. Lachlan Macquarie probably had little problems with
Cox’s financial irregularities. As paymaster of the 77 th Regiment in India at various times during the 1790s,
Macquarie drew the regimental pay up to three months in advance, invested the money with Indian money
lenders and kept the interest (£9000) for himself. Page 34, John Ritchie, Lachlan Macquarie, Melbourne
University Press, 1986.
225
John Brabyn arrived as an ensign in 1796. He returned to England with the 102nd Regiment in 1810 and
arrived back in New South Wales in 1811 to join the New South Wales Veteran Company He left the colony in
1815 and returned on the transport Larkins in November 1817. He was a Magistrate at Windsor from January
1818. He owned land at Windsor and Prospect.
226
Alfred Smith, Some Ups and Downs of an Old, Richmondite, Nepean Family Historical Society Inc, 1991.
227
Whilst I am unsure of the meaning of the word, Boughton used it as a name of his home at Mountain
Lagoon.
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Despite these problems, which are not uncommon in recollections, particularly those that are
second hand the different versions have common threads and are not inconsistent with events
on the Hawkesbury. Local authorities were still caught in the dilemma of protecting both
Aboriginal people and settlers. Governor King’s wish that the local commander had sorted
out the problem of Aboriginal prisoners was still relatively fresh in the minds of local
authorities. For authoritarian, self-made men of property with military and magisterial
powers, swift rough justice discouraged both smaller settlers and Aboriginal people from
taking the law into their own hands. Their ability to distribute rewards and favours ensured
support and loyalty for such men. The accounts of the executions of the prisoners were not
out of keeping with the reputed character of Bell, Cox or Brabyn.228
Combining the three accounts it is possible to draw further insights. Boughton’s account,
which is quite reflective, highlights the harsh treatment afforded to Aboriginal people.
Cockey’s desire to be hung rather than shot confirms my opinion that for Aboriginal people
shooting may well have meant both physical and spiritual death. That four/three men were
hung in a line across the Kurry Jong slope strongly suggests that their execution was designed
to act as a deterrent and inspire terror. Boughton’s opinion that many Aboriginal people were
“hung without trial”, again confirms my opinion that Aboriginal attacks were immediately
responded to, often disproportionately and were rarely reported. Boughton’s style of writing
is what Stephen Muecke calls a “romantic discourse”, i.e., one of doomed savagery.229
Boughton’s First account
‘First of all I will deal with my sable friends and fellow-countrymen. I said in a former
paper that they did not quietly surrender their territory to the white intruder. To gain
their end in view, their manners were cunning and treacherous. But they received
scant justice from their enemies - they were slaughtered for the most trivial offence. I have
been told of many being hung for stealing some trifle. Of course, they did not always
stop at trifles. There were four hung one morning for murdering an old woman (Mrs.
Lewis) up the Grose river. They were given up by members of their tribe. Old George
James, of Richmond, with the assistance of Bill Carver, who was a sort of special
constable, apprehended them. They were brought before Lieut.-Colonel Bell, Captain Cox,
228
Cooramill gave some insights into Bell's character in his memoirs. “Mr. Bell has been spoken of by the old
hands as being a hard master; but one must remember it was hard times, and he had hard characters to deal
with. There not only the prisoners to keep in subjection, but there were the aboriginals, of whom there was a
goodly number and with whom it was necessary to deal with firmly, for they very naturally did not submit
quietly to the surrender of their territory to the white intruders and were ever in the alert to take advantage of
the unwary.
Mr. Bell’s training as an officer in the imperial service in India, before he came to Australia, made him
cautious, and thus perhaps severe.”
Pages 106-107, S. Boughton (Cooramill), Reminiscences of Richmond From the Forties Down, Cathy
McHardy, 2010
Elsewhere in his memoirs Cooramill wrote: “I have already stated that some people gave Mr. Bell a hard name.
Some went so far as to say he was cruel – so cruel that even dumb animals resented his cruelty, and refused to
draw his remains to their last resting place. After horses were tried, even bullocks refused.”
Page 111, S. Boughton (Cooramill), Reminiscences of Richmond From the Forties Down, Cathy
McHardy, 2010
Toby Ryan on page 19 of his Reminiscences of Australia, described John Brabyn as “one of the
tyrannical demons of the aristocracy” and one “of the old military despots”.
229
Stephen Muecke, Textual Spaces, The University of New South Wales Press Ltd, 1992
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and Mr. Captain Brabyn, and sentenced to be hung. On their way to the tree they begged
to have the execution put off until the tomorrow, but it was no use. Supplication was in
vain; up they went.
Many were hung without trial, and so these wild, dark, and mysterious children of nature
rapidly disappeared under what is called “the progress of civilization,” leaving
nothing but the names bequeathed by their forefathers (which are sometimes
euphonious and suggestive) and a few imprints on the stones which they made with
their stone tomahawks.’ 230
Boughton’s Second account
Rawlinson’s corner 231 … “where the road diverges from Bells Line to Singleton, here
things went pretty lively at times. There was the prisoners’ camp not far distant, with
flogging often, and an occasional execution. It was here Cockey, the aboriginal was
hanged for the murder of an old woman.
I have already referred to an outrage that had been committed on the Grose, and
mentioned that the perpetrators were captured through members of their tribe
informing on them. A more detailed account of the capture and execution (or
executions, for there were three) under notice may be interesting, since it will show
how summary miscreants were dealt with, especially when those miscreants were
among our sable brethren.
There were three blacks wanted by the police for this crime, and the said police were
very close on their tracks when an old man named Carr met them (the police), and
informed them that the three “wanteds” were at the time waiting for him to go back
to his hut (where he had left them) with milk for their hominy . 232
It appears the old man had been informed that these same three had threatened to
take his life, and when he saw them nearing his hut he thought his time had come. But
he still had hope. He thought of an expedient, and immediately placed a pot of
hominy on the fire, and when they arrived at the door of his hut, he requested them to
stir the hominy while he went with his bucket to milk the cow, in order, as he
pretended, that they should have a good repast. But instead of going for the cow, he
took a bee-line for the nearest neighbour, where he found the police, accompanied by
a well-known terror to the blacks, in pursuit of the same three. 233 They accordingly
surrounded the hut, and effected a capture. Then, after binding them hand and feet,
they commandeered a bullock team, and took them off at once to execution.
The first was Cockey, whom they hanged on a tree at Rawlinson’s corner. He begged
of them not to shoot him, but to hang him, which they agreed to, the rope made of
230
Page 109-110, S. Boughton (Cooramill), Reminiscences of Richmond, From the Forties Down,
Cathy McHardy, 2010
231
Rawlinson’s Corner was the junction of Bell’s Line of Road and Comleroy Road. At some early stage it was
a convict camp. Rawlinson, the blacksmith, lived there in the 1830’s. Rawlinson’s Corner was the scene of
several hangings. Pages 62-63, Vivienne Webb, Kurrajong, An Early History, VivienneWebb, Sydney, 1980.
Rawlinson’s Corner was downhill from Singleton’s Hill.
232
Hominy is a Native American word for maize. In this context hominy could refer to soup, bread, or
dumplings.
233
I am not sure who the “well-known terror to the blacks” was. It may have been Alfred Luttrell,
whose family seemed to be in perpetual conflict with the Aborigines.
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stringy bark, being adjusted as he lay bound in the bullock-dray. 234 The dray was
driven from under him. That was the extent of the drop. But they did not altogether
keep their promise, for they soon riddled his body with bullets, which was perhaps
more merciful.
The second was taken to Thompson’s Ridge,235 and there executed in the same
manner; and the third on the scene of the outrage, 236 where he received the penalty in
a similar way.
Although the old man Carr escaped being killed by the blacks on this occasion, it was
not long before he was done for by members of the same tribe at Putty. ’ 237
The fourth and final account of the killings came from George Bowman, and was
written in 1839. Bowman placed the incident within the context of Macquarie's
proclamation of martial law in 1816. Bowman, born in 1795 may well have
participated in the implementation of martial law in 1816. His account is better
known for the final sentence: “The military did not attempt to take the Blacks and make
prisoners of them but shot all they fell in with and received great praise from the Governor
for so doing.” His account is also of interest because it linked an 1825 killing at Putty with
the capture of Aboriginal people outlawed in 1816. This incident is consistent with
Cooramill's second account.
Bowman's account is also of interest because he linked Aboriginal people “who had been
bread up in European families from their infancy” with attacks on settlers, which adds
support to my contention that much of the conflict originated on the farms where Aboriginal
people and settlers were in close contact.
Bowman identifies four men being killed in June and July, i.e., Cooling, Gallagher, Hobson
and an unknown man at Richmond.
Bowman also identified other attacks on the lower Hawkesbury and its branches.
‘Memorandum for Mr Scott
In the year 1816 or 17 the natives were troublesome nearly all over the distant parts of the
County of Cumberland. They committed several murders – in the Cowpastures and Appin
Dists, at Richmond, Mulgoa and down the Hawkesbury Rivers; at which time, the wife of Wm
Lewis and his Govt servant was murdered at the farm called “Kearns Retreat” at the
junction of the Nepean and Grose Rivers, a man or two of Mr Crowleys on the Nepean
between Belmont and the Grose, and Joseph Obson or Hobson commonly called “Joe the
Hatter” and a man was killed by the natives while at work on his farm near Richmond –
about the same time various murders and depredations was committed by the natives on the
lower Hawkesbury River and its Branches. About this time Govr Macquarie dispatched
Military parties to various parts of the Colony some to the Cowpastures (now Camden)
Cooramill’s use of the phrase bullock dray may have been anachronistic but the wagon used may have been
that used by Benjamin Carver for transporting Baggage and Provisions of a Detachment of the 46th Regt. from
Richmond to Sydney. Sydney Gazette, 17th of February1817, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2177063
235
Thompson’s Ridge was an early name for the ridge upon which Gregg’s Road, Grose Vale now runs.
236
Kearns’s Retreat, was Obadiah Aiken’s old farm at the junction of the Grose and Nepean Rivers.
237
Pages 150-151, S. Boughton (Cooramill), Reminiscences of Richmond From the Forties Down,
Cathy McHardy, 2010.
234
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Appin, North Richmond, and down the Hawkesbury, and at the same time proclaimed Martial
Law against the Blacks throughout the whole of the Colony and offered a reward for the
capture of several of the ring leaders whose names were known whether taken dead or alive.
Among the number named was two or three natives who had been bread up in European
families from their infancy and became the most despirate murderers.
In 1825 a party of natives from Richmond and another from the Hunter met at Putty on the
old Hunters River Road and killed one man and left the other as they supposed dead but who
was found by Mr Bowman’s over seer and men when driving his sheep to the Hunter in a
speechless state, his head crawling with Vermin in the wound received from the blacks.
This murder was supposed and believed to be true from Information recd from other natives,
to have taken place through those two men, having been instrumentle in having some of the
natives apprehended in 1816 or 17 whom Govr Macquarie offered the reward for and
outlawed by his Proclamation. The natives were not allowed to carry out any spear like
instrument within a certain distance of any white mans dwelling on pain of being dealt with
according to martial law.
The military did not attempt to take the Blacks and make prisoners of them but shot all they
fell in with and received great praise from the Governor for so doing.
All these occurrences can be found mentioned more particularly in the Sydney Gazette of
those dates –
Archerfield
January 5th 1839’238
19th of July 1816: Munitions
On the 19th of July, Governor Macquarie replied to Magistrate Cox. He sent pouches, belts
and ammunition for three armed constables. It would appear that Cox had employed three
additional constables from the population of local free settlers. Twenty rounds per man was
standard military practice at the time.
The memorandum is also important because it alerts us to Macquarie sending additional
reinforcements to Serjeant Broadfoot who was already on the Grose.
‘Memorandum of Articles required by Mr. Cox Esqr. J.P. Windsor, for the use of Armed
Constables to be employed against the Hostile Natives, Vizt. –
3 pouches with belts - for tying around the waist. –
60 rounds of Ball Cartridges.
238
http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/nsw/other_features/correspondence/documents/documen
t_102a/
As well as George Bowman's account, Peter Cunningham also wrote a fuller account about the killing of Mr.
Greig's cousin and a convict servant on his Hunter property in October 1825. The killers then visited the
Hawkesbury and returned via the Bulgar road, chasing some mounted settlers and stopped at a hut at Putty
where there were three men known to them. One of the men was killed and the other badly beaten and the third
escaped to Richmond. An armed party was sent out after them, and fell upon the camp of a “friendly tribe”
which was scattered (Pages 197-198, Editor, David S. Macmillan, Peter Cunningham, Surgeon R.N., Two Years
in New South Wales, First Published 1827, Reprinted, Angus and Robertson, 1966). The three accounts suggest
that Carr was the man killed at Putty.
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24 flints. –
N.B. The above mentioned articles are to be sent along with the soldiers to be sent to
reinforce Serjeant Broadfoot’s Detachment at the Grose!
Sydney
19. July 1816
L.M.’239
20th of July, 1816: Governor Macquarie’s Proclamation
Governor Macquarie’s Proclamation of the 20th of July 1816 was an escalation of previous
responses to the hostilities. Like other proclamations, this one was repeated over the
following weeks, 27th July and 3rd August, 1816. This proclamation extended that of 4th May
by outlawing and placing rewards upon ten Aboriginal men. Of the ten men; only Murrah,
Wallah, alias Warren, and Yellaman remained from the list given to Captain Schaw on 9th of
April. Of the seven new additions; Miles, Carbone Jack, alias Kurringy, Narang Jack,
Bunduck, Kongate, Woottan and Rachel; five were probably Hawkesbury men. Miles was
probably the Myles who found a way across to the Hunter in 1819 and was described in the
Sydney Gazette, 2nd September 1826 as being, chief of the “Richmond Tribe”. The same
issue of the Gazette mentioned “Narang Jack of North Richmond”, and “Billy Congate of
Richmond”. Carbone Jack, alias Kurringy, was probably Karingy Jack or Captain from
Cattai, who may have gone sealing on the brig Elizabeth, 1821-22.240 “Narang Jack of North
Richmond “was probably his son. Bunduck may have been Boon-du-dullock, a native of
Richmond Hill, who was sought by Marsden in 1805. As well, this proclamation had a
particular focus on the Hawkesbury because military detachments were sent to the Nepean,
Hawkesbury and Grose Rivers to protect settlers. Macquarie’s proclamation set a period of
three months for the magistrates, soldiers and settlers to sort the matter out. It also signalled
the control that Macquarie was determined to keep over the settlers.
In his description of “the sanguinary Disposition of certain BANDITTI, or TRIBES of the
BLACK NATIVES, which had been for some Time manifested by their frequently committing
the most wanton and barbarous MURDERS”, the Governor perpetuated the denigration and
dispossession of Aboriginal people.
‘Proclamation,
By His Excellency LACHLAN MACQUARIE,
Esquire, Captain General and Governor in Chief in and over His Majesty's Territory of NEW
South Wales and its Dependencies, &c. &c. &c.
WHEREAS the sanguinary Disposition of certain BANDITTI, or TRIBES of the BLACK
NATIVES, which had been for some Time manifested by their frequently committing the most
wanton and barbarous MURDERS on several of His Majesty's Subjects residing in the
remote Settlements, rendered it expedient and necessary to send Military Parties in pursuit of
them, with a View by inflicting summary Punishment on some, to deter others from a
Repetition of such atrocious and cruel Outrages: - And although this Measure was long
239
Call No: DLDOC 132,
Digital Order No: a3057001
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid+877023&suppress=N&imgindex=1
240
Apart from the following reference I have not yet been able to trace whether or not Captain, from Cattai,
went to sea on the Elizabeth.
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/exhibitions/2010/mari_nawi/docs/marinawi_captions.pdf
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delayed, and at length reluctantly resorted to, the numerous Atrocities committed rendered it
indispensible, where by several of the most sanguinary and guilty of them met with and
suffered the Punishment due to their flagrant Enormities.
And whereas, by Proclamation under Date the 4th of May last, the GOVERNOR, after
expressing a Regret at the Necessity which recent Circumstances had placed him under of
proceeding to such Extremities against those hostile Natives; and anxious, if possible, to
avoid the Recurrence of such Atrocities, did earnestly invite and exhort the said Native
hostile Tribes to render Submission, and to return again to those peaceable and unoffending
Habits and Manners which had been formerly their best safeguard from Injury, by securing
them all the Protection of the most favored of His Majesty's Subjects.
And whereas, since the Issuing of the said Proclamation (with which it is well known the said
Natives soon became fully acquainted), it has appeared, that there are still among these
People some Individuals far more determinedly hostile and mischievous than the rest, who,
by taking the lead, have lately instigated their deluded Followers to commit several further
atrocious Acts of Barbarity on the unoffending and unprotected Settlers and their Families:
And whereas, the ten Natives whose Names are hereunder mentioned are well known to be
the principal and most violent Instigators of the late Murders; namely,
1
Murrah
2
Myles
3
Wallah, alias Warren
4
Carbone Jack, alias Kurningy
5
Narrang Jack
6
Bunduck
7
Kongate
8
Woottan
9
Rachel
10
Yallaman
Now it is hereby publicly proclaimed and declared, that the said ten Natives above named,
and each and every of them are deemed and considered to be in a State of Outlawry, and
open and avowed Enemies to the Peace and good Order of Society, and therefore unworthy
to receive any longer the Protection of that Government which they have so flagrantly
revolted against and abused. And all and every of His Majesty's Subjects, whether Free Men,
Prisoners of the Crown, or Friendly Natives, are hereby authorised and enjoin' d to seize
upon and secure the said ten outlawed Natives, or any of them, wheresoever they may be
found, and to bring them before, and deliver them up to the nearest Magistrate to be deal
with according to Justice. And in Case the said proscribed ten hostile Natives cannot be
apprehended and secured for that Purpose; then such of His Majesty's Subjects hereinbefore
described, are and shall be at Liberty by such Means as may be within their Power, to kill
and utterly destroy them as Outlaws and Murderers as aforesaid; and with this View, and to
encourage all His Majesty's said Subjects, whether white Men or friendly Natives, to seize
upon, secure, or destroy the said Outlaws, a Reward of Ten Pounds Sterling for each of the
said ten proscribed Natives, will be paid by Government to any Person or Persons who shall
under such Circumstances bring in their Persons, or produce satisfactory Proof of their
having killed or destroyed them within the Period of three Months from the Date hereof.
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Provided always, that nothing in this Proclamation contained is to be construed to extend to
allow of Government Servants, of any Description, to depart from their Duty or Services,
without the special Permission of those Persons to whom they may be assigned.
In Furtherance of the Object of this Proclamation, and of the Measures to be adopted
pursuant thereto, the several District Magistrates are here by enjoined forthwith to assemble
the Settlers, and other Persons dwelling within their respective Districts, at some convenient
centrical Situation, and to point out to them the Necessity of forming themselves into
Associations, along the Rivers Hawkesbury and Nepean, so as to be prepared to offer each
other mutual Relief and Assistance on Occasions of any Attack or Incursions of the hostile
Natives; and in Cases of any Outrages being attempted against them, their Families, or
Property, they are to consider them selves authorised to repel such Attacks or Incursions by
Force of Arms; at the same Time they are not wantonly or unprovokedly to commence any
Aggressions, but only to guard against and resist the Depredations or Attacks of the hostile
Natives, with a View to their own immediate Defence and Protection.
And the Settlers are further hereby strictly enjoined and commanded, on no Pretence
whatever, to receive, harbour, or conceal any of the said outlawed Banditti, or afford them
any Countenance or Assistance whatever; nor are they to furnish Aid or Provisions to any of
the friendly Natives who may frequent their farms, but upon the express Condition of them
engaging and promising to use their best Endeavours to secure and bring in the said Ten
Outlaws, and deliver them up to the nearest Magistrate, or lodge them in Prison; - And those
friendly Natives are to be given to understand, that if they faithfully and earnestly exert
themselves in apprehending and bringing in the said Outlaws, every reasonable Indulgence
and Encouragement will be afforded them by Government; whilst, on the contrary, until this
Object is attained, no Peace or amnesty with the Natives at large in this Territory will be
made or conceded.
It being impossible to station Military Detachments as Protection for every Farm in the
disturbed or exposed Districts, the Governor is desirous of apprising the Settlers in this
public manner thereof, in Order that they may the more speedily and effectually adopt the
best Means in their Power for their future Security: But with a View to overawe the hostile
Natives generally, in those Parts of the Colony where they have committed the more flagrant
and violent Acts of Cruelty and Outrage, three separate Military Detachments will be
forthwith stationed at convenient Districts on the River Nepean, Grose and Hawkesbury to be
ready to assist and afford protection to the Settlers whenever Occasion may require it, when
called upon by the nearest Magistrate, for that Purpose; each Detachment to be provided
with an European and also a native Guide, which the District Magistrates are enjoined to
furnish them with, carefully selecting them from the most intelligent and trustworthy Persons
within their several Districts.
The Military Parties stationed at Parramatta, Liverpool, and Bringelly, will receive similar
Instructions to those to be given to the three Military Detachments before mentioned.
And the several Magistrates throughout the Territory are hereby directed to give every
possible Publicity and Effect to this Proclamation.
Given under my Hand, at Government House, Sydney, this Twentieth Day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and sixteen,
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"LACHLAN MACQUARIE."
By Command of His Excellency,
JOHN THOMAS CAMPBELL, Secretary.
GOD SAVE THE KING!’241
On the 26th of July magistrates at Windsor, Parramatta, Castlereagh, Liverpool and Bringelly
were sent copies of the Proclamation of the 20th of July “respecting the Sanguinary
Disposition and outrages still manifested by the Black Natives of the Colony.”242
3rd of August, 1816: Banishment of Dewall
On the 3rd of August Dewall’s banishment to Van Dieman’s Land was proclaimed. Dewall
may have been banished, rather than executed, not just because of Atkins advice regarding
the legal standing of Aboriginal people, but because he may not have been involved in the
1816 hostilities. Dewall was probably banished to reinforce the impact of the proclamation of
the 20th of July 1816. As well, exiling Dewall was probably designed to put Throsby in his
place. Charles Throsby secured Dewall’s pardon in 1819. Dewall accompanied Throsby on
later exploring trips.
‘GOVERNMENT PUBLIC NOTICE AND ORDER.
CIVIL- DEPARTMENT.
WHEREAS a Native Black Man of this Colony, called and known by the Name Of Dewal, or
Dual, was lately apprehended and lodged in His Majesty's Gaol at Sydney, in Consequence
of having excited and encouraged, and been himself actually concerned with several of his
Tribe in committing various atrocious Acts of Robbery, Depredation, and Barbarity, on the
Property and Persons of His Majesty's loyal Subjects residing in the Interior of this
Settlement. And whereas the said Dewal or Dual, as well by being a Leader among his own
People, as by such flagrant and sanguinary Acts, is become dangerous to the Peace and good
Order of the Community; it is therefore expedient and necessary, for the Security and
Preservation thereof, that such Crimes and Offences as the said Dewal or Dual has been
guilty of and personaly (sic) concerned in should meet with condign Punishment, in order to
deter others from committing the like. By Virtue therefore of the Power vested in me, as
Governor in Chief of this Territory, and moved with Compassion towards the said Criminal,
in Consideration of his Ignorance of the Laws and Duties of civilized Nations, I do hereby
remit the Punishment of Death, which his repeated Crimes and Offences had justly merited
and incurred, and commute the same into Banishment from this Part of His Majesty's
Territory of New South Wales to Port Dalrymple, in Van Diemen's Land, for the full Term of
Seven Years, to commence and be computed from the Day of the Date hereof. And the said
Dewal or Dual is accordingly hereby ordered to be forth with banished, for the said Terni of
Seven Years, to Port Dalrymple aforesaid; during which Period the said Dewal or Dual is
under no Pretence whatever to reappear in this Part of the Territory of New South Wales, on
Pain of suffering the Punishment of Death as a Felon.
And all His Majesty's Subjects within the said Territory and its Dependencies are hereby
strictly charged and commanded not to aid, abet, or assist the said Black Native Dewal, or
Dual, in any Attempt he may make to escape from the Place of his said Banishment, during
the said Term of Seven Years, as they shall answer the same at their Peril.
241
242
Sydney Gazette, 20th July 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176728
26th July, Circular re Aboriginal activities reel 6005, 4/3494, p 55:
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Given under my Hand, at Government House, Sydney, in New South Wales aforesaid, this
Thirtieth Day of July, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixteen.
"LACHLAN MACQUARIE." By Command of His Excellency,
J. T. CAMPBELL, Secretary.’243
Another article in the same issue of the Gazette, 3rd August informed the reader that Governor
Macquarie’s proclamation was beginning to have an effect upon the safety of travellers.
‘Several of the natives, who were suspected to be the most atrocious actors in the late
barbarities, have been apprehended, and are in confinement.
The banishment of the native Dewal, or Dual, to a distant settlement, which mode of
disposing of him is announced in His EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR'S General Orders
under date the 30th ult. may possibly produce a greater dread in the minds of his predatory
associates than if he had been killed when in the act of plunder. The doubt of what may be his
fate, when absent, is likely to excite a dread which may render them less liable to a similar
treatment, the justness of which they cannot at the same time challenge, as they are sensible
that the crimes of this offender were enormous. The Proclamation prohibiting their travelling
armed about the Settlements has had the salutary effort of guarding the lonely traveller from
their hostilities upon the public roads, as had often been before the case; and from the tenor
of the regulations that have been adopted towards them generally, there can be little doubt
that the hostile tribes must shortly retire, and that such as prefer a friendly intercourse with
us will find a peaceable deportment the most conducive to their comfort.’244
10th of August, 1816: Payments to guides
‘Mr. John Warby, and others, as Rewards for their Services in acting as Guides to the
Military Detachments sent out in Pursuit of the hostile Native Tribes
₤99 - 5 - 0.’245
26th of August, 1816: Attack on Cox’s Mulgoa estate
The killing of one of Cox’s shepherds and the destruction of his sheep was responded to
quickly. While there was conflict on the Hawkesbury, I can find no evidence to suggest that
there were large bodies of warriors on the Hawkesbury. The available evidence appears to
suggest quite the contrary. Whether there was an alliance of warriors, stretching north to the
Hunter; or Aboriginal people reacted individually to incursions all along the frontier remains
unclear. Certainly the Gazette article inflamed the situation.
‘The body of a shepherd belonging to the estate of Mulgoa, who had been recently murdered
by some natives, was found on Monday last on a grazing ground near the farm, in a most
mutilated and mangled state, having been perforated with spears in several parts, and
otherwise most barbarously used. The flock in the charge of this unfortunate man consisted of
upwards of 200 very fine sheep, most of which were thrown down an immense precipice by
the savages, and the remainder, about 50 in number, were barbarously mangled and killed,
many of the unoffending and defenceless creatures having had their eyes gored with spears,
which were afterwards driven into the head. Parties went out in quest of the murderers as
243
Sydney Gazette, 3rd August 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176749
Sydney Gazette, 3rd August, 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176753
245
Sydney Gazette, 10th August 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176762
244
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soon as the melancholy information reached the contiguous settlements; who will, it is to be
hoped, fall in will this desperate horde of wanton assassins.
From the account of the deserters from Hunter's River who have been reduced to the
necessity of returning to that Settlement for the preservation of their lives from the fury of the
natives, it may evidently be implied that a connexion or correspondence must subsist between
the hordes in our vicinity, and those considerably to the northward, and that all within this
circle of communication are determined upon the destruction of every white person that may
unhappily fall into their power. We have heretofore experienced their savage cruelty
indiscriminately satiating itself on the mother and the infant. Pardon, amity, and every effort
to reconciliation, which to all appearence they received with gladness, have been perverted
to the ends of a vile and most malignant treachery, whenever an occasion offered for the
exercise of their natural ferocity, which is the same on every part of the coast we are
acquainted with. An unrelaxed spirit of hostility is the undeviating feature in their
characterisic. If the exhausted mariner attempt to quench his thirst upon their inhospitable
shores, he flies or falls beneath their sullen vengeance; while the nearer tribes, to whose
incursions our settlements are exposed, are tendered formidable by the facility of retreat, and
the difficulty of penetrating into their concealments. They no longer act in small predatory
parties, as heretofore, but now carry the appearance of an extensive combination, in which
all but the few who remain harmless in the settlements, are united, in a determination to do
all the harm they can. In self defence we can alone find safety; and the vengeance they
provoke, will, it may yet be hoped, however mildly it may be exerted, reduce them to the
necessity of adopting less offensive habits.’246
Sunday, 1st of September, 1816: Macquarie’s bowel inflammation
Whether Macquarie’s decision to withdraw from public life in early September 1816 was the
result of something he ate or something that was happening on the Nepean Hawkesbury
remains unknown.
‘I was this morning forced to confine myself to the House, in consequence of a most severe
and alarming Complaint in my Bowels – and with which I have for these last 3 months less or
more [been] afflicted, and which I now begin to apprehend is an inflammation in my Bowels
– from the fixed continued Pain in my Stomach for some time past. — I have therefore
resolved on taking immediate medical advice – and confining myself to my Room in hopes of
benefitting therefrom.’247
Sunday 8th of September, 1816: The passing of Macquarie’s bowel inflammation
‘My Medical attendants Doctors Wentworth, Redfern and Forster, having been most
assiduously kind and attentive to me both Night [&] Day for this last Week, administering to
me every medicine and Surgical application they thought most likely to remove my disease; I
am happy to be able to say now that the Disease has at length yielded to their Skill and
Prescriptions – and that I am now – thanks to my God! free from Danger and relieved from
great Pain; being now in a progressive State of Convalescence.
L. M.’248
9th of September, 1816: Native Institution admissions from the Hawkesbury
246
Sydney Gazette, 31st August 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176790
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816sept.html
248
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816sept.html
247
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On the 9th of September 1816 the second of two Aboriginal children from Dr Arndell’s Cattai
farm were admitted to the Native Institution. It is possible to conjecture that they also had
been orphaned in the military operations.
14th of September, 1816: Cox’s five parties
Magistrate Cox organised five parties of soldiers, settlers and native guides to sweep the
Nepean Hawkesbury valley for a fortnight in September 1816. It would appear that one of the
parties was disbanded following an accident on the Hawkesbury River. Magistrate Cox only
had intermittent contact with these parties.
th
‘Distribution of parties 14 Septr 1816
Serjt Broadfoot.
5 privates, 3 White Guides, 2 Black Guides - 11.
this party takes the East side of the Hawkesbury River with a
boat to attend them.
Corp. Milner.
5 privates, 3 White Guides, 2 Black guides - - - 11.
this party take the West side of the River and cooperate with the
Serjts party between the Branches.
Corp. Wolstencroft
5 privates, 3 White Guides, 2 Black guides - - 11.
these [indecipherable] at Mr Bells to range the country
between the Grose & Upper Branch.
Corp.Macanally
5 privates, 3 White Guides, 2 Black Guides - 11.
this party [indecipherable] between Mr Coxs & Mr J.
Blaxlands and range between Wrights Farm, the Warragambi
& down towards Sir John Jamiesons.249
Constable McLaughlin
3 constables, 6 White Men and 1 Black Man, tracing
the Natives from the Grose, more to the N.W. than the
Branches.- - 11.
----------------------th
ts
The Serj party & Milner. detached a fortnight, from the 13 Inst.
th
Corp. Wolstencroft’s party detached 14 Dy from the 14 Inst.
th
Corp. Macanally
do
do
14 Dy from the 17 .
Twelve Natives take this time of Duty. Vis.
1 Charles Mulgrave 3. Branch Jack 5. Baraa 7. Coliby 9. Bobby 11. Joe
2. Pulpin250 4 Iron Bark Jack 6. Simon 8. Mary Mary 10. Simon 12. Tanner/Jarrow(?)’251
28th of September, 1816: Parties still in field
After the fortnight elapsed Cox reported back to Macquarie. However, the parties did not
come back, but stayed out for an indeterminate length of time. The memorandum below was
received by Governor Macquarie on the 8th of October 1816.
th
‘28 Septr
The Cox farm was at Mulgoa, Blaxland’s Grove Farm was at modern Wallacia on the Nepean, Wright’s farm was at
Bringelly and Sir John Jamison’s at Regentville on the Nepean.
249
The town of Bilpin probably owes its name to this man, rather than being an abbreviation of Bell’s Pinnacle.
Call No: DL Add 81
Digital Order No: a1893188
State Library of New South Wales
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid=862003&suppress=N&imgindex=190
250
251
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All the parties returned three White Men, two soldiers and 2 Natives laid up from Accidents
in Hawkesbury River. (?)
The five parties reduced to four from this point, the White Men with the soldiers parties filled
up with those of Constable McLaughlins party.
Two of the four soldiers parties are under Serjt Broadfoots direction & it would be much
more desirable if the other two had also a Serjt to command them, the officer or Magistrates
would then only have to consult with the two sarjeants & a constable from each party once a
fortnight or often if necessary. One Serjt & one corporal would make the four parties
complete according to this plan.’252
--------------------------------28th of September, 1816: Trial of Daniel Mow-watty
Daniel Mow-watty had been brought up with settlers and gone to England with Caley. On his
return he took to the bush. He was tried on 28th September 1816 for the rape of a white girl
about five or six miles northwest of Parramatta on 6th August; Marsden's evidence probably
did Daniel little good given Marsden's detestation of Caley.
The Court wishing clearly to ascertain the prisoner's clear and conscious discrimination
between good and evil, in the examination of the several witnesses were particularly attentive
to this point. The Rev. Mr. Marsden spoke also to his knowledge of the prisoner, which had
subsisted for nearly 20 years. He was reared in Parramatta “from his infancy, first in the
family of Richard Partridge, and afterwards with Mr. Caley, botanist, who took him to
England with him; where he resided about a twelvemonth, and then re turned to this Colony.
He had met him since his return naked in the woods, at a considerable distance from the
settlements; knows that he was in the service of Mr. Bellamy; had no doubt of his
acquaintance, from long experience, with our manners and customs, and had a thorough
discrimination between right and wrong; he had admitted the act for which he was then on
trial to be wrong, and appeared to possess as strong an intellect as persons in general
possess who have not the advantages of education.”253 Daniel was found guilty and executed
on 1st November 1816.254
Wednesday, 30th of October, 1816: Payment to Cox for his expedition expenses
Note that Cox was paid in sterling rather than currency. The hiring of a boat almost certainly
relates to Serjeant Broadfoot’s party.
“I this day drew on a Draft on the Police Fund in favor of Wm. Cox Esqr. J. P. for the Sum of
£76.10.7 – Str., being the amount of Provisions, sundry necessaries and Boat-hire, incurred
during the recent Warfare with the Hostile Natives, for the Military Parties & Guides under
the direction of Mr. Cox.
L.M.”255
252
Call No. DL Add 81
Digital Order No. a1893191
State Library of New South Wales
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid=862003&suppress=N&imgindex=190
253
http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/nsw/cases/case_index/1816/r_v_mowwatty/
254
For the trial of Daniel Mowwatting see Sydney Gazette, 28th September 1816,
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176824
255
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816oct.html
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Friday, 1st November, 1816: Daniel Mowwatting’s execution and the official end of
hostilities
‘This morning were executed, agreeably to their respective Sentences. the three Criminals
under Sentence of Death – namely – Thomas Collins and Hugh Mc.Lair – for High-way
Robbery – and Daniel Mowwatting (a Black Native of this Colony) for Rape and Robbery on
a young Female White Woman a native of this Colony. — The three malefactors confessed
their Crimes – and all Died Penitent.’256
‘By his Excellency Lachlan Macquarie, Esquire, &c, &c., &c.
Whereas since the issuing of the Proclamation, bearing Date the 20th of July last, which it
was deemed expedient to make in Consequence of the Murders and Depredations committed
by certain of the Hostile Native Tribes in the Interior of these Settlements, several of those
Natives have been either killed or taken Prisoners under the Authority of that Proclamation;
and it being now hoped that the Punishments inflicted and Examples made have effected the
desired Object of deterring them from any further Prosecution of such Acts of Violence and
Depredation on the Persons and Property of the Settlers and their Families; and that the
adoption of conciliatory Measures will produce in the said Native Tribes an Inclination and
Resolution to avoid for the future a Repetition of those Barbarities and outrages; It is hereby
publicly proclaimed, that such Part of the said Proclamation of the 20th of July last, as
proscribed certain guilty Natives therein named, is hereby revoked and annulled; and that
from and after the Eighth Day of the present Month of November, all hostile Operations,
Military or other, against the said Native Tribes will cease and determine.
And whereas the following Ten Natives are those so proscribed in the said Proclamation of
the 20th of July last; viz.:—
1. Murrah;
6. Bunduck;
2. Myles;
7. Kongate;
3. Wallah, alias Warren;
8. Woottan;
4. Carbone Jack, alias Kurringy;
9. Rachel;
5. Narrang Jack;
10. Yallaman;
It is hereby proclaimed and made known, that such of the said Ten Natives as have not been
killed or apprehended under the Authority of the said Proclamation, and who shall surrender
and give themselves up to a Magistrate, on or before the 28th Day of the next Month of
December, will be forgiven and pardoned for their past Offences, and taken under the
Protection of the British Government in this Colony, in common with those peaceable and
unoffending Natives who have so long enjoyed and are still under its Favour and
Encouragement; but if the said proscribed Natives do not avail themselves of the Benefit of
this Proclamation, by surrendering within the said limited Time, or shall henceforth commit
any Act or Acts of Murder, Violence, or Depredation on the Persons or Property of the
Settlers, then, and in such Case, Measures, more strong and effective than those hereby
revoked, will be resorted to; and the most summary and condign Punishment inflicted on
those who shall hereafter disturb the public peace.
3. And whereas in the Proclamation of the 4th of May last, a General Friendly Meeting of the
Natives was proposed to be held at the Market Place in Parramatta, on Saturday the 28th
Day of December next ensuing, at Ten o'clock in the Forenoon; in pursuance of such
Proclamation, the said proposed General Friendly Meeting of the Natives is hereby invited at
the Time and Place therein mentioned, at which Meeting His Excellency the Governor will
confer and advise with them on the Plan of Life they may be inclined to adopt for their own
256
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816nov.html
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Comfort and Happiness, and they are assured of being treated, on that Occasion, with
plentiful Refreshments of Meat and Drink.
4. The Magistrates, and other Peace Officers throughout the Settlements, are hereby
enjoined to give every possible Publicity to this Proclamation in their several Districts, and
exert themselves to make it perfectly understood by the Natives to which it refers.
Given under my Hand, at Government House, Sydney, this first Day of November, 1816.
Lachlan Macquarie.
By Command of His Excellency,
John Thomas Campbell, Secretary.
God save the King!’257
Tuesday 5th of November, 1816: Macquarie visited Bungaree
‘This morning early I went by water in the Govt. Barge, accompanied by Mrs. M. Mr. & Mrs.
Cowper, Capt. Gill, and my own Family, to visit the Native Farm at George's Head, on which
occasion Mrs. Macquarie made Boongary the Chief a Present of a Breeding Sow & 7 Pigs –
and also a Pair of Muscovy Ducks – together with Suits of Clothes for his wife & Daughter
and Philip's Wife. — We afterwards crossed the Harbour to Vaucluse, breakfasted there –
and afterwards visited the Tower building at South Head which is already Ten feet above the
level of the Ground. — We reimbarked [sic] at Watson's Bay – and returned again to Sydney
by Half past 1,O'Clock. —
L. M.’258
The following memorandum suggests that certain young men were recommended to receive
rewards for their services. Certainly William Stubbs and Ralph Turnbull received land grants.
‘List of Six Free Men Guides.
---------------w
- Johnston, son of Mr And Johnston. Dist Constable Port Head
Wm Carver – son of Mr Carver, Dist Constable Richmond.
Wm Stubbs – son in Law of Mr Painter, Free Settler. Port Head259
Josh McLaughlin
McLoughlin260 to receive 50 acres!
Constables.
Wm McFadden
McFaddin to receive 90 acres!
John Tye
later a Constable. –
th
Windsor 6 Novr.
1816
Wm Cox
257
Pages 365-366, HRA, Series 1, Vol. IX, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, Sydney,
1917
258
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816nov.html
259
William Stubbs, born in 1796, married Mary Ann Rogers in 1819. He had been brought up by James Painter who had
married William’s widowed mother in 1806 after the drowning of her husband in 1805.
A court case was held on 28th June 1889 regarding “a Crown grant of 60 acres of land situate in the parish of Spencer,
county of Northumberland, Hawkesbury River, commencing at the south east corner of Cleary's 40 acres, promised by His
Excellency Governor Macquarie to one William Stubbs in 1816 as his reward and remuneration for his prompt assistance to
the police and aid in pursuit of the black natives at the time of the eruption and disturbance in 1816, who thereupon entered
into possession of the same, … A number of documents and petitions were tendered in evidence in support of the case,
including a certificate from Captain Cox, formerly Magistrate at Windsor, under whom Wm. Stubbs served in the war that
Stubbs was entitled to the grant; plan and survey and description of the land made by Mr. Surveyor Meehan. All went to
show conclusively that the promise of a grant had been made by Governor Macquarie to Wm. Stubbs”
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 6th July 1889. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/72559770
260
Joseph Mc Loughlin had been a guide in the earlier military expeditions.
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J.P.’261
The following letter is of particular concern because it appears to signal hostility from
Aboriginal people on the Lower Hawkesbury and Kissing Point towards the activities of the
South Creek Aboriginal people in acting as guides for the soldiers and settlers.
‘Clarendon
15 Novr. 1816.
Sir
The Constant rain we have had since Wednesday last has prevented the Natives going to
Sydney. It appears taking up again & I am sending this to Mr Howe to direct him to send
them down tomorrow so as to be with Your Excellency on Monday next, I have directed the
two constables McFadden & McLoughlin who were white guides to go with them.
Mary-Mary told me yesterday if Your Excellency wished it he would send his young girl to
the School. I told him it would please you & desired him to take it down. It is a half cast child
and a very Interesting One, between 2 & 3 years of Age.262
The Creek Natives seem to be under some apprehension of punishment from the Natives low
down the River joined by some from towards Kissing Point. Should Your Excellency see
Bidgee Bidgee263 while Creek Jamie is at Sydney it may be prevented as it should be if
possible.
I have the Honor to Remain
Your Excellency’s
very obed. serv.
Wm Cox.
On Service
His Excellency
Gov’r Macquarie
&&&
Sydney
By Creek Jamie
a South Creek
Chief’264
Saturday 16th of November, 1816: Macquarie released five Aboriginal warriors
‘I this day released from Jail Five Black Natives who have been confined there for some
weeks past on account of their Depredations and hostile conduct towards the White Settlers
in the interior where they had been apprehended by the Military Detachments in pursuit of
261
DL Add 81
Digital order No. a1893189
State Library of NSW
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid=862003&suppress=N&imgindex=190
262
This is the earliest usage of the phrase “half-cast” in this work. It comes from the Latin word castus,
meaning pure.
263
Bidgee Bidgee was awarded with a brass gorget naming him chief of the Kissing Point Tribe on the 6th of
June 1816.
264 Pages 188-194, Sir William Dixson - documents relating to Aboriginal Australians, 1816-1853
ML, reel CY2743; DL Add 81, State Library of NSW
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid=862003&suppress=N&imgindex=190
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them. — The names of these Natives are Jemmy Monday, Kitten, Jack, Pamborah, and
Pinboya. — I gave each of them a Blanket and three days Provisions to carry them Home,
Pardoned all past crimes, and cautioned them against the serious Punishments that would
certainly be inflicted upon them in the event of their ever manifesting any further hostility
against the White Colonists.
I still retained in Jail Jubbinguy – a Black Native – on account of his cruel and sanguinary
character. —
L. M.’265
29th of November, 1816: A delayed memorial
The following memorial from the McDougall’s266 of the Upper Branch is of interest because
it was written on the 19th of October, a date very close to the date set by Governor Macquarie
for the cessation of hostilities. What is particular interesting is that Magistrate Cox appears
not to have sent it to Governor Macquarie for another five weeks, suggesting that the delay
was deliberate while he attended to the matter in anticipation of the Governor’s support.
‘To his Excellency, Lachlan
Macquarie Esqr. Gov r. Genl –
N.S.W.
May it please Your Excellency
The Memorial of John – Andrew – and James Mc. Dougall – I John Smith humbly sheweth
That Your Excellency’s memorialists have actually begun clearing their respective allotments
of land on the upper branch of the Hawkesbury River – and are residing on them – But from
the dread of the Natives are compell’d to reside and work alternately on each others farm
having no men for a protection and assistance.
Therefore they humbly beg that Your Excellency would be pleased to take their
uncomfortable situation into your most humane consideration and grant them such assistance
and indulgence as Your Excellency may in your great goodness and wisdom think meet.
And Your Excellency’s memorialists
Will as in duty bound
Ever Pray
October 19th 1816
I certify to His Excellency the Governor that whatever assistance the memorialists are to
have as settlers, it will be best to give it to them immediately on their going to reside on their
farms at the Branch, it will enable them to protect each other and also be the means of their
sooner getting their land under cultivation.
Wm Cox J.P.
265
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816nov.html
Whether it be Scotland, Canada or Australia the McDougall’s seem fond of building Ossian’s Hall. In the
1760’s the Scottish poet, James MacPherson, published a series of poems that he claimed were translations from
the Scots Gaelic of Ossian. The most famous concerned the mythological hero Fingal. MacPherson’s work is
thought to have been an inspiration for the Romantic Movement. It is now generally conceded that
MacPherson’s work was largely a fabrication.
266
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Clarendon
29th Novr. 1816.
NB The Memorialists has resided on their farms on the Upper Branch since September last
and has with great difficulty cleared several acres of land which is now in a state of
cultivation and planted with corn.’267
21st of December, 1816: Annual feast announced for 28th December 1816.
Macquarie again used the word Aborigine in a government proclamation.
‘GOVENNMENT AND PUBLIC NOTICE
SECRETARY'S OFFICE, SYDNEY. Saturday, 21st Dec.1816
AGREEABLY to that Part of His EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR'S Proclamation, bearing
Date the first of November last, wherein His EXCELLENCY invited a general friendly
Meeting of the NATIVES, they are now reminded of the same; and Notice is hereby given,
that the said friendly Meeting of the Black Natives or Aborigines of this Colony, will be held
at the Market Place in Parramatta, on Saturday next, the 28th of this present Month of
December, at the Hour of Ten in the forenoon. - And the Natives are accordingly invited and
requested to attend on that Occasion with their Families, under the Assurance of being kindly
received, and plentifully furnished with Refreshments of Meat and Drink.
The Magistrates, Peace Officers, and Settlers throughout the Colony, will be pleased to
acquaint the Natives residing in their respective Neighbourhoods, or occasionally resorting
to thither, with the present Invitation for a general Meeting on the said 28th Day of
December Instant.
And the Gentlemen composing the Committee of the Native Institution, are requested to
assemble at Government House, Parramatta a little before the Hour of Ten in the Morning on
the said 28th Instant.
By Command of His Excellency,
J. T. CAMPBELL, Secretary’268
Monday 16th of December, 1816: Serjeant Broadfoot’s reward
‘Drew a Draft of this date on the Police Fund, in favor of Serjt. Broadfoot of the 46th. Regt.
for Fifteen Pounds Sterling (£15), as a reward from Government for his recent very active
and useful Services in pursuit of the Hostile Tribes of Black Natives, along the Rivers
Hawkesbury, Nepean, and Grose. — 269
Memorandum for Capt. Gill
Arty. Engineer. – Sunday 22d. Decr. 1816. 1st. To order Six Gorgets or Breast Plates with chains for Native Chiefs to be made
immediately according to the former size and form. – Two of the said gorgets to have the
following inscriptions engraved on them respectively: Vizt.
On one Gorget
“Mary-Mary”
“Chief of the Mulgowy”
Colonial Secretary’s Index, (Reel 6046; 4/1736 pp.140-2).
Sydney Gazette, 21st December 1816, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176965
269
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816dec.html
267
268
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“Native Tribe.”
1816
------------------------------On the Gorget“Branch-Jack”
Chief of the Hawkesbury Upper Branch
Native Tribe
1816.
d
2 . To order four small square Breast Plates (agreeably to the accompanying size and form)
with chains to be made immediately – for meritorious Natives – and have the undermentioned
names engraved thereon respectively.
Vizt.
1 Colebee
2 Pulpin
3 Mulgowy - Joe
4 Charley – Mulgrave
Each of the Plates for the above four natives to have the same inscription engraved on it as
the accompanying Form with the alteration of the Name. –
L.M.’270
Saturday 28th of December, 1816: Annual feast
The two following accounts of the Annual Feast while containing much of the same
information differ somewhat in their degree of effusion.
‘Pursuant to Public Notice and Invitation, a number of friendly Natives or Aborigines of the
Colony, amounting in all to 179 Men, Women, and Children, assembled at Parramatta in the
forenoon of this day – and were most hospitably and plentifully regaled and entertained with
Dinner and Punch at the expence of Government – in presence of myself and the Gentlemen
of the Committee for the Civilization of the Natives; the Children (15 Boys & Girls) at the
School or Institution, having been presented and shewn to their friends and Relatives now
assembled – who were much pleased with their clean healthy appearance – and progress in
Education.
The Gentlemen of the Committee dined with me Afterwards at Government House. –
L. M.’271
The Gazette provided a particularly unctuous account of this pioneering model of social
engineering. The structure of the feast revolved around gender, hierarchies and a free meal.
Aboriginal people, broken into subjects and chiefs, formed a passive foil to the Governor and
his entourage. These divisions were reinforced with the awarding of brass plates to the
“chiefs” and presents to the various guides. Mrs Macquarie played an appropriate second
fiddle to her husband, arriving to see the Native Institution children paraded before the
“chiefs”. The Governor and his wife were no doubt suitably touched by the tears of
Aboriginal women “at seeing the infant and helpless offspring of their deceased friends, so
happily sheltered and protected by British benevolence”.
270
Call No: DLDOC 132
Digital Order No: a3057004
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid+877023&suppress=N&imgindex=1
271
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1816/1816dec.html
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This, like all subsequent interventions, soon fizzled out.
‘On Saturday last the 28th ult. the Town of Parramatta exhibited a novel and very interesting
spectacle by the assembling of the Native Tribes there, pursuant to the GOVERNOR'S
gracious invitation. — At 10 in the morning the Market-place was thrown open, and some
Gentlemen who were appointed on the occasion took the management of the ceremonials. —
The natives having seated themselves on the ground in a large circle, the chiefs were placed
on chairs a little advanced in front, and to the right of their respective tribes. — in the centre
of the circle thus formed, were placed large tables groaning under the weight of roast beef,
potatoes, bread, &c. and a large cask of grog lent its exhilirating aid to promote the general
festivity and good humour which so conspicuously shone through the sable visages of this
delighted congress.
The GOVERNOR, attended by all the Members of the Native Institution, and by several of the
Magistrates and Gentlemen in the neighbourhood, proceded at half past ten to the Meeting,
and having entered the circle passed round the whole of them, enquiring after, and making
himself acquainted with the several tribes, their respective leaders, and residences. His
EXCELLENCY then assembled the chiefs by themselves, and confirmed them in the ranks of
chieftains to which their own tribes had exalted them, and conferred on them badges of
distinction, whereon were engraved their names as chiefs, and those of their tribes. — He
afterwards conferred badges of merit on some individuals, in acknowledgment of their steady
and loyal conduct in the assistance they rendered the military party when lately sent out in
pursuit of the refractory natives to the west and south of the Nepean. — By the time this
ceremony was over Mrs. MACQUARIE arrived, and the children belonging to, and under the
care of the Native Institution, 15 in number, preceded by their teacher, entered the circle and
walked round it; the children appearing very clean, well clothed, and happy. — The chiefs
were then again called together to observe the examination of the children as to their
progress in learning, and to civilized habits of life. — Several of the little ones read, and it
was grateful to the bosom of sensibility to trace the degrees of pleasure which the chiefs
manifested on this occasion. — Some clapped the children on the head, and one in particular
turning round towards the GOVERNOR, with extraordinary emotion, exclaimed
"GOVERNOR,—that will make good Settler — that's my Pickaninn!"—and some of their
females were observed to shed tears of sympathetic affection, at seeing the infant and
helpless offspring of their deceased friends, so happily sheltered and protected by British
benevolence. — The examinations being finished, the children returned to the Institution
under the guidance of their venerable tutor; whose assiduity and attention to them merits
every commendation.
The feasting then commenced, and the GOVERNOR retired amidst the long and reiterated
acclamations and shouts of his sable and grateful congress. — The numbers of visitants
(exclusive of the 15 children), amounted to 179; viz.—103 men, 53 women, and 21 children.
It is worthy of observation that 3 of the latter mentioned number of children (and the son of
the memorable Ben-ni-long was one of them), were placed in the Native institution
immediately on the breaking up of the congress on Saturday last, making the number of
children, now in that establishment, altogether 18; and we may reasonably trust, that in a few
years this benevolent Institution will amply reward the hopes and expectations of its liberal
Patrons and Supporters, and answer the grand object intended, by providing a seminary for
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the helpless offspring of the natives of this Country, and opening the path to their future
civilization and improvement.’272
29th of December, 1816: Breastplates
‘Memo! – 29. Decr. 1816.
Gorgets or Breast Plates to be made for the two undermentioned Native Chiefs: Vizt.
1 “Gogie – Chief of the George’s River Native Tribe. 1816.
2 ‘Wowany”
Chief of the Botany – Bay
Native Tribe
1816.
Small Plates to be made and engraved for the two following natives
Vizt.
1 Reward of Merit
for
“Harry”
1816
2 “Rewards of Merit”
For
“Tindall”
1816’273
Sunday 12th of January 1817: Nurragingy and Mary-Mary visit Macquarie
‘This day Nurragingy (als. Creek Jemmy) the Chief of the South Creek, and Mary-Mary the
Chief of the Mulgowy – Natives – with their respective Tribes amounting to 51 (men, women
& children) Persons, paid me a visit at Parramatta – and were entertained in the Govt.
Domain there by direction of Mrs. Macquarie with Breakfast and Dinner this Day; the 17
Native Children at the Institution having also been entertained with Fruit and presented to
their Parents & Relatives belonging to those two Tribes. — Narrang Jack,274 one of the
hostile Natives some time outlawed, came in on this occasion and gave himself up – to take
the benefit of the last Proclamation. —
L. M.’275
8th of February, 1817: Payments to William Cox and Serjeant Broadfoot
The following expenses were “for the quarter ending the 31st of December 1816”.276 For Cox
they were distinct from the payment of 30th October 1816/
Sergeant Broadfoot received yet another reward.
272
Sydney Gazette, 4th January 1817, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176987
Call No: DLDOC 132
Digital order No: a 3057005/6
State Library of NSW
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid+877023&suppress=N&imgindex=1
274
Narrang Jack (Little Jack) P. 74, J. Brooks and J.L. Cohen, The Parramatta Native Institute and the Black
Town, University of New South Wales Press, 1991.
275
http://www.library.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1817/1817jan.html
276
Australian Archives of NSW (Reel 6038; SZ759 p.313).
273
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‘William Cox, Esq. for sundry Articles, Expences and Rewards supplied and paid by him on
account of Government, for the working parties employed in constructing the public roads in
the new discovered County, and for Guides and Provisions, &c. furnished by sundry Settlers
and other Persons, for the Military Detachments sent in pursuit of hostile Native Tribes.
£179 – 8 - 1
Serjeant Broadfoot, of the 46th Regt, as a Donation from Government, for his, active and
zealous exertions in the execution of the Public Service after the hostile Natives. £15 - 0 –
0.’277
4th of April, 1817: Macquarie to Bathurst
Macquarie’s report to Bathurst of his success in quelling Aboriginal resistance was a
masterful bureaucratic document. He blamed the violence on “the hostile Spirit of Violence
and Rapine, which the black Natives or Aborigines of this Country had for a Considerable
time past Manifested against the White Inhabitants”. “Rapine” has largely disappeared from
the English language; it means the violent seizure of property, not rape. His actions were
expressed in terms of his proclamations of the 20th of July and 1st of November, 1816. Thus
Macquarie wrote of his success in “disarming the Natives”. He wrote of his success in
“outlawing some of the Most Violent and Atrocious Natives” particular Aboriginal people and
offering an “indemnity to such as delivered themselves within a prescribed Period”. There
was no mention of lives being lost. He was able to end with the hope that his Native
Institution would “ultimately pave the way for the Civilization of a large Portion of the
Aborigines of the Country”.
‘In my Dispatch P'r the Brig Alexander of date 8th June last, I had the Honor of Informing
Your Lordship of the Measures, which I had deemed it adviseable to pursue in respect to
Quelling and Subduing the hostile Spirit of Violence and Rapine, which the black Natives or
Aborigines of this Country had for a Considerable time past Manifested against the White
Inhabitants; and I have now much pleasure in reporting to Your Lordship that the Measures I
had then and have Subsequently adopted have been attended with the desired Effect, and that
all Hostility on both Sides has long since Ceased; the black Natives living now peaceably and
quietly in every part of the Colony, Unmolested by the White Inhabitants. The Measure of
disarming the Natives had an immediate good Effect upon them, and the Proclamations
Issued Subsequently under dates, 20th of July, and 1st of November, 1816, the first outlawing
some of the Most Violent and Atrocious Natives, and the Second holding out Indemnity to
such as delivered themselves within a prescribed Period, made them at length fully Sensible
of the Folly of their Conduct, and soon afterwards induced the Principal Chiefs to Come in at
the Heads of their respective Tribes to sue for Peace and to deliver up their Arms in All due
Form in Terms of the Proclamation of the 4th of May, 1816, a Copy of which accompanied
My Dispatch under date 8th June last.
I now do myself the Honor to transmit for Your Lordship's further Information My
Proclamation under dates 20th July and 1st November, 1816, relative to the Hostile Natives;
a numerous friendly Meeting of whom took place at Parramatta on the 28th of December
last, when I gave them a plentiful Treat of Meat and Drink; on which occasion 179 Men,
Women and Children were assembled, being a greater Number than had been seen together
at any one time for Several Years past; they All appeared happy and perfectly Satisfied at the
Meeting, and some of them of their own free Will and Accord gave up their Children for the
Native Institution, which I had established at Parramatta some time before; and this
Institution, from the progress the Children have already made, gives great Hope that it will
277
Sydney Gazette, 8th February 1817, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2177063
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ultimately pave the way for the Civilization of a large Portion of the Aborigines of the
Country.’278
3rd of May, 1817: Payment to Quartermaster McDonald
The payment to Quartermaster McDonald was probably for materials used by the various
expeditions rather than for any expeditions led by him.
‘Quarter-Master M'Donald, of the 46th Regt, the amount of Necessaries, ordered to be issued
as Donations from Government, to detachments of said Corps employed in pursuit of the
hostile Native Tribes’279
5th of October, 1818: Land grant to Ralph Turnbull as a reward for chasing the natives
In James Meehan’s Surveyor’s Notebooks 114 and 145 there is a record for “60 acres for
Ralph Turnbull and 40 acres as a reward for chasing the Natives when hostile”. William
Stubbs received a land grant “as a reward for chasing the Natives when hostile”.280
From the records it is possible to assert that in 1816 Governor Macquarie authorised through
the military and magistery a number of well organised punitive expeditions involving
soldiers, settlers and Aboriginal guides that aimed to clear the Nepean Hawkesbury Valley of
hostile Aboriginal people. The similarity of Cox’s memorandum of the 19th of July and
Macquarie’s proclamation of the 20th of July show the close relationship of free settlers and
the Governor. The fact that Magistrate William Cox was not only a prominent property
owner who had suffered from Aboriginal attacks, but also the commander of the Windsor
garrison, further reinforced the link between property and the law.
Various combinations of soldiers, settlers and Aboriginal guides ranged across the Nepean
Hawkesbury Valley from Wright’s Bringelly farm, across to the Mulgoa farms of John
Blaxland and William Cox and downstream to the Hawkesbury, the Colo and McDonald
Rivers. A significant difference between the military expeditions in the first half of the year
and the expeditions under martial law was that of command. There were no commissioned
officers in the field under martial law and Magistrate Cox commanded all the parties in the
field under martial law in the Hawkesbury and probably well up the Nepean. Serjeant
Broadfoot was the highest ranking soldier in the field. He was highly competent. He had
already led one expedition in May in the districts of May and Cooke. Under martial law he
was in the field from approximately July to November.
Cox’s memorandum and Macquarie’s proclamation both followed a policy of divide and
conquer. Aboriginal people were not allowed on farms unless they helped in the capture of
the ten hostiles. It was a policy that was open to abuse.
The official records were curiously coy about the numbers killed. Officially only four
Aboriginal people were killed. Payments and land grants were invariably made for the
“pursuit of the hostile natives”, not for killing them. However, it was likely that the
authorities were pleased with the results. William Cox received one payment of “£76.10.7.”
278
Page 342, HRA, Series 1, Vol. IX, The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, Sydney, 1917.
Sydney Gazette, 3rd May 1817, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2177205
280
Rewards were common. On the 2nd of September1824 the Gazette carried a reward of 500 acres for the
capture of Windradyne, also known as Saturday.
279
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On the 8th of February 1817, he received another payment of “£179 – 8 – 1”. Serjeant
Broadfoot received a reward of “Fifteen Pounds Sterling”, on the 16th of December 1816.
On the 8th of February 1817 “Serjeant Broadfoot, received another £15 - 0 – 0”. William
Stubbs and Ralph Turnbull both received land grants on the river. Constable McLaughlin
received his across the Richmond Road from Colebee and Creek Jemmy. I am not sure where
McFadden received his.
The historical record strongly suggests that more than four warriors were killed under martial
law in 1816. In 1805 there were several hundred Aboriginal warriors under arms. A handful
of casualties were reported in despatches under martial law in 1805. There were
approximately a dozen Aboriginal warriors under arms in 1816. Officially only four
Aboriginal people were killed under martial law in 1816 and even that number did not make
its way to England. Under martial law in 1824 on the other side of the Blue Mountains,
during the drought there were no officially reported Aboriginal casualties.
The troubles on the other side of the Blue Mountains in 1824 throw light on the reporting of
the events of 1816. On the 7th of June 1824, Elizabeth Macarthur wrote from Parramatta to
her friend Eliza Kingdon in England regarding the troubles near Bathurst. “Last week we
received some very some very alarming accounts from the settlement at Bathurst. The natives
had barbarously put to death, a number of stockmen in the service of individuals settled in
that neighbourhood – plundered the huts – set fire to them – killed numbers of sheep and
cattle – spreading terror and devastation around. A young gentleman a proprietor at
Bathurst called here on Saturday last. He had come from thence with several others to solicit
the Governor for aid and assistance. He said he had seen the bodies of seven white men
brought into the settlement in the morning he set off. I know not what measures will be
resorted to, in order to check these barbarities, which upon the whole are a far more
aggressive nature than any that have before taken place. Heretofore when guilty of these
outrages the natives have not been checked by lenient measures, on the contrary emboldened
by success they have proceeded to commit further atrocities, until at length it has been found
necessary to send a military force to terrify them into submission and to prevent further acts
of barbarity. It is now many years since so alarming a circumstance has taken place. Twice
we have had our own stations molested, each time, two lives were taken, the huts plundered,
and set fire to. This happened when Mr. Macarthur was in England. The military were
obliged to interfere, to prevent the further effusion of innocent blood.”281 Mrs. Macarthur’s
letter referenced killings in 1805 and 1816 that resulted in military intervention.
The “young gentleman” after visiting the Macarthurs probably went to William Cox. There is
a written record of a meeting chaired by William Cox “of the stockholders of New South
Wales held at the Sydney Hotel of on Thursday the 3rd. June 1824”. On behalf of the
Memorialists Cox wrote to Governor Brisbane praying that “your Excellency will be pleased
to afford them that prompt and effective assistance – which your memorialists feel confident
they have only to solicit to obtain”.282 Cox’s confidence may well have been based on past
experience.
Another meeting, at which Saxe Bannister was present, took place on the 16th of July 1824.
Saxe Bannister wrote “Mr. – considered the present case at Bathurst to be one of open war,
to which the black natives were urged by a desire of plunder only; and impossible to be duly
281
Pages 451-452, Sibella Macarthur Onslow, (ed), Some Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden, Angus
and Robertson Ltd., Sydney, 1914.
282
AONSW, Reel 6065, 4/1799, 10-11, (also recorded as 31 and No. 31).
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checked without a very large military force being sent thither, with orders to act in one
extended line at once, and advancing over the whole country, so as to sweep and destroy the
natives before them.”283 While Saxe Bannister did not identify the gentleman as William
Cox, the military action proposed by “Mr. –“ was consistent with that undertaken under
Cox’s leadership in late 1816.
In July 1824 Lancelot Threlkeld was told by a magistrate, that “a gentleman (Mr Cox) of
large property”284 at a public meeting in Bathurst stated: “The best thing that can be done is
shoot all the blacks and manure the ground with their carcasses. That is all they are fit for! It
is also recommended that all the women and children be shot. That is the most certain way of
getting rid of this most pestilent race.”285
On the 6th of August 1824, William Cox appeared as a defence witness in the trial of five
men charged with the manslaughter of three Aboriginal women, on the other side of the Blue
Mountains. 286 Governor Macquarie’s proclamation of the 4th of May 1816 was used in
defence of the men. William Cox as a defence witness described how “In his situation as
Magistrate, a military guard had been placed at his disposal. Parties went out in 1816 with
the Magistrate at their head; and they always came to a Magistrate, except the soldiers under
Captain Shaw, who received their instructions from Government; and the settlers did never
attack the black natives alone without a Magistrate.287 There have been no depredations, by
the natives, on this side the mountains, since the promulgation of that Regulation in 1816.”288
While I do not doubt Cox’s word, I have been unable to find any record of settlers acting
independently of soldiers. One must assume that no records were kept of such parties.
In response to a request from Magistrate Scott, George Bowman (1795-1878) provided an
account of the events of 1816. George was almost certainly an eyewitness to the events and
may well have been involved in them. His account includes the oft quoted sentence: “The
military did not attempt to take the Blacks and make prisoners of them but shot all they fell in
with and received great praise from the Governor for so doing.”
Lancelot Threlkeld was enroute to the South Seas Islands as a missionary when he arrived in
Sydney on 11th May 1817. He was invited to Dr. Arndell’s Cattai estate where he met Sarah,
Arndell’s fourth daughter and who was to become Threlkeld’s second wife in 1824. It would
have been in this visit that he was told of the killings of late 1816. Threlkeld left Sydney for
the South Seas in September 1817. He returned in August 1824 after the death of his first
wife. In this account reported in The Colonist, 27th October 1838 he recalled:
“When he came to this place about twenty-two years ago, he was astonished to hear a man
boasting how many blacks he had killed upon his land. One instance he remembered, which
struck him as marked with peculiar cruelty. A native was taken by a party of whites, and
283
Page 124, Saxe Bannister, Statements and Documents Relating to Proceedings in New South Wales, in 1824,
1825, and 1826. Cape Town, W. Bridekirk, Heeregracht, 1827.
284
Whether this was the father or the son is unclear.
285
Pages 49, 74 and 128, Niel Gunson, Editor, Australian Reminiscences and papers of L. E. Threlkeld,
Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, 2601.
286
The original charge was murder.
287
In his memorandum of the 8th of October 1816 Cox complained that he only saw the parties in the field
intermittently.
288
http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/nsw/cases/case_index/1824/supreme_court/r_v_johnsto
n_and_others/ and http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/494903
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made to ascend a tree with a rope round his neck; this he was directed to fasten to one of the
limbs of the tree; when he had done so, he was fired at again and again; he was wounded and
clung to the tree. A volley was then fired at him, he let go his hold, and was left suspended as
a terror to others. Was it surprising, he asked, when they were tortured by such acts of
cruelty, if they became apt scholars? If the natives did wrong, let them be punished; let them
be punished on Christian principles; let not the innocent be punished for the guilty.”289
In the same issue the Reverend Dunmore Lang290 who held the “first communion service in
Australia at Ebenezer, in accordance with Presbyterian forms” in 1814 was quoted as saying
“The records of the colony – he meant those ascribed by the recording angel – contains many
a history, dark, dismal and appalling. He had been shown places on the Hawkesbury, where
the “commando” system had been carried on, and the natives literally hunted down and
shot.”291
Writing twenty years after the event, William Romaine Govett (1807-1848), who came to
New South Wales as a surveyor in 1828, also recorded the combination of soldiers, settlers
and Aboriginal guides in crushing resistance. His account is consistent with the parties
operating under martial law in the second part of 1816. Govett's account was interesting for
its simplistic and inaccurate reduction of relations to a muscular trial of strength.
“Throughout the county of Cumberland in 1816, and more lately at Bathurst, the most
dreadful excesses were committed by them till hunted down by bodies of soldiers and settlers
with the aid of other natives. Many, very many lives might have been saved had timely and
efficient means been adopted; for it has been observed that the various tribes of savages have
always one time or other essayed a trial of strength with the whites, and, when once fairly
satisfied of their inferior power, live ever afterwards in perfect harmony with them.”292
Similar arguments were found in a Memorial presented to Governor Gipps. The memorial
had been signed by eighty-two “pioneers of civilization”, including Sir John Jamison, John
Blaxland, Stuart Donaldson, W. H. Dutton, Thomas Icely, John Easles, Robert Lethbridge,
William Sims Bell, Thomas Walker, H James McFarlane, William Hovell, Hamilton Hume,
and Philip Gidley King. The Memorial was written in the context of the 1838 drought and the
Myall Creek massacre and sought government intervention against Aboriginal people who
were resisting expansion. The significance of the Memorial lay in its reference to acts of
289
The Colonist, 27th October 1838, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/4246179
John Dunmore Lang arrived in 1823 to become the colony’s first Presbyterian Minister. Page 80, D.G.
Bowd, Macquarie Country, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1979.
291
The Colonist, 27th October 1838 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/4246179?zoomLevel=3
The Oxford English Definition of Commando follows:”S. Africa...A party commanded or called out for military
purposes; an expedition or raid: a word applied in South Africa to quasi-military expeditions of the Portuguese
or the Dutch Boers (esp. the latter) against the natives.” The earliest record cited by the OED is for 1834. An
earlier record appeared on pages clxvi-vii of Saxe Bannister, Humane Policy or Justice to the Aborigines of New
Settlements, first published London 1830, Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1968. In 1802 Dr. Vander Kemp wrote
“Should, however, the governor, with all his horror for commandos, yield to this application, and be persuaded
to order one, under the most rigorous cautions against excess, then is the joy of the boors let loose. Conscience
is silenced – fears vanish - complaint is no longer heard. Some of them even expatiate upon the tortures they
will inflict upon their prisoners, whilst others make a merit of sparing a few children, whose services their wives
or daughters have demanded for themselves. The thirst for blood is slaked, not at kraals known to have done
them mischief, but at such as will be the most defenceless.”
292
Page 195-197, William Romaine Govett, Sketches of New South Wales, originally published in The Saturday
Magazine in 1836-37, republished by Gaston Renard, Melbourne, 1977.
290
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former Governments.” Almost certainly the memorialists were referring to the imposition of
martial law in 1805, 1816 and 1824.293
Sydney, 8th June 1838
“Your Memorialists are of opinion that these untutored savages not comprehending or
appreciating the motives which actuate us attribute forbearance on our part solely to
impotence or fear, and are thus rendered only more bold and sanguinary. This opinion
founded on past experience will receive ample confirmation on reference to the history of this
Colony and the acts of former Governments. It is undeniable that no district of the Colony
has been settled without in the first instance suffering from the outrages of the Natives, and
that these outrages continued, until put an end to be coercive measures. Conciliation was
tried in the first instance but invariably failed in producing any good effect, and coercion was
ultimately found unavoidably necessary, which, if earlier adopted would have saved much
bloodshed on both sides. It is only when they have become experimentally acquainted with
our power and determination to punish their aggressions that they have become orderly,
peaceable, and been brought within the reach of civilization.”294
Much later, in the Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 25th October 1890, Edward Charles
Prosper Tuckerman, , gave an account of the expedition based on his father’s recollections, in
which he said: “Not less than 400 blacks were killed in that expedition”. Given his
background his recollections are probably quite sound and not exaggerated. His father was
Stephen Tuckerman, a Sackville farmer. His mother was Sarah, daughter of Charles Beasley,
also of Sackville.295 Prosper was born in 1833 at Wilberforce. His future wife, Maria
Fleming, was born at Wilberforce in 1836. She was the daughter of Joseph Fleming, the older
brother of John Henry Fleming, who successfully evaded a murder warrant for his part in the
Myall Creek massacre. John Henry and Charlotte Fleming were the god-parents of his four
sons.296 His brother Stephen was a Hawkesbury magistrate.
The interviewer was probably John Charles Lucas Fitzpatrick, the founder and editor of the
Windsor and Richmond Gazette. It was highly unlikely that Fitzpatrick was shocked by
Tuckerman's revelation. In the Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 1st September 1888, the
following appeared: “Out in the back country one generally manages to become acquainted
with the use of fire-arms; game is abundant, and a good shot can pot any thing from a
kangaroo to a nigger”. On 1st June 1889, in the Windsor and Richmond Gazette, also
appeared; “Once more the few remaining dusky natives of the colony have had their
respective blankets doled out to them. Year by year they are growing beautifully less, and in a
very short space of time it will be necessary to chronicle the demise of the last genuine
aboriginal of the district.”
293
Pages 264-265, Roger Milliss, Waterloo Creek, 1992.
Page 29, Australian Aborigines, Copies of Extracts of Despatches relative to the massacre of various
Aborigines of Australia, in the year 1838, and respecting the trial of their murderers. House of Commons 1839
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=hTBDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq
295
Prosper’s family background is not untypical of early Hawkesbury settler familes. His grandmother,
Elizabeth Crouch, a convict, had four men in her life, reflecting the challenges of a convict mother. The first,
Captain Stephen Tuckerman, was lost at sea in 1802. She married William Addy who had been driven out of
Sackville in 1796 by Aboriginal attacks. He died in 1812. Her next husband, Thomas Ivory died in 1815.
Edward Churchill was a successful Sackville farmer and raised her son Stephen, which probably explains
Thomas’ presence in the Tuckeman vault at St. Thomas’ cemetery, Sackville.
(http://australianroyalty.net.au/individual.php?pid=I52308&ged=purnellmccord.ged).
296
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 20th June 1908, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/85862861
294
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It is possible to relate the events described by Mr. Tuckerman to 1816 from a comment
elsewhere in the same paper where Mr. Tuckerman recalled “I could show you in the creek by
the old homestead the cedar logs rolled there when the land was cleared in Waterloo year
1815, and as sound as the day they were felled”. It was impossible for a company to have
been billeted on the Beasley farm. A full strength company at that time was one hundred
men. More likely, it was Corporal Milner’s party. The readiness of the soldier to shoot the
Aboriginal man in the tree strongly suggests that the soldiers had orders to shoot on sight,
which makes Mr. Tuckerman’s estimate that “400 blacks were killed in that expedition”
plausible, particularly as it was supported by the corroborating statements of Bowman and
Cox. The fact that the Aboriginal man stayed with the family rather than return to the bush
strongly suggests that he had no one to return to; that it was no longer possible to survive in
the bush, and being Aboriginal was enough to place your life in danger.
‘The Hawkesbury in Early Days
Speaking to our friend, Smithurst, of the “Mudgee Independent,”297 recently, Mr. P.
Tuckerman of Sackville Reach, gave a lot of information which will be found elsewhere. The
“Independent” goes on to say: Having exhausted local topics somewhat, the conversation drifted towards the Hawkesbury,
and the old family home of the Tuckermans.298 The present members of the family are the
second generation of colonials – the father having been born in the colony in 1802 – when
Captain King was Governor. It seems a long time since Bonaparte was in the height of his
power, and Nelson had bombarded Copenhagen and brought away the Danish fleet, but
those were the events which occupied the mind of this pioneer colonist of the Hawkesbury
and his sons. The grant of land at Sackville Reach was made by Governor Macquarie, and
was cleared in the days when the blackfellow was still an element in Australian life, which
had to be taken into account. “The Aborigines had grown troublesome in the valley,” said
Mr. Charles Tuckerman, and a company of soldiers was sent from Sydney, and quartered in
the house of the young lady who was afterwards to be my father’s wife. Not less than 400
blacks were killed in that expedition. One night my father then a lad was out with one of the
redcoats, on the lookout for birds or opossums, when his companion exclaimed, “Hello!
Here’s game of another sort,” pointing to a blackfellow up a tree. ‘I must bring him down.’ It
was only by the use of all his powers of pleading that the lad could get the life of the poor
fellow spared, on condition that he was kept in the home paddock until the troops were gone.
He became a faithful and useful fellow, and when he died years afterwards, was buried by my
father.’299
Certainly no-one protested Tuckerman’s figures.
Maria and the inquest into Nanny Cabbage’s murder
In June 1817 two soldiers of the 46th Regiment, Peter Watson and James Rattray met three
Aboriginal girls, Nanny Cabbage, Norry and Currumburn, at Kent Street Sydney and offered
them alcohol and money in return for sexual favours. They connected at Cockle Bay. Norry
and Currumburn left. Later two or three men heard the screams of Nanny Cabbage and
investigated. They found Nanny speechless, she had a stomach wound that nearly severed her
leg from her body. The men did nothing and returned to their Kent Street homes. Nanny died
297
Mudgee Independent, 1875-1892.
Sackville Reach.
299
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 25th October 1890.
298
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during the night. The inquest was conducted by John Lewin. Maria from the Native
Institution, assisted as a translator for Norry and Currumburn.300 Maria had been admitted to
the Native Institution in 1814 aged about six. In 1817 she would have been about nine years
old. The significance of this incidence lies in Maria’s retention and knowledge of at least one
and possibly more Aboriginal languages. It suggests that the children in the Native Institution
were retaining and enriching their culture, not losing it.
Demise of the Parramatta Native Institution
The following account by the Reverend Walter Lawry of an encounter with Yellomundee on
the 29th of October, 1818 is important because:
 it shows that that traditional Aboriginal life continued;
 it reveals Aboriginal fear of missionaries taking children away to the Native Institution;
 reinforces the argument that Yellomundee was the father of Maria; and
 it was the last contemporary reference to Yellomundee.
‘While in this district (Portland Head) I availed myself of an opportunity of speaking to a
tribe of native blacks. They were preparing for a war with another tribe, making swords of
timber, and womaras ( a sort of club), and spears in great number for the combat;
discovering this as I rode through the woods, I put my horse up at a settler’s house and
walked towards them. As I approached, the women and children ran away; but the king
(Yellowmonday), with several men, came to meet me. I enquired why the children were
carried off; they replied that many of them had been taken away by men in black clothes, and
put to school at Parramatta, and they feared I was come on that errand. After assuring them
to the contrary, the King dispatched messengers after the absentees, who presently mustered
them on the spot where I was conversing with their Chief.’301
13th April 1819: school examinations
Not only did George Howe report on a child from the Parramatta Native Institution coming
first in the school examination in Parramatta but he reflected upon the progress of the
children and signalled a change in attitude since the exchange between Philanthropus and A
Friend to Civilization in the pages of the Gazette in 1810. Contrary to the general consensus,
my personal opinion is that the girl who won first prize was probably not Maria, daughter of
Yellomundee.
‘On Tuesday last an Anniversary School Examination took place at Parramatta, at which the
children of the Native Institution were introduced, their numbers not exceeding twenty; those
of the schools of the children of Europeans amounting nearly to a hundred. Prizes were
prepared for distribution among such of the children as should be found to excel in the early
rudiments of education, moral and religious; and it is not less strange than pleasing to
remark, in answer to an erroneous opinion which had long prevailed with many, namely, that
the Aborigines of this country were insusceptible to any mental improvement which could
adapt them to the purposes of civilized association, that a black girl of fourteen years of age,
between three and four years in the school, bore away the chief prize, with much satisfaction
to their worthy adjudgers and auditors. Other prizes were designated to children of much
desert; and it was declared generally that the attention paid to their instruction by their
various instructors was entitled to much praise for their zeal in so good a cause, manifested
I first came across this information in Peter Turbet’s The First Frontier. I have not yet investigated the
source, AONSW, Judge Advoactae’s reports 1796-1820, Reel 2232, pp.97-112.
301
Page 263, J. Brooks and J.L. Cohen, The Parramatta Native Institute and the Black Town, University of
New South Wales Press, 1991. Originally in Pages 170-71, Colwell J., History of Methodism, Sydney 1904.
300
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in the improvement of their pupils. At the time His EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR
MACQUARIE was pleased to institute and patronize the Institution for the maintenance and
instruction of these poor children, it was considered by very few otherwise than as a benign
wish to withdraw them from a condition which had no rank in the scale of human nature; but
under this benign auspices, aided by the zealous exertions of the Gentlemen appointed to its
Committee, we have already the happiness of contemplating in the infant bud the richness of
the expanding flower. That they might have been for many years to come reserved for the
contempt of the more enlightened world no doubt may be formed; but do not all late accounts
inform us that the black natives of Africa are in the exercise of high offices in St Domingo;
which they not only conduct with precision, but fill with a degree of urbanity (which may
nevertheless be more confined to the reception of strangers than to common habit) and why
then should we despair of the poor people being equally redeemable from their state of
abjection, which was in itself but natural to persons whose only associates were the animals
of the forest?
It is true, that repeated instances in our natives, have occasioned their adapting themselves in
youth to European manners, and in the end retreated to the woods to rejoin their kindred: but
in this there can be nothing to be wondered at: that state amongst the white population that
was assigned to them was possibly little better than the one they had forsaken; the meanest
offices of drudgerery (sic) always reflecting upon their minds a picture of debasement, a want
of attention to their common wants, of which our very dogs and horses had not to complain.
Such treatment could not be considered a fair trial of their capacities or fixed inclinations.
On the contrary, it was sufficient to disgust instead of withdrawing them from habit which at
maturer age appeared to themselves to be even less intolerable. In a Gazette ten year ago we
recollect ascribing to another cause their voluntary return to original habits.302 Man cannot
be happy without society, for nature has enriched him with a mind which unfits him to the
state of solitude. A poor native boy in a kitchen was worse than in a state of solitude; for he
had constantly, and the more so as he improved in faculty, to lament a debasement which
nature alone had stamped upon him. There is an associate which man in every condition
finds congenial to his wishes; the smallest bird has its mate; the untamed son of the forest
defends his den, and protects his yet inoffensive family of yelping cubs; out of the woods the
poor half civilized native had no chance of a mate; no chance of ever sharing in the tender
feelings of a parent, which the very crocodile evinces. The doubt of their capacity and
fairness of intellect must now wear off; and it will no more be doubted that this our infant
Native Institution will prove eventually honorable to its earliest Patronage, and add
additional honor to the Country whose benevolent efforts are sounded throughout all parts of
the habitable world.’303
Opposition to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Among the Aborigines
The Reverend Richard Hill, 1782-1836, arrived in 1819 as an assistant to Reverend Cowper.
An early indication of his humanitarian leanings was his establishment of the NSW Society
for Promoting Christian Knowledge Among the Aborigines. Founded in 1698 The Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge was the oldest Anglican mission.
302
In 1810, letters on this matter were dashed off by Philanthropus and A Friend to Civilization. It is likely that
Philanthropus was the Reverend Cartwright and A Friend to Civilization was George Howe, the editor of the
Gazette.
303
Sydney Gazette,17th April, 1819, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/494184
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Hill’s proposal for the establishment of the NSW Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
Among the Aboriginal people met with strong opposition from what would appear to be an
unusual alliance of clergy and landowners on the frontier. The signatures of the clergy on the
petition should be seen as an indicator of the internecine relations of the Sydney clergy. The
landowners did not want any possibly embarrassing interference in their operations.
The petition to Governor Macquarie was cleverly constructed. It used Macquarie’s Native
Institution as an argument against any other enterprise and used the costs of running the
school as leverage. The petition was careful to explain that the degraded and very wretched
state of the Aboriginal people was a result of land clearances. No mention was made of
Macquarie’s Proclamations of 1816. Some of the signatories had been, or would be, involved
in a different sort of clearance. Despite the author’s fondness of commas over full stops I
have maintained the original grammar, or lack of grammar.
‘Windsor 24th August 1819
Sir,
We have the honour of addressing your Excellency on the subject of a printed advertisement,
under date the 12th instant, and which lately came to our knowledge announcing to the public
the establishment of a society for “Promoting Christian knowledge amongst the Aborigines
of New South Wales and its dependencies,” signed by his Honor the Lieutenant Governor, the
judges and Clergymen of Sydney with your Excellency’s approval affixed thereto. –
From long experience, as Residents in the Interior of this Colony, we deeply face the justice
and important necessity of doing something to raise the Natives from the degraded and very
wretched state in which they still continue and on reverting to your Excellency’s Rules and
Regulations of 1814, in founding and establishing the Native Institution we there perceive
that it was founded not only on principles of justice but of humanity to the Natives, who most
certainly have been deprived of grat parts of their means of subsistence by our clearing the
lands of its timber, by which were cleared the greater part of the animal food etc.
This Institution has exceeded the most sanguine expectations of many of its admirers, as far
as it has yet been carried into effect, for it proves that the Native Children are as capable of
improvement as children in general. We therefore submit it to your Excellency’s
consideration whether or not, had the inhabitants an opportunity of enacting and expressing
their opinions on this very important subject, it would not be for the benefit of the original
Institution, as every gentleman with whom we have conversed on this subject, would willingly
come forward to support and extend, so highly approved and laudable an Institution as the
one established by Your Excellency, especially as the children already in the School are
arriving at an Age that will yet require such attention and expense to form and make them
good and useful members of society.
We have the honour to be, Sir
Your most obedient
humble servants
Jn: Jamison
James Mileham
Robt. Cartwright304
Mr:Minchin305
Mr. Cox:
304
The Reverend Robert Cartwight, 1771-1856, was a Church of England minister in the Hawkesbury, who in
1819 transferred to Liverpool. He was an early advocate of Aboriginal welfare.
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Thos. Moore306
Walter Lawry307
Chas Throsby
Thomas Carne309
Mr. Howe
John Wood310
Arch Bell
John Youl308
Robert Lowe
William Lawson
George Cox’311
A month later on the 23rd of September 1819 Governor Macquarie appointed the following
ten men to the Committee of the Native Institution:
‘The Honorable JUSTICE FIELD.
Sir JOHN JAMISON, Knt.
Reverend RICHARD HILL, Assistant Chaplain, Sydney.
Captain H. C. ANTILL, Major of Brigade.
JOHN PIPER, Esquire, Sydney
JOHN HARRIS, Esquire, Sydney
JOHN OXLEY, Esquire, Sydney
FREDERICK GARLING,
Reverend ROBERT CARTWRIGHT, Chaplain
Lieut. ARCHIBALD BELL, R. V. Corps, Richmond.’312
The Reverend Richard Hill was ensconced firmly within the tent and Jamison, Cartwright and
Bell, signatories to the petition opposing Hill’s initiative, would keep him firmly in place.
The “NSW Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Among the Aborigines” appears to
have had a short existence.
Compilation of Parramatta Native Institution Admission List: 1814 to 1820
‘Names of the Children of the Aborigines received into the Native Institution Parramatta,
since its foundation, 10 Jany. 1814313
No.
Date of
Admission
28 Dec 1814
Names.
Maria314
Supposed
ages.
13
2
3
"
"
"
"
"
"
Kitty
Fanny
12
9
4
"
"
"
Friday
12
1
State of learning
Tribe
Spells four syllables
in the Bible & reads
Reads & writes well
Beginning to read and
spell
Reads & writes well
Richmond
Not now in
school
Prospect
Cattai Creek
Portland Head
305
William Minchin had been a NSW Corps officer who left the colony in 1810 before returning in 1818. In
1819 he was given a 1000 acre grant by Macquarie which is compassed in the modern Minchinbury estate.
306
Thomas Moore, 1762-1840, sailor, master boat builder, settler and Georges River magistrate in 1819.
307
Walter Lawry, 1793-1859, was a Methodist missionary who arrived in 1818. He served in NSW and the
South Seas and is buried in Parramatta.
308
John Youl, 1773-1827, was an Independent missionary and Church of England minister best known for his
service at the Ebenezer church.
309
Thomas Carne, an 1818 free settler with land at Cabramatta.
310
John Wood was a free settler who arrived in 1818 and had land grants in the Bringelly area.
311
Colonial Secretary’s Index, 24th August, 1824, reel 6048, 4/1743, pages 166-8.
312
The Sydney Gazette, 2nd October 1819, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2179006
313
The date is incorrect on the original document. It should be 1815.
314
Maria was the daughter of Yellomundee. Maria married Robert Lock on the 26 th of January 1824. Maria’s
death certificate showed that she was born in 1794. It was more likely she was born in 1808. Page 250, J.
Brooks and J.L. Cohen, The Parramatta Native Institute and the Black Town, University of New South Wales
Press, 1991.
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5
6
7
8
9
10 Jany 1815
6 June 1816
"
"
"
10
"
"
"
11
12
13
14
15
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
16
"
"
17
18
19
20
21
9 Sep. 1816
28 Decr "
22
23
24
25
26
27
"
28
"
"
Billy
Nalour
Doors
Betty Cox316
Nilbah317
12
"
Betty
Fulton318
Tommy
Peter
Pendergrass
Amy
Nancy
"
Charlotte
"
"
12 Augt
"
23
"
"
"
"
"
"
1 Jany 1818
"
"
17 July 1818
25 Sep
"
15 Jany. 1819
1 March "
20 Decr
"
"
"
John
Davis
Dicky320
Judith
Jenny
Mulgaway
Joe Marlow
Neddy
Wallis
Jemmy
Henry
Maria, als
Margt.323
Nanny
d0
d0
South Creek
Absconded
d0315
15
15
Hawkesbury
Cowpastures
16
Reads and writes well
Improves in reading
and spelling
Reads and writes well
11
Reads and writes well
Hawkesbury
Cowpastures
Absconded
d0
8
10
Reads and spells well
Beginning to read and
spell
Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Died in
Sydney319
6
Reads and spells
9
13
7
Reads and spells well
Reads and writes well
Reads and spells
6
10
4
4
11
Reads and spells
Repeats the alphabet
d0
d0
d0
Cattai Creek
Absconded
Mulgoa
Mulgoa
Prospect
Prospect
Newcastle
Newcastle
Kissing Point
Absconded
D. 1/10/21321
D. 26/08/21322
Taken by her
315
Nalour and Doors were apparently captured on the Punitive expedition. Page 69, Ibid.
Betty Cox was married on the 19th July 1821 to a Aboriginal man called Johnny who took her surname. Page
84, Ibid.
317
Married on the 19th of July 1821. Page 84, Ibid.
318
Betty Fulton married Creek Jemmy’s son Bobby, on the 14 th of March 1821 and moved to the Richmond
Blacktown Road. Page 83, Ibid.
319
10th of October, 1821, Page 84, Ibid.
316
‘It is worthy of observation that 3 of the latter mentioned number of children (and the son of the memorable Ben-ni-long
was one of them), were placed in the Native institution immediately on the breaking up of the congress on Saturday last,
making the number of children, now in that establishment, altogether 18; and we may reasonably trust, that in a few years
this benevolent Institution will amply reward the hopes and expectations of its liberal Patrons and Supporters, and answer
the grand object intended, by providing a seminary for the helpless offspring of the natives of this Country, and opening the
path to their future civilization and improvement.’
Sydney Gazette, 4th January 1817, http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2176987
320
‘On Friday night last, THOMAS WALKER COKE an aboriginal native, and son to the renowned Bennelong, departed this
life, at the Wesleyan Aboriginal Mission house, in the vicinity of Parramatta after a rather short illness. It is an especial
duty, we conceive, to record the demise of this interesting youth: his age was somewhere about 20. When the Rev. Mr.
WALKER first came in the Colony he adopted the deceased as his own son, in the benign view not only of feeding and
cloathing him, but also to instil into his mind the saving principles of Christianity. A single aberration excepted, the once
poor friendless black-boy amply compensated his master-friend-and brother, for the sedulous attention that was paid to his
interest. Three or four months since, he was publicly baptized, being honored with the distinguished and humanizing name
of the immortal Dr. COKE. A few weeks since he was married to a native girl, who had been some considerable time
previous maternally treated in the family of Mrs.Hassall, of Parramatta: her name is Maria. Up to the period of his death he
gave satisfactory evidence of his acceptance with his Maker, leaving his Pastor a firm hope of his eternal happiness. He
ever seemed greatly interested in the present unenviable condition of his hapless race, and often fervently prayed that their
case should never be allowed to droop’. Sydney Gazette, 6th February, 1823, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2181620
321 Page 84, Ibid.
322 Page 84, Ibid.
323 Maria and Martha ran away in the first part of 1821. Page 83, Ibid. I t is possible that it was this Maria who married
Dicky. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the “Maria” who “had been some considerable time previous
maternally treated in the family of Mrs.Hassall, of Parramatta” had attended the Native Institute.
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29
"
30
31
30 May 1820
32
33
34
35
36
37
6 June
28 Decr
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
Sukey
Joseph
Billy George
3
Polly325
Martha326
Peggy
Charlotte
Caroline
Anna
16
10
8
10
7
1
d0
Reads and writes well
Repeats the alphabet
d0
d0
d0
d0
father.
Died at
Parramatta
D. 22/10/21324
Taken by his
father.
(Signed)
Richard Hill
Secretary
In the seven months June to December 1816, fifteen children were admitted to the Parramatta
Native Institution. Two of the fifteen, Amy and Nancy, came from Botany Bay, Charlotte
probably also came from Botany Bay. Four children, Nalour, Doors, Nilbah and Betty Fulton
came the Cowpastures and Wallis’ expedition. Peter and Pendergrass may also come from the
south. Three, Betty Cox, Tommy and John came from the Hawkesbury. Dicky came from
Kissing Point, Judith from Mulgoa and Davis from places unknown.
The demise of the Parramatta Native Institution was due to the complexities of colonial
society as much as anything else. Certainly disease-related deaths necessitated a move. In
October1821 eight children died or were removed from the Native Institution. Thirteen Maori
children died in Marsden’s New Zealand Seminary at Parramatta at the same time.
The governorship officially changed on the 1st December 1821 from Governor Macquarie to
Governor Brisbane. The Reverend Samuel Marsden, became chair of the Native Institution
Committee a fortnight later on the 14th of December 1821. His enthusiasm for the position
may not have been come from his concern for the children, but from religious rivalry. The
Reverend Samuel Leigh, the first Wesleyan minister to come to Australia in 1815, petitioned
the London Wesleyan Missionary Committee to appoint a missionary to the black natives of
New South Wales and the Reverend William Walker was appointed to this position, arriving
in April 1821. Walker was impressed by Nurrangingy’s settlement at Bell’s Creek, Rooty
Hill and conceived a plan to build an agricultural community around it. A fortnight after
Marsden’s appointment the Committee recommended that the Native Institution be shifted
out of Parramatta and across from Nurragingy’s land grant on what is now the junction of
Richmond Road and Rooty Hill Road North. This idea was originally William Walker’s, but
in the process, he was cut out of any involvement. The running of the Institution was now in
the hands of the Church Missionary Society. Given Henry Lamb’s previous relations with
Aboriginal people, his appointment as supervisor on the 1st of February 1822 of what was
now the Bethel Settlement may not have been in the best interests of the children. In 1825
Governor Brisbane closed the Native Institution. The children were moved around to various
institutions and the site was reused for a number of years before being sold into private
ownership.327
324
Page 84, Ibid.
Polly was married on the 14th of March 1821 to Michael Yarringguy, a constable at Richmond and moved to the
Richmond Blacktown Road. Page 83, Ibid.
326 Maria and Martha ran away in the first part of 1821. Page 83, Ibid. It was this Maria who lived with the Hassalls and
married Dicky.
325
NSW Heritage has an excellent coverage of the site’s history at
http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/07_subnav_02_2.cfm?itemid=5051312
327
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Several reasonably contemporary writings illuminate the failure of the Native Institution.
On the 11th of June 1838, the Reverend William Cowper wrote to Justice Burton, mainly
about the Wellington Mission. The following extract is about the Parramatta Native
Institution. While written long after the event Cowper’s letter is most telling in its account of
how hostility and neglect destroyed “attempts made to ameliorate the condition of the
aborigines in New South Wales.”
‘1814 - 1823
At Parramatta an establishment was commenced for the institution and maintenance of the
aborigines' Children. This Institution succeeded as well as could be expected, & indeed
beyond the anticipations of many. Several of the Boys and Girls made a fair progress in
reading, writing, arithmetic and religious knowledge. The Colonial Secretary, however, did
not like the Institution, and he desired measures for its abolition. - about 1822, I think, the
Children were all removed from Parramatta to someplace near Prospect, called the " Black
Town " - this change was a precursor to the final and complete extinction of the "Native
Institution", in 1823, or 1824.
On 31 Janry 1815 an attempt was made to induce a number of the adult Blacks to locate and
settle themselves at "Georges Head" there were Huts erected, and small patches of Garden
Ground were prepared for them; and our Boat was given to them. A European man was
appointed to assist the natives, but this plan was not attended with success. But the
European, feeling a little, if any, interest in the welfare of the natives, did not protect the
property thus appropriated for them, and in a short period the Huts and Gardens, &c were
destroyed, and the boat was lost, and this attempt failed.
About 1820, or 1821 another plan was devised on the half of a different Tribe at Elizabeth
Bay, Huts were erected, and some Ground was prepared for their cultivation. But this place
was too near to Sydney for while there was none to protect the property, there were many to
destroy. - in these attempts to settle and civilize the adult Natives there was no Missionary
employed to instruct them, nor any person of rank, intelligence, or influence, or of integrity,
to encourage them in their new condition, or to show them by his own example the
advantages of Christianity.
William Cowper’328
Robert Campbell was a merchant, land holder and friend of the ecclesiastical community. His
letter to Justice Burton, also written in 1838 provided valuable insights into contemporary
thought. He repeated contemporary prejudice as though it was true – there is no evidence to
sustain his claim that lust was the strongest passion of Aboriginal people.329 He failed to
appreciate why the very fine and remarkably docile boy at my sheep Establishment would
leave to marry a Aboriginal woman. He failed to appreciate that the unwillingness of
Aboriginal people to surrender their lifestyle represented a failure of the settlers to convince
Aboriginal people of the superiority of their ways. While his claim of ignorance of any harm
done by settlers seems disingenuous, it must be noted that he was a frequent visitor to
England and trade was his major occupation. His letter is also important in drawing attention
to the impact of venereal disease upon Aboriginal people.
328
http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/nsw/other_features/correspondence/documents/documen
t_68a/
329
The case of Daniel Moowattye as the only record of rape of a European by an Aborigine.
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‘Mr Campbell to Mr Justice Burton on the habits of the blacks
Sydney, 22 June 1838
My dear Sir,
I wish sincerely that it were in my power to afford you "much useful information" on the
subject which you have at present under consideration - I regret to be obliged to confess that
I have very little indeed to impart of which you are not already in possession.
I do not remember at this moment any attempt on the part of Government to civilize the
Aboriginal natives of this country; or to communicate to them the knowledge of the Gospel,
previously to the administration of General Macquarie. His predecessors were very kind,
personally to the poor creatures - one or two of their chiefs having occasionally dined at
Government House- and in this respect our early Governors were imitated by the respectable
Inhabitants, as I recollect observing, on my arrival in this Colony, numbers of natives about
the dwelling of Mr Commissary Palmer and other Gentlemen. But I think that the first
attempt to locate any one of the Tribes in a particular spot and to encourage them to apply
themselves to agriculture and fishing with a view to supplying their wants by the produce of
their own labour - and at the same time to institute schools for the education of their children
- was made during the administration of General Macquarie.
Several children were collected and fed clothed and instructed by a Mr. Hall in a house
erected for the purpose by the Governor on the Richmond Road; small portions of land were
likewise cleared in the vicinity and huts built thereon, in which a few of the natives were
coaxed to reside for a short time. About the same time huts were constructed at Elizabeth Bay
and Mrs. Macquarie zealously endeavoured to prevail upon the Port Jackson Tribe to settle
there, furnishing their Chief Bongaree with boats to enable them to obtain fish, for which
they could always find a market in Sydney. I think that from the Revd. Messrs Cartwright and
Cowper you could in all probability collect the most accurate information relative to the
details of either plan; and to the apparent causes of the failure in both instances of General
Macquarie's scheme for the amelioration of the condition in which he found the Aborigines.
The true cause is to be found, perhaps, in their invincible aversion to labour and to abiding
in one place more than a few days together. I know that it was the opinion of my late friend,
the Revd. Samuel Marsden, that they will neither be converted nor civilized until a
Missionary be found possessed of sufficient self denial to live amongst them, adopting their
vagrant habits until such time as he shall have acquired their full confidence. It comes within
my own knowledge that it is generally impossible to prevent their children, although trained
amongst white people, from joining their Tribes on attaining the age of puberty, and their
resembling thenceforth their savage Countrymen in all respects would lead us to infer that
they had derived no benefit either from our instruction or example. I had a very fine and
remarkably docile boy at my sheep Establishment, who could reap, drive oxen, heavy[?]
plough as well as a white man. This boy would kneel and repeat the prayers which he heard
white men uttering - and remained in my service some years. But when he wished to marry he
rejoined his Countrymen, resumed the savage practices which I supposed he had for ever
abandoned; and was I have learned, ultimately killed in one of the Conflicts. I ought to have
mentioned that Governor Macquarie instituted an Annual Feast to which the tribes resorted
from a considerable distance - and on this occasion a number of blankets were usually
distributed amongst them.
I believe that any outrage on their part (with the exception of rape which I am told they will
attempt whenever a defenceless white woman is thrown in their way - lust being their
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strongest passion:) committed on Europeans may be ascribed to a thirst for retaliation. It is
true that I am not aware of any instance of their having been wantonly injured by the Settlers
- but as we wield[?] our possessions their game - on which they depend for subsistence - is
destroyed - and our convict servants excite their jealousy by forming connexions with their
women.
The present condition of this degraded race is unquestionably most wretched in the vicinity of
Sydney , - but throughout the Territory their intercourse with the lower class of Convicts has
undoubtedly been extremely prejudicial to them. They have become [LINE OBSCURED] of
which aided by the Venereal Disease, has very much reduced their numbers already, in our
more settled districts, and it is to be feared, will ere long completely destroy the race.
I remain, my dear Sir, Yours truly,
Rob Campbell
22nd June 1838’330
George Reeves on Lachlan Macquarie
George Reeves, who was not an admirer of Lachlan Macquarie, wrote an insightful account
of Macquarie’s final land grants on his departure. Colbee and his brother both received land
grants in the middle of what is now Windsor. I have not been able to find in the Historical
Records of Australia a record of a grant to Colebee and his brother.331 The relevant document
(pages 560-566, HRA, Vol. 10, Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1917)
deals only with grants over 100 acres.
‘Before finishing with Lachlan Macquarie, I wish to refer to the scandal of his administration
in the matter of grants of land. A. long list in 1821 contains 822 names who received
additional grants for grazing lands. The total area alienated amounted to 74,920 acres. The
Secretary of State was responsible for a large number of recommendations. Edward Riley
received 1500 acres through being a long resident. Hannibal McArthur got 1000 acres
through having numerous stock, and James and William Mc Arthur, on their father's
recommendation, received 1000 acres each. Charles McArthur, for services rendered,
received 800 acres. One person, James Daley, of Windsor, had a grant of 50 acres
additional, through having met with misfortune. William Douglass, of Windsor, received an
additional grant through a loss by fire. William Cox, Esq., of Richmond, received 10,000
acres, 20 miles on the west side of Bathurst, through having a large increase of stock. Robert
Fitz, of Windsor, got 300 acres additional through. having a large family. On the 31st
October, 1821, an aboriginal native, named Colebee, of Windsor, whose English name is
listed as Edward Hore, had a small area grant of land at the old town; also his brother, John
Hore. Both these small pieces of land were bounded by George, Brabyn, and Macquarie
streets, and they are still vacant and unoccupied. They are situated at the corner of George
and Brabyn streets opposite the Benevolent Society's Home for old Hawkesbury people in
bad circumstances. Both Hores (Colebee and his brother) were attached to the police
quarters, at Windsor as blacktrackers, and as grooms for the mounted men. In my opinion,
330
Mr. Campbell to Mr. Justice Burton - habits and manners of the Blacks
No 71,
http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/nsw/other_features/correspondence/documents/docume
nt_71/
331
The Sydney Gazette, 24th February, 1821, carried a reference to “Colebee (a black native)” receiving a land
grant.
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for the areas of grants from 100 acres of land downwards, there was ample justification, but
not so in the excessively large grants to ex-military officers such as Captain William Cox, the
McArthur's and others of that caste. It will be seen that Macquarie, as a soldier, was nothing
more nor less than a looter, and despoiler of Indian potentates, relieving them of their wealth
in order that he and his friends at the English Court should possess a great wealth of gold
and silver ornaments and precious stones. Macquarie, having acquired the habit of
dispossessing natives of India, it was quite easy for him as Governor-in-Chief in New South
Wales to grant large areas of the best lands in the State to his military favorites.’332
27th of July, 1822: Lachlan Macquarie to Earl Bathurst on his achievements
In regard to recounting his achievements in civilising the “poor Black Natives or Aborigines
of the Colony” Macquarie’s despatch was a masterpiece of bureaucratic reporting.
Macquarie cast himself as an enlightened ruler by recycling Banks’ mistaken view that
Aboriginal people only lived on the coast. By doing this Macquarie was able to absolve the
British government and himself, of any responsibility for taking Aboriginal land in the
interior.
His achievements: the Native Institution, the Annual Congress and settling the Aboriginal
people were all largely dismantled within a decade.
He made no mention of the military operations that took place in 1816.
‘20. Considering the poor Black Natives or Aborigines of the Colony entitled to the peculiar
protection of the British Government, on account of their being driven from the Sea Coast by
our settling thereon, and subsequently occupying their best Hunting Grounds in the Interior,
I deemed it an act of justice, as well as of Humanity, to make at least an attempt to
ameliorate their condition and to endeavour to civilize them in as far as their wandering
habits would admit of.
21. With this view, I called a general meeting or Congress of the Natives inhabiting the
Country lying between the Blue Mountains and Port Jackson. This Meeting took place
accordingly at the Town of Parramatta on the 28th of December, 1814, when several
propositions were made to the Natives in respect to their discontinuing their present
wandering predatory habits and becoming regular Settlers.
22. It was also proposed to them to send their Children to School, at a Seminary I intended to
establish immediately for that express purpose.
23. Many of the Natives agreed to take Lands and settle permanently on them, and they all
seemed highly pleased with the idea of sending their children to school. It was therefore
determined to establish and open the Native Institution for Educating and Civilizing the
Children of the Aborigines on the 18th of the ensuing Month of January, when several of the
Natives promised to bring in their children, which they did; and the Institution was
accordingly established on the day above mentioned under the superintendence of Mr.
William Shelly, a pious, sober and steady good man, who had come out originally as one of
the Church Missionary Society.
332
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 8th July 1927, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/85953295
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24. This Institution has fully answered the purpose for which it was established, it having
proved that the children of the Natives have as good and ready an aptitude for learning as
those of Europeans, and that they are also susceptible of being completely civilized.
25. I limited the number of children to be received into the Institution to Twenty four, as the
expense of maintaining a greater number at one time would be very considerable, one half of
whom to be male, and the other female. The progress, these Black Children have made in
their Education, has been a subject of astonishment to every one, who has ever visited the
Institution. It has also had the good effect of completely conciliating the good will and
friendship of all the native tribes to the British Government, and of securing the most friendly
and social intercourse with them. Three Girls, educated at the Native Institution, have
already been married from thence to Native Youths, who have become Settlers.
26. The Adults, however, are naturally very indolent and averse to labor, and I had
consequently great difficulty in prevailing on any of them to become regular Settlers. But
determined to persevere in my endeavours to civilize these poor inoffensive Human Beings, I
at length prevailed on Five different Tribes to become Settlers, giving them their choice of
situations. Three of the Tribes chose to settle on the Shores of Port Jackson in the vicinity of
Sydney, on account of the conveniency of fishing, for which purpose I furnished them with
Boats and Fishing Tackle. The other two Tribes preferred taking their Farms in the Interior,
from the produce of which they now maintain themselves, and appear much pleased with
their change of condition; and their good example I hope will in due time reconcile many of
the other adult Native Blacks to become Settlers. I appointed the 28th of December of each
year for a general Meeting or Congress of all the Natives, which they have regularly
attended, upwards of 300 having been present at the last Annual Congress at Parramatta.’333
Curiously, W. C. Wentworth in his 1823 poem Australasia, penned a somewhat similar idea
of Aboriginal people retreating before the settlers.
‘… the mournful genius of the plain
Driv’n from his primal solitary reign
Has backward fled, and fix’d his drowsy throne
In untold wilds, to muse and brood alone.’334
1824-25: Drought and conflict
In the drought of 1824-25 there was violence on the Hawkesbury at Putty and the Lower
Hawkesbury, confirming my theory that violence tended to be on the edges of settlement.
A Aboriginal warrior known as both Bumblefoot, because of a foot deformity, and Devil
Devil attacked and nearly decapitated the convict Jeremiah Buffey, on September 19, 1824,
in the Newcastle area. Bumblefoot then appeared to have made his way to the Lower
Hawkesbury. Valerie Ross has put together a picture of his activities there.335 In early
October he knocked a settler senseless and took his food and clothes. Other Aboriginal
people told Richard Woodbury, special constable and local farmer at Laughtondale, that
333
Pages 676-678, Historical Records of Australia, Series 1, Vol. X, The Library Committee of the
Commonwealth Parliament, 1917.
334
http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/lema/1823/australasia2.html
335
Pages 31-32, Valerie Ross, Hawkesbury Story, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1989.
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Bumblefoot had a gun. Richard Woodbury captured Bumblefoot and took him by rowboat to
Windsor where he was charged with murder. The Sydney Gazette, of the 11th of November
1824 carried a report of the attack. ‘On Saturday, the 30th ult. Devil-Devil, an able-bodied
aboriginal native, with a cloven foot, was brought before a Bench of Magistrates at Windsor,
by Woodbury, a Portland-head constable, charged with murdering a servant of Mr. Dickson's
in the bush, by severing the poor man's head from his body with a tomahawk, while in the
while in the act of stooping down to the ground. The sable criminal was remanded for further
examination.’336 On the 26th of January 1825 Bumblefoot appeared before the Sydney Courts,
on an unstated charge; however, because he could not speak English and a translator was not
available he was remanded. On the 23rd of June 1825 he was charged with a violent assault
upon Jeremiah Buffey. The outcome of this case is unknown.337 The Reverend Lancelot
Threlkeld later wrote that Bumblefoot had spent a considerable time in gaol for this offence.
Bumblefoot threatened to kill him because Threlkeld had told him to return to his home,
Mangrove, forty miles distant from Newcastle. According to Mr Amos Douglas of Upper
Mangrove, he was killed by other Aboriginal people at Bumble Hills, between Mangrove and
Yarramalong.338 Bumblefoot’s movements between the Hunter and the Hawkesbury supports
my contention that Aboriginal people travelled widely and concealed from settlers their
knowledge of surrounding country.339
Valerie Ross recorded that in 1825 Thomas Dillon, a first Branch settler, had to “fly with
eight young children in a most distressed state from blacks and bushrangers to the district of
Appin”. I have not been able to locate Dillon’s letter in the AONSW.340
Obituary: Keturah Woods
Keturah Woods was born in 24 May 1824. Her father was Thomas Woods and her mother,
Sarah Mary, was the eldest daughter of Sarah Stubbs, who as a widow had married James
Painter/Paynter in 1806. Keturah claimed that when she was born her parents lived on Clink’s
farm, opposite Dillon’s at Wiseman’s Ferry. In 1835 the Wood’s moved downstream from
Sally’s Vale and almost opposite Woodbury’s.341 While it is possible that Keturah may have
witnessed the events described, they may have dated from the time she was born and entered
into her memory as a personal experience.
‘OBITUARY.
AN EARLY COLONIST.
There passed away recently at her daughter's residence; in Leichhardt, Mrs. Keturah
Butterworth, a very old colonist, who was born 81 years ago upon a point of the Hawkesbury
known as Klink's Farm, near Wiseman's Ferry. Mrs. Butterworth was the relict of the late
James Butterworth, of Balmain, to whom she was married at the Hawkesbury sixty-two years
ago. She had been a widow at the time of her death for 23 years, and was the mother of nine
336
Sydney Gazette, 11th November, 1824, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2183382
Sydney Gazette, 3rd February 1825 and 3rd June 1825.
338
Pages 31-32, Valerie Ross, Hawkesbury Story, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1989.
337
Valerie Ross also mentioned John Brown of ‘Flat Rock’, Lower Portland who reputedly feared the Aborigines
and had set aside a portion of his land for them. This John Brown who died around 1840 was apparently an old
soldier, but should not be confused with David Brown who was speared in 1799. I have not yet been able to
trace Valerie Ross’ source for this information.
339
a letter of John Brabyn, Colonial Secretary’s Correspondence, Reel 6068; 4/1812 p.11, suggested that
Bumblefoot was at Broken Bay.
340
Colonial Secretary’s correspondence, Reel 1119, AONSW Dillon’s letter of 25 May 1825 and Page 22,
Valerie Ross, Hawkesbury Story, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1989.
341
Pages 139-140, Valerie Ross, Hawkesbury Story, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1989.
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children (seven girls and two boys), many grandchildren, and five great grandgrandchildren. She herself was one of a large family, her parents, whose name was Woods,
having been among those, who emigrated from England at the beginning of last century. The
picturesque Hawkesbury was settled by a sturdy and courageous class, and the first residents
did splendid pioneering work, which has been continued by their descendants, in spite of
occasional periods of adversity, or even of disasters, such as recurring floods, of which the
greatest was the memorable flood of 1867. Mrs. Butterworth had many recollections of such
events. Again and again she had seen the heavy rains from the Blue Mountains pour down
the Hawkesbury Valley, the waters sweeping before them the haystacks, outbuildings, and
roofs, live poultry and pigs, the furniture, and even the cottages of residents, and bearing
them swiftly down to the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes the people themselves were drowned, and
whole farms were swept out of, existence. Another trouble that the early settlers experienced
was from the blacks, who, especially when the male members of a household were absent,
were very Aggressive and persistent in their demands, obtaining tobacco, sugar, etc., by
terrorising the women and children. Often they went further, bearing and carrying away
stock, or even firing crops and houses.
Mrs. Butterworth has frequently told of times when, as a child, she and others barricaded
themselves in their house, and watched the natives spearing their pigs and fowls. After her
marriage, in 1843, she remained for some years on the Hawkesbury, her husband carrying
on farming operations. In 1851, James Butterworth was seized with the gold fever, and he
went to the Turon, but not finding the streets of Sofala paved with loose gold, and
remembering that his heavy maize crop was ready to be harvested, he soon abandoned the
pick and Shovel and dish, and sought prosperity in the surer field of agriculture. At that time
as much as £20 was paid for a load of hay, delivered in Sydney, and other produce was
realising equally high prices.
After living for some years in Pitt Town, Mrs. Butterworth moved to Box Hill, then to
Bathurst, and afterwards to Trunkey. Thirty-three years ago she and her husband settled in
Balmain, and she spent the rest of her days in the metropolitan district. Until a year ago,
when her sight failed, Mrs. Butterworth retained all her faculties, and her memory for dates,
up till the day of her death, November 19 last, is described as wonderful. Her birthday was
May 24, coinciding, with that of the late Queen Victoria:’342
Land Exploration: 1817-1819
In September 1817 Benjamin Singleton mounted a small expedition to explore the country
between the Colo and MacDonald Rivers. He was accompanied by an Aboriginal man, who
may have been Miles. Somewhere around Putty he turned back.343
Between October – November 1817 Thomas William Parr accompanied by Benjamin
Singleton undertook a journey to Putty and the west of Mt. Yengo. Singleton left the party
and returned early. Parr’s party reached the headwaters of the MacDonald River before
making his way back. At Wheelbarrow Ridge they met a party of Aboriginal people, some of
whom came from Richmond, and they were guided to McDougal’s farm on the Colo.344
342
Australian Town and Country Journal, 3rd January 1906
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/71525972
343
Page 26, Andy MacQueen, Somewhat Perilous, Andy MacQueen, 2004.
344
Pages 35-57, Andy MacQueen, Somewhat Perilous, Andy MacQueen, 2004.
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In April 1818 Benjamin Singleton set off again with four settlers and a Aboriginal man. On
the tenth night out they camped at the foot of a mountain and during the night they were
“Disturbed by the Voice of Natives Cracking of Sticks an Rolling By with stones down
towards us every man of us arose an fled from the fire secreting ourselves behind trees with
our guns an ammunition”. On the following day at Mount Monundilla he encountered
“upwards of two hundred Natives who Had Never seen a White Man before except one the
name of Mawby who could speak a little English.” Mawby advised Singleton that he would
find a tidal river two days to the north east. Not believing that this was the Hunter and fearing
attack, Singleton returned. 345
John Howe, with five settlers and two Aboriginal men, one of whom was Miles, set out in
late October 1819 in search of a route to the Hunter River. On the 1st of November at
Burrowell Creek (to the east of Putty) they “fell in with a Natives Camp in No about 60 many
of which had never seen a white man and more had never seen a Horse many young ones run
away, and others got up trees for fear - Stopt to dinner and distributed about 7nor 8 doz
biscuits among them”. On the 4th of November the Aboriginal guides from Burrowell pointed
to “Coomer Roy” (Kamileroi country). “Coomer Roy” survives today as Comleroy Road
which for many years was the only way to cross the Colo River. Howe reached the Hunter
River in thirteen days, but he did not believe he had found it, thinking he had found a river
that flowed further north into Port Stephens. The route Howe had found was not, however,
suitable for waggons.346
On 27th November 1819 Commissioner Bell questioned Lieutenant Archibald Bell, about his
son William, who had followed John Howe’s northwards explorations to the Hunter.
“Boottie” is a reference to Putty. Bell’s claim that “some of them have expressed a wish that
My son would come to reside at Boottie” was more opportunistic than optimistic. Andy
Macqueen, in Somewhat Perilous, 2004, examined the expeditions from the Hawkesbury into
the Hunter and showed that the role of the Bells in exploring the area was slighter than what
Lieutenant Bell claimed.
‘You do not apprehend the natives would oppose any settlement that might be made in the
district your son has discovered?
I do not; several of them have expressed a wish that My son would come to reside at Boottie
the name they give to the district.347
Do they shew a great facility in acquiring the English Language?
A Wonderful facility, & they have very great imitative powers particularly in ridiculing
peculiarities of persons.’348
345
Pages 81-88, Andy MacQueen, Somewhat Perilous, Andy MacQueen, 2004.
Pages 89 - 101, Andy MacQueen, Somewhat Perilous, Andy MacQueen, 2004.
347
Bigge’s partiality to Bell is revealed by the following record “… the chief constable of Windsor, Mr. Howe,
had been employed to explore the country from the lower branch of the river Hawkesbury, in a northern
direction, to Hunter’s River, or the Coal River. This tract of country had also been examined at a more recent
period by a son of Lieutenant Bell, and was found to contain a long and stony ridge, covered with stunted
shrubs, and occasional small tracts of good pasturage. At a place that is called by the natives Boottee, several
vallies were found inclosed by rocky hills, passable for cattle. Proceeding further to the north, there was an
alternation nearly of the same kind, but an improvement in the soil, which continued as far as Comorri, upon
the banks of a branch of Hunter’s River, where it was the intention of Mr. Bell to make a temporary
establishment for his cattle.” Page 9, The Bigge Report, Australiana Facsimile Editions, No. 70, Libraries Board
of South Australia, Adelaide, 1966.
346
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Louis de Freycinet led an expedition in L’Uranie to the South Seas and NSW in 1817-1820.
Part of his orders were “to add new particulars to the history of savage nations”. Freycinet who had
been here in 1802 arrived in November, 1819 and left shortly afterwards. During his stay he spent time
with Piper, Judge Field, and the Macarthurs. He spent a fortnight travelling to Bathurst via Prospect and
Regentville.
Jaques Arago, the ship’s artist, stayed at John Oxley’s Kirkham property, which adjoined the
Macarthurs where he saw Aboriginal people. In Souvenir d’un aveugle: Voyage autor du monde, Hortet
et Ozanne, Paris, 1839, Arago described his observations of the natives including a conversation
with John Oxley which was particularly illuminating regarding his comments on declining
Aboriginal numbers and his use of the word conquest.
“I don’t want you to leave my home without making some acquaintance with the men who
roam these solitudes, and who are disappearing little by little, especially since our fire-arms
deprive them of resources they used to have before our conquest.”349
The artist Alphonse Pellion sketched two Aboriginal men, Tara and Peroa, at their camp on
the Nepean. Both men were wearing coats, but not pants. Significantly these men were
portrayed in a dignified manner. Neither displayed the drunkenness or degradation that the
English were commenting on at this time.
In December1819 Myles went back and was shown a better route by local Aboriginal people
to the Hunter. Myles later took Howe over the route.350
In 1821 the Reverend George Augustus Middleton and John de Marquett Blaxland undertook
first cattle drive to the Hunter. Middleton was going to take up clerical duties in the Hunter
where he had a 400 acre glebe grant. Blaxland was to expand his family’s cattle holdings into
the Hunter. The Bell's took up land at Patrick's Plains in 1821 and George Bowman was
granted Arrowfield and Archerfield in 1824 on the Hunter. Trouble broke out in 1825 when
the early Hawkesbury settler Joseph Onus's351 station on Wollombi Brook was plundered. 352
1823: Confusing evidence - Bell’s Line of Road
The first printed account of Archibald Bell junior’s crossing of the Blue Mountains appeared
in the Sydney Gazette, Thursday 9th of October 1823. It has only passing resemblance to
modern understandings of the crossing.
“We are happy to announce that Mr Archibald Bell, jun of Richmond Hill, has, after one
unsuccessful attempt, at last effected a passage from that part of the country to Cox's River
(on the other side of the Blue Mountains), which as the pass across these mountains tends so
much to the northward, will not only be the readiest route from the Hawkesbury and Hunter's
River, but will be as near from Paramatta, as the old road over the mountains by way of Emu
348
Pages 173-174, Selected and Edited by John Ritchie, The Evidence to the Bigge Reports, New South Wales
Under Governor Macquarie, Volume 1 The Oral Evidence, Heinemann Melbourne, 1971.
349
Page 69, Collin Dyer, The French Explorers and Sydney, UQP, 2009.
350
Pages 105-106, Andy MacQueen, Somewhat Perilous, Andy MacQueen, 2004.
351
Joseph Onus married Emma Powell, daughter of Edward Powell. Page 66, Alfred Smith, Some Ups and
Downs of an Old Richmondite,
352
Page 21, Andy MacQueen, Somewhat Perilous, Andy MacQueen, 2004 and. pages 50-54, Roger Milliss,
Waterloo Creek, 1992.
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ford, and infinitely less difficult and sterile. Mr. Bell is entitled to the sole merit of this
discovery; and is now gone to repeat and survey the route accompanied by a gentleman from
the surveyor general's office, and with government men and horses.”
Barron Field essentially plagiarised the Gazette in his account of 1825.
‘Since this was written, Mr. Archibald Bell, jun. of Richmond Hill, has, after one unsuccessful
attempt, effected a passage from that part of the country to Cox's River, which as the pass
across the mountains trends so much to the northward, will not only be the readiest route
from the Hawkesbury and Hunter's River, but will be as near from Paramatta, as the old road
over the mountains by way of Emu ford, and infinitely less difficult and sterile. Mr. Bell is
entitled to the sole merit of this discovery, and the route has since been surveyed by a
gentleman from the surveyor general's office’.353
Modern understandings of Archibald Bell Jnr.’s crossing of the Blue Mountains have been
largely shaped by Cooramill, Hawkesbury Herald, 15th January 1904, and Alfred Smith,
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 8th January 1910. Their accounts share in common a story of
half a dozen to a dozen Aboriginal women of the Belmont mob being kidnapped by warriors
from over the Blue Mountains. One of the women escaped and returned via what is now
Bell’s Line of Road which led to young Archibald discovering the new route. The story of the
kidnapped woman has become firmly cemented into the Hawkesbury consciousness; despite
the inherent improbabilities of there even being six to ten Aboriginal women at Belmont at
that time; let alone that any of them would have revealed the route to a settler.
Cooramill’s account like Smith’s was recorded many years after the events. It is unclear what
his source was. (I have excluded a few sentences which are irrelevant from the account.)
‘When speaking of the blacks in a former paper, I mentioned the Belmont tribe as being
numerous. They and the Piper’s Flat tribe often came into contact. It appeared that their
battle were principally to rob each other of their gins. The Piper’ Flat blacks would come
over the mountains by way of Springwood, cross the Grose River, and surprise the Belmont
tribe. It was, I think, the last battle between these two tribes that was the cause of Bell’s line
of road being opened.
…
As I before stated, it was through the last battle between the Belmont and Piper’s Flat blacks
the road was opened. It appears the latter were victorious, and carried away six of the
Belmont gins, and in about six days one of the gins returned alone, but from a different
direction than by the way she was taken off; and when questioned she pointed to the Big Hill
(Kurrajong Heights),354 saying, “that feller.” This event caused some surprise, not only to the
Bells, but to the blacks also, as it was thought there was no other way of getting over the
mountains than by Springwood. Mr. Bell, after a little term, organized a party, taking the gin
with them, and blazed a track through to what is now Lithgow, for which Mr. Bell was amply
rewarded by the authorities. Hence Bell’s line of road.’355
353
Page 435, Barron Field, Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales, London, 1825.
The escarpment, or Kurrajong Heights, appeared to have been known as Tabarag ridge or Talbaraga ridge
according to Major Mitchell in 1833 (Page 34, Meredyth Hungerford, Bilpin the Apple Country, Meredyth
Hungerford, 1995.
355
Pages 106-107, S. Boughton (Cooramill), Reminiscences of Richmond From the Forties Down,
Cathy McHardy, 2010.
354
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Alfred Smith, 1831-1917, was brought up by George James, one of the Hawkesbury’s earliest
police officers. Smith may have got account from James. While it was possible that there may
have been two Aboriginal men called Cockey on Bell's farm it is unlikely. Cockey was
certainly killed in 1816.356 It is also highly unlikely that there were even nine or ten gins at
Belmont let alone that number being taken away in 1823.
‘“Belmont” in the early days was a great place for blacks. Some blacks belonging to Piper’s
Flat came over and took away about nine or ten gins while the Belmont blacks were away.
Some little time later, after one of the gins turned up at Belmont on a Sunday. They were all
surprised to see her come back by herself. The whites asked her which way she came, and she
pointed up to the present Kurrajong Heights. She told them she came that way over the
mountain, and a man could get that way on horseback. Mr. Archibald Bell, son of the old
man Bell took two men with him (old William McAlpin was one) and two blackfellows,
“Cocky” and “Emery” and a couple of pack horses.357 They went as far as Lithgow (Brown’s
Swamp in those days). Mr Bell found out that a bridle track could be made to bring stock
over. He reported it to the proper authorities and was sent back to mark a line. I believe he
got something like 400 pounds for doing it. That is how it came to be called Bell’s Line.’358
Sarah Louise Matthew, wife of Felton Mathew, accompanied her husband on his surveying
expeditions in 1833-34. Her journal came to the National Library of Australia in 1938 and
was published by the Royal Australian Historical Society in 1943. Young Archie
accompanied the Mathews on a river journey from Windsor to Wiseman’s in February 1833
before leaving them to go to his Hunter River estate. His crossing of the Blue Mountains
would have been a topic of conversation.359 In March 1834 the Mathews visited Belmont
before journeying up Bell’s Line of Road, camping “at Bilpen a farm of Mr. Howell’s about
four miles from the cut rock”.360 In describing Archibald’s road she recounted that the “track
was shown by a native to Mr. Archie Bell, and he explored it as a road to Bathurst, at the
time when a new route thither was being sought”.361
Archibald Bell’s diary of the crossing did not come into the possession of the State Library
till 1977. A transcription was published by R. Else-Mitchell in the 1981 Journal of the Royal
Historical Society. Bell’s diary makes no mention of an Aboriginal girl. It does, however,
show that Bell followed the traditional settler discourse of ascribing an active role for settlers
and a passive role for Aboriginal people. If one rejects this model and assumes an active role
for the Aboriginal people then it becomes clear that Bell was deliberately led astray without
his knowledge. On the 3rd of August Bell followed a road, which he noted that was
completely overrun with Brush and that on four times our Native Guides were forced to
356
The fact that Cocky was mentioned at all, reinforces my contention that many of the Aborigines who we
know were killed had frequent contact with the settlers.
357
Emery, alias the Lawyer, was still alive in 1826. Sydney Gazette, 2nd September 1826.
358
Page 27, Alfred Smith, Some Ups and Downs of an Old Richmondite, Nepean Family Historical Society,
1991.These recollections were originally printed by Robert Farlow in the Windsor Richmond Gazette, 19091910.
359
Page 90-91, Mrs Felton Matthew’s Journal, Olive Harvard, Mrs Felton Matthew’s Journal, Journal of the
Royal Austrlaian Historical Society, Volume 29, 1943.
360
The cut rock was the earliest road to descend from Kurrajong Heights to the Bilpin ridge. Page 233, Olive
Harvard, Mrs Felton Matthew’s Journal, Journal of the Royal Austrlaian Historical Society, Volume 29, 1943.
361
Mrs Mathew here puts up an entirely different version of Bell’s discovery, i.e., that he was shown the route.
The descent of Cox’s Road down the western escarpment of the Blue Mountains was problematic. Various
attempts were made during the 1820s to address the issue culminating in the completion of Victoria Pass in
1832. Pages 231-3, Mrs Felton Matthew’s Journal,
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ascend a tree to look for the road. There can be little doubt that the Aboriginal people hugely
enjoyed their role of misguiding Archibald.
‘ found a very level Ridge the land appears generally excellent for cultivation on this we
headed Big Venne362 the Road is completely overrun with Brush that we found it impossible
to travel more than Six Miles in a Straight Direction this Day. And four times this Day our
Native Guides were forced to ascend a tree to look for the road. We this Night found
ourselves within 4 miles of the foot of a mountain Distinguished by the Natives by the name of
Tomah Which is a Round Hill plainly seen to the Right of the Weather-Boarded-hut.363 All
this way we found Plenty of excellent Water on both sides of the Road’.364
There can be little doubt that when Bell attempted a crossing of Mount Tomah on the 5th of
August his guides had deliberately directed him away from the “road”.
‘We this Day began Compass the back of the mountain which we found so Steep and Slippery
that in many places our Horses Slipt Down some Yards and as we Descended we found it
continue to get Worse. We returned back and made various attempts at Different Places but
still found ourselves more Perplexed at every attempt the Natives themselves had told us from
the time we Started that this Hill would put them out though they thought they could find a
good passage Down it.’
Bell came back in September 1823 and found the saddle between Mount Tomah and Mount
Bell. When the road was made the descent was so steep it became known as “Jacob’s
Ladder”.365
His diary also throws some light upon the confusion of settlers attempting to transcribe
Aboriginal words. On the 1st of August 1823 Archibald Bell Jnr. “Left Currajong Mills366
about 1 O’Clock and crossed two blind creeks onto the main Ridge and Stopped that Night at
a place called by the Natives Coolematta”. On the 2nd of August he recorded travelling on a
Remarkable Level Ridge Called by the Natives Bulcamatta.367 On the 5th of August he
reached “the top of Coolmatta”. “Coolematta”, “Bulcamatta” and “Coolmatta” were almost
certainly the same ridge. By the time G. M. C. Bowen took up his grant at Berambing in 1829
it had become “Bulgamatta”.
Some of the more interesting pieces of confusion concerning the Bell’s crossing of the Blue
Mountains can be found in the Wikipedia entries for Bilpin368 and Archibald Bell, Jr.369
According to the Bilpin website “The town was originally named after Archibald Bell, Jr., Bilpin = "Bell's Pin", (pin as in pinnacle) an adventurous man who crossed the Blue
Mountains at the age of nineteen in 1823”. The “Archibald Bell, Jr.” website states that
Archibald Bell Jr., gave his name to “Mount Bell, Bell Range, the town of Bell, Bell’s Line of
Road and Bilpin was originally named ‘Belpin’”. As yet I have not found any evidence of
362
Big Wheeney Creek.
Cox’s “weather-boarded-hut” was at what is now Wentworth Falls. This is an important reference,
indicating that the settlers were looking across from places such as the “weather-boarded-hut” to the northern
side of the Grose Valley and contemplating a possible route.
363
364
Conrad Martens made a sketck of Jacob’s Ladder in 1876.
Benjamin Singelton’s mills on the north side of Bell’s Line of Road near Comleroy Road.
367
Page 20, Meredyth Hungerford, Bilpin the Apple Country, Meredyth Hungerford, 1995.
368
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilpin,_New_South_Wales
369
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Bell,_Jr.
365
366
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Bell coining the word “Belpin”. A collection of early variations on the name can be found in
Meredyth Hungerford’s work on Bilpin. James Raymond, author of The New South Wales
Calender and Directory recorded “Belpin” in 1823. Mrs. Felton Mathews recorded “Bilpen”
in 1834.370 However, “Pulpin” was one of the native guides of 1816371 who was rewarded
with a breastplate by Governor Macquarie;372 and “Bilpin” was recognised as an Aboriginal
word in the Hawkesbury Advocate, 20th April 1900,373 suggesting the linking of Bell to
Bilpin is tenuous.
1817-1831: Disease
Interpreting historical records of disease among Aboriginal people in this period is difficult.
Firstly, references to disease among Aboriginal people were often as an addendum to
outbreaks among Europeans. Secondly, there are only a few direct references to the
Hawkesbury. While one can extrapolate from the records that what was happening in one part
of the County of Cumberland was also happening in another; it was not necessarily so, e.g., in
the case of small pox a carrier could entirely miss a small isolated group on the move.
Thirdly, contemporary understanding of the causes, nature and treatment of disease in the
early nineteenth century were extremely limited. Thus the relationship between declining
Aboriginal birth rates and gonorrhoea was largely unnoticed because knowledge of
differences between sexually transmitted diseases and their effects was little understood.
Measles, whooping cough and scarlet fever were unknown among Aboriginal children. There
may have been a measles outbreak in newly settled districts in the 1830’s.374
Judy Campbell has noted that colds and influenza (catarrh) led to Tuberculosis
(consumption),375 another disease unknown to Aboriginal people that appeared in Sydney in
the 1790’s.376 In 1820 the Russian Antarctic explorer, Captain Bellingshausen, called into
Sydney on the way to Antarctica and commented upon consumption and dysentery among
Aboriginal people.377 Settlers often attributed to the presence of these diseases among
Aboriginal people to their poor resistance to cold weather.
August 1820: Influenza
‘A cough has pervaded for the last month, which would require men of the first science to dip
into its etymology. From the state of the atmosphere we may be allowed considerably to
judge ; and yet so universal has been the disorder, that it has visited us more in the shape of
370
Pages 60 and 62, Meredyth Hungerford, Bilpin the Apple Country, Meredyth Hungerford, 1995.
Call No: DL Add 81
Digital Order No: a1893188
State Library of New South Wales
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid+862003&suppress=N&imgindex=188
372
Call No: DLDOC 132
Digital Order No: a3057004
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/ItemViewer.aspx?itemid+877023&suppress=N&imgindex=1
373
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/66369080
374
Page 24, Judy Campbell, Invisible Invaders, Smallpox and other diseases in Aboriginal Australia 1780-1880,
Melbourne University Press, 2002.
375
‘Cole-be's wife, the namesake of the Ba-rang-a-roo … died of a consumption’, Page 504, David Collins, An
Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume I, A.H. &A.W. Reed, Sydney, 1975.
376
By 1850 it was estimated that half the British population had consumption, or TB. Page 16, Judy Campbell,
Invisible Invaders, Smallpox and other diseases in Aboriginal Australia 1780-1880, Melbourne University
Press, 2002.
377
I have not been able to locate the primary source and must rely upon, Pages 336 352, Frank Debenham, The
voyage of Captain Bellingshausen, vol 2 , Hakluyt Society, London, 1945.
371
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influenza than in the ordinary visitation of colds and coughs. From the medical gentlemen of
the Colony we should have expected something upon this head. We should have happily
recorded anything from them upon the subject; but, having received nothing of the kind, we
are necessarily compelled to notice that which receives notice from no other quarter. For the
last month a cold has been gradually growing and in the last fortnight it has been terribly
confirmed. Scarcely a family in Sydney has escaped; men, women, and children have fallen
under the same disaster; coughs and colds run through every family; and it is only to be
accounted for from the state of the atmosphere. - Now we have watched the atmosphere; and
find westerly winds, inclining to the southward, have been extremely prevalent. Whether the
sudden changes of the wind from west to south may be the cause we know not. We know that
our blights come from the north-west; and how to account for this blighting: cold, which
seems to have almost affected everybody, and many dangerously, it is impossible to make out.
- It has all the appearance of a specific contagion, not proceeding from a weak and relaxed
habit of body, but from a humid state of the atmosphere. We do not hear that it has been
attended by any considerable degree of inflammation. The pulsation has been considerably
altered, but without circumstances indicating gangrene; the breath has been altered;
hoarseness has ensued; the loss of voice has in many places almost taken place; and in
children, who have not the means of complaining, their parents and nurses ought indeed to
be particularly attentive to them. Doctor Hooper recommends gentle acids, termed subacids.
The cough is met with a phlegm, and the patient, however young, should be incited to
expectorate, that is to persons who do not understand the word to throw off the phlegm as
fast as they conceive it, and a free expectoration, that is, a total throwing off the phlegm from
the stomach, will relieve it ; and children ought to be particularly instructed in this habit. It is
difficult, and little children are not capable of attending to the advice of their parents and
guardians, but considerable care should be used. The fever of Batavia, that sweeps so many
off every year, cannot be compared to anything worse than the distemper now predominating
here, whether called influenza or febris malignatae. Water gruel is its chiefest cure; a dark
room, total tenderness of deportment, and gentle acids, such as weak lemonade, which will
cool, heal, and prevent the painful cough.’378
‘A letter from a Medical Gentleman of Bunbury Curran,379 gives an interesting account of the
mortal efficacy of the late influenza that raged throughout the Colony for many weeks with
increased violence, and particularly among the scattered tribes of natives. After giving the
account of his own confinement by a severe visitation of the malady, and his lady being on
the verge of suffering under the like disaster, the letter proceeds to state that the natives of
the interior had suffered excessively from the same cause, which had produced a great
mortality; and that many young stout and robust people among them had become its victims,
during the winter. In one severe instance a father, a very stout man, not exceeding forty years
of age, with the mother and two daughters, and the infant of one of them, had all been carried
off within the space of a month, leaving but one alive, a male about three year old, very
distressed, until taken into protection by a European inhabitant of the settlement. Some cases,
this Gentleman observes, appeared to him to have terminated in inflammation of the lungs;
and that they had for the most part quitted the thinly wooded and more open tracts of the
interior, and betaken themselves to the sea-coast, and brushy and broken country, where
were quantities of honey, and where they would undoubtedly remain until the return of
summer. That these poor people should suffer intensely under every such contagion is not to
be wondered at, when their state of privation from all comforts of life is considered; and that
378
379
Sydney Gazette, 19th August 1820
Midway between modern Liverpool and Campbelltown.
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when prevented by bodily ailment from seeking their precarious means of sustenance, they
are likely to become victims to famine, as unhappily from distemper. Thirty years ago a
prodigious mortality was spread among them by a contagious distemper resembling the small
pox,380 of which the indented marks remained on many till very lately; and which, had it
continued to rage any longer, would probably have left but few alive in our vicinity.
The natives of Broken Bay, and other tribes, not very distant from Sydney, reported that the
calamity had proved fatal to many of them; and one, who was considerably intelligent, being
enquired of the cause, gave it as his firm and unalterable opinion that it was owing to the
putrescence of a whale that had gone on shore to expire on a neighbouring part of the coast,
which, as is reported of the Upas in the island of Java,381 had communicated its direful
effluvia to a great distance, and if imbibed among living subjects, would there as well as here
spread a contagion, only that the Upas killed so suddenly, that those who were affected never
lived to join in the community they had left; and, however indescribable, however
undiscernable the causes that had operated with us, yet the opinion of this native would
appear to have been somewhat held out by the knowledge that some months ago a whale was
fastened on by a boat, headed by Mr. Murray, of South Head, and escaped although so
severely wounded as to deny the supposition of its long surviving. Its spreading throughout
whole and many families would appear to denote that it was communicative from person to
person, and that if contracted by any one, the whole in the same close connexion were liable
to receive the contagion. Many have witnessed the effects, but we have not heard that its
causes have been as yet defined.’382
The death of Rowland Hassall from influenza in August 1820 saw a passing reference to its
impact on Aboriginal people, ‘the first visitation of influenza: The complaint was general,
many of the inhabitants were consigned to the grave in a few days, from the violence and fury
of the attack, and some few have to this day the remains of the visitation still as a painful
companion. Great numbers of the poor aborigines fell victim to this novel and severe
distemper. Mr. Rowland Hassall, a gentleman universally loved as a pious, benevolent, and
valuable member of society, and who had been a resident in the Colony for over twenty years,
died August 30th, 1820.’383
Aboriginal numbers on the Sydney Plain were declining. William Walker, the missionary
noted on “a visit to Windsor in November 1821 he did not see any Aboriginal people.”384
June 1822: Tuberculosis
Another Russian traveller, A.P. Shabel'sky, in June 1822 noticed the impact of tuberculosis,
attributing its causes to drunkenness and the climate.
‘But nothing is comparable to the pitiful life that they lead in the bush. The hollow of a
large tree serves them as a house, and in it they have only the warmth of their own body
as protection against the cold of night. In the summertime they feed on meat and
thereby contract a skin disease (a kind of scurvy), of which they cure themselves as
380
There is a general consensus now that small pox came with the First Fleet. While the author may be avoiding
that admission, the difference between small pox and chicken pox was only established in the mid 18 th Century.
381
A poisonous tree on the island of Java.
382
Sydney Gazette, 16th December 1820, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2179946/494753
383
Page 185, James S. Hassall, In Old Australia Records and Reminiscences from 1794, Originally printed
1902, Facsimile edition 1977.
384
Page 122, J. Brooks and J.L. Cohen, The Parramatta Native Institute and the Black Town, University of New
South Wales Press, 1991.
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soon as they begin to eat plants instead. Those of the natives who settled in proximity to
the English colonies became infected with smallpox. They died by thousands, and
whole generations vanished. The survivors of that awful time now abandon themselves to drunkenness which, in conjunction with the rapid changes of temperature
typical of the climate of Cumberland County, makes consumption quite common
amongst them.’385
1824: catarrh and consumption
The French naval surgeon René Lesson, “reported that measles and scarlet fever were absent
in Sydney in 1824, but most Aborigines had chronic cattarah and some women had
consumption.”386
John Macarthur, junior: A few Memoranda
John Macarthur, junior, 1794-1831, theoretically wrote A few Memoranda respecting the
aboriginal (sic) natives sometime between his return from England in 1817 and his death in
1831. 387 However, as he did not return to New South Wales after leaving in 1801 he could
not have written the document. It is more likely that the document was written by James or
William who returned with their father in 1817. The observation on returning from England
in 1817 that “I was greatly surprised to observe how much the natives were thinned in their
number” related not only to the imposition of martial law in 1816 but the impact of disease. It
is likely that this extract was written in the mid to late 1820's.388 It is an important primary
source for its stylistic construction which through the phrase “when the savage comes in
contact with civilized man”, which turns the Aboriginal people into the initiators of contact
and “civilized man” into the passive recipient of their attentions. It is this reversal of roles
that allows the young Macarthur to deny any oppression or ill-treatment and again in a
masterful neutralisation and removal of a Aboriginal presence to assert that they “have melted
away”. This was somewhat contrived.
However, apart from its stylistic manoeuvring the extract is important for its details of the
impact of disease. Influenza, tuberculosis and gonorrhoea were sweeping through the
Aboriginal populations. Differences in venereal diseases were little understood in late
eighteenth century Europe. They were known collectively as lues venereal. Early observers
of the presence of the disease, such as Collins and Malaspina have to be read with caution
when describing these diseases, particularly when it appears that endemic syphilis, which was
present in Aboriginal communities, presented symptoms similar to syphilis. Whether Collins
and Malaspina saw venereal syphilis, endemic syphilis, or both, is unclear. Malaspina’s
observation that Aboriginal people had “thighs and calves short, slender and bowed”,
suggests that he was seeing the effects of endemic syphilis.389 Peter Cunningham, a naval
385
Page 54, Glynn Barratt, The Russians at Port Jackson, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies,
Canberra, 1981
386
Page 103, Campbell, Invisible Invaders, Smallpox and other diseases in Aboriginal Australia 1780-1880,
Melbourne University Press, 2002 and Voyage medical autour du monde, pp110-111,.
387
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/AUS-PT-JACKSON-CONVICTS/2005-04/1113432356
388
If the Harry referred to by Barron Field in his Memoirs, published in 1825, is the same Harry referred to in
the Memoranda, then the Memoranda was written in the late 1820's.
389
‘The venereal disease also had got among them; but I fear our people have to answer for that; for though I
believe none of our women had connection with then, yet there is no doubt but that several of the black women
had not scrupled to connect themselves with the white men. … It was by no means ascertained whether the lues
venerea had been among them before they knew us, or whether our people had to answer for having introduced
that devouring plague. Thus far is certain, however, that they gave it a name, Goo-bah-rong; a circumstance
that seems rather to imply a pre-knowledge of its dreadful effects.’
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surgeon and superintendent-surgeon on four convict ships between 1819 and 1828; and a
Hunter Valley settler between 1825-6 displayed in the following record a knowledge of the
symptoms of gonorrhoea, an ignorance of its causes and a not uncommon willingness to
blame its spread upon Aboriginal women. “From their natural filthiness, the women soon
became diseased with gonorrhoea, and propagate this infectious malady amongst the
convict-servants who cohabit with them.”390
Campbell estimates that ten percent of Europe’s population had syphilis at this time. Probably
more had gonorrhoea. Gonorrhoea, which unlike syphilis is not lethal, was more common,
probably because it has a longer infectious period than syphilis. Left untreated it can result in
sterility among females, which would explain Macarthur's comments about falling Aboriginal
birth rates, which he related to tuberculosis.391 Hospital records in 1820’s suggest that
gonorrhoea was more present among patients than syphilis.392
‘Early in 1809, I accompanied my father and brother to England, - when we returned to the
colony, late in 1817, I was greatly surprised to observe how much the natives were thinned in
their number. For some days we saw none. …
Of the numerous tribes I remember during my boyhood belonging to Parramatta, South
Creek, Pennant Hills, not one native now remains. They have melted away, not the victims of
oppression or illtreatment or from any diminuation in their means of obtaining food, but as
another instance of a result; I believe must ever take place when the savage comes in contact
with civilized man. They acquire a taste for our luxuries, smoke and drink to excess, when
they can obtain the means, lose their manly independent bearing, will rarely take the trouble
to seek, their food as they used to do in the woods, - and with their constitutions impaired by
bad habits and excessive sloth, they are swept off in numbers by every epidemic. The
influenza is always very fatal. They appear to suffer much under any cattarrhal affliction. –
The women producing few or no children, there are none growing up to supply the places of
those carried off by disease.’393
1828: influenza
In a circular to the London Missionary Society, 8th October 1828, Threlkeld wrote: “In the
past year, death has under the form of influenza, made sad havoc amongst the Aboriginal
tribes, nor have Europeans much better escaped; Our men, our children, my wife, and myself
were all at one time severely laid up with this pestilence.”394
1828-32: small pox and chicken pox
Another small pox epidemic was noted in South-East Australia in 1828-1832. Regimental
surgeons, Imlay and Mair, of the 39th Foot, saw smallpox among Aboriginal people in
Page 496-497, David Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume I, A.H. &A.W.
Reed, Sydney, 1975.
390
Page 202, Editor, David S. Macmillan, Peter Cunningham, Surgeon R.N., Two Years in New South Wales,
First Published 1827, Reprinted, Angus and Robertson, 1966. On Page 95 of the same work, Cunningham
confidently assured his readers that “gonorrhoea is exceedingly common, and very virulent while it lasts, though
always yielding readily to low diet, rest, and frequent ablutions.”
391
Page 17, Judy Campbell, Invisible Invaders, Smallpox and other diseases in Aboriginal Australia 1780-1880,
Melbourne University Press, 2002.
392
Page 18, ibid.
393
Macarthur Papers, 1823-97, A4360, CY2378, Mitchell Library.
394
Page 99, Neil Gunson,
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Bathurst in 1831 and later in the same year on the east coast.395 It was reported in the Sydney
Gazette as being at Bathurst. It did not appear to be in the Hawkesbury in 1831, however,
chicken pox apparently was.396
Peter Cunningham: Two Years in New South Wales
Peter Cunningham, 1789-1864, travelled between Australia and Britain a number of times as
a surgeon on the convict ships. He was a settler in the Hunter for several years. In his work
Two Years in New South Wales, Edited by David S. Macmillan, First Published 1827,
Reprinted, Angus and Robertson, 1966, he clearly articulated colonial perceptions about
Aboriginal people. They were “debased”; their hands were “paws”; they “aped” their
superiors; they paraded the streets of Sydney in natural costume. There was a strong sexual
frisson in the following passage. Despite all the apparent evidence of their savagery,
Cunningham, like Wentworth and Field before him noted that: “All the natives around
Sydney understand English well, and speak it too, so as to be understood by residents”.
‘The women every where, that I have seen, wrap themselves in some species of cloak made of
opossum skins, or else in a blanket, but the men walk carelessly about quite naked, without
betraying the least shame; even many at this day parading the streets of Sydney in natural
costume, or with a pair of breeches probably dangling around their necks, which the modestmeaning donor intended to be applied elsewhere. It is amusing to see the consequential
swagger of some of these dingy dandies, as they pace lordly up our streets, with a waddie
twirling in their black paws. No Bond-Street exquisite could ape the great man better, for
none are better mimicks of their superiors; our colonial climatised females mincing it past
these undraperied beaux, or talking with them carelessly face to face, as if unconscious of
their nudity; while the modest new-comers will giggle, blush, cover their eyes with their
fingers, and hurry confusedly by.
All the natives around Sydney understand English well, and speak it too, so as to be
understood by residents.’397
The following passage combines not only elements of Enlightenment thinking that can be
traced back to the “tabula rasa” but also brings together various contemporary observations
from settlers. His account of the failure of the various civilising efforts and the references to
the 1816 campaign very much reflect the writings of Saxe Bannister. Towards the end of the
extract Cunningham clearly articulates the classic attitudes of “Other”.
‘Towards the Hawkesbury and Cow-pasture, the aborigines are not so near debased as
around Sydney, and most of them will live in huts if they are built for them. Many of these too
will work at harvest, and attend to other matters around the farm, having been brought up
from infancy among the farming whites; but their working is only by fits and starts, little
dependence being to be placed thereon. Several are employed and paid as constables, and
many now retained on clothes and rations, in pursuance of Governor Darling's admirable
regulations, for tracking thieves and bush-rangers.’398
395
Page14, Judy Campbell, Invisible Invaders, Smallpox and other diseases in Aboriginal Australia 1780-1880,
Melbourne University Press, 2002.
396
Page 54, ibid.
397
Page 186, Editor, David S. Macmillan, Peter Cunningham, Surgeon R.N., Two Years in New South Wales,
First Published 1827, Reprinted, Angus and Robertson, 1966.
398
Page 188, Editor, David S. Macmillan, Peter Cunningham, Surgeon R.N., Two Years in New South Wales,
First Published 1827, Reprinted, Angus and Robertson, 1966.
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‘They are excellent marksmen when accustomed to the musket, and dangerous and subtle
enemies when at variance with the whites, as, from their quickness of sight, they can detect
instantly the smallest object moving in the woods, and track readily almost every animal that
perambulates the forests. Therefore, it is quite impossible to surprise them, at any time except
early in the morning, through the assistance of a native guide: while they can always steal in
upon the whites, by gliding from tree to tree; for even when you do see them it is no easy
matter to distinguish them from a burnt stick. They are fearful to attack the whites, though
ever so few in number, if armed with muskets, knowing the unerring destructiveness of these
weapons; and the best way of retreating safely is by only pointing the musket at them, to keep
them at bay, as the moment it is fired they rush in and spear their victim.
During the harassing warfare with them in 1816, a stockman told me, that while watching his
cattle, and amusing himself in carving a walking-stick, with a fine kangaroo dog beside him,
he was startled several times by the loud snorting, snuffing and restlessness of the herd,
betokening somewhat disagreeable to them at hand; but altogether examining carefully with
his eye every object around he could perceive no cause for their alarm, till a sudden whizz
pointed out his cunning enemy, the spear passing him, and pricking his canine companion to
the ground. The savages, who had closed upon him in a semicircle, as in their usual way,
gave a tremendous shout and let fly a shower of spears, which he evaded by crouching
behind a tree, and seizing his musket, he kept them from closing, retreating slowly toward
home, till he saw a fair chance for a race, when bolting off, with the savages yelling at his
heels, he gained a river, and crossed it by swimming, in defiance of them all. …
In common with almost all savages, revenge with them is never satiated till quenched in the
blood of an adversary. Like the Chinese, they are not particular about the person; but if a
white injures them they generally satisfy their rage upon the first of that colour they can
conveniently meet with. They know not, in their wild state, what it is either to forget or
forgive; and when once they murder a white, always expect to be retaliated upon for it,
whatever appearances of friendship the other whites may put on, still believing they are yet to
suffer, and that only fear or want of opportunity prevents a reprisal. Hence, until some of the
tribe are killed by the whites, they never conceive themselves safe, and usually continue their
murderings until, in retaliation, blood is expiated by blood.
Throughout the county of Cumberland in 1816, and more lately at Bathurst, the most
dreadful excesses were committed by them till hunted down by bodies of soldiers and settlers
with the aid of other natives. Many, very many lives might have been saved had timely and
efficient means been adopted; for it has been observed that the various tribes of savages have
always one time or other essayed a trial of strength with the whites, and, when once fairly
satisfied of their inferior power, live ever afterwards in perfect harmony with them.
They had often, no doubt, just cause of hostility in the misconduct of the convict stockmen,
but as the innocent suffered equally with the guilty in their murderous assaults, and it was
known that forbearance only rendered matters worse, determined means ought to have been
instantly adopted to crush the hostile confederacy.’399
399
Pages 195-197, Editor, David S. Macmillan, Peter Cunningham, Surgeon R.N., Two Years in New South
Wales, First Published 1827, Reprinted, Angus and Robertson, 1966.
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‘The mode of their government, however, is I think by far the most insuperable bar to their
civilisation; and I know of no savages living in the same state, who have as yet readily been
exalted above the debased condition in which they were originally found. The first symptom
of advancement in a savage body is the establishment of chiefs, either elected or hereditary,
to whom all pay submission, and to whose protection they trust their persons and properties.
But here no such institution exists; might alone constitutes right; and as, consequently the
weak and industrious have no protection for their property against the strong and lawless,
they have no inducement to accumulate that which may draw down violence upon their
persons.
In primitive communities, generally speaking, the chiefs must be hereditary, and must have
acquired power to control the others, before much improvement can take place; when, if
these chiefs exercise their power with justice, and secure the inviolability of persons and
property, industry will soon be encouraged, and various useful arts originated. If, in this
state of embryo advancement, a chief of ability starts up who employs the resources of his
mind in the amelioration of his people, the society he governs will proceed far more
rapidly….
A degree of force we find to be absolutely necessary to urge man toward civilisation, in his
primitive debased state, and cause him to break up those habits he had acquired. It is only
when the mind is more enlightened, and reason supersedes animal instinct, that civilisation
will steadily advance among the community by the exertions of individual members. In
countries, therefore, where absolute hereditary chiefs exist, you have only to gain them over
to forward your views; but in countries differently circumstanced you must absolutely secure
the young, wean them from parental influence, and infuse into them new ideas and opinions
before you can make much progress.
We had an institution here, in Governor Macquarie's time, where the native children were
educated, and turned out of it at the age of puberty good readers and good writers; but being
all associated together, and their native instincts and ideas still remaining paramount, they
took to their old habits again as soon as freed from thraldom. Major Goulburn400 saw the
defects of this system when he had the direction of colonial affairs, and wisely broke up this
institution, quartering the boys in the Male and the girls in the Female Orphan Asylum,
where, mixing with a numerous population of white children, they will gradually imbibe their
ideas, and manners and customs too; and if care is only taken to provide them with humane
masters, no doubt good effects will result.
I have seen some native youths who made very tolerable servants for knife-cleaning and
such-like, even although taken into the house after being grown up; but fixed occupations will
probably never answer, for the first and second generations of these young savages, at least;
the wild feeling inherent in them must have time to wear out.’401
X.Y.Z: A Ride to Bathurst, 1827
X.Y.Z.’s observations of the effects of gonorrhoea display all the ignorance of the times and
not unusually blamed Aboriginal people for the spread of the disease. A close reading of the
400
Major Goulburn replaced John Campbell to become the first official Colonial Secretary in February 1821.
Pages 204-205, Editor, David S. Macmillan, Peter Cunningham, Surgeon R.N., Two Years in New South
Wales, First Published 1827, Reprinted, Angus and Robertson, 1966.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ta6d3hENPa4C
401
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last sentence raises the question of whether the greater temperature range produced by
extensive land-clearing on the Cumberland Plain had affected Aboriginal health.
‘The black race is visibly declining in numerical strength every year ... For want of white
female companions the distant stock-keepers are eaten up with disease, the result of their
connection with the black women. The contagion is going through the natives with the most
fatal ravages, and will more certainly put an end to them, more certainly than sword or
musket. But it is astonishing how long they linger under it, the cause of which can only be
discovered in that extreme rigour of life, of cold, hunger, and nakedness, in which they pass
many of the winter months.’402
17th of August, 1831: looming extinction
On 17th August 1831 Captain Cyrille Laplace visited Sydney. During his stay Laplace
visited Sir John Jamison’s property at Regentville where he witnessed the obligatory
display of Aboriginal tree climbing. Laplace left in September 1831, later he reflected,
"'Not long ago,' concluded Laplace, echoing his earlier compatriots, 'one encountered
plentiful tribes of natives around Sidney. Today one scarcely discovers but a few
families, and soon the immoderate consumption of alcohol and epidemic illness brought
from the Old World will have wiped them out . . .The government of Sidney has done
everything possible to tame this unfortunate race [cette malheureuse race] .. . but these
attempts have not succeeded.'”’403
Aboriginal people on the Hawkesbury 1817-1831
1819-22: Aboriginal sailors
The youth of the Thomas Chaseland who found fame in New Zealand is largely unknown.
During his life he appears to have been known variously as Thomas Chaseling, Thomas
Chaselin and Thomas Chaseland. This confusion well illustrates the difficulties of working
with primary sources in attempting to untangle the complexities of relations between
Aboriginal people and settlers on the Hawkesbury.
I am of the opinion that the only document that connects the adult Thomas Chaseland with
the Hawkesbury can be found on page 31 of the Ship Musters 1816-21.404 The sixth crew
member ot the brig “Jupiter of Calcutta” “bound for the Derwent in V D Land” on the 5th of
August 1817 was “Thos Chaseling son of a settler at Windsor by a native woman”. His
father would appear to have been Thomas Chaseland, who was transported in 1791 and
received in 1803 a land grant at Mud Island, Portland Reach. By 1816 he had changed his
name to Thomas Chaseling.405 The phrasing of Tom’s parentage in the muster suggests that
his mother was an Aboriginal woman of the Hawkesbury.
402
X.Y.Z. A Ride to Bathurst, Letter V, The Australian, 27th March, 1827,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/37074294
Page 121, Crossing the Blue Mountains, Duffy and Snellgrove, 1997.
403
Page 162, Colin Dyer, The French Explorers of Sydney, UQP, 2009
404
Ships Musters, 1816-21, hard copy of 4/4771, COD/420, AONSW, Kingswood, NSW.
405
Thomas Chaseland arrived as a convict in 1792 and formed a union with Margaret McMahon, another
convict. They had six children in the period 1798-1811. Bobbie Hardy, pages 84-86, Early Hawkesbury Settlers,
Kangaroo Press, 1985, confused one of the six, Tom, with his older half-brother, also a Tom, in claiming that
the young Tom was off on a sealing voyage “at ten years old”. The earliest reference to Thomas Chaseland in
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Thereafter, the historical record is clouded by several men of the same name. The Sydney
Gazette, 20th December 1817, recorded that Mr. and Mrs. Scully, accompanied by their
servant, Thomas Chaseland, were leaving the colony on the ship Frederick, indicating that at
least two Thomas Chaselands left the colony in 1817.
Another Thomas Chaseland/Chaselin appeared in 1819. The Sydney Gazette, 7th of August
1819, identified “Thomas Chaseland” as being a crewman on the Governor Macquarie. On
page 172 of the Ship Muster 1816-21, “Thos. Chaselin free by birth in N S Wales” was
recorded on the 10th of August 1819 as the ninth crew member of the brig “Governor
Macquarie … bound for New Zealand and Otahiti”.
It is highly unlikey that the Thomas Chaseland/Chaselin, “free by birth in N S Wales” who
sailed on the Governor Macquarie on the 20th of August 1819 for New Zealand and Otahiti
was the Tom – “from the Branch” who was on the Glory of Richmond,in September 1819.406
On 27th September 1819,
the brig Glory of
Richmond, built and
captained by Jonathon
Griffith left Richmond on
her maiden voyage for
Sydney, Tasmania and
Kangaroo Island. On
board were three
Aboriginal men, Colebee,
Tom – “from the Branch”
and Jack Richmond. I
have included a
photograph of that part of
the Ship’s Muster because
of a claim that the Ship’s
Muster shows that Jack
Richmond came from the
Branch. The fact that the names of the three men are numbered clearly shows that it was
“Tom” who was “from the Branch”.407 Whether “Tom” who was “from the Branch” was
Thomas Chaseling/Chaseland is another matter.
the Sydney Gazette is the 7th of July 1805. By the time he subscribed to the Waterloo fund, Thomas Chaseland
had become Thomas Chaseling: Sydney Gazette, 16th of March, 1816.
406
Sydney Gazette, 28th August 1819.
407
The background of Tom Chaseland has generated considerable interest and discussion, particularly as Tom
Chaseland became a famous whaler and ended up in New Zealand. He has a chapter in Keith Vincent Smith,
Mari Nawi, Aboriginal Oddessys, Rosenberg, 2010 and
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/exhibitions/2010/mari_nawi/docs/marinawi_captions.pdf. There were a
number of sailors called Tom at this time, however, they are all identified by their place of origin. While
possible, there is no particular evidence to suggest that “Tom – from the Branch” was Tommy Chaseland. In a
2008 article, entitled A New Holland Half-Caste”
(http://journals.publishing.monash.edu/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/272/285 ) Lynette Russell tentatively
argues that the young Aboriginal girl taken by Henry Lamb was Tommy Chaseland’s mother. I find this
argument unlikely. Dr. Geoff E. Ford, in his MA thesis, Darkinung Recognition,
http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/7745, argues that Aboriginal Tommy Chaseland was born in 1797 to
a Botany Bay mother as his father was in Port Jackson at this time. This would have implications for Tom
Chaseland’s Aboriginal identity. In a New Zealand marriage Registry Tommy Chaseland, the son, was
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A year later, on 3rd of October 1820 the Glory of Richmond sailed for Port Dalrymple. One of
the crew was: “5
Thos Chaseland free by birth in NS Wales age 23”. Which Thomas
Chaseland was on board is uncertain, but the descriptor would suggest it was the sailor from
the Governor Macquarie; not the “son of a settler at Windsor by a native woman”.408
Thomas Chaseland, “son of a Settler at Windsor by a native Woman”, went on to found a
dynasty in New Zealand, marrying twice into Maori families.
Keith Vincent Smith identified “Captain” or “Black Captain” as “Corriangee, Corriangii,
Karingy, Kurringy Kurrigan, Carbone Jack” and “Cobbon Jack” (this is a matter which I
will explore at a later date). Captain (Karingy Jack) from Cattai went sealing on John Grono’s
brig Elizabeth 1821-22.409 In 1831 John Grono who had known Captain since his childhood
was responsible for a petition to the Governor for a boat for Captain.
‘To His Excellency
Sir George Gipps Knight Captain General Governor and Commander in Chief of the
Territory of New South Wales &c &c &c
The humble Petition of Captain, Native Chief of the Caddie Tribe, most humbly setteth forth
Your Petitioner begs with humble submission to state that he was in the Reign of His
Excellency the late Governor Macquarie made a Chief of the Caddie Tribe and as such has
ever since remained.
Your Petitioner begs also to state he has being two Voyages at sea in the Brig Elizabeth John
Grono Master for the purpose of obtaining seal skins but in consequence of the difference of
climate did not agree with him and was obliged to relinquish it.
Your Petitioner begs further to state that he has been chiefly employed by the inhabitants of
Pitt Town but their (sic) being no employment for him at the present moment is under the
necessity of obtaining a very scanty livelihood in the best manner possible in an honest
manner.
Your Petitioner on hearing of your Excellency’s bountiful goodness in giving Boats to those
Aborigines whose intentions are to gain their living in an honest and upright manner.
Your Petitioner most fervently prays your Excellency will take his case into your humane
consideration and to grant him the same indulgence and as a proof of his Character the
House and Land holders have on the other side recommended him to your Excellency’s
consideration.
And your Petitioner
Will in duty bound
Ever pray
Captain Chief of the Caddie Tribe
identified as being 47 in 1850, which places his birth in 1803,
http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Tommy_Chaseland_(c1797-1869) and
http://journals.publishing.monash.edu/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/272/285.
408
Page 263, Ship Muster 1816-21
409
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/exhibitions/2010/mari_nawi/docs/marinawi_captions.pdf
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[Page 100]
We the undersigned Land and House holders of the District of Pitt
Town have known Petitioner many years as an honest and Industrious
Character and humbly beg to recommend him to your Excellency’s
favourable consideration.
Petitioner has been known to me from his childhood and I have always considered him to be
honest and rather more industrious than the generality of his fellow countrymen. He labours
hard during the harvest and I have known him in times past to act as a Shepherd. He was at
sea three years in my employ during which time he conducted himself with propriety and
submission and in one instance at New Zealand when a white Man was washed from the
rocks by a surf and twelve Europeans standing by afraid or unable to render any assistance
to the drowning man, Petitioner at the risk of his own life, plunged into the sea and rescued
him from a watery grave.
John Grono.
Petitioner I have known for twenty years and always found him an honest an industrious man
rd
Caddie June 23
Thos. Arndell
Petitioner I have known for Twenty years and always considered him a well Behaved Man.
Pitt Town June 24
William Hall
I beg lief to State that Petitioner as been none (known) to me for a number of years and
believe him to be worthy of anything with regard to an indulgence that his Excellency the
Governor may
[Page 101]
be please to be stow on him.
Joseph Smith, Jnr.
Petitioner I have known for twenty years and always found him a most worthy man. Caddie
26 June.
David Roberts
Richard Roberts
Memorilist. - Black Captain, as been known to me Twenty Years and upwards, and at one
time he had charge of a Flock of Sheep, he was considered our best and
carefulest shepherd. I believe him to be honest and industrious, and well worthy of the Prayer
in the Petition.
th
Pitt Town, 26 June 1839.
[indecipherable] McDonald’410
John Harris, 1754-1838, first came to New South Wales in 1790 as a surgeon. He left in 1809
and returned as a free settler in 1814. Harris had extensive land holdings, reflected in the
suburbs of Ultimo, Harris Park and ` Park. Shane Park was an extensive land grant on the east
bank of South Creek. Harris resumed his duties as a magistrate in 1819. The following extract
is from a letter to Frederick Goulbourn, 1788-1838, the Colonial Secretary. The extract is a
request by Harris to replace Coleby, as a “Black Constable” with Simeon. It is not difficult to
see through Harris’ rising anger the unrealistic nature of relations between Aboriginal people
and settlers. Harris wanted Coleby on the Native Institution site (at the junction of what is
410
Pages 99-101, Sir William Dixson - documents relating to Aboriginal Australians, 1816-1853
DL Add 81 Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
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now the Blacktown Road and Rooty Hill Road North). No doubt Harris and “House the Head
Constable”, wanted Coleby there as an intermediary and supervisor. Harris’ complaints that
Coleby was “constantly away with the Natives” and prone to “drunkenness and violent
conduct “reveal the archetypical characteristics of survivor guilt as an eyewitness to the
destruction of his world. Harris’ reference to Simeon as “a much more intelligent fellow”,
rather than as a man, suggests that Harris, like many of his contemporaries saw Aboriginal
people as being still at the level of brute creation. The rest of the letter, which I have not
included deals with a request for firearms, the threat coming not from Aboriginal people but
“Bush Rangers”.
‘Shanes Park South Creek June 24th 1822
I beg to state for your information that House the Head Constable yesterday complained to
me that Coleby, the Black Constable is seldom or never seen at the Black Town, but
constantly away with the Natives and is of no use there as a constable –
I have had frequent complaints of him before from Windsor for drunkenness and violent
conduct and did before write to the Revd Mr Hill on the subject. Indeed it is a Robbery on
Government keeping him in that situation if he is wished to be of use. I never see him –
should you think that a Black Constable should be retained for tracing delinquents Simeon is
a much more intelligent fellow and would suit better in my opinion. I will feel thankful for
your advice on this matter.-‘411
1824: Drought and the Putty killing
As well as George Bowman's account, we know about the killing of Mr. Greig's cousin and a
convict servant on his Hunter property in October 1825 through Peter Cunningham. After the
killing the killers visited the Hawkesbury and returned via the Bulgar road, chasing some
mounted settlers and stopped at a hut at Putty where there were three men known to them.
One of the men was killed and the other badly beaten and the third escaped to Richmond. An
armed party was sent out after them, and fell upon the camp of a “friendly tribe” which was
scattered.412 The three accounts suggest that Carr was the man killed at Putty.
2nd of June, 1825: trackers
The Australian 22nd September 1825 reported that “some native blacks” assisted the district
constable William Douglass, in investigating a robbery at Elizabeth Fleming's shop on the 2nd
of June 1825.413
25th of March, 1825: trackers
The following extract from an account of the capture of three bushrangers near Richmond is
important for several reasons. It shows the threat posed by runaway convicts, that settlers
were armed and ready to work together when threatened and the co-operation of Aboriginal
411
AONSW, Reel 6055; 4/1760, page139.
Pages 197-198, Editor, David S. Macmillan, Peter Cunningham, Surgeon R.N., Two Years in New South
Wales, First Published 1827, Reprinted, Angus and Robertson, 1966.
413
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/37072431
412
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men in tracking offenders. Richmond may have been the same “John Richmond, a black
native of the Colony” who received an 1816 land grant.414
Mrs Crawley, “wife of Mr. John Crawley, a settler of Richmond, was returning from Sydney
market with a cart, containing little sundries for domestic purposes, she was accosted by
three men on the Richmond-road, about 4 miles from the town of Windsor. They stopped the
cart, and demanded her money--- one placed himself at the horse's head, a second stood on
the side of the cart, and the third leaped into the cart, who handed out the property to him
that was nearest. Mrs. Crawley had only one of her children with her at the time, a boy of
years old (sic). As soon as they rifled the cart of its contents, Mrs. C. drove off at full speed,
exclaiming she would have them yet; when one of the villains replied in the usual
blasphemous manner. She reached home about sun-set, and informed her husband of all the
circumstances attending the robbery. Upon a conference with some of the neighbours, they
agreed to go in quest of the plunderers, with Crawley, and proceeded to arm themselves
accordingly. At the hour of 3 on the following morning (Saturday), Crawley, Asbury, two
Australians (the young Eatons), and a black native, named Richmond, set out; and, on their
way, called on another settler, named Robert Hall, who also equipped himself with arms, and
joined the party.”415
22nd of October, 1825
Despite Magistrate Harris’s 1822 complaint , Colebee replaced Yurramoroo as a constable in
1825. “In the District of Windsor -.Colebee, a Black Native, to be a Constable, from the 15th
Instant, in the Room of Yurramoroo, absent without Leave.”416
Sometime in 1825
The following extract well illustrates the continuity of Aboriginal life despite the impact of
settlement. As well it shows that there was ongoing communication between different groups.
The ritual punishment was not held and Threlkeld speculated that it may have been because
of the song that the Hawkesbury Aboriginal people brought with them.
‘It was on a Lord's day 1825 that delegates were sent to the different tribes from our tribe,
requesting them to meet in order to punish a black who had killed another one some time
before. The flat, in which we resided near Newcastle, was the spot chosen for the place of
punishment being a plain clear of trees. The tribes from the Hawkesbury had delivered up the
culprit to our tribe, who was in his parole of honour, until the appointed time. The
messengers accompan(y)ing him brought a new song as a present from the muses, to enchant
the hearts of the judges and soften their rigor in regard to the criminal.’417
It is difficult to determine exactly the nature of the gathering described in the following
article from the Sydney Gazette. However, the article is important in identifying Aboriginal
people around the Hawkesbury. The presence of “Crodjie Jack, the Doctor” indicates that
On the 16th of January 1816, John, Richmond, a “Black Native of the Colony; of Richmond was on a list of
persons to receive grants of land … at Pitt Town”. Archives: Fiche 3266; 9/2652 p26.
415
Sydney Gazette, 31st March 1825
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2183873
416
Sydney Gazette, 22nd October 1825, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2184584
414
A memorial by his sister, Maria Lock, contained a reference to Colebee dying before March 1831.
417
Page 58, Niel Gunson, Australian Reminiscences and Papers of L. E. Threlkeld, Australian Institute of
Aboriginal Studies, 1974.
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traditional culture was still being maintained. The article clearly demonstrated that racist
humour had a long history in New South Wales.
2nd of September, 1826
‘To The Editor of the Sydney Gazette
SIR,
A Meeting was this day convened, by the Magistrates of these districts, for the purpose of
ascertaining to what beneficial effect the Aborigines could be employed in the Police
Department, and for other motives on the bent of good order and amicable feeling: if you
conceive it will amuse give it publicity.
I am, Sir,
your faithful
CORRESPONDENT.
PUBLIC MEETING.—One of the most useful and truly interesting Meetings ever recorded in
New South Wales, was held at the Court-house, Windsor, on Monday last, August 28th, 1826.
It was a truly awful assemblage convened for the most profound purposes. Notice had not
been published in the Gazette, and a veil of darkness covered the whole; nevertheless the
OBJECTS OF THE MEETING shone with a resplendence, which made clear the truly
MUNIFICENT INTENTIONS of the FOUNDER!—
Present.-- COLEBY, IN THE CHAIR :--Stewards.
MILES, Chief of Richmond Tribe.
MIRANGI, or Creek Jemmy, a Chief.
BILL JEBINGE, a Chief of Portland Head Tribe.
GILL-MA-BOO JACK, a Chief.
Davy, of the Curry Jong.
Wool-loom-by, alias Bugle Jack, of
Richmond.
Stephy, of Curry-Jong.
Ba-raa by, of Richmond.
Symon, of Black Town.
Runaway Jack, of Portland Head.
Penny Royal Jack, of Windsor.
Bobby, son of Creek Jemmy.
And,
Narang Jack, of North Richmond.
Warren, of South Creek.418
Crodjie Jack, the Doctor.
Ben Bungraa, of Pitt Town.
Creek Jemmy, or Niraugi,419 of South
Creek
Jonquay, of Wilberforce.420
Iron-bark Jack, of South Creek
Billy Congate of Richmond.
Emery, alias the Lawyer.
Coleby (a-rose before the Meeting) and opened the business of the day ; he hoped the cloud
which had so long been visible in the horizon, would pass away, never to shroud the visage of
day from this period; he came prepared at once to read the intentions of the Meeting, and to
return thanks to his friend "EMERY, the lawyer;" but should the experience of "CRODJIE
418
Warren was one of the men listed by Cox in his memorandum of the 19 th of July 1816 and outlawed by
Macquarie the following day.
419
This was probably an error on the typesetter’s part. It probably should be Nirangi.
420
Jonquay may have been Jubbinguy who was captured with Jemmy Monday, Kitten, Jack, Pamborah, and
Pinboya in early November 1816.
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JACK, the doctor," lead him to propose any altercation, that he would speak from the
impulse of the moment: —
Resolved --- That the dark deeds of mankind be looked into by men of spotless character.
Resolved - That the stranger of the desert be taken in.
Resolved --- That cruelty to animals be prevented by the strictest watchfulness o'er the flocks
and herds in these districts.
Resolved --- That these districts embrace Black Town and the Blue Mountains.
Resolved --- That breaches of the peace be subdued by men of choler.
Resolved---That the company of good men he courted, and that men of solitude shall be
always acceptable.
Resolved-That the rivers be protected to the most insignificant jet.
Resolved---That the constabulary be aided on the darkest night,
Resolved---That the sable tribes be not deemed more estimable in our eyes, than those we
should esteem for our comforts.
Resolved---That all trespasses be represented in the fairest manner.
"CRODJIE JACK, the doctor," blushed to disturb the company, but it appeared to him that
consequences were shrouded in mystery, therefore he would propose,
Resolved---That ardent spirits be conducive to disorder; and that no Member of this Meeting
covet his neighbour's gin!
Resolved---That strangulation be considered an obstinate disease; and that its Symptoms are
an altered countenance and loss of appetite.
Resolved---That the Curry-Jong Brush be hereafter considered an exotic!
Resolved---That "black" beer, or "pale" ale, be drank in future in lieu of rum, without choice
or distinction.
The Court adjourned till the next Full Moon, to enable all mankind to embrace one object by
the light of heaven!’421
The 1828 census was the first official record of Aboriginal numbers in the County of
Cumberland. The tribes referred to were a western construct. The 1828 census contains to the
best of my current knowledge the first and the last reference to the “Mangroo Tribe”. It was
probably a transcription error for Mangrove Creek. Nothing in the census distinguished Maria
Lock’s Aboriginal ancestry.
1828 Census
‘Abstract showing the Number of Aborigines, who have been recommended by the
magistrates of the several Districts in which they reside, to receive Blankets and slops: distinguishing the several Tribes, and the Number of Men, Women, and Children, belonging
to each tribe respectively – As requested by the Colonial Secretary’s Circular Letter dated
31st March 1827, No 19.
Tribe and District in
Number of
which they reside
Chrn
Men
Wmn
Total
Parramatta
- Broken Bay Tribe
Parramatta
- Parramatta Tribe
421
Not recorded
21
13
About 15
15
49
Sydney Gazette, 2nd September 1826, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2186454
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Windsor
- Richmond do
Portland Head
- John Nolan – Chief of
Mangroo Tribe
- N.E. Arm Tribe
- Mullet Isle do
- 1st Branch do
Liverpool
- Liverpool Tribe
Airds
Bringelly
- Mulgoa Tribe
Camden
- Burragurrang Tribe
- Cowpasture do
Evan
- Nepean Tribe
36
25
12
73
9
8
4
25
4
6
5
22
5
8
18
18
22
9
65
9
6
5
No Natives residing in this district
20
7
5
3
15
5
12
10
9
15
11
30
32
15
13
10
38’
In the same census there were 4454 settlers living in “Windsor Town and District”.422
Maria Lock, an Aboriginal Native of New South Wales
Robert and Maria Lock moved to Liverpool where they were employed by the Reverend
Robert Cartwright. A protracted dispute over land at Liverpool led Maria to write to the
Governor requesting that she be given ownership of the land of her brother near the
Blacktown.
The letter stands out for several reasons:
 It links Gombeberee, Yellomundee, Maria and Colebee, who Maria named “Coley”.
 Her use of the phrase “the Richmond Tribes” suggests that the social structure of the
Hawkesbury Aboriginal people may have been more nuanced than some commentators
would have it.
 It distinguishes Maria Lock from the other Maria who married Dicky. Maria “continued
in the School till she was married “unlike the other Maria who lived with the Hassalls.
 It is the only document, that I am aware of, that was written by a Hawkesbury Aboriginal
person.
 Amongst the hundreds and possibly thousands of petitions and memorials for land
Maria’s stands out for its composition and layout.
 Most importantly Maria identifies herself as “an Aboriginal Native of New South Wales”.
Whether it was her invention or she was advised to use that phrase is unclear. Almost
certainly, however, is that it was the first written record of an Aboriginal person
identifying themselves as such. It was an outcome that Macquarie probably had not
anticipated.
422
Page 15, Ed. Malcolm Sainty and Keith Johnson, Census of New South Wales November 1828, Library of
Australian History, Sydney, 1985.
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‘To His Excellency Lieut. General
Darling, Governor in Chief, etc, etc. of New
South Wales and its Dependencies.
The Petition of Maria Lock, an
Aboriginal Native of New
South Wales.
Humbly Sheweth
Robt.and Mary Lock
― That on the first establishment of the
Native Institution by His Excellency Governor
Macquarie, your petitioner, then a Child, was
placed there by her father the Chief of the
Richmond Tribes.
― That Petitioner continued in the School
till she was married to Robert Lock, with whom
she has ever since lived, and by whom she has had
two Children.
― That at the time they were married your
Petitioner was promised a small Grant of Land,
and a Cow as a Marriage Portion.
― That she has since received the Cow, which
has increased to five head, but has never
received any Land.
― That Governor Macquarie gave her
brother Coley a small Grant of Land at
Black Town _ and as her brother is now
dead, your Petitioner humbly prays that this
Grant may be transferred to her, and her
Children, or that a small portion of the land
adjoining may be given to her, whereby she and
her husband may be enabled to feed their
Cattle, now Seven in number, earn an honest
livelihood, and provide a comfortable home
for themselves, and their increasing family.
And Your Petitioner shall, as
in duty bound,ever pray etc. etc. etc.
Maria Lock
Liverpool March 3rd 1831’423
423
Page 95, James Kohen, The Darug and Their Neighbours, Darug Link in association with Blacktown and
District Historical Society, 1993. Original source: AONSW, Reel 1153, Vol. 2/7908. N.B. members of Matthew
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Conclusion
In the period 1812-1831 our understanding of the interaction of settlers and Aboriginal
people on the Hawkesbury is shaped not just by the fragmentary nature of the historical
record but also by the stark contrast between official reports and anecdotal accounts. The
period was characterised by droughts approximately 1812-1816 and 1824-25 and major
flooding in 1816. There was fighting in 1814, as would be expected in a time of drought, but
it was upstream on the Nepean and not on the Hawkesbury. The year 1816 stands out, not just
for floods but for the level of military activity throughout the year across the settled areas,
despite both Captain Schaw and Magistrate Cox reporting that there were only about a dozen
hostile Aboriginal warriors active in 1816 and of those only four were reported killed. On the
Hawkesbury in 1816 most of the reported fighting appeared to be on the Kurry Jong Slopes
which appears to have been settled around that time. Tuckerman’s evidence points to many
killings downstream around Sackville in the second half of the year. During the 1824-25
drought there was practically no violence on the Hawkesbury.
The peace that descended upon the Hawkesbury after 1816; combined with the levels of
rewards to soldiers, settlers and guides; the paucity of official reporting, and the presence of
anecdotal material indicates that something particularly nasty happened on the Hawkesbury
in 1816. As well, disease also had an impact on Aboriginal numbers. Perhaps the most telling
indicator of the impact of settlement lies in the 1828 census which recorded that there only
236 Aboriginal people living on the Hawkesbury.
Locke’s family may be pleased to know that some of his correspondence is snuggled between that of Maria and
Robert Lock.
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