Doryanthes is the Gymea Lily (spec. Doryanthes excelsa)
The Journal of History
and Heritage for
Southern Sydney
A periodic Southern Sydney Journal of Art,
Heritage and Natural History
Volume 1 Number 2 November, 2008.
ISSN 1835-9817 (Print) ISSN 1835-9825 (Online)
Price $7.00 (Aus)
Doryanthes
A periodic Southern Sydney Journal of Art, Heritage and Natural History
Founding Editor: Les Bursill, JP., AIM., Dip. Couns. (CEIDA)., BA. (Arch),
M.Litt (Anth). (Fellow) ACBMS –V/Chair Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea.
Doryanthes
The Gymea Lily (spec. Doryanthes excelsa) From Greek “dory”: a spear and “anthos”: a flower, referring to the spearlike flowering stems; excelsa: from Latin excelsus: elevated, high, referring to the tall flower spikes.
Editorial Committee;
Editorial Policy;
Pauline Curby, MA. Dip Ed., Grad
Dip.,.
Merle Kavanagh, Dip. FHS, ADLAH
Dr. Edward Duyker, OAM.,BA. (Hons)
Ph.D. Melb.,FAHA.,FLS., FR Hist. S.,
JP., Chevalier de l”Ordre des Palmes
Académiques (France).
Garriock Duncan, BA. (Hons), Dip
Ed. (Syd), MA. (Macq), Grad Dip Ed
Stud. (NSW), M Ed., Dip Lang Stud.
(Syd.)
Dawn Emerson, BA. (Lib Sci) Litt.B
(Soc.), AALIA., D.Ua., JP.
Aboriginal Consultant, Merv Ryan
Honorary Patron, Michael Edwards.
Index of Articles
1. It will be the Editorial Policy of this Journal
that all articles submitted and approved as
historically/factually correct by the Editorial Board
will be published in due course.
2. The Publisher retains the right to limit the word
length of any article to meet the constraints of
publication. Authors will be requested to limit word
length to about 3000 words.
3. Decisions of the Editorial Committee will be
final. Appeals to the said committee will be
considered.
4. It is the Policy of this Journal that advertising
material published herein will meet the
requirements of the Editorial Committee for
content and style.
5. Layout will be directed by the needs of the
author (e.g. column or broadsheet).
Les Bursill on behalf of the Editorial Committee
Page Number
Letters to the Editor
Editorial
Ben Hall – Outlawed Bushrangers
Sue’s Gleanings
John Macarthur
Andrew Kinross-Civil War Veteran
John Easty Journal
Frederick The Great
Quest for The Historical Jesus
The Re-Invention of Traditional
Aboriginal Dreaming Stories
Books In Review (Dr Ed Duyker)
New Books By Local Authors
Port Hacking or Port Aikin
3
4
5
6
8
11
14
18
25
35
39 & 40
41
46
The articles published herein are copyright © and may not be reproduced without permission.
ISSN 1835-9817 (Print) - ISSN 1835-9825 (Online)
The publishers of this Journal known as “Doryanthes” are Leslie Bursill and Mary Jacobs trading as
“Dharawal Publishing”.
The business address of this publication is 10 Porter Road Engadine NSW, 2233.
The
Email Address (until further notice) of this Journal is lesbursill@tpg.com.au
2
Letters to the EDITOR
Dear editor,
Are you aware of the upcoming "Champagne
and the Stars" night at the Sutherland Historical
Society Museum. Fred Watson, noted
astronomer as featured on the "ABC" will be the
Heritage Festival guest speaker:
He will be discussing the fact that the "Transit of
Venus led Cook to the Shire!" at 6pm for
6.30pm, Wed 29th April 2009. There will be a
Cocktail reception at the SSHS Museum. Come
and see our displays. PLUS - Night-sky viewing,
weather permitting. Tickets are $5.00 and
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Regards,
Dawn Emerson. President Sutherland
Historical Society.
her how her teaching and enthusiasm had
remained with me - and my class only joined hers
for music and sport!
Since my last contact with you in June things
have escalated re the Deletion of Port Hacking.
The contacts you gave me with the Sutherland
Shire Historical Society helped publicise the
issue and Dawn, Angela and Jim have been
extremely helpful. A group photograph next to
the Port Hacking milestone (near Caringbah Pub)
in the St George & Sutherland Leader, gave
some other locals the courage to make contact
with me regarding the issue. Since I was the first
to put my 'face & name' to the project, I seem to
be the unofficial co-ordinator. Initially I was just
contacting people and verifying and adding to the
information which I had. Many said they would
write to Council and the Geographical Names
Board but although I gave them the addresses
they just did not get around to writing.
Firstly, thankyou so much for forwarding the first
issue of Doryanthes - also for including my letter
to the Editor. The articles are very interesting
and it is very apparent that you have put a lot of
work into the cover page and layout. I was
surprised to see an old teacher of mine
mentioned in the Woronora Weir story - Mrs
Margaret Simpson.
The correspondence we received from GNB
indicated that they would be liaising further with
Council regarding several names and that they
had sought comments from Council. The replies
from Sutherland Shire Council advise us to make
submissions to the GNB - as they are the
governing body responsible for assigning
locality/suburb names. One Port Hacking
resident was told that a decision would be made
when the Board met with Council at their meeting
in September. Acting on that information, we
realised time was an issue. A letterbox drop and
doorknock was decided upon for a group
submission.
I caught up with her at Lilli Pilli Primary School's
50th Anniversary last year and was able to tell
A double sided, one page letter was distributed -
Dear Editor,
3
giving a condensed history of Port Hacking,
quoting parish maps and noting the Declaration
as a Village by Govt Gazette in 1933 and
Declaration as a Suburb in 1973.
It is hard to door knock but some of us are having
excellent results. One senior lady has not only
walked the streets, she has made contact with a
member of the Fellowship of First Fleeters - this
group will be making a submission to the GNB.
On Thursday 21st August, a 'new recruitment'
wanting to attend 'the meeting', phoned Council
and spoke to Stephen Heapey. He knew
nothing, Council is in caretaker mode and there
is no meeting in September with GNB.
So what I am hoping you as a member of the
GNB can help answer is:
Who do the GNB meet with?
Where do GNB meet? Can the public attend?
When do they meet ie monthly, yearly? How do
you become a member of GNB?
When was the suburb/locality of Lilli Pilli first
declared/gazetted? When was the
suburb/locality of Dolan’s Bay first
declared/gazetted?
Old Parish maps dating back to 1840 show Port
Hacking as the area south of Burraneer Bay
Road, stretching from Woolooware Road in the
east to Yowie Bay in the west. Thomas Holt held
a land grant in the Village of Port Hacking and
Patrick bought land in vacinity of the bay named
after him in 1856. If Port Hacking came first it
seems wrong that it is the very location which
has recently been deleted.
Australia is a country where science, history
and the arts are neglected. Here we favour
sport, rather than the fruits of the mind. We
run; we swim; we play ball games.
We don't get excited about ideas and we
would prefer to ignore problems like global
warming. We rely on the export of wool,
wheat, coal and minerals–what we can pluck
from our increasingly parched soil – for our
prosperity, rarely on invention or cultural
exports.
When we reflect on the past (and when we
are not using the word 'history' to suggest
'finished' or 'useless') it is with selfsatisfaction, mythology and reference to
feats of arms : Gallipoli, Kakoda and Long
Tan.
We don't want to be challenged, disturbed or
wear 'black armbands'. When it comes to
competing with innovators, we would rather
count sporting medals. Here, when we use
words like 'intellectual', 'scholarly', 'academic'
or 'technical', it is frequently in a pejorative
sense.
Yet there are other countries that live largely
on their wits - small countries with virtually no
natural resources beyond their people and
strategic location: Denmark, Japan,
Mauritius, the Netherlands and Singapore, to
name a few.
These are countries that rely almost entirely
on technology, innovation and trade to
survive. Sport is not the principal subject of
public discourse or the benchmark for
achievement.
Thanks,
Mindy
'Philosophia'
compiled by Nigel Dawe
Hope is the
dream of a soul
awake.
- French Proverb
4
Editorial
In this time of economic uncertainty and
climate change, we need to learn from
HISTORY (our own and that of others) and
reassess some of our fundamental
assumptions about the future. If demand for
our wool, wheat and minerals slows, if the
oceans rise and the reefs die, will we still
look to Olympic medals as a measure of our
success?
Les Bursill and Edward Duyker
Replies or comments to Les.bursill@gmail.com
Ben Hall and the outlawed bushrangers
Ben Hall,
the bushranger, c. 1860s.
Image courtesy of theState
Library of Queensland.
The exploits, capture and
death of 'Brave' Ben Hall in
the 1860s are part of
Australian folklore, as well
as marking a historical shift
in the treatment of
bushrangers. Hall's exploits
and the apparent
inefficiencies of the New
South Wales (NSW)
colonial police resulted in
the passing of a law which
allowed
outlawed bushrangers to be
shot, rather than arrested
and sent to trial.
The bushrangers of the 1860s and the 1870s were
nearly all Australian-born, known to have exceptional
horse skills and local knowledge of the country. While
the earlier bushrangers were nearly all escaping the
convict penal system, the generation of bushrangers
from 1860 to 1880 was said to be encouraged
by disputes between rich squatters and poor
selectors. These differences were said to be
supported by corrupt police and magistrates,
following free selection of Crown land in 1861.
The introduction of the electric telegraph in the 1860s
and the launch of Australian illustrated papers in the
1880s made bushrangers a popular topic in the
English and Australian papers of the day. The public
loved the saga leading to the death of Ben Hall in
1865 (illustrated in the Australian News for Home
Readers) and that of the Kelly Gang, 'sons of old
Ireland', in the 1870s. These and other bushranger
sagas had all the associated ingredients: betrayal,
hold-ups, police corruption, chivalry, assault and
violence.
'Brave' Ben Hall 1865
Ben Hall was born at Breza on the Liverpool Plains in
north-central New South Wales in 1837, the son of
two convict transportees to Van Dieman's Land, his
mother chosen by his father whilst she was at
the Female Convict Factory at Parramatta. Hall's
father had become a freeholder and a successful
farmer, working as an overseer on a property in the
Lachlan district. Ben Hall spent his youth working with
horses and cattle, developing expertise and great
skills. He took a lease on a property in Sandy Creek,
adjacent to Wheogo station, with his wife Bridget
Walsh.
Ben Hall was said to have taken up bushranging at
the age of 22, in 1861, after two wrongful arrests and
'to meet the man who ruined his happiness' when his
wife ran away with a former policeman.
After a wrongful arrest, on suspicion of being an
accomplice of bushranger Frank Gardiner, he spent
four or five weeks in the lockup until he was released
due to lack of evidence. A second arrest when he was
mustering his horses also foundered due to lack of
evidence.
When Hall returned to Wheogo, after the second
wrongful arrest, he was devastated to find that his
house had been burned down and his stock lay dead,
perished in the yards for lack of water - the sliprails
had not been dropped by the arresting officers. This
shocked the other settlers who remained sympathetic.
Not long after that, Hall joined up with Frank
Gardiner and his gang who robbed from Yass to the
Wedden Ranges. As Australian-born men, they had
excellent knowledge of the country and were known
as great horse riders.
'That settles it... There's no getting out of this. May
as well have the game as the blame.'
(Ben Hall while under pursuit for Daly's Thefts.)
Oswald Campbell, Hall, Gilbert, and Dunn sticking up the Mail at the
Black Springs, 1865, wood engraving. Image courtesy of the State
Library of Victoria: IMP25/01/65/9.
Ben Hall took over as leader of the gang after a
robbery at Eugowra, when Frank Gardiner absconded
to a new life in the north. Over a few short years, he
committed over 600 robberies but he never killed
anyone, and this contributed to his image as a popular
folk hero. In 1863 the whole gang bailed up the entire
town of Canowindra, shepherding everybody into
Robinson's Hotel and instructed them to eat or drink
all they wished - at the gang's expense. The 'party'
lasted for three days until the 14 dray drivers warned
Hall that the river was rising and that they needed to
leave before they were stranded.
There were plenty of sympathisers who offered them
safe hiding places and who in turn were often
rewarded with a share of the goods. Ben Hall was also
seen as a 'Robin Hood' figure, stealing from the rich
and redistributing the booty to his supports, family and
friends.
In 1864, the Melbourne Punch lampooned the police
as fashionable and working country women scrubbing and cleaning 'scouring the country after
Bushrangers'.
This article is courtesy of the Australian Government “Cuture
and Recreational Portal”
5
“Sue’s Gleanings” –
With Sue Duyker
African Community Day, Parramatta Park
The Crescent, 22 November 2008.
All are welcome to come along enjoy
the music and
learn about this vibrant community. Bring a picnic and
the
family. Festivities start at 10.00am and
finish up
at 5.30pm.
Oatley Flora & Fauna Society
Ed Duyker will be speaking about French naturalist
Francois Peron. 7.45 pm Monday 24 November
2008 at the Uniting Church Hall, Frederick Street,
Oatley.
Information: off@oatleypark.com
National Workshop on Hospitals and Heritage
28th November, 2008 Faculty of Architecture,
Building and Planning, University of Melbourne
Jointly sponsored by the Heritage Council of Victoria
and the Faculty of
Architecture, Building and
Planning, University of Melbourne Planners, heritage
advisers, architects, hospital facilities managers
and
others with a professional interest in managing
hospital infrastructure, are encouraged to attend the
workshop and join in the discussion about this
challenging area of heritage conservation.* The
workshop is free and lunch will be provided. Space is
strictly limited. To confirm your attendance please
contact Cameron Logan by November 7th on (03)
8344 9015 or clogan@unimelb.edu.au
http://www.heritage.vic.gov.au/clogan@unimelb.edu.au%20
Lost Gardens of Sydney
Museum of Sydney
Ends Sunday 30 November, 2008
http://www.hht.net.au/whats_on/exhibitions/exhibitions/lost_
gardens_of_sydney
Carols by Candlelight
Elizabeth Farm, Saturday 13 December
Bring your family, friends and picnic rug for a
traditional night of Carols by Candlelight at Elizabeth
Farm or Vaucluse House. Admission is FREE.
Candles, song sheets, sausage sizzle, ice creams and
light refreshments will be on sale. Please bring a gift
for the Smith Family Christmas Appeal. Your gift for a
needy child should be marked boy or girl and with the
suitable age. Gifts for young teens are especially
needed.
Admission FREE Gates open 6pm, carol singing at
7.30pm | Bookings not required
http://www.hht.net.au/whats_on/event/members_events/december/c
arols_by_candlelight
Christmas in Parramatta Park
The Crescent 5.00pm to 8.00pm, 13 December
2008.
This year the Park's popular christmas concert
features the Army Band supported by a
6
LOCAL RECONCILIATION GROUP
Sutherland Shire Citizens for Native Title and
Reconciliation, established in 1997 by concerned citizens
of the Shire, is a part of the people’s movement for
reconciliation. We have strong relationships with the local
Aboriginal community, local government and others. The
current Patron is the Hon. Scott Morrison MP Federal
Member for Cook. We acknowledge the Dharawal people
as the traditional owners of the land of the Shire, and
subscribe to the vision of the Council for Aboriginal
Reconciliation: “A United Australia which respects this
land of ours; values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander heritage; and provides justice and equity for all.”
SSCNTaR presents regular courses in Aboriginal Studies
with mainly Aboriginal tutors through St George and
Sutherland Community College Jannali, and regular bush
walks with Aboriginal elders.
All Enquiries: Please write to: PO Box 2202 Taren Point
NSW 2229 Ph: (02) 8230 0783 - Leave a message and a
member will return your call, or send an email to:
sscntar@optusnet.com.au
Participants & Tutors – Aboriginal Studies Course May 2008
Maori Kapa Haka group, some Bollywood performers
and more. There's something for everyone so put this
date in your diary for a relaxing evening of music
under our warm southern skies. Dates to pencil in for
next year are Australia Day on 26 January, don't miss
the hot air balloon Aerial Carnivale at 6.00am,
Waitangi Day Celebrations on February 7 and 8, the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra concert on 14 March
and much more to be advised.
Monet and the Impressionists
This exhibition features 29 works by Claude Monet
alongside other masterpieces by Renoir, Pissarro,
Cezanne, Degas, Sisley and others, most of which
have never been shown before in Australia.
Ends 26
January 2009
Art Gallery of NSW http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
The Pacific Connection—trade, travel &
technology transfer
FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING &
PLANNING, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
19–21 FEBRUARY 2009
A three day conference exploring connections in the
built environment between the Australia, the United
States, and the Pacific region.
www.heritage.vic.gov.au/admin/file/content9/c14/Call
%20for%20papers4.pdf
Genji - The world of the Shining Prince
This exhibition marks the 1000th anniversary of
Japan’s oldest novel, The Tale of Genji. Featuring
about 70 works, this exhibition shows the imaginative
power of Japanese artists to adapt and translate this
timeless and popular tale. 12 December 2008–22
February 2009
Art Gallery of NSW http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
Australia ICOMOS conference ‘(Un)loved Modern’
The 2009 Australia ICOMOS conference titled
(Un)loved Modern is to be held in Sydney 7–10 July
2009. The theme of the conference is the
identification, management and conservation of 20th
Century Heritage places. The conference focuses on
six broad sub-themes and includes a technical stream.
www.icomos.org/australia/
International Congress of Rock Art
Global Rock Art will take place from 29 June–3 July
2009 at Serra da Capivara National Park, São
Raimundo Nonato, Piauí, Brazil.
At Global Rock Art scientists, students and people
interested in the research, conservation and
promotion of rock manifestations will meet and
present their papers and information from all
continents thus showing that rock art is a worldwide
cultural phenomenon.
Different methods of investigation, interpretation and
new discoveries, scientific development and the
dynamics of cultural creation and distribution can be
related and compared at the meeting.
The congress will try to demonstrate that globalization
is not a present-day occurrence, it started when man
left his home in Africa and spread over all the
continents. The congress is international and will show
that Homo sapiens genetically carries a pattern of
answers to problems created by the environment and
by his Psyche. For this reason the congress is called
Global RockArt.
For further information, visit
http://www.globalrockart2009.ab-arterupestre.org.br/.
The 3rd Australasian Engineering Heritage
Conference
November 2009, in Dunedin, New Zealand.
An aim of this conference is to tell more about
engineers, engineering achievements and their
impacts on communities and people’s lives. The
themes and topics below are an indication of the
proposed programme and the basis of a call for
papers and invitations to keynote speakers.
Conference dates: Sunday 22nd November 2009
through Wednesday 25th November 2009.
www.ipenz.org.nz/heritage or
Contact: Lloyd Smith, Chairman IPENZ Engineering
Heritage Otago Chapter
PO Box 5114, Dunedin, New Zealand
EHConference09@ipenz.org.nz
www.ipenz.org.nz/heritage
7
John Macarthur (1767-1834)
By Dawn Emerson
Last week, when trawling through some boxes
from my mother’s estate, I came across an old
suitcase. In it was an old kerosene lamp glass
carefully wrapped in newspaper, a yellow “Log
Cabin flaked gold leaf” tobacco tin containing
some wood screws, and a red “Craven A
cigarette” tin with a carefully folded red wrapper
from a Nestle’s ¼ lb. block of chocolate. The
latter had been saved by my mother, to retrieve
from time to time during the war years so she
and my father could nostalgically sniff the
aromatic wrapper and remember the wonderful
aroma of chocolate which was no longer
available for purchase in the shops.
There were also several old newspapers. Then I
espied a bundle of love-letters that had been
written by my father, Percy Duncan Crampton, to
my mother, Norma Florence Rudd when they
were courting wrapped in faded blue ribbon, and
a scrap-book of my grandmother, Florence Mary
Rudd (nee Nicol) that she had compiled between
1906 and 1934. Her husband (my grandfather)
was William Norman Rudd, son of Isaac Rudd of
Harrington Park, Camden. I discovered at a
meeting at Engadine with our (now) Prime
Minister, Kevin Rudd, about 4 years ago when
we discussed our ancestry, that we share Isaac
as our great grandfather. But I digress.
In the scrapbook were several greeting cards of
the time, embroidered with fabric attached: silk,
satin, imitation pearls etc., myriads of Australian
postage stamps, and many newspaper cuttings:
poems, homilies and religious verse. These
were interspersed with reports from the World
War I war front, and items about leaders such as:
Kitchener, Monash, Birdwood, Throsby,
Pershing, Bridges, Byng, Haig, Rawlinson and
accounts of the fighting.
My grandmother, who ran a dairy farm at Mt.
Pleasant, Campbelltown had also clipped out
items about local historical events, including one
from the Campbelltown News, dated 11th April,
1934 commemorating the centenary of the death
of John Macarthur, at Home Farm, Camden
Park. I will reprint it below, and you may be
astonished at some differences in the
interpretation of events between then and now. I
leave it to the reader to
8
cogitate on the fragility of history, and how the
warp and the woof of its fabric, depend upon the
author’s pattern
desired in the weaving—and of course the fabric
was wool! . In this instance the author was
inordinately shy, and all we know is his/(her?)
initials: “A.W.R.”
John Macarthur: A Great Pioneer. Campbelltown
News, 11th April, 1934, by A.W.R
Today is the centenary of the death of John
Macarthur, a great pioneer of the Australian wool
industry. He died at the Cottage (now the Home
Farm at Camden Park) [sic.] aged 67 years, and
is buried on a site chosen by himself.
Macarthur who introduced the merino sheep into
Australia, was born in 1767, near Plymouth, in
Devonshire, England and entered the army as an
ensign in 1782; but at the close of war, a year
later, was placed on half pay and spent his time
on the land near Holsworthy, [England] where he
married Elizabeth, the daughter of a country
gentleman named Veale.
Six years later he was gazetted to the 68th Foot
(the Durham Regiment) and on June 5, 1789 was
appointed lieutenant in the NSW Corps. In the
same year Macarthur and his wife embarked for
Port Jackson in the second fleet, taking with
them on, what was then deemed an adventurous
if not perilous voyage, an infant son, afterwards
General Sir Edward Macarthur. They landed at
Port Jackson at the end of June, 1790 being the
first married military officer and the first educated
woman to make the infant colony their home.
For four years Macarthur lived happily in the
settlement of Port Jackson, devoting himself to
his profession and to gardening. Those officers
who were disposed to participate in the efforts to
raise food from the land, received grants of 100
acres, and Macarthur acquired as a grant, a
property of 200 acres adjoining the township of
Parramatta and named it Elizabeth Farm after his
wife. During Governor Grose’s administration
(1792 to 1794) besides military work—
detachment being stationed at Parramatta –he
had the superintendence of the farming
establishment which was formed by the
Government at Toongabbe [sic.], a few miles
from his residence.
It was while at Elizabeth Farm that Macarthur
initiated the interesting experiment of crossing
hair-bearing ewes from the Cape of Good Hope
and Bengal, and sheep of English breed, with a
view of producing wool and so changing the illorganised community into a wealthy, flourishing
colony by the production of fine wool. At first he
had but a few hair-bearing sheep from Bengal
and the Cape, but he acquired from the captain
of a transport from Ireland some coarse-woolled
Irish sheep and later (in 1797) with aid of Captain
Waterhouse and Lieutenant Kent, R.N., the first
merino sheep were added to his flock.(1)
These were carefully guarded against an impure
mixture, and increased in numbers and improved
in the quality of their wool. Later he augmented
his flock by the purchase of 1200 sheep of the
common Cape breed.
A FAVOURABLE REPORT
In 1801 he took to England specimens of the
pure merino wool and of the best of the
crossbred. A committee of manufacturers to
whom these were submitted for inspection
reported that merino wool to be equal to any
Spanish wool and the cross-bred of considerable
value.
Thus encouraged Macarthur purchased nine
rams and a ewe from the Royal flock at Kew and
returned to New South Wales determined to
devote his attention to the improvement of the
wool of his flocks. He landed only five rams and
one ewe and it was from these that the famous
Camden strain was raised. His plan of crossing
with Spanish blood was open to objection from
the pecuniary standpoint as it diminished the
weight of the carcase, meat being then very dear
and the merino was also a less prolific race than
the Cape sheep. Many, therefore, laughed in
their sleeves and said “his wits were a-wool
gathering”.
When he visited London in 1801 (2,3) the
heaviest fleeces shorn weighed only 3 ½ lb. but
during the following year the fleeces increased to
5 lb., and the wool was finer and softer. The
fleece of one of the sheep originally imported
from the Cape of Good Hope was valued in
London at 4/6d per lb. and a fleece of the same
kind bred in New South Wales was estimated at
6/- per lb. When he returned to England two
years later he showed that from 70 sheep his
flock had increased in 10 years to 4,000 head,
although all the wethers had been slaughtered
for food.
Captain Macarthur’s efforts to form a company in
England to encourage the increase of finewoolled sheep in New South Wales was not
successful, as the English capitalists insisted that
the whole risk and responsibility should be borne
by Macarthur and this he naturally declined. He
was then senior captain of his corps and in the
prime of life and Lord Camden was so impressed
with the prospects of the wool industry being
successfully established in New South Wales
that he agreed with Macarthur that he should be
permitted to sell his commission in the Army and
receive a grant of 10,000 acres in the
Cowpastures, on which to graze his flocks in
consideration of his devoting himself to the
production of merino wool.
CAMDEN
In selecting the Cowpastures (now Camden) on
the Nepean River, about 40 miles south-west of
Sydney, Macarthur based this judgement upon
that of the cattle which had strayed from Sydney
soon after the arrival of the first fleet [sic.] and
which had been found greatly increased in
numbers in that district where they had remained
and multiplied. There the Camden Estate was
established and the assignment of male convicts
for the care of stock was increased to thirty,
exclusive of those hired and retained in
Macarthur’s service who had served their terms.
His total number of servants was about 90.
(NB: One being Henry Darlow Sutton, convict
shoemaker, who was my husband’s great
grandfather and he and his family lived in the
cottage near the gate to Elizabeth Farm, where
my husband’s grandmother, Laura Emerson,
(nee Sutton) grew up. She married John
Emerson, ferry-master, who skippered many
ferries on the Lane Cove and Parramatta River:
Phoenix, Tarban, Grower, Cygnet, and the
Pheasant. The latter’s triple expansion marine
steam engine is held at the Powerhouse annexe
at Castle Hill. John was the eldest son of Albert
Russell Emerson, who held the first oyster lease
in Australia for the whole of Botany Bay and its
tributaries.)
Early in 1808 Macarthur played a prominent part
in the deposition of Governor Bligh. Later, he
was appointed Secretary to the Colony without
salary under the provisional administration.(4)
Marcarthur thought it best however to go to
England to arrange for the education of his two
sons(5) and deemed it unwise to return to the
colony without an assurance that the
Government would not molest him for the part he
had taken in Bligh’s arrest but this assurance
was denied him for many years. Mrs. Macarthur
9
had sole charge of his estates in New South
Wales during his absence and proved a worthy
and capable wife of so public-spirited a citizen.
She died in 1850(6) and is buried beside her
husband. There were eight children of the
marriage.
The above facts are taken from “Some Early
Records of the Macarthurs of Camden” compiled
by the late Mrs. Elizabeth Macarthur Onslow,
granddaughter of Captain
John Macarthur and edited by Miss Sibella
Macarthur Onslow, her daughter.
1.
10
nd
Australian Encyclopedia. 2 ed, rep. 1981. vol 4.p68:
Macarthur was only one of a number who later obtained
breeding stock from the flock.
2.
3.
4.
5..
5.
6.
ibid.p.67: “Macarthur severely wounded Patterson and was
sent by King to England for trial”. King suggested to his
superiors that “if Capt. McArthur returns her in any official
character, it should be that of governor, as one half of the
Colony already belongs to him and it will not be long before
he gets the other half”. King called him “the perturbator”.
ibid. p68: Macarthur sailed from Sydney in November, 1801
in the brig “Hunter” but was delayed by a typhoon in the
Arafura Sea and did not reach England until Dec., 1802.
ibid. “Macarthur, [after deposing Bligh, formed a
revolutionary government and] thereupon assumed the role
of “Colonial Secretary” and virtually administered the
government until the arrival in Sydney on 28th July, 1808 of
Lieut. Colonel Joseph Foveaux.
In March, 1809, Col. Paterson,who had assumed the
acting governorship in January, permitted Macarthur to
sail for London with his two sons, James and William.
ibid. P.69: Elizabeth died on 9th February, 1850 at
“Clovelly” Watsons Bay, the residence of her son-in- law,
Henry Watson Parker and was buried at Camden Park.
Andrew Wallace Kinross: An American
Civil War Veteran at Woronora Cemetery
By Jim Gray
Andrew Wallace Kinross was born in 1844 at
Alva Parrish, Sterlingshire County, in westmidland Scotland.
After migrating to
America he worked as a farmer in his early
years before entering military service,
enlisting on July 26, 1861 at age seventeen
as a private into what was to become the
21st Missouri Volunteer Infantry Regiment,
Company A, at Springfield, Missouri.
At the beginning of the war, Missourians had
hoped to sit out the fighting and remain
neutral. But clashes between Union and
Confederate
forces,
and
bands
of
secessionist
Missourians,
made
that
impossible. As a result, U.S. Congressman
Frank Blair and Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon,
began organizing Union state guard
regiments for Missouri counties.
William
Bishop and others were authorized to "enlist
as many as is thought advisable to serve the
government for as long a period as will be
necessary." Bishop was told by Lyon to
return to Clark County and "organize, equip
and swear into service home guardsmen."
Bishop quickly turned to former Ohioan and
Mexican War veteran David Moore of
Wrightsville, and on June 24, 1861, took the
oath of loyalty to the Union; returning to duty
as a captain of volunteers. On that same
day, handbills were printed inviting "all who
are willing to fight for their homes, their
county, and the flag of our glorious Union" to
join him, "bringing their arms and
ammunition."
Moore's small band soon grew to 54 and by
the end of the month some 3.000 men had
been formed into a state home guard. Troops
raised by Moore and others were assembled
at Kahoka, in the heart of Clark County, on
July 4, 1861, and formed into the 1st
Northeast Missouri Home Guards with Moore
as colonel of the regiment. In nearby Lewis
County on July 15, 1861, the Lewis County
Home Guard of four companies, with 300
men, raised by Stephen W. Carnegy, were
turned over to its commander, Colonel
Humphrey Marshall Woodyard. Woodyard's
command later became the 2nd Northeast
Missouri Home Guard.
The 1st Northeast Missouri fought two small
battles with Missouri Confederate units in
late July 1861 at Warsaw and Athens and
established Moore as fearless commander.
The 2nd Northeast Missouri fought at Clapp's
Ford in mid-August 1861 and then joined
with Moore's troops at Fairmont, Mo., on
August 18. The two regiments pursued
Rebel forces commanded by Confederate
Colonel Martin E. Greene until September
11, while Moore and Woodyard were sent to
Canton, Mo., against enemy units in
northeastern Missouri; from September
through November 1861.
By December
1861, neither Moore nor Woodyard could find
enough recruits to bring their regiments back
up to full strength.
So the commander of all Union forces in
Missouri, Maj. Gen. Henry Wager Halleck,
ordered the state units to be re-formed as
regiments of Missouri volunteers.
On
December 31, 1861, Missouri Governor
Hamilton R. Gamble issued “Special Order
15”, directing that the "battalion of Missouri
volunteers, heretofore known as the 1st
Northeast Missouri Regiment... and the
battalion of Missouri volunteers heretofore
known as the 2nd Northeast Missouri
Regiment" be consolidated into a single
regiment "to be hereafter known and
designated as the 21st Regiment of Missouri
Volunteers." Moore was given command of
the new regiment, with Woodyard as his
lieutenant colonel.
The 21st Missouri, 10 companies with a total
of 962 men, was mustered into the Union
army at Canton on February 12, 1862 under
Captain Charles Yust. On March 18, 1862,
the 21st Missouri boarded the steamer “Die
11
Vernon” and sailed to St. Louis, arriving on
March 19th. They then boarded the steamer
“T.C. Swan” on the afternoon of March 21st
and proceeded to Fort Henry in northwestern
Tennessee, then downriver to Pittsburg
Landing, arriving on Tuesday, March 25th. At
Pittsburg Landing, the regiment joined Brig.
Gen. Benjamin Prentiss's 6th Division,
attached to the 1st Brigade of Colonel
Everett Peabody. On September 19th, the
regiment took part in the Battle of Iuka, and
later fought at Corinth on October 3rd & 4th,
1862. After a brief return to Missouri to
recruit new men for the regiment, the 21st
returned to La Grange, Tennessee and took
part in Grant's first attempt to take Vicksburg,
Mississippi in December 1862. Following that
failure, the 21st was placed on garrison duty
at Columbus, Kentucky, then at Union City
and Clinton, and finally at Memphis,
Tennessee. The 21st remained for eight
months guarding the crucial river and railway
town.
Records reveal that by July 1863 Kinross
was serving as both an infantryman and as a
company cook, becoming company clerk for
the regimental Adjutant in August 1863 and
serving as a brigade hospital nurse in
November 1863. Kinross was officially
discharged on December 1, 1863 at
Vicksburg,
Mississippi
and
promptly
reenlisted as a Veteran Volunteer on the
same day; being mustered in on December
2nd by Lieutenant Fetterman. Kinross was
discharged once again at the age of 19 at
Alexandria, Louisiana, on April 27, 1864.
Kinross apparently again reenlisted in the
U.S. Army, in Company I, 24th Missouri
Infantry, because on June 24, 1864 he took a
30 days veterans furlough and upon his
return was transferred to Company H, 24th
Missouri Infantry; due to Company I being
mustered out of service. Kinross was then
assigned detached duty with the 3rd Indiana
Light Artillery Battery from September 21st
1864 through January 18th 1865.
From September 20th through October 1st
they left on an expedition to Do Soto
marched through Missouri in pursuit of Price
from October 2nd through November 19th,
moved to Nashville, Tenn. and participated in
the Battle of Nashville on December 15th &
12
16th, Pursued Hood to the Tennessee River
from December 17th through the 28th,
moved to Eastport, Mississippi until February
1865 and moved from Eastport to Iuka on
January 9, 1865.
On February 2, 1865 he was again
transferred, to Company A of the 21st
Missouri Infantry, where he remained until he
was mustered out on April 19, 1866. He was
finally discharged with honor, again, on April
28, 1866 at Mobile, Alabama. After the war,
and still not tired of military duty, Kinross
reenlisted yet again and served on the
western frontier with Company G, 2nd U.S.
Cavalry for three years, before being
discharged yet again at Cheyenne,
Wyoming; with the rank of Quartermaster
Sergeant, in 1869. He served yet a second
tour of duty with the Cavalry, but did not stay
out his full term; for reasons unknown. After
finally leaving the service for good, Kinross
continued living in Wyoming for two more
years, then moved to Puget Sound in the
state of Washington, where he lived for about
a year, before leaving the states for
Australia. In 1879 Kinross was involved in a
mishap in which he accidentally cut off four
fingers of his right hand and had to have the
middle finger of his left hand amputated due
to blood poisoning. He received sick pay
compensation from the Sydney Courts, until
1895, in the amount of five pounds an eleven
shillings.
Arriving in New South Wales, Kinross applied
for a military pension on June 4, 1891. It was
finally granted, under certification No.
947534, in 1895. In the meantime, Kinross
met and married Mary Ann Smallwood
(Baird) at Marrickville, to day the vicinity of
Sydney, on December 24, 1892 at the age of
forty-four. Having reached the age of 66 and
having served more than three years in the
military, when Kinross’s pension was granted
a sum was allocated at $19 (US) per month.
His pension was granted largely due to the
testimony of two eye-witness’s to a mishap in
which he was involved while in the
employment of Messrs. Hudson Brothers at
Redfern, in 1879. At that time he accidentally
cut off four of his fingers on his right hand
and the middle finger of his left hand had to
be amputated due to blood poisoning. The
Court in Sydney also awarded him 5 pounds
and 11 shillings in sick pay; up to 1895.
Andrew Wallace Kinross died at the age of
70 at the St. George Cottage Hospital in
Kogarah, New South Wales, on August 2,
1914 and was buried in the Woronora
General Cemetery in the Baptist Section GG,
grave number 0012.
A very interesting book, just published. A well
worthwhile read –Les Bursill Nov 08
Sources
Birth, Marriage and Death Records, NSW
History of Alva and Sterlingshire County,
Scotland
Kay Cook, Woronora
History of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry - National
archives, Washington, D.C.
Regimental Histories, 21st Missouri
Volunteer Infantry
Regimental Histories, 24th Missouri
Volunteer Infantry
Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri,
1864
Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri,
1865
“The 24th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, "Lyon
Legion"”, J. Randall Houp
U.S. Consular Record Files - U.S. Pension
Records, Washington, D.C.
Woronora General Cemetery Records
13
The Diary of Private
John Easty, HM
Marines
The
following
three
pages are
direct
extracts
from the
personal
diary of
Private
John Easty
(Marine
Private)
On board
The ship
Scarborough.
It is not an easy to read
document and Private Easty has
various means of spelling and
expression. It is a glimpse of life
in 1787-88
This series will continue in the next issue
of the Doryanthes. I have done as little as
possible in changes to the document. Only
that, which makes some almost
incomprehensible material readable and
only so long as there were verifiable
connections to any alterations I have
made.
The dots…………. Are representative of
indecipherable words or phrases
Les Bursill
2008
14
Wed 23d (May 1788 Ed.)
att 1/2 Past 3 in Morning the wind
Jnnoc private marine Confind for being Drunk on
his post
Came round to the NW with
fresh breases Steerd SW Clear Weather
att 3 in the afternoon the wind Came
to the westard Clowdy Sterd SSW
Mun 22
fresh breases Clear weather the wind NE by N
Steard SWbS with a fine gale and fare wind
run in the Last 24 hours for we have 171 miles
and 5 fathom
Tues in the Morning Clowdy with morderate
breases att 12 oclock the Commodore
made a Signal for the fleet to inclose and
att the same time sent the suply brig ahead to
Look out for Land att the same time Saw a
Strang Sail to the westard Standing with her
head to the
Eastard att 9 in the Eving Shorted
Sail went under Easy sail all night... day
Remarks att 4 oclock in the morning made the
Mearedeary Hands upon our Starbord
bow the wind att Noath Stearing SW By W
Came up with the Land by 9 oclock att 12 oclock
the Commodore Changeed his Corse to S By W
Clear weather with Light breases att 5 oclock the
agent made a signall and Sent his boat on bord
att 8 oclock itt calm with hir head to the SW
Thurs 24
in the Morning Clowdy with rain
untill 2 oclock in the afternoon
the wind Came round to the NW with
Clear are and fresh breases
May 25
Steard SW the Ship gose 6 ... in the Morning
fresh breases Lett the reefs out of the topsailes
Sett topgallant sails the wind att NNW Steard
SW Clear weather att 5 in the Evening Shorted
Sail
hoisted out the boat and sent on bord of the
agents Ship returnd in 1/2 an hour howsed her in
again made sail att 1/2 past 9 Sprung the main
top gallant royall yard the wind NNE
Sat 26
in the morning Clowdy weathr with fresh breases
the wind att NE Steard Sw by S Saw a srang sail
to the westard made some rope on bord
boat the Long wartering the Ship the inhabitance
tending the Ship — —
Sunday 27
Clear weather with fresh breases the wind to
the NNE
Wed 6th
wartering the Ship Clear weathr
Thurs 31st
att 12 oclock the wind Sprang up to the westard
fresh breases and clear this Morning Jn° Leary a
convict repeorted that he was Cut with a knife in
the Calf of his Leg for wich four men was
Punished att 1/2 past 3 the Commodore made
the weges Hand on the weather bow the wind att
WSW Steard . . .
Friday June 1st
att 5 oclock the Commodore made a signal
of Land . . . Clear wathr the wind att SW . . .Light
breases Steard S By E att 10 oclock the agent
made a signal for All Captns off Transports th . .
. wind att west Steard SSW Light breases Clear
air Clear weather with Light brea . . att night a
calm with her head to the west or NW
Sat 2d
Calm in the morning with Clear weather att 2
oclock in the
June 2d
fryday Afternoon the Agent made a Sig . . .
for all Captns of Ships hoisted the boat out & att
1/2 past 3 hoisted the boat in again & made Sail
& att 4 oclock Major Ross Came on bord and
Spoke to the Convicts . . . Let them all out of
irons & att 10 oclock the wind came round
to the NW
Sunday 3d
att 6 in the Morning Made the Pico Teneriffe on
our weathr bow & att 4 in the after noon came up
with the Land the wind att NNE Steard
WNW up to the town of Santa Cruse & Came to
anchor near the town att 1/2 past 7 oclock thick
heezy weathr Light Breases
Munday 4th
the officers went on Shore & the inhabatanc
of the Hand came on bord to sell vigetabes to
the Ships Compy & Convicts & att 12 oclock
hoisted the Long boat out att 4 oclock the
Governer came on bord & Spoke to the convic
Tuesday 5th
the Marines from the fleat got Liberty
to go on Shore att Santa Cruse Clear weathr
Thurs 7
Compeated the Ship with water Clowdy weather
wrote a Letter home to England a Duch East
indea Ship came came in to Santa cruce
Friday 8th
an order from the commodore that not any of the
Seamen belonging to any of the transports
Should go ove . . . bord to Swim for fear that any
of the convicts Should get away & Likewise ial
an order from Major Ross for a cortmart to Set
on bord the Alaxander tomorrow Morning att 10
oclock
Sat 9th
att 11 oclock Last night a convict made
his Escape from the Alaxander by taking
a boat from a Long Side the Ship & got
on Shore but being persued by a party of
gth marines this morning he was tikng & brou
back again the cortmartial ordered
yesterday was held this morning upon
the body of Thos night a marine belonging to
the Same Ship for theft was Sentanced 300
Lashes recied 50 & was forgiven the rest the
Sirous on mord Ship with the remainder of the
fleat
Sun 10th
att 5 oclock in the Morning waid anchor
and Made Sail with Light Breases Clear weather
Steard WSW att 1 oclock Calm Lying betwen
tenerif & the Grand Canarys Hand att 12 itt
Sprang up a Light aire to the SW
Mun 11th
Clear weathr but Light aire Saw the Peak of
tenerife very Clear att 5 in the Evening the wind
came round to the NNE Steard SSW Light
breases
Date 12th June Tuesday Remarks Clear weathr
with Light Breases att 9 oclock the Commodore
Sent his boat on board for the Commisay wich
Captn Shea went on bord & caryed the
measures to have them Rectified by his we was
Served rum as we have being Servd wine this
week past found the Measures to be l/3d Short
we have been victuld by Government
15
this week past att 5 in the Evening the wind
came round to the NNE Light Breases & Clear
weather
Wed 13th
Clowdy with Mordarate breases the wind att NE
allowed to use what water we wanted the Ship
stiear WSW fresh breases att night
Thurs 14th
Mordarate breases Clowdy & hazy weather
the wind att NE Steard SW By W att night Clear
weather with fresh breases
Friday 15th
Clear weather with fresh breases and att 1
oclock this Day we crossed the the Line of trafick
of Cancer the wind att NE Steard SW
Sat 16
the Morning Clear with fresh winds Conintinued
the Same all the Day
Sud 17th
Clear weather with fresh breases Saw a Large
quanity of flying fish & benaters & albocores
cauit Some of them the wind att NNE Steard
SW By S & att 9 att night Shortened Sail went
under Easey sail all night
16
Date Munday Remarks
June 18th
Clowdy & hazy weathr with fresh breases
att 6 oclock in the morning sent the Suply ahead
to Look out for Land att 1/2 past 8 Made the
Hand of St Nicoalses & att the Same time Saw
the Hand of Saler & att att 1 oclock Made the
Hand of Bunes Wester all of them on our
Starbord bow the wind att NE By N Steard
SWBS till 10 oclock & then South att 4 oclock
Shorted Sail & att 11 att night hove too untill
morning — — —
Tues 19th
att 5 oclock the Suply made a signall of Land
made Sail and ran along the He of May & att 11
oclock made the att 1 oclock Hand of Sl gagos
and came up with mouth of the Bay & Lay of till
3 oclock & then made sail with fresh Breases the
wind att NE Steard SBW
Wed 20th
Clear weather with Light Breases Saw a large
quanty of flying fish & allbocores & benaters the
Alaxanders boat came on bord to rectify thare
measures by ours the wind att ESE Steard
S1/2W
Thurs 21st
Clear weather with fresh breases the wind att
ESE Steard South
Friday 22d
Clear weather with Light are very hot & sultery
the wind att
June 22d Date friday Remarks
ESE Steard South att 3 in the afternoon the
frindships Boat came on bord & att the Same
time Sent Michel Seamen Burkly on bord the
Sirous for Disobedintes of orders
Sat 23
Clowdy & hazy weathr with Light Breases the
wind att ESE Steard S att 3 oclock very Squarley
with heavy rains att night Calm Caute a Shirk
Sun 24th
thick Clowdy weather with Light Breases Small
rain the wind att EBS Steard Sout att 3 in the
afternoon a very heavy Squarl with rain thunder
& Ligheing wich Continued all night caut a Larg
Shirk
Mun 25th
in the Morning Clear weathr with
Light Breases in the afternoon very Squarly with
thunder & Lighening Michl Barkley a Seaman
Returnd from the Sirous after being Punished
with 1 Lash the wind att South Steard EBS &
ESE
Tues 26th
Clear weather but a calm att 9 oclock
in the Morning the agent made a Signal
for this Ship hoisted the boat out & sent
on bord the Captn of the firshburn came
t on bord and att the Same time the agen
came on bord for to carculate the es quanty of
Peas & otemeal due to the marin & convicts on
bord Short allowance
& thunder & Lightning wich be Lasted for 2
howrs as heay as could att 9 oclock calm till 12
Thur 28th
att 1 in the Morning Clowdy with Light breases
to the South East Steard SW att 9 oclock came
up to SSE with Light breases
Friday 29th
Clowdy with Mordatea Breases att 10
oclock Saw a straing Sail on the weather
bow att I the Sirous Spoke & hoisted out a boat
She was a Portague & Standing the Same as
this fleat att 2 oclock tacked Ship to get into the
fleat & att 1/2 3 tacked Ship again the wind att
SSW Steard SEBE
Sat 30th
Clowdy with Light Breases Large quantity of
Scip Jacks albacores& benaters very close to
the Ship
June 30th
att 4 oclock in the afternoon a very heavey Squal
with with rain wich att SSW Steard SE Lasted all
night very heavy the wind
July lst
Sunday att 1 oclock in the Morning heavy
rain about 2 Cleard up the wind att WSW Steard
South att 6 the wind varien to the Southn
Westerd att 3 oclock in the afternoon a heavy
Squal with wind & rain anothr Squal att 4 oclock
with rain the wind att 12 oclock abservd in 6
Degreas 49 to Munday 24Miles the Northerd of
the Line att 6 in the Evining tacked Ship &
Steard W By S
June 26th
as was Left behind by the Shortnes
of the Measures att 11 oclock the agent & captn
Shea went on bord the Prince of wailes & from
that to the Lady Penryhn & Clarlotte & came
back again att 7 att night calm all night
Wed 27th
att 6 in the Morning a heavey Squal with rain &
wind att 8 oclock Clear weathr with Light ares
heavy att 5 att night a very Squarl withwind rain
A great day out for very little expense. Ring
Brad and Elizabeth Cornish for bookings
95441400
17
How has the image and story of Frederick
the Great been put, and how does this usage
reflect the changing needs of historians,
governments and societies?
By David Cunningham HSC 2002, Caringbah High
Synopsis
Frederick the Great towers over the 18th century,
excelling in the fields of warfare, administration,
philosophy, music and authorship.
His achievements earned him the soubriquet
“The Great” in his own lifetime from friend and
foe alike. From this many-faceted character have
sprung several Fredericks from the time of his
reign down to the present. He has been portrayed
as the epitome of absolute monarchy and a
paragon of enlightened despotism, as well as the
instigator of German Unification, World Wars
One and Two, Nazism and the Holocaust. To
examine how an historical character can be
warped and distorted to become the figurehead
for so many causes and institutions (some of
them directly contradictory) was the purpose of
this study. To discover what political and social
changes, programs and agendas could create so
many different versions of the same character, to
understand why historians (state-sponsored or
working from an independent agenda) could
portray a figure who is universally
acknowledged as pivotal in the history of
Enlightenment Europe as hero, villain and
anything in between. This has been the purpose
of the study into the historiography that
surrounds the life and actions of Frederick the
Great. To study this evolution fully, sources from
three hundred years of history were utilised, so
that depth of analysis was sometimes sacrificed
in order to convey the full scope of discordant
variety in the portrayals of Frederick. Works
from several countries ranging from official
histories to popular literature, paintings and
broadsheets were studied in order to gauge the
18
Frederick The Great
full diversity of Frederick’s portrayals
throughout society and time. Although it reaches
no grand enlightening conclusions, this essay
endeavours to reveal to what extent an historical
figure’s life and deeds can be distorted to suit a
political purpose or social agenda.
In his forty-three year reign, Frederick II (the
Great), through his brilliant generalshipi,
astute diplomacy and administrative reforms,
led the small Germanic kingdom of Prussia
from insignificance to prominence on the
European stage. Voltaire praised him as “a
man who gives battle as readily as he writes
an opera; he has written more books than
any of his contemporary princes has sired
bastards, and he has won more battles than
he has written books.” ii His achievements
and character have been interpreted in
many different ways, from the epitome of the
enlightenment mentality to the progenitor of
Nazism. This divergence of opinion on
Frederick has been caused by revisions of
Frederick’s life and achievements to suit
changing political climates.
at Masonic gatherings (see Appendix,
picture 4).
Frederick died on the cusp of the French
Revolution, and that cataclysmic event
wrought changes that had an immense
effect upon Europe, and upon Frederick’s
place in the European story. After Napoleon
crushed the Prussian army in the JenaAuerstadt campaign of 1806, he and his
marshals visited Frederick’s tomb, the sight
of which caused Napoleon to proclaim “Hats
off, Messieurs! If he were alive we would not
be here.vii”This endorsement of Frederick’s
martial skill was taken to heart by the
German people, and it was commonly
believed that if Frederick were still alive and
at the head of the Furstenbund that
Napoleon would have been thwarted.
Bonaparte had helped to provide the
German people with a hero, and he only
fuelled the flames when he had Frederick’s
sword carried off to France as booty.viii
Insults such as this, coupled with Napoleon’s
oppressive indirect rule throughout the
German lands awoke in the Teutonic
peoples a sense of national identity that had
lain dormant for centuries. The recovery of
the sword became a symbol of budding
German national pride and identityix, and a
touchstone for divergent factions.
Frederick’s defeat of the French at
Rossbach in 1757 became a model example
of the power of Germanic peoples to resist
the Gallic invader, and Frederick was hailed
as a protector of German soil and of the
German people. Frederick, who spoke
French better than German, was a man of
the enlightenment and had no notion of
nationalism as a populist ideal; however he
had been turned into the figurehead of a
movement he would not have understood,
and which he would not have approved of.
One of the more significant acts of
Frederick’s reign was the creation of the
Furstenbund- Prince’s Union- a loose
federation of Protestant German princes
designed to ensure their mutual
independence. The Furstenbund has been a
source of much misinterpretation over the
years. Carlyle saw in it a bastion against the
encroachment of Austrian Catholicism,
whereas Goethe, Bismarck and Hitler all
hailed it as the first step in the process of
German unification, and the replacement of
the decrepit Holy Roman Empire with a
greater Reich, an aim which would have
horrified Frederick, who sought change in
the Empire but never its abolition.
During the course of Frederick’s reign of
forty-three years, the emphasis shifted from
his martial prowess- which was much
celebrated during the early stages of his
reign in heroic engravings Europe-wide (see
Appendix, picture 1)- to his legendary
mannerisms and lifestyle. Frederick was
thrifty to a faultiii, and eschewed the pomp
expected of royalty in his day (see Appendix,
picture 2). This informality, best embodied
by his sense of humouriv, won him the
respect of the common people, who called
him ‘alte Fritz(see Appendix, picture 3)v’ as
well as the admiration of Europe’s
intelligentsia. Dr. Jonathon Moore
commented that "His observations are
always lively, very often just; and few men
possess the talent of repartee in greater
perfection.vi" Of course there were his
detractors, foremost amongst them a bitter
Voltaire, who accused Frederick of
everything from homosexuality to presiding
Frederick was transformed into an
instrument of national unity by the
concentration of historians on his artistic and
philosophical leanings. The Prussian court
historian, J.D.E. Preuss, who translated
Frederick’s correspondence from French
19
who denounced Frederick as a “haughty,
into German between 1846 and 1857, edited
out many ‘undesirable’ aspects of
Frederick’s character, such as his alleged
homosexuality and some of his more
bombastic pronouncements, instead
concentrating on his philosophical
exchanges with the likes of Maupertuis and
Podewils so as to impress upon an
increasingly educated German middle class
his cultural credentials. It was proudly
proclaimed that he had written great
historical works, such as “The History of the
House of Brandenburg” and “The Story of
My Times”-the fact that they were written in
French was overlooked. This view of
‘Frederick the sworded aesthete’ was
propagated largely through Franz Kruger’s
immensely popular biography “Geschichte
Friedrichs des Grossen” of 1842, illustrated
by mezzotinted engravings of Adolph
Menzel’s paintings that portrayed Frederick
as a pillar of German enlightenment culture
(see Appendix, picture 5).
vigilant, resolute, sagacious blue-stocking, half
Mithridates and half Trissotinxii” was ignored by a
British public in love with Carlyle’s heady prose.
“Carlyle opposed the quasi-scientific treatment
of social questions by the rationalist political
economists, and advocated the more intuitive
approach of Richter and Goethe.xiii” Julian
Corbett may have ranted against Frederick’s
“restless and insatiable ambition,xiv” but
Carlyle’s anecdotal, sentimental narrative
style appealed to a British audience raised
on penny dreadfuls, and Frederick was
sycophantically idolised as a hero: “Most
excellent potent brilliant eyes, swift-darting
as the stars, steadfast as the sun; which
gives us the notion of a lambent outer
radiance springing from some great inner
sea of light and fire(see Appendix, picture
6).xv” Carlyle’s work is not very trustworthy,
particularly as he likened the relationship of
Frederick with his father Frederick William I
of Prussia to his own relationship with his
father, James Carlyle. Regardless of his
historiographical value, Carlyle’s works went
a long way towards making Frederick a
somewhat undeserving protestant folk-hero
to a British people obsessed with all things
German until the disillusionment of the 1st
World War.
In England, a different view of Frederick was
promoted. Frederick had been viewed in an
affectionate light since the Anglo-Prussian
alliance in the Seven Years War, and his
formation of the Furstenbund to protect the
interests of the Protestant German princes
was much admired. This apparent devotion
to Protestantism on Frederick’s part was
largely a sham-“Frederick did his best to
pose as the protector of European
Protestantism, and in Britain this pose was
to some extent believed, though even there
it was usually realised that Frederick ‘had
cried out religion, as folks do fire when they
want assistance.x” However, Thomas
Carlyle’s ten volume biography , “History of
Frederick II of Prussia, called Frederick the
Great” paints him as “the Protestant Hero,
an austere prince who took on all comers,
dodging blow after blow, occasionally
settling a punch on one of the chins of his
many foes; and then he was the snuffstained ‘Old Fritz’, sacrificing joy and
happiness in retirement, for the sake of his
ungrateful people.xi” The caustic criticism of
men such as Thomas Babington Macauley,
Frederick was promoted as a national
symbol during and after the process of
German reunification. When Frederick’s
great-grand-nephew was proclaimed Kaiser
Wilhelm I (see Appendix, picture 7) in 1871,
he announced in the Hall of Mirrors in the
Palace of Versailles that “thus have we
fulfilled Frederick’s destiny.”xvi This
statement heralded an official policy of
incorporating the image of Frederick into the
new state’s official iconography. “The hero
needed to be remoulded to fit the desired
picture. Frederick become a pillar of the new
state; he was now an essential part of
Germany, a land he had never imagined in
his wildest dreams.”xviiFrederick’s visage
appeared on the coinage, and his tactics
were closely studied by the army’s General
Staff, which commissioned a gargantuan
20
twelve-volume studyxviii of his battles as
compulsory reading for the German cadet
corps. So pervasive was the cult of
Frederick in the mindset of the German
military machine that his schwerpunkt tactics
were incorporated into war planning.xix
heroism, were disillusioned with him after his
supposed plan went awry in the Great War
of 1914-18. It was not until the rise of the
Nationalist Socialist party to power that
Frederick once again took his place on the
German stage. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi
propaganda minister, warped and exploited
Frederick’s image: “posters, showing the
German Trinity of Frederick, Bismarck and
Hitler, and how the little Austrian was now
the legitimate heir to the pint-sized Prussian;
Hitler, grotesquely ensconced below Anton
Graff’s portrait of the king (see Appendix,
picture 9).”xxiii This view was sanctioned by
nationalist socialist academe, in particular in
Gerhard Ritter’s 1936 work: “Frederick the
Great. An Historical Profile.” Hitler read and
absorbed Carlyle’s romanticised view of
Frederick, and pronounced his expectation
of a “second miracle of the house of
Brandenburg”xxiv in 1944. When this failed to
materialise, he ordered the great equestrian
statue of Frederick by Rauch that had
graced the Unter den Linden since 1787
blown up out of spite.
With the accession of Kaiser Wilhelm II to
the throne in 1888, the state obsession with
Frederick intensified. Wilhelm had a
personal predilection for Frederick’s
trappings and story. He often went dressed
as Frederick to fancy-dress parties (see
Appendix, picture 8) and went to such
extreme lengths as dressing his retinue in
costumes from Frederick’s era, as Sir
Frederick Ponsonby- a retainer of King
Edward VII who accompanied that august
personage on a state visit to Germany in
1909- remarks: “the aides were dressed in
uniforms of the time of Frederick the Great. Very
picturesque, but trying for the officers to wear
fancy dress and wigs with pigtails.”xx Wilhelm’s
obsession went beyond the treatment of his
retinue. He commissioned a sycophantic
history of the Hohenzollern dynasty- the
“Hohenzollern Jahrbuch” which eulogised
Frederick as the pioneer of German
unification, with his Furstenbund being the
first step in that process. He named the
flagship of the German High Seas Fleet
“SMS Friedrich der Grosse” after his
illustrious progenitor. His most extreme act
was personally posing in 1901 for a statue of
Frederick sculpted by Joseph Uphues which
was placed in the Puppenallee in Berlin’s
Unter den Linden.xxiThis near-deification of
Frederick’s memory and image inextricably
linked his fate with that of the bellicose
Second Reich, as Giles Macdonogh
indicates: “Once Europe sank into war in
1914, all this research served to convince
Germany’s neighbours that it had all been a
long term plot on the part of the Prussian
king to subjugate Europe to a nasty, brutish,
Spartan, Prussian will.xxii”
In the aftermath of World War Two,
Germany was stripped of its Prussian
territory, and the Polish, Russian and East
German governments set about
systematically destroying all traces of
Frederick’s existence from the face of the
earth. Frederick’s winter palace in Berlin was
demolished in 1950, as was his summer
residence in Potsdam in 1968. What Giles
Macdonogh emotively calls “ The greatest
art theft of all timexxv” saw the looting of
Frederick’s extensive art collections by
Soviet troops, with “the removal of the
contents from Frederick’s picture gallery and
all traces of the great king, wherever and
whenever they could be found.xxvi”Soviet
historians sought to rewrite the history books
to portray Frederick as a criminal
mastermind whose expansionism was
thwarted only by the valiant actions of
Catherine the Great. In doing so they
ignored Frederick’s repeated exclamations
that, after the conquest of Silesia:
“Henceforth I would not attack a cat except
The Weimar years saw Frederick swept
under the carpet. The German people,
raised on a diet of Frederick’s infallible
21
to defend myselfxxvii” as well as Catherine’s
repeated connivance with Frederick in the
partition of Poland. Many historians accused
Frederick as the ultimate cause of Nazi
atrocities in Poland based on the somewhat
tenuous grounds that he questioned the
Polish nobility’s ability to govern effectively,
and this was interpreted as a racial slur. The
most extreme of Frederick’s critics was the
East German historian E.J. Feuchtwanger,
who denounced Frederick as the “Potsdam
Fuhrer” and categorically stated that
“Frederick is rightly looked upon as the
founder of modern German militarism, not
merely as state policy but as worship of
destruction for its own sake.xxviii”
At the other end of the spectrum is the
school headed by General Sir David Fraser,
who is representative of a trend that has
seen interest revived in Frederick’s military
exploits, so much so that a range of
Frederick-action figures is now available in
Germany (see Appendix, picture 10). In his
2000 biography of Frederick, General
Fraser, the retired Chief of Staff of the British
Army, dismisses Frederick’s supposed
homosexuality as irrelevant in three pages:
After the fall of communism, opinion on how
Frederick the Great’s life should be viewed
was split into two major factions, one led by
Giles MacDonogh and the other by General
Sir David Fraser, both of whom wrote
biographies entitled “Frederick the Great.”
MacDonogh’s book, written in 1999,
professes the belief that Frederick’s
personal life was worthy of close study, and
devoted three chapters to examining
assorted allegations against Frederick of
homosexuality throughout his reign. These
suppositions are based upon Frederick’s
lewd poetryxxix, and the scandalous gossip
recorded by his life-long correspondent,
Voltaire. The wisdom of founding an
investigation of such depth largely upon
Voltaire’s anecdotal evidence is
questionable, as Voltaire bore a grudge
against Frederick,xxx and it starts to appear
mildly foolish when the testimony of
Frederick’s retainers such as Thiebault and
Pollnitz expressly deny such accusations.
Voltaire published reams of his
correspondence with Frederick, much of it
laden with classical allusion that appeared,
when represented by Voltaire in a certain
light, as homosexual flirting on the part of
Frederick. This academic muck-raking,
based upon biased sources, seems to have
more in common with popular journalism
and scandal-mongering than with serious
historiography.
“Frederick as an historical figure is impossible to
consider except against the blue and white
background of the Prussian army.xxxii” This is
“All this is speculation…sexual relations of any
kind played a negligible part in his life and
character.”xxxi General Fraser believes that
emphasis should be placed upon his
achievements rather than his personal life,
and in particular on his martial exploits-
amply demonstrated by the fact that thirteen
of the seventeen chapters in the book are an
account and analysis of his campaigns. He
views Frederick’s fragmented personality in
terms of its impact on his generalshipxxxiii
rather than in terms of psychological
analysis, as Macdonogh is wont to do.
Fraser’s book is a fine military treatise, but
does not pay sufficient heed to Frederick’s
cultural, diplomatic and administrative
impact.
A marginalised view of Frederick presented
by John T. Alexander in his 1999 work
“Catherine the Great” portrays Frederick as
a chauvinist pig, the bigoted antagonist
acting against the enlightened Catherine. In
painting Frederick as Catherine’s enemy,
Alexander has focussed on particular
instances of indiscretion on the part of
Frederick. He has based his criticisms of
Frederick largely upon isolated phrases such
as: “A woman is always a woman and in a
feminine government the cunt has more
influence than straight reason.xxxiv” To judge
and condemn any historical character as
bigoted or prejudiced based on the
standards of the present day is folly, and in
this instance, Alexander portrays a man
enlightened for his times as a misogynist,
22
Paintings such as Adolph Menzel’s “Concert at Sanssouci (Frederick’s favourite
palace)” of 1841 stressed the cultural side of Frederick’s reign.
and chooses not to take into account his
religious toleration, judicial reforms and
other forward-thinking ideas and policies.
a proper appreciation of this towering yet
enigmatic figure of European history.
Whether paragon of the enlightenment or
Hitler’s godfather, unbiased judgement is
best left to Hans Gleim, Frederick’s poet
laureate- “An epitaph then? Short and
sweet/ He was quite unique. That I think, will
fit a treat.xxxvi”
The evolution of the historiographical
perspectives on Frederick the Great since
the eighteenth century to the present have
portrayed him as the progenitor of a unified
German state, a hero of Protestantism, a
mindless military aggressor, a titan of
Teutonic culture, the architect of Nazism, a
racist, a soul tortured by homosexuality and
a male supremacist as well as the more
conventional view of him as brilliant general,
diplomat and statesman. That there should
be difference of interpretation for such a
many-faceted man, “reigning for so long,
fighting so many battles, writing so many
books,xxxv”is inevitable. What must be done
to make a reasoned evaluation of
Frederick’s life, character and impact is to
study all aspects of him and his actions fairly
and without bias or agenda so as to arrive at
Footnote
i
Frederick won the battles of Mollwitz, Chotusitz,
Hohenfreidburg, Soor, Lobositz, Prague, Rossbach, Leuthen,
Zorndorf, Liegnitz, Torgau and Burckersdorf and lost the battles
of Kolin, Hochkirch and Kunersdorf, giving him a success rate of
80%
ii
MacDonogh, G., Frederick the Great., pg. 386.
The Princely Courts of Europe 1500-1750 indicates that
Frederick’s court numbered less than a hundred, compared to the
thousands-strong establishments of other potentates. Pg.219
iv General Fraser relates an anecdote where a Dutch traveller was
viewing the grounds of Sanssouci (Frederick’s favourite palace)
and was given a tour by what he assumed to be a gardener, but
was in fact Frederick himself. The Dutchman attempted to tip
iii
23
Frederick, who responded that servants weren’t allowed to accept
such gratuities.
v ‘Old Fred’- Carlyle assures us that this is a term of endearment
rather than of disparagement.
viMoore,J., View of Society and Manners in France, Switzerland
and Germany, pg.246.
vii Fraser, D., Frederick the Great., pg. 626.
viii Chandler, D., Napoleon’s Marshals, pg.303.
ix The sword was destroyed by the French when the Allies (
including the Prussians) marched on Paris in Spring 1814. “
Serurier ( the curator of Les Invalides- France’s military
museum) personally burned the sword and sash of Frederick the
Great- to the dismay of subsequent historians.”
Chandler,D.,Napoleon’s Marshals, pg.451.
xLindsay, J., The The Ancient Regime, pg.455,
xi MacDonogh, G., Frederick the Great, pg.4.
xii MacDonogh, G., Frederick the Great, pg.5. Mithridates was the
brutal king of Pontus, and Trissotin the effeminate hero of
Moliere’s play ‘Les Femmes Savantes.’
xiii
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/carlyle.htm.
xiv Corbett, J., The Seven Years War, pg.29.
xv Carlyle, T., History of Frederick II of Prussia, called Frederick
the Great, book 1, pg.2.
xvi Fraser, D., Frederick the Great, pg.442.
xvii MacDonogh, G., Frederick the Great., pg. 4.
xviii Die Kriege Friedrichs des Grossen, 1890-1904.
xix Pioneered by Epaminondas at the battle of Leuctra and revived
in modern times by Frederick, the schwerpunkt consisted of
concentrating a large number of troops on one flank of one’s
army to achieve local superiority against the enemy. It was an ad
hoc schwerpunkt maneouvre on the part of the Prussian army that
had been Napoleon’s undoing at Waterloo, and before Helmuth
von Moltke the younger watered it down, the Schlieffen plan was
a classical schwerpunkt maneouvre, with the right flank of the
German forces substantially stronger than the left.
xx Ponsonby, F., Recollections of Three Reigns, pg.256.
xxi Placed on the main street of Berlin, the Puppenallee ( doll’s
alley) was a collection of heroic statues of the Kaiser’s ancestors;
they were much ridiculed in the international press.
MacDonogh,G.,Frederick the Great, pg.5.
xxii MacDonogh,G.,Frederick the Great, pg.5.
xxiii MacDonogh,G.,Frederick the Great, pg.5.
xxiv A term Frederick had coined for the accession of the
Prussophile Peter III to the throne of Russia in 1762, an event
which was instrumental to Prussia’s survival in the Seven Years
War. Fuller, J., Decisive Battles of the Western World, pg. 531.
xxv MacDonogh,G.,Frederick the Great, pg.6.
xxvi MacDonogh,G.,Frederick the Great, pg.6.
xxvii Parker, G., Illustrated History of Warfare,pg.203.
xxviii Feuchtwanger, E., Prussia: myth and reality, pg.26.
xxix One example is to be found in Macdonogh, G., Frederick the
Great, pg.203:
There’s great Caesar, of whom the gossips said,
He graced many a Roman matron’s bed,
In fact he was the pathic to their sires.
Flick through Seutonius when you can,
You’ll see that every Ceasar had his man.
You’ll learn they were all a bunch of queers.
xxx Voltaire had visited Frederick in Berlin in 1752-53. Voltaire’s
scandalous behaviour led to his temporary imprisonment and
eventual deportation. Although Frederick and Voltaire continued
to correspond, Voltaire released a series of scurrilous pamphlets
spreading rumours of Frederick’s supposed homosexual activity.
xxxi Fraser, D., Frederick the Great,pg.42.
xxxii Fraser, D., Frederick the Great, pg.622.
MacDonogh makes much of Frederick’s attitude to death as
being a sign of frustration of his homosexual desires. Fraser
makes it clear on pg. 627 of his book that Frederick’s attitude to
death and suicide is a mark of the steely resolve that made him a
great commander- “He was indifferent to conventional
condemnation of suicide: ‘One’s not master of one’s arrival in
this world. At least one should be allowed to leave it when life’s
no longer supportable.’ ”
xxxiv Alexander, J., Catherine the Great, pg.192.
xxxv Fraser, D., Frederick the Great, pg. 622.
xxxvi Macdonogh, G., Frederick the Great, pg. 386.
xxxiii
Bibliography.
Adamson, J., The Princely Courts of Europe
1500-1750, New York, 1999.
Alexander, J., Catherine the Great, London, 2000.
Asprey, R., Frederick the Great: the magnificent
enigma, New York, 1986.
Carlyle,T., History of Fredrich II of Prussia,
called Frederick the Great, 1865.
Chandler, D., Napoleon’s Marshals, London, 1987.
Corbett, J., The Seven Years War, London, 1909.
Craig, G., The politics of the Prussian army
1640-1945,Oxford, 1964.
Feuchtwanger, E., Prussia: myth and reality,
Rostock, 1970.
Fraser, D., Frederick the Great, London, 2000.
Fuller, J., Decisive Battles of the Western
World, London, 1955.
Lindsay, J., The Ancient Regime, Camb., 1957.
Macdonogh, G., Frederick the Great, Lond, 1999.
Moore, J., View of Society and Manners in France,
Switzerland and Germany, London, 1779.
Mordal, J., The sword and the scepter, Miami,
1969.
Parker, G., The Illustrated History of Warfare,
Cambridge, 1995.
Ponsonby, F., Recollections of Three Reigns,
London, 1951.
Ritter,G., Frederick the Great. A Historical
Profile,Munich, 1936..
Shownlter, D., The Wars of Frederick the Great,
London, 1996.
www.kirjasto.sci.fi/carlyle.htm
24
The Quest of the Historical Jesus,
Pt. 1: the Evidence.
Garriock Duncan
Introduction:
For almost thirty one years, I taught History
Recently Sydney witnessed a re-enactment
in public high schools in NSW, specialising in
of the crucifixion of Jesus, at the
Ancient History, and with a particular interest
Bar(r)angaroo precinct in Darling Harbour4.
in the age of Augustus and the JulioClaudians, i.e. 27 BCE till 68 CE1. That
It was a mixture of theatre, faith and history.
period was rich in events of Christian
Leaving theatre aside, I would like to argue
significance: the birth of Jesus, in the period
that the Jesus of History and the
7-4 BCE; the commencement of his ministry
Christ of Faith were separate entities until
in c. 29 CE; his trial and crucifixion in c. 30
one Sunday morning in Jerusalem, i.e. the
CE; the establishment of a significant
first Easter Sunday. That is not possible.
Christian presence in Rome by 49 CE; and
For, without the faith of others in him, there
the recognition by the Romans that
would have been no reason the remember
Christianity was not just a sect within
the historical Jesus5. Jesus would have just
Judaism but was an independent faith by 64
been one of three nameless Jews crucified
CE2. Yet for most of those thirty one years, I
on the eve of Passover in the month of
was always surprised that the history of
Nissan, sometime in the period 30/33CE.
Christianity, including the historical evidence
for Jesus was not part of the Ancient History
It is the historical evidence for Jesus that
syllabus, in NSW. In recent years, however,
interests me. In order to keep the amount of
the situation has changed. The “Historicity of
material within manageable bounds, I have
Jesus” is now part of the HSC History
set three narrow parameters: non New
Extension Syllabus, though with virtually
Testament evidence; Greek and Latin
nothing published on it. Hopefully, this article
writers; and, roughly contemporary, i.e. till
will contribute to knowledge of the topic 3.
about the middle of the 2nd century CE.
Thereafter, Christian sources dominate.
Hence, my attention was drawn to a
paragraph on Jesus published in a local
journal6. For this paragraph seemed to be a
strict historical narrative. Initially, my
response was to write a sort of commentary
on that paragraph. Since such an article
would have also required most of the
material discussed here, the resulting article
would have been of excessive length. So,
two articles. This is the first and the second
1
Instead of the usual dating indicators, i.e. BC and AD, I
will use the more culturally sensitive BCE, i.e. “Before the
Common Era” replacing BC, and CE, i.e. the “Common
Era” replacing AD. For brief, but excellent, surveys of the
major historical trends of the two periods, see: A WallaceHadrill, Augustan Rome, Bristol Classical Press 1993; T P
Weidemann, The Julio-Claudian Emperors, Bristol
Classical Press, 1989.
2
For the development of Christianity, see: P Barnett, The
Birth of Christianity, Eerdsmans, 2005.
3
HSC History Extension Stage 6 Syllabus (BOS [NSW],
1999, Option 7, 17. Little has been published in
professional journals. However, see: C Forbes, “HSC
Extension, Option 7; the Historicity of Jesus”, Ancient
History Teachers Conference, Macquarie University, 2001,
30-35
4
See: www.abc.net.au/stories/2008/07/18/2308211.htm;
“Divine performance has millions spellbound”, Sydney
Morning Herald, Weekend edition, January 19-20, 2008,
10-11.
5
J D G Dunn, A New Perspective on Jesus, Baker
Academic, 2005.
6
B Watt, “A (very) brief History of the World, pt. 1”,
Sutherland Shire Historical Society Bulletin, 11(1),
February, 2008, 19.
25
will provide the commentary on the
paragraph.
led the delegation to the emperor, Gaius (the
Legatio ad Gaium, though the work is written
in Greek). He was a prolific writer but had
more impact on early Christianity than
rabbinic Judaism9.
What is the historical evidence for Jesus?
Perhaps not as much as some would like.
Yet, still, more than enough to counter the
arguments of those who would argue against
the very existence of Jesus, son of Joseph7.
Nonetheless, the evidence I have assembled
is really the evidence for early Christianity; in
particular, early Christianity outside the New
Testament, as indicated above. To keep
within my stated time period, I have restricted
myself to three Greek writers, Philo of
Alexandria, Josephus (of Jerusalem) and
Lucian of Samosata, and three Lain writers,
Tacitius, Pliny the Younger and Suetonius. I
have supplemented their testimonia with the
text of two relevant inscriptions8. I have
listed my materials according to their
dramatic date rather than that of
composition. With one exception, the
collections I draw my testimonia from were
written with a Christian perspective. That one
exception is the work of G A Wells. I
provide references to DJE for comparative
purposes (see n.7).
(b) Josephus (mid 1st century CE) is the most
important Jewish historian in antiquity. He
was a member of the priestly Hasmonean
family. Josephus was educated in the Law
and eventually joined the Pharisees. He
played a minor and inglorious role in the
Jewish rebellion (66-70 CE) until captured by
the Romans. Henceforth, he was a staunch
apologist for Rome. He spent the second
half of his life in Rome writing on Jewish
affairs for Gentile readers10.
(c) Tacitus (late 1st century CE) is the
greatest of the Latin historians. He was a
distinguished orator and held senatorial
office., reaching the Proconsulship of Asia, c.
113 CE. In difficult Latin, he wrote, among
other writings, the history of imperial Rome
from the death of Augustus to that of Nero.
He was a bitter critic of the corruption of
power11.
The Writers:
(a) Philo (early 1st century CE) was an
Alexandrian Jew of prominent family. His
brother was Alexander the Alebarch, the
Roman customs superintendent, while his
nephew, Tiberius Julius Alexander, became
Prefect of Judaea. Philo was philosopher,
theologian and statesman. In 39/40 CE, Philo
(d) Pliny, the Younger (late 1st century CE),
was a native of Comum, on Lake Como, and
moved to Rome to pursue a public career.
While not a major figure, he served the
empire well as philanthropist and
administrator. The high point of his career
was his special post in Bithynia and Pontus,
where he encountered provincial Christian
communities12.
7
Probably, the most active writer in this area is G A
Wells, Professor Emeritus of German in the University of
London. See: G A Wells, Did Jesus exist?, 2nd ed.,
Pemberton Publishing, 1986 (henceforth cited as: DJE). He
has written five other books on various aspects of the Jesus
Quest. For a critique of Wells, see: G Habermas, The
Verdict of History, Thomas Nelson, 1984, 31-36.
(henceforth cited as: TVOH)
8
To achieve some uniformity, for the six writers I have
used the Loeb Classical Library, a series of parallel
translations, i.e. Greek – English, or Latin - English.
Translations of Philo and Lucian are only available in the
Loeb series. Because there are alternate editions of some
authors, I have included the name of the translator and the
date of the translation. The works of the three Latin writers
are also easily available in the Penguin Classics editions.
The complete works of Josephus are found in the Whiston
translation (The New Complete Works of Josephus, transl.
W Whiston, Kregel 1999). This is a revised edition of
Whiston’s translation, originally published in 1737).
(e) Suetonius (early 2nd century CE) was the
personal secretary to the emperor, Hadrian.
He wrote widely but all that really survives is
the collection of imperial lives, published in
English as The Twelve Caesars. His
biographies are noted for their racy tone13.
Abridged from: G Vermes, Who’s Who in the Age of
Jesus, Penguin, 2005, 209-211 (henceforth cited as
WWAJ).
10
WWAJ, 159-163.
11
Abridged from: B Radice, Who’s who in the Ancient
World, Penguin, 1971, 231b-232b (henceforth cited as
WWAW).
12
WWAW, 199a.
13
WWAW, 228b-229a.
9
26
(f) Lucian of Samosata (mid 2nd century CE)
was born in Syria but educated in the canon
of classical Greek literature. Lucian was a
satirist who chose as his topics the follies
and superstitions of his age. He particularly
attacked religious fanatics and impostors, in
which his age was rich14.
literature, does not provide it (Annals, 15.44).
The historical significance of the stone is that
it proves what the title of the Governor of
Judaea was at this time. (i.e. in the 30’s CE).
[....]fectus, which appears in the Pilate stone
only allows one possible restoration,
praefectus. Tacitus calls Pilate, procurator,
as by his time, the Governor of Judaea did
have the title, Procurator. In Judaea,
praefectus (Pilate’s title) went out of use in
41 CE and procurator started being used in
44 CE19 .
1. The Pilate Inscription (TEFJ15, 147):
In 1961 C.E., a battered and inscribed stone
was found at Caesarea Maritima, the
administrative centre of the province of
Judaea16. The inscription reads17 :
2. The Character of Pilate:
In about 39/40 CE, the Roman Emperor,
Caligula, decided to install a statue of
himself in the temple at Jerusalem20. The
Jews sent a deputation to dissuade Caligula
from his decision, The deputation was led
by Philo. A record survives of the work of
the deputation, the “Embassy to Gaius” (in
Latin; Legatio ad Gaium). The Gospels
present a Pilate who is vacillating and
indecisive; a man, who is easily manipulated.
This is not the man to be found in the
Legatio21. The extract refers to the Romans’
installation (i.e. at Pilate’s order) of gold
shields bearing a brief dedicatory inscription
in Herod’s palace in Jerusalem.
[Dis Augusti]s Tiberieum
[M? Pon]tius Pilatus
[prae]fectus Iuda[eae]
[fecit d]e[dicavit]
My translation reads:
To the Augustan deities, Marcus
Pontius Pilatus, Prefect of
Judaea, had a building built in
honour of Tiberius and dedicated
it.
I described the stone found at Caesarea as
“battered”18. The dimensions of the stone
and the style of lettering can provide clues as
to how many letters are missing. Hence, the
text on the stone can be restored. Letters
which can be clearly made out are printed in
bold The “restored “ readings are printed
within quare brackets [ ].
But when the multitude
understood the matter…they
appealed to Pilate to redress the
infringement of their
traditions…(He), naturally
inflexible, a blend of self will and
relentlessness, stubbornly
refused…He feared…they (i.e. the
Jews) would also expose the rest
off his conduct as governor by
stating in full the briberies, the
insults, the robberies, the outrages
Unfortunately, the text is missing where the
letter signifying Pilate’s first name (in Latin,
praenomen) would be Tacitus, in the only
reference to Pilate in non-Christian Latin
14
WWAW, 155a-b.
R T France, The Evidence for Jesus, Hodder &
Stoughton, 1986.
16
On Caesarea (built by Herod, the Great), see: L
Cansdale, “Caesarea: the Life and Death of a Harbour”,
Ancient History: Resources for Teachers, 23 (1), 19-29; R
Hohlfelder, “Herod’s City on the Sea”, National
Geographic, 171(2), February, 1987, 261-280.
17
First published in, l’Annee Epigraphique, 1963, n.
104 (26).
18
For images of the inscription, see: J D Crossan, et
al., Excavating Jesus, HarperSanFrancisco, 2002, 60
(photo); WWAJ, 213 (photo); I Wilson, Murder at
Golgotha, St Martin’s Press, 2006, 67 (artist’s
reproduction).
15
19
For the change in title, see: A N Sherwin-White,
Roman Society and Law in the New Testament,
OUP, 1963, 6-7. In the intervening three years,
Judaea was ruled by the Jewish king, Agrippa I (G
Vermes, The Passion, Penguin, 2005, 16).
20
For the impact of Gaius’ reign on the Jews, see: F F
Bruce, New Testament History, Anchor Books, 1972, 247257 (henceforth cited as NTH).
21
On Pilate, see: WWAJ, 211-215. For an attempt to
reconcile this difference, see: P Barnett, Jesus and the Logic
of History, Apollos (Inter-Varsity Press), 1997, 84-89
(henceforth cited as: JLOH).
27
countless other marvellous things
about him. And the tribe of Christians,
and wanton injuries, the
executions without trial constantly
repeated, the ceaseless and
supremely grievous cruelty. So,
with all his vindictiveness and
furious temper, he was in a difficult
situation. He had not the courage
to take down what had been
dedicated nor did he wish to do
which would please his subjects.
(Philo, Legatio ad Gaium, 299-305 [Colson,
1962]).
so called after him, has still to this day
not disappeared.
(Feldman, 1965)
I used the phrase, “traditional text”, since
there are some variations in the texts of
Josephus for this passage. Origen’s text of
Josephus differed at this point (TEFJ, 29)
and the Slavonic version of Josephus (c. 11th
century CE) appears to derive from a
different manuscript tradition27. It is
universally agreed that Josephus, an
orthodox Jew, could not have written the
passage, as it stands. As a result, the
passage is usually significantly emended28.
At the intervention of the emperor (at this
time, Tiberius), the shields were removed to
Caesarea Maritima22.
3. Josephus, Antiquities, 18.63-64 (BTG23,
33-34; DJE, 10-11;JCOONT24, 36-41;
JLOH, 35-37;TCF25, 26-28; TEFJ, 27-32;
TRJ26, 113-115; TVOH, 91-93):
The beginning of John the Baptist’s public
ministry is precisely dated in Luke (3.1) to the
fifteenth year of Tiberius’ reign, i.e. 29 CE.
Presumably, that of Jesus began not much
later (Luke, 3.21). The beginning of Jesus’
public ministry is described by Josephus.
This passage – the Testimonium Flavianum is justly famous and its text hotly disputed.
The traditional text reads:
I have placed in italics the three items that is
most unlikely Josephus wrote. Barnett
(JLOH, 36) accepts that the first and third of
these are Christian interpolations, i.e.
additions to the text made by Christian
copyists who wanted the text to reflect their
beliefs. As for the second, he feels the
word, “Christ” must have appeared in the
passage to explain why the followers of
Jesus were called Christians29. He would
suggest changing the text slightly to read “he
was the so called Christ”, an expression, of
Jesus, to be used later by Josephus, when
talking about James to link him with Jesus
(JLOH. 37)30. Because of the textual
problems, this passage, at first read so
significantly a piece of evidence for the
historical Christ, is of marginal relevance.
About this time, there lived Jesus, a
wise man, if indeed one ought to call
him a man. For he was one who
wrought surprising feats and was a
teacher of such people who accept
the truth gladly. He won over many
Jews and many of the Greeks. He
was the Messiah. When Pilate, upon
hearing him accused by men of the
highest standing amongst us, had
condemned him to be crucified, those
who in the first place come to love him
did not give up their affection for him.
On the third day, he appeared to them
restored to life, for the prophets of
God had prophesied these and
4. The Nazareth Inscription (JCOONT,
195-196; NTH, 300-304; TEFJ, 147-148;
TVOH, 155-156):
27
BTG, 41-47; JCOONT, 42-51.
See Feldman’s notes (LCL Josephus, vol. 7, 48-49.
29
Tacitus, Annals, 15.44 (see no. 7b below) supports
Barnett’s argument. He refers to “Christ” to explain
“Christian”.
30
For detailed discussions of the problems contained in the
passage, see: Z Baras, “The Testimonium Flavianum and
the Martyrdom of James” in L H Feldmann & G Hata, edd.,
Josephus, Judaism, and Christianity, E J Brill, 1987, 338348; H St J Thackeray, Josephus; the Man and the History,
KTAV Publishing, 1967 reprint of 1929 edition, 136-148;
G Vermes, “The Jesus Notice of Josephus re-Examined”,
Journal of Jewish Studies, 38(1), 1987, 1-10 (reprinted in:
G Vermes, Jesus in His Jewish Context, SCM Press, 2003,
1-10).
28
22
The other roughly contemporary Jewish writer, Josephus,
also provides a similar view of Pilate (Antiquities, 18. 5564).
23
R Dunkerley, Beyond the Gospels, Penguin, 1957.
24
F F Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins outside the New
Testament, Hodder & Stoughton, 1974.
25
J Dickson. The Christ Files, Blue Bottle, 2006.
26
L T Johnson, The Real Jesus, HarperCollins, 1997.
28
This interpretation would require precise
knowledge by the Romans of the origins of
Christianity. As passage 5 (below) indicates,
the Romans did not have this knowledge. In
fact, the knowledge of Christian origins was
non existent. The closest Latin writer to this
period (i.e. post 30’s CE) is Pliny, the Elder,
uncle of that other Pliny (see no. 9, below).
Pliny, the Elder, was a polymath and he
wrote a multi-volume encyclopaedic work,
The Natural Histories. In bk. 5, he provides
four sections to a discussion of Judaea
(5.15.70-73). In the last (73), he turns to
religion. He only mentions the Essenes; no
mention of mainstream Judaism and no
mention of Jesus or early Christianity.
Tacitus also supports this ignorance or
disinterest. In a digression on matters Jewish
(Histories, 5.2-10) , he makes a comment
about Judaea during the reign of Tiberius,
emperor, 14-37 CE. This period covers the
prefectship of Pilate, and, yet, Tacitus
dismisses the twenty three years in three
words: sub Tiberio quies – “under Tiberius,
all was quiet” (Histories, 5.9).
The inscription was allegedly found in
Nazareth, in 1878, and is normally dated to
the reign of Claudius (41-54 CE).
Ordinance of Caesar. It is my
pleasure that graves and tombs
prepared for the cult of ancestors or
children or kinsmen shall remain
undisturbed in perpetuity. And if
anyone brings information that
someone has caused destruction,
or has in any other manner cast out
the buried dead, or has with malice
aforethought removed them to other
places to the detriment of the
interred, or has removed
tombstones or other stones, I order
that such a person be brought to
trial for [violating] the cult of [dead]
persons, just as is done in the case
of the gods. The buried dead must
in future be accorded much more
respect. Absolutely, no one shall
be allowed to disturb them. If
anyone does, I desire him to be
sentenced to capital punishment for
violation of sepulture31.
Any Christian connection verges on
extremely wishful thinking. For, the origin of
the inscription almost certainly lies in the
outbreak of communal violence between
Greeks and Jews with the desecration of
each community’s tombs by the other. This
violence broke out in the Roman Empire,
particularly in the east, and particularly in
Egypt, i.e. the city of Alexandria, which had
a large Jewish population, during the reign of
the emperor, Claudius, in the 40’s CE.
Claudius was keenly interested in good
administration and devoted considerable
efforts to suppressing this violence33. As the
next passage shows, this violence apparently
spread to Rome, itself.
The alleged provenance of this inscription
caused great attention to be paid to it.
However, its origin cannot be proven (NTH,
303). The inscription with its subject matter,
a prohibition against disturbing graves, would
seem to be a reaction to the sort of malicious
tales spread by the Jewish authorities to
account for Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew,
28.12-15). These tales can be divided into
two broad categories. The first is that the
followers of Jesus stole his body from the
tomb to argue his resurrection. The second
is that he was given a coma inducing drug,
which feigned death, and that he was
revived by the coolness of the tomb. It was
possible to survive crucifixion (Josephus,
Life, 420) but only if the victim’s legs had not
been broken, i.e. the crurifragium (see: John,
19.31-32)32.
5. Suetonius, Claudius, 25.4 (BTG, 25-26;
JCOONT, 20-21; TCF, 21-22; TEFJ, 40-42;
TVOH, 89-90):
It would seem that the communal violence,
mentioned in the previous section, also
spread to Rome. In 49 CE, Claudius took
decisive action.
31
Translation from: N Lewis, et al., Roman Civilization
Sourcebook II: The Empire, Harper Torchbooks, 1966, 3537. For the Greek text: E M Smallwood, Documents
Illustrating the Principates of Gaius, Claudius and Nero,
Bristol Classical Press, 1984, n.377 (105).
32
For the “swoon” theory, see: TVOH, 54-58.
33
B Levick, Claudius, Batsford, 1990, 182-185; NTH,
291-297.
29
Since the Jews constantly made
disturbances at the instigation of
Chrestus, he expelled them from
Rome.
(Rolfe, 1914)34
Chrestos, meaning “useful”, is a slave name
and is the past passive participle of the verb,
Chresthai (“to use”). Christos (the expected
reading) is the past passive participle of the
verb, chriein (“to anoint”). Since the first
vowel of both words is long, they probably
were pronounced quite similarly. The
passage seems to imply a Christian
community in Rome, at this time. However,
the passage also signifies that in 49 CE, the
Romans could not distinguish between the
Jewish and Christian communities and
probably members of both were expelled.
This expulsion is traditionally identified with
that mentioned in Acts, 18.2, in which Aquila
and his wife, Priscilla were included35.
with the nuance of the Greek and implies no
such comment. In fact, the same expression
is used of Jesus in Matthew, 1.16, with no
negative overtones. Barnett (JLOH, 37)
would, indeed, like to emend “He was the
Messiah”, i.e. Christ in Antiquities, 18.63, to
read, “He was the so called Messiah”.
This passage, however, is the most
significant of my Jesus testimonia. The text
is not disputed and Josephus makes no
statement about Jesus an orthodox Jew
could not make. Why, then, does Josephus
even mention Jesus? The answer is quite
important. “James” is a variant of “Jacob”,
the name of the great Jewish patriarch and,
no doubt, a common name for Jewish boys36.
“Jesus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew
“Yeshua”, which comes into English as
“Joshua”. Joshus was the great Jewish hero
on the conquest of Canaan and his name
would have been a common one, too37.
There must have been many unimportant
brothers with the names, James and Jesus.
However, one James had a brother who was
far more important than himself. To identify
precisely which James he was describing,
Josephus had to mention this brother, “the
one who was called the Christ”38.
6. Josephus, Antiquities, 20.200 (DJE, 11;
JCOONT, 350-36; TCF, 28-29; TEFJ, 25-27;
TVOH, 90-91; WWJ, 34-35):
For some this is a contentious passage and
they take issue with one particular phrase,
which I have printed in italics.
Ananus though that he had a
favourable opportunity because
Festus was dead and Albinus was
still on the way. And he convened
the judges of the Sanhedrin and
brought before them a man named
James, the brother of Jesus, who
was called Christ, and certain
others.
(Feldman, 1965).
7. Persecution of the Christians and the
Burning of Rome:
Both Suetonius and Tacitus record the
persecution of the Christians during Nero’s
reign (54-68 CE). Suetonius, however, does
not link it to the great fire of Rome in 64 CE,
whereas Tacitus does.
36
See: J M Court, Dictionary of the Bible, Penguin, 2007,
159 (Jacob), 160 (James).
37
On Joshua, see: ibid, 182.
38
Further on James, see: WWAJ, 125-130. There is also
the encyclopaedic study: R Eisenman, James, the Brother of
Jesus, Penguin, 1997. James recently excited a frenzy of
interest with the claim that the ossuary, containing his
remains and inscribed with the legend, “James, son of
Joseph, brother of Jesus”, had been found in Jerusalem: A
Barnard, “Biblical burial box adds to the body of evidence
that Jesus existed”, Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday,
October 23, 2002, 3; M Kilian, “Not an open or shut case”,
The Daily Telegraph, Saturday, October 26, 2002, 30; H
Shanks, et al., The Brother of Jesus, HarperSanFrancisco,
2003. Unfortunately, the ossuary was a forgery: G Myer,
“Four charged in forgery of biblical proportions”, Sydney
Morning Herald, Friday, December 31, 2004, 11. For a
rejoinder, see: J Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty, HarperElement,
2005, 14-21.
In Greek, the phrase in italics
legomenos Christos) is often translated “the
so-called Christ” and is read, by some, as an
imputation against Christ’s credentials, as it
were. Feldman’s translation is more in line
34
For a good discussion of the issues involved, see: J
Mottershead, Suetonius, Claudius, Bristol Classical Press,
1986, 149-157.
35
See: NTH, 297-299; R Wallace, et al., The Acts of the
Apostles, Bristol Classical Press, 1993, 95-97. Tiberius
had, similarly, expelled the Jews from Rome in 19 CE
(Tacitus, Annals, 2.85). Josephus mentions the same event
(Antiquities, 18.81-84) wrongly dates the event to c. 30 CE
(See: Feldman’s note d [LCL, vol. 9, 50-51]).
30
(a) Suetonius, Nero, 16.2 (JLOH, 32;
TVOH, 90).
Suetonius provides no context nor date for
this event. It is included within a list of
sundry police activities carried out during
Nero’s reign.
the world collect aand find a
vogue. First, then, the confessed
members of the sect were arrested
(correpti qui fatebantur); next, on
their disclosures40, vast numbers
were convicted, not so much on
account of arson, as for hatred of
the human race (odio humani
generis)
(Jackson, 1937)
Punishment was inflicted on the
Christians, a class of men given to
a new and mischievous
superstition.
(Rolfe, 1914)
Unlike Suetonius, who does not find any link
between the fire at Rome and the
persecution of the Christians, Tacitus
establishes a most definite link. However, he
is at crossed purposes in the passage41.
Firstly, he is at pains to emphasise that the
Christians were innocent of the charge. For
the expression he uses, subdidit reos, is
regularly used of a fraudulent accusation
(Annals, 1.6, 3.67, 4.59, 6.36) and he has
already indicated that there were only two
possible explanations for the fire, either an
accident or the work of Nero (Annals, 15.38).
However, his description of Christianity
reveals his disapproval of the cult and that
punishment (but not for arson) was justified.
Also, those who confessed were arrested
(correpti qui fatebantur). Arrested for what?
Tacitus does not say but we know it cannot
have been for arson. Finally who hated
whom (odio humani generis)? The Latin is
capable of two equally possible
interpretations. Mankind hated the
Christians or the Christians hated mankind.
The translation used suggests the latter
interpretation42.
The passage contains information on both
Jesus (but here called Christ) and
Christianity. Again, Tacitus’ information is
not very precise and could be second hand,
derived from some other source43. We must
Significantly, Suetonius calls Christianity a
superstitio.. Superstitio appears to be the
generic name for the Christian cult, since
both Tacitus (Annals, 15.44) and Pliny
(Epistles, 10.96) use the term. At the
personal level, superstitio signified a cult you
did not believe in; at governmental level, it
meant a cult, particularly an Eastern one,
which was inimical to Roman values39.
(b) Tacitus Annals, 15.44 (BTG, 25; DJE,
13-15; JCOONT, 21-23; JLOH, 31-32; TCF,
19-20; TEFJ. 21-23; TRJ, 115-116; TVOH,
87-89):
This is a particularly problematic passage by
Tacitus and I have included the Latin text at
a number of key points. The context is
Tacitus’ description of the great fire in Rome
of 64 CE.
Therefore to scotch the rumour,
Nero substituted as culprits
(subdidit reos) and punished with
the utmost refinements of cruelty
a class of men, loathed for their
vices, whom the crowd called
Christians. Christus, the founder
of the name, had undergone the
death penalty in the reign of
Tiberius, by the sentence of the
procurators, Pontius Pilate, and
the pernicious superstition was
checked for a moment, only to
break out once more not merely in
Judaea, the home of the disease,
but even in the capital itself, where
all things horrible or shameful in
40
It is assumed that at this stage, most Christians would
have belonged to the lower classes, often with a servile
background. Pliny (Letters, 10.96.8) makes it clear that
much of this “information” would have been extracted by
torture.
41
For a discussion of the issues raised by the passage, see:
H Furneaux, The Annals of Tacitus, vol. II, OUP, 1907,
416-427.
42
Tacitus uses a similar expression of the Jews (Histories,
5.5) where it is obvious that it is the Jews who hate
mankind.
43
Wells, DJE, 13, Wells’ view is supported by France,
TEFJ, 22-23.
See: M Griffin, Nero – the End of a Dynasty, Batsford,
1984, 132-133; B H Warmington, Suetonius, Nero, Bristol
Classical Press, 1977, 73-74.
39
31
note that Tacitus provides an incorrect title
for Pilate. Procurator was not used before
44 CE (see no. 1, above). Tacitus is, also,
unaware that Christ is a title and assumes
that it is a name44. However, in Latin, “Christ”
as a name would better explain the formation
of “Christian(us)”45.
seeking advice. In his letter, he summarises
the activities of these Christians.
…the sum total of their guilt or
error amounted to no more than
this: they had met regularly before
dawn on a fixed day to chant
verses alternately among
themselves in honour of Christ as
if he were a god, and also to bind
themselves by oath, not for any
criminal purpose, but to abstain
from theft, robbery and adultery, to
commit no breach of trust and not
to deny a deposit when called
upon to restore it. After this
ceremony, it had been their
custom to disperse and
reassemble later to take food of
an ordinary, harmless kind; but
they had, in fact, given up this
practice since my edict, issued on
your instructions, which banned all
political societies.
(Radice, 1969)47
Yet, the passage is not without value. For, it
provides a potted biography of the historical
Christ. We are given a broad historical
context, the reign of Tiberius (14-37 CE),
followed by a more precise local context, the
prefectship of Judaea by Pilate (c. 26/27-34
CE). We are told the fate of this Christ and
given some information about the
development of his cult. Finally, Tacitus
provides evidence for a sizeable Christian
community in Rome in 64 CE.
6. Pliny, Letters, 10.96 (BTG, 24-25;
JCOONT, 23-29; JLOH, 33; TCF, 20-21;
TEFJ, 42-43; TVOH, 94-97; WWAJ, 24-25):
In about 111 CE, Pliny was appointed to be a
special administrator in the province of
Bithynia and Pontus46. Much of his
correspondence with the emperor, Trajan,
comprises book 10 of his collected letters
(Radice, 1969).
In spite of his experience, Pliny had never
been present at formal proceedings against
Christians (96.1) and was even unsure of the
nature of the crime. Was the crime of the
Christians the formal admission of being a
Christen (crimen nominis) or the illegal acts
committed (flagitia: see Trajan’s reply
[10.97]). Nonetheless, Pliny provides an
important witness to the development of
Christian worship. This letter is the bridge
between the Apostolic period and the latter
half of the 2nd century CE, when Tertullian
and Justin provide a clear picture.
One letter is of particular interest to us
(10.96). There had clearly been inter
communal violence and a number of
Christians were brought before Pliny, acting
in his judicial capacity. Pliny was unsure of
what to do and after preliminary
investigations, he wrote to the emperor
44
Wells places great importance on this (The Jesus Legend,
Open Court Publishing, 1966, 42; The Jesus Myth, Open
Court Publishing, 1999, 199). Wells’ argument loses some
force, I think, because unlike Greek, Latin has no definite
article. So, Tacitus cannot be as precise as Josephus, when
the latter talks of “the Christ”. Latin did sometimes use
the demonstrative adjective, ille, as a sort of definite article
but it always retained some demonstrative element.
Ironically, ille provides the definite article in modern
Romance languages (P Wolffe, Western Languages, AD
100-1500, Phoenix, 2003, 182-183).
45
The term, “Christian”, was first used in Antioch (Acts,
11.26). For the formation of the term, see: Barnett (n.2),
81; F Cimok, Saint Paul in Anatolia, A Turizm Yayinlari,
1999, 34, 36.
46
See: P Southern, Trajan – Optimus Princeps, Routledge,
1997, 123-124.
The Christians met before dawn because
this was the regular meeting time for working
class people, i.e. before their working day
began, at first light. While Pliny uses a Greek
word to describe the society of the
Christians, it is clear that they were deemed
to be a collegium. This is a generic Latin
term to denote any gathering of people
united for a common purpose, i.e. a religious
group, a tradesman guild, even a literary
association. Collegia had long been subject
47
For a full commentary on this passage, see: A N Sherwin
White, The Letters of Pliny, OUP, 1966, 702-708
32
“crucified man”. Lucian has correctly
identified Jesus’ doctrine of brotherly love
(Matthew, 23.8). However, while Lucian
holds both Peregrinus and Christians in
contempt, Peregrinus’ death displays a more
serious side. Out of his developed beliefs in
immortality (perhaps partly rising from his
experiences as a Christian), Peregrinus
changed his name to Phoenix (27) and
committed suicide by self immolation
claiming immortality for himself. (36).
to stringent regulation by Roman authorities,
because of the opportunity they provided for
revolutionary activity. Note that the Christian
community had made a genuine effort to
abide by current legal restrictions on
associations. It is, also, clear from Pliny’s
letter that the leaders of the this Christian
community managed to escape, since only
deaconesses (slave women) fell into his
hands.
7. Lucian, The Passing of Pegrinus, 13
(TCF, 22; TRJ, 116; TVOH, 100-101).
The lustre of imperial Rome began to fade in
the 2nd century CE, and a certain angst took
hold of the population. Old certainties began
to become less certain and people looked for
new one48. Such a searcher after new truths
was Peregrinus Proteus.. At one point, he
was an important member of a Jewish
Christian group in Palestine (11). After
serious allegations, including one of murder,
were made against him (15), Peregrinus was
expelled from the movement for “eating
forbidden fruits” (17).
Conclusion
As indicated in the introduction, I restricted
my testimonia by three narrow parameters:
namely non New Testament49; Greek and
Latin writers50; but only those roughly
contemporary i.e. till about the middle of the
2nd century CE51. My sources cite two other
testimonia, of which the first fits all three
criteria and the second only two. They offer a
possible Jesus identification, perhaps even a
probable one but not a positive one52.
In the introduction, I stated that there was
not as much historical evidence for Christ as
readers might expect and that much of what I
provided was evidence for early Christianity.
I have supplied ten pieces of evidence. .
Yet, all ten together do not make a
biography of Jesus. The closest in time to
Jesus himself is Josephus. Yet, he is still
writing some thirty years later. The gospels
are no closer. Additionally, the gospel
writers were not writing biography as we
think of it53. They were really only
concerned with the public ministry stage of
In his account of Peregrinus, Lucian
summarises Christian beliefs.
The poor wretches have convinced
themselves, first and foremost that
they are going to be immortal and
live for all time, in consequence of
which they despise death and
even willingly give themselves into
custody, most of them.
Furthermore, their first lawgiver
persuaded them that they are all
brothers of one another after they
have transgressed once and for all
by denying the Greek gods and
worshipping that crucified sophist
himself and living under his laws.
Therefore they despise all things
indiscriminately and consider them
common property, receiving such
doctrines traditionally without any
definite evidence.
(Harmon, 1936)
Oddly, Lucian does not provide a name for
the “crucified sophist” in this passage, nor in
a previous paragraph (11), where talks of the
49
I have avoided citing any documents of the New
Testament , apart from scattered references. This is not
because I do not think they are historically reliable. That
question was answered some years ago. See: F F Bruce,
The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, IVP,
1960. It may surprise readers to learn that in the late 1970’s,
the Acts of the Apostles was part of the NSW HSC Ancient
History Syllabus: E A Judge, “The Acts of the Apostles”,
Ancient Society: Resources for Teachers, 5(2), 1975, 66-72.
50
I deliberately excluded references in rabbinic literature.
See: JCOONT, 54-65
51
I have followed this restriction closely, thus excluding
the work of the neo-Platonist anti-Christian polemicist,
Celsus (late 2nd century CE). See: BTG, 28; TCF, 23-24
52
The first is a fragment of the Greek historian, Thallos
(BTG, 27-28;DJE, 12-13; TCF, 17-18; TEFJ, 24; TVOH,
93-94); the second is the letter of Mara ben Serapion (BTG,
27;JCOONT, 30-31; TCF, 18-19; TEFJ, 23-24).
53
See: TRJ, 122.
48
See: E R Dodds, Pagan and Christian in an Age of
Anxiety, Norton, 1970.
33
Jesus’ life leading up to his trial and
crucifixion54. The closest documentation to
the time of Jesus is, of course, the letters of
Paul and he does provide some biographical
data but still not the desired biography55.In
my discussion of all the passages, I
indicated the value I gave them for this quest
Of my ten sources, three have no
Jesus/Christianity link at all (nos. 1, 2, 4).
They are there to provide an historical
context. Four more (nos. 5, 7a, 8, 9) relate
only to early Christianity. That leaves only
three (nos. 3, 6, 7b) which tell us anything
about Jesus. No. 3 is suspect textually and
conceptually; no. 7b really is a bland
general statement which, as I have
indicated, was probably drawn from a source
originating later than 44 CE. So, the source
I give most value to is, to some, the least
significant since it provides no more than his
name. (no. 6). Jesus is not even the subject
of the passage. He is merely alluded to as a
means of identifying the person being
discussed. However, he is not just Jesus.
Instead, he is Jesus, also called the Christ.
TVOH: G Habermas, The Verdict of History, Thomas
Nelson, 1984
WWAJ: G Vermes, Who’s Who in the Age of Jesus,
Penguin, 2005.
WWAW: B Radice, Who’s who in the Ancient World,
Penguin, 1971.
List of Abbreviations:
I have used abbreviations for works
frequently cited in the notes. While the
explanation of those abbreviations is given
when first used, I feel it is probably useful for
readers to give the list again.
BTG: R Dunkerley, Beyond the Gospels, Penguin,
1957
DJE: G A Wells, Did Jesus exist?, 2nd ed., Pemberton
Publishing, 1986
JCOONT: F F Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins
outside the New Testament, Hodder & Stoughton,
1974
JLOH: P Barnett, Jesus and the Logic of History,
Apollos (Inter-Varsity Press), 1997.
NTH: F F Bruce, New Testament History, Anchor
Books, 1972
TCF: J Dickson. The Christ Files, Blue Bottle, 2006
TEFJ: R T France, The Evidence for Jesus, Hodder &
Stoughton, 1986.
TRJ: L T Johnson, The Real Jesus, HarperCollins,
1997
54
Only Matthew (1, 2) and Luke (1, 2) provide the infancy
narrative but then they, too, jump to Jesus’ public ministry
(Matthew, 3; Luke, 3).
55
See: Dunn (n.5), 32; TRJ, 117-120.
34
The Re-invention of Traditional
Aboriginal Dreaming Stories
Les Bursill – 2008
In the late 80’s Sutherland Shire Council
funded a number of projects. These projects
were for the coming Bi-centennial of
Australia. One of those many projects was to
find, record and photograph Aboriginal sites
in “The Shire”. I was fortunate enough to be
the recipient of the small grant to find, record
and photograph those Aboriginal sites.
Clearly there was more here than was just
what was visible. I resolved to discover the
“hidden” parts of these images and to try to
understand the meanings
Of the 79 sites we had recorded at least 4
sites had multiple characters just as the
whales sites. Many of these sites were
repeated throughout the Shire, though that
was not always the case.
At the outset the task was to find out what
was already known about Aboriginal sites
and for this I approached the National Parks
Archaeologists at Hurstville. Whilst very
reluctant to divulge any information they did
finally tell me they had about 40 sites
registered in the Shire.
Some sites seemed to be made up of
multiple groups of images spread over a
large areas of the same rock platforms. In
the image below you may see that.
A team of 17 interested individuals were
drawn together and developed into the
“Living Sites Survey Team” and we started
looking at known sites and then set out to
find other sites. Our activity quickly revealed
another 40 sites with hints of many more to
come.
The figures on the left are of two women and
a child. The figures on the right are of an
Elder and five men. Were these two
engraving sites related. You may notice that
the metre rule shown in the drawings
indicates that about 3 metres separate the
engravings. The engravings proximity to
each other seems to indicate that these two
sites are related.
Having found and photographed these sites I
was left wondering “what did they mean”
Many of the sites clearly showed
“information” and “interactions”.
I suppose that I had always thought that I
would find images of animals, birds or
humans in isolation. But instead I found
“scenes” images in context with other images
and whilst many of these scenes appeared to
relate to the local economy it was not always
clear how they related.
My reasoning was that if these two sites can
be related yet appear on different rock
surfaces then perhaps other engravings
could hold a relationship with each other by
subject matter?
I was able to demonstrate this theory in 1995
when I was given information by senior men
of the Arrente language group in Alice
Springs. They indicated that the engravings
of the women and men above were only
parts of a greater tableau that should include
a Serpent and a Kangaroo.
I was able to identify that site as one I had
found years earlier but the site was literally
miles, many miles away.
For instance whales in the bay, yes that’s
reasonable, but why two and what was the
other object always found in association with
the whales (see image below).
35
Now back to the whales; as you will
remember at the beginning of this article I
mentioned engravings of whales.
There are five known sets of whales that
directly reflect on Port Hacking. One at
Maianbah . Another set at Jibbon headlands,
and three further sets along the coast down
to Marley headland. In each of these
engravings there are two whales and a third
ovoid figure.
I knew of a story of whales that appears to
come from the South Coast about a whale,
starfish and Koala. But I also knew that these
stories were about Hump Back Whales not
Orca (Killer Whales) and all of the
engravings appeared to be of Orca. So how
do these stories fit?
In the engraving above you can clearly
identify a Serpent and a Kangaroo. Two
more elements of the story of the women. In
this element the men are dancing the story of
Wititj or Yulungur (The Creator Serpent) and
their involvement in the chasing and
punishing of the two women. This element
had been told to me by the old men. It is a
well known element through Australia.
Many years of research and some good luck
led me to understand that the ovoid figures
were seals, or at least the backs of seals. So
these engravings were about Orca’s hunting
seals. I then realized that wherever these
engravings appear the site is always a
superb lookout. A place where whales can
be seen when they hunted in the Bay.
The interesting part of this was that these
elements appear to demonstrate the
direction of travel taken by the Dharawal
when coming into and leaving the coastal
part of their seasonal range.
So we were able to reconstruct a traditional
dreaming story from Northern Australia right
here in Sutherland Shire. Included here
below is one of many versions of this story,
each with a variation that meets the local
environmental needs.
The Wagilag Sisters Story: Two Sisters the older of whom has a child, the younger
is pregnant - set up camp at a waterhole
called Mirarrmina in Liyagalawumirr country
where the younger Sister gives birth. The
Sisters are unaware that the waterhole is
the sacred home of Wititj, the giant Olive
Python, who is angered by their presence.
Wititj rises erect in the sky, spitting out
water which forms the rain clouds of the
first monsoon. The Sisters perform songs
and dances to stop the flood of rain, then
Wititj descends and swallows the women
and children and all their belongings. This
ancestral narrative prescribes the laws of
marriage, the origins of ceremonies and the
coming of the first monsoon. (Around Darwin)
So clearly now it seemed that the whales and
their hunting activities were linked. It was
only after an elder from the Wreck Bay
community told me the whales were referred
to as the Law Bringers that a glimmer of
understanding started to emerge.
I remembered hearing a story of Orcas
helping whalers in Eden on the South Coast
and that story plus what I had learned from
the Elders fit together. The bringers of the
Law were in fact the bringers of vast foods.
When Orcas hunted their prey often the pray
would have been driven into the shallows. I
now realized that there had been in the past
a symbiotic agreement between Orca and
36
the Dharawal, where the Orca drove their
prey into the shallows and the local people
would have harvested the flesh and shared
that flesh with the Orca’s. Just as the whalers
of Eden had done in the 19th century.
We know even less of this next story. In the
image below we see are male figure with an
enormous appendage and three
protuberances coming out of his head. I have
been told that this spirits name is Luma
Luma. We also know that he has a fondness
for women and is dangerous.
There are many other drawing and engraving
site in the Sutherland area and these are yet
to be unraveled. Many of them offer faint
clues and intriguing hints of meaning. In the
drawing below we have uncovered a name
and a portion of the story, just enough to
capture the imagination but insufficient to
unravel the story.
There are a number of wildly different
variations on this story. The one that is most
common is that of a male spirit figure with an
enormous penis. He chases lone women
who are collecting food, generally along the
sea shore. He chases these women and
often trips over his own appendage causing
him to strike his head on the rocks of the
seashore.
Anecdotal sources tell us that this is image is
of Dharmalums wife. Dharmalum is the son
of creator spirit “Biamee” The story we have
been told is only partially complete, even so
much information can be gleaned.
These rocks then stick to his head and draw
out the skin to form the protrusions on his
head. In some examples this figure is drawn
with the rock clearly visible and with oysters
and crabs crawling over them.
First we learn that Father and Son are in
conflict over this woman and that the woman
does not want either as a partner. Next we
learn that she is also a creator spirit as are
both the men. She has the ability to change
shape and form and she is shown assuming
a shape that takes advantage of several
animals that are fleet of foot and clever.
My understanding of this story is far from
complete. The many other Luma Luma
stories talk of a giant man, others a giant
man with an enormous penis. All these
characters are murderous, and not just to
women. More to come on this one.
She has the legs and arms of a Human, with
the body of an Emu and the head of a
Kangaroo. So she has the fleetness of an
Emu, the sharp eyes and ears of a Kangaroo
and the sturdy legs and grasping hands of a
Human.
So, when you find Aboriginal rock art, try to
imagine the content in context with the
location and remember, Aboriginal rock art
may be the pre-cursor to Egyptian
hieroglyphics.
The only element of the story we know is that
she is running away from these other Spirit
beings to avoid being either one’s partner.
Les Bursill October 2008
37
A Must Read!
Early explorers
By Mary Jacobs
I have just reveled in reading the amazing life of
Hubert,
George
Wilkins.
As the back
page records
–"Most
Australians
would not
recognise
the name
Hubert
Wilkins...
his exploits
happened
before the
power of
television
ensured the
immortality of many lesser men. Born and
raised in South Australia, Wilkins is one of
the greats of history and his achievements in
so many fields will never be equaled. “
J. C. Armytage, Return of Burke and Wills to Coopers Creek,
engraving, in Australia by Edwin Carton Booth, opp. p. 182. Image
courtesy of the National Library of Australia.
When the English colonized Australia in
1788, little was known about the land by the
colonists. Many explorers were sent, or
volunteered to travel north and south along
the coast, and west into the inland, seeking
to cross the Great Dividing Range to find
sources of fresh water, sites for other
settlements and suitable land for grazing
sheep and farming. This exploration posed
monumental challenges.
A war hero, photographer (with Hurley) ,
reporter, prolific writer, spy, scientist,
naturalist, ornithologist and gifted aviator.
Wilkins was the most remarkable explorer of
the 20th century - no one before or since has
discovered more previously unknown land
and sea.
Some successful inland explorers like Major
Mitchell and Edward John Eyre, who survived
their journeys, travelled lightly, had good
knowledge of “the bush” and bushcraft, and
were often accompanied by Aboriginal trackers
and 'diplomats' in order to seek information from
the local inhabitants. Others, like Burke and
Wills, who refused to trade or deal with the local
Aborigines of the Darling River, did so at their
own peril. In between there were other explorers
like John Oxley, who acknowledged
that his expedition’s survival depended upon
access to native wells and at times, the Oxley
expedition 'fell in with a native family'.
A pioneer of photography during WW1, he
was described by one general as 'the bravest
man that I have ever seen' and is the only
Australian war photographer to be decorated
in battle ...twice. He was the first man to fly in
the Antarctic and the first to navigate a
submarine under polar ice.
The explorers experienced extreme hardship
and were faced with what DH Lawrence termed
the land's 'lost, weary aloofness' - whether this
was the impenetrable mountains or the
oppressive heat and insects of tropical Australia.
The efforts and sacrifices of these both brave
and sometimes foolhardy men paved the way
for English settlements beyond Port Jackson,
Port Phillip, Moreton Bay, Adelaide and Perth.
Courtesy of the Australian History Portal
The Last Explorer details the astonishing
exploits, intelligence and tenacity of a truly
extraordinary man. This is a story every
Australian should know."
38
Books in Review
Colin Dyer, The French explorers and the
Aboriginal Australians 1772—1839
University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Queensland, 2005, ISBN 0702235121, pp. 240, $32.95.
Reviewed by Edward Duyker
Thanks to the efforts of a number of
dedicated scholars, the accounts of early
French explorers and naturalists have
become increasingly accessible in English.
Colin Dyer, himself an accomplished
translator, has used these sources to
broaden our understanding of our indigenous
inhabitants and the experience of the French.
"uncomplimentary" comments on a pregnant
West Australian Aboriginal woman as
second-hand reportage – the zoologist never
met her – he does acknowledge Péron in
Tasmania as "more analytical ... less
generous" and "more precise" than his
compatriots. Nor is Dyer afraid to consolidate
reports on sensitive subjects such as
Aboriginal communal violence and the
exploitation of Aboriginal women by their
men.
Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne’s expedition
was the first to encounter the Tasmanian
Aborigines in 1772 – Tasman’s expedition
had met none – but it was also the first to
take a Tasmanian Aboriginal life. Influenced
by the Enlightenment, however, the 10 major
French voyages that followed were
remarkably free of violence. Dyer offers a
wide-ranging survey from all these
expeditions, in addition to Francis Barrallier’s
Blue Mountains journal.
Ranging further afield, some will see his very
long quotation from Kaye McPherson as
controversial legitimacy, but perhaps he is
unaware of the feud in Tasmania over her
claim to Aboriginality. Dyer largely orients his
readers with quotations from published
translations; yet aware of the nuances of
language he often provides inclusions in the
original French.
He examines physical descriptions of
Aborigines, their clothing, food, dwellings,
watercraft, use of fire, implements and
utensils, languages and gender relations.
Readers will find this a surprisingly nonjudgmental work. Dyer declares: "My own
interpretation of the French interpretations of
the Aboriginal Australians ... if expressed,
could be but one among endless others, and
could form an obstacle to readers who may
wish to form their own opinion."
There are some oversights: John Stockdale’s
1800 translation of Labillardière’s Tasmanian
Aboriginal vocabulary, reproduced in its
entirety, contains a number of errors. But
vocabularies aside, this book is an easy,
stimulating read.
This is a slightly abridged version of a
review that first appeared in the Bulletin,
7 June 2005.
Although a generally unobtrusive surveyor of
the historical canvas, Dyer is not without
comment. While he does not predicate his
account of François Péron’s
39
Elaine Lewis, Left Bank Waltz:
Reviewed by Edward Duyker
The Australian Bookshop in Paris,
Vintage/Random House, Milson’s Point,
Sydney, 2006, ISBN 1 74051 349
5, paperback, $27.95.
Paris in 1977, was
Shakespeare &
Company. I had
visions of long-dead
expatriate Irish and
American writers like
James Joyce and
Ernest Hemingway
browsing decades
before in the shop
established by Sylvia
Beach.
Possessed of a dream to live in Paris and to
make the literature of her country of birth
better known to the French, the Australian
Bookshop was never founded on a quest for
lucre. Although she was systematic in her
quest to learn about the book trade and the
market for Australian books in France, Elaine
Lewis was prepared to work for years without
making a profit. Her task was a difficult one,
despite considerable help and support from
many friends and well-wishers. Lewis
required enormous patience to deal with
French bureaucracy. She weathered many
ups-and-downs (including ill-health and
family crises in Australia) to run her shop.
I did not realize, until
I
read Left
Bank
Waltz,
that
the
original shop was
actually on the rue
Odéon and was hurriedly closed in 1941
after attempted extortion by a Nazi officer
during the occupation. To some degree
Elaine Lewis destroyed my sense of romantic
intellectual pilgrimage, but the present
Shakespeare & Company, founded in 1951
on the other side of Saint-Michel, has equally
prestigious connections with some of the
greatest post-war English-language authors.
This would become a major focus for
Australian culture in France, not simply with
the sale of Australian books, but with regular
readings by Australian authors. And given
the lack of an Australian Tourist Bureau in
France, it also functioned as a de facto
information point for prospective travellers.
Unfortunately Lewis’ preparedness to bear
recurrent losses did not impress the French
authorities. She was ordered to close her
shop and leave the country after she drew
too heavily on her [under]stated capital
reserves. Hundreds rallied to her support and
the protests resulted in a reversal of the
police order. Nevertheless, the high rental
on her shop and the cessation in trade took
an added toll. Initially she sought cheaper
premises, but ultimately liquidated her
business.
Lewis also pays homage to Louise HansonDyer the wealthy Australian who founded
the L'Oiseau Lyre classic music publishing
and recording company in Paris. Indeed the
logo for the Australian Bookshop was directly
inspired by the Lyrebird on Hanson-Dyer’s
record label.
In large part this book is about personalities:
Australian authors and expatriates, and
French men and women with a passion for
Australia. But mostly it is a very readable
and engaging account of one woman’s
determination and resolve in her 60’s—when
the majority of us contemplate retirement,
rather than an entirely new endeavour—in a
challenging foreign environment. My only
regret, is that future historians who use this
book will not be aided by an index.
Although this is a valuable chronicle of
relatively recent Australian cultural life in the
French capital, the author frequently draws
upon her broader historical knowledge to set
the scene. I particularly liked her account of
her precursors in Paris. One of the first
places I sought-out, on my very first visit to
40
Extract from
Novel ‘Fish’
New Books
by the
Local
Authors
Extract from the Novel ‘Fish’ by Bronwyn Rodden
Before they knew it there was another one
on the way, conceived one joyous morning in
early autumn when the couple opened their
back door to the first crisp coolness in
months. Sunday was a different kettle of fish.
He popped out from his mother swiftly and,
with her now-confident mothering, was soon
a contented and non-screaming baby. He got
the colic of course, they all did, but he
seemed to know instinctively that bellowing
would not produce an instant response and
he may as well save his lungs.
their three children and meagre belongings
on a blistering summer day and headed
down there. But what were they to live in, for
this was just a parcel of land and no more?
They did what many other families did as
they waited for timber and nails to become
available, they set up two large canvas tents,
one for sleeping and one for living, although
they spent most of the warm December days
out of doors.
Cameron lived up to its promise of fresh air,
nearby bush and proximity to beaches, the
most famous of which was Cronulla, just half
an hour away on the train. The Domans had
not thought much about how far they were
from the city, except to want to be far away
from it, which they were – an hour by train in
fact, in the opposite direction from Cronulla.
This made a neat picture in their heads of
where their new lives would be conducted –
nearer the sea than the city, but close to the
bush.
His father looked proudly at his young son,
again with the red Doman hair but this time,
instead of the strawberry blonde of his sister;
his mop shone a deep russet colour, and
would turn auburn as he grew older. He
showed a strong chin even as a baby and
had a seriousness about him that surprised
those who put their faces in his way.
‘He’s concentrating, that one,’ said Mrs
Wheeler from the corner house.
But they were always reminded of the
metropolis when they when they walked up
the hill to the church for Mass on Sunday.
They stood outside the temporary church
which was, of course, located at the highest
point of the town, and looked north to the
hazy horizon of grey boxes that seemed to
grow in numbers every week. Cameron was
expanding too, of course, bustling with others
building new lives after the war, living in
temporary shelters and building houses just
as the Domans were. Luckily for this family
they had a trained carpenter at the helm, if
not an architect. They’d been in plenty of
good basic houses and saw what they
looked like. After years of building railway
carriages and furniture, the father knew how
to make something stand up and not fall
down, that’s for sure.
‘Perhaps he has something on his mind,’
said his mother, hoping there would not be a
smelly give away and thinking it would be
indelicate to suggest anything biological that
might be occupying him, which seemed to
be, after all, the only things these babies
were occupied with.
Soon enough they realised that they would
need more space than their tiny twobedroom house in Greenacre, to the west of
Sydney. They heard through the grape vine
at Mass that there were cheap lots to be
bought down south, where the parish of St
Patrick’s sounded welcoming. The town was
in the Shire of Sutherland, ‘Birthplace of
Australia’, they were told by the real estate
agent: a place of new beginnings, of
promise, where hundred and hundreds of
poor Australians could find a home in the
straightened post-war economy. Despite
their growing family, they scrimped and
saved until they had the two hundred pounds
needed to secure the land and packed up
Their block of land was just a whiffy breath
away from a dairy farm that had been
established when it was first settled in the
late 1800s. In the early years the family had
their milk delivered into a large metal can
41
fresh from the dairy. Their block of land was
just one block away from the National Park
and their father was pleased with its country
feel, although this was a long way from the
country of his youth. Still, he’d grown used to
the khaki trees and dry ground for which he
was grateful, until he had to dig his garden
beds. A word or two to the dairyman and he
had a resolution to this problem in
wheelbarrow loads of free fertilizer that in a
few years turned the unforgiving soil into
friable loam. His wife was just pleased to be
far enough away from their families to
prevent regular visiting – she had enough to
do without trying to entertain in tents. The
town was filled with people like them, starting
small families, going to Mass on Sunday in
the consecrated hall that was soon going to
be replaced by a proper church.
Their father knocked up a shed from off-cuts
for his tools and to work in out of the
weather. In time he hammered a pergola to
the small, flat roofed building and over it a
passion-fruit vine flourished, the flowers with
their delicate green white petals with deep
purple veining and the mysterious cross at
their centre reminding them of the Passion of
Christ. There was so much fruit that they had
only to pass beneath the vine and pick up the
most recent windfall to get the succulent and
sweetest golden fleshed fruit for the table.
Many families were just like them, making
the most of the fertile soil, building their
houses in stages, finding out where they
could obtain roofing tiles in this time of
scarce resources. Neighbours shared
information: the address of a yard that sold
second hand timber and offcuts that could be
used to make up a window frame, the
cheapest place to buy fibro that was to form
the skins of these quickly built houses. Of
course they shared their bad moments, when
the money ran out and they had to return to
meals of bread and dripping, or the terrible
day that the youngster from around the
corner was run over by a train which had
passed just thirty feet from his open front
door on a morning when there was no air to
be had for the heat.
They had bought a double block, mostly
level, with space for the children to play in
and for a large vegetable patch that was
essential after the privations of the war years
that followed the shock of the Depression.
Eventually they would enclose this within a
paling fence, although until they had a house
to live in there seemed little point. The tents
were spacious enough, though stuffy at
night, but would it would be hard to spend a
winter in them. By 1946, they had just three
children, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and
their mother was expecting Tuesday with the
usual optimism:
But mostly the days were full of sunshine and
activity and there was a sense of
achievement everywhere. People created
homes from very little resources and filled
them with children baptised at the makeshift
church on the hill, which surely would be
replaced by a real church soon. The father
planted a row of poplars to shield them from
the sound of the trains from the nearby
overhead rail bridge, a small stand of brush
box to remind him of his tough but free past
as an itinerate jackaroo, and a dark pine tree
to supply them with Christmas trees ever
after. The poor thing grew crooked from
having the best branches lopped off each
year, but did well just the same.
‘Oh, yes, Mrs Walsh, it will be born on the
right day, I’ll see to that.’
And the woman had gone away wondering if
indeed Mrs Doman had some kind of trick or
magic she performed to make it happen that
way.
Their children’s lungs were full of fresh air
away from the smoke from coal fires in the
inner city where their mother was raised. The
garden grew the largest and reddest
tomatoes that they’d ever seen, and the rest
of the summer vegetables were just as
delicious: lettuces, beans, radishes, pumpkin
and pretty rows of bright green bushes full of
peas. While picking them the children ate
them straight from the pods as they picked if
you didn’t watch them, they were so sweet.
Tuesday was born on a Tuesday in autumn
when there was just a wisp of coolness in the
air, for which her mother was grateful. If truth
be known it was actually an hour before
midnight on a Monday night and it took a little
42
But the women both smiled at the puppy’s
carefree attitude.
‘She’ll be grown up soon enough,’ said Mrs
Williams.
‘She will at that,’ said Mrs Doman with a sigh.
persuasion to get the doctor to certify the girl
in line with her name. This would not be the
last attempt by the little mite to stamp her
authority on her life, but this was one time
that her mother won the contest. She brought
the new baby to their tent home and space
was made in the bundle beside her parents’
double bed. Fortunately they did not sleep on
camp beds as some families did, rows of
wood and canvas cots lining two walls of the
tent. They visited only briefly in their tent
stage, with little to offer in hospitality until
they had a real roof over their heads. The
mother hoped that the annex they were
building would soon be finished and provide
a better place to sleep until the house proper
was built. It was going to be two rooms, one
with plumbing, and they would feel a little
more settled and the housekeeping would be
easier. Fortunately Tuesday was a good
sleeper, when she put her little round head
down she was dozing in no time at all. Now
there were two boys and two girls, and the
eldest girl, Saturday, was eight years old and
certainly able to look after the baby for a bit.
It took time to know their neighbours. Mrs
Williams’s husband was a pear-shaped man
with thinning black hair who seemed younger
and more robust than his wife, although she
was the happier of the pair. Their daughter
Margarie was a year older and three inches
taller than the Doman’s girl Saturday. They
didn’t go to the same schools as the Williams
were not Catholic, but sometimes the two of
them would share girl talk quietly on the
Williams’s verandah, with its wooden plank
floor and vine covered in fluffy white roses
every spring. Beside them lived the
Galanders, an old couple whose voices still
held traces of English accents from a distant
past. Each year they allowed their
neighbours’ children into their yard to pick
the purple mulberries from their spreading
tree, although otherwise they kept to
themselves. Their house seemed grand
beside the Williams’s humble wooden one,
and it was made of dark crimson bricks, so it
must have been built a long time before
others in the street, in a time when materials
were plentiful.
‘Good morning Mrs Williams,’ their mother
called as she saw her neighbour in her
garden as she pegged nappies to the line.
Her neighbour was past having babies
herself, her one child a daughter, Margarie,
with honey-comb hair and two straight
eyebrows, nothing like Mrs Williams’s blonde
bob. The woman waved a signal to come
over and Mrs Doman dropped the nappy and
dolly pegs back into her basket, picked up
the baby staring at black and yellow daisies
in front of her and headed to the fence.
When they were closer the dark grey roots of
Mrs Williams’s hair became visible, but her
neighbour looked away from this towards
their back door where the Doman’s new
addition, a fox terrier puppy, had plonked
himself on the mat.
Many families had children of similar ages to
the Domans and, being at school together,
they soon became acquainted with the
Patersons, the McPhersons and the
O’Briens. The latter they soon saw as the
poor family in the neighbourhood, as if
someone had to have that spot and not the
Domans. What this was based on was not
that clear. The O’Brien’s also spent their first
years in tents, were Catholics and, when all
of the fibro houses of the area were finally
finishes, they had not painted their house
just as the Domans had not (waste of time,
said their father – once you paint it you have
to keep doing it). Still, their garden – viewed
over the southern side of the back fence,
seemed less established and maintained
garden than the Domans and somehow the
children always looked slightly scruffier, at
least in the Doman kids eyes.
‘She’s been over again,’ said Mrs Williams.
‘I’m very sorry; we try to keep her in our yard.’
‘It’s hard I know,’ said Mrs Williams, but she had
a grin on her face. ‘She likes biscuits.’
‘Oh, naughty!’ said Mrs Doman. ‘Come here
Patsy,’ she called but the puppy just wagged her
tail and remained firmly seated on the mat. ‘I’ll
have to have words to her.’
‘Poor unfortunates,’ said their mother when
they had a child born with a hole in his heart.
43
‘A blue baby,’ they called him, and Tom
O’Brien became forever the Blue Baby, even
though he lived beyond all expectations to
become a man of reasonable, though frail,
stature. But also, and possibly more
importantly, the O’Briens lived lower down
the hill than the Domans, so that they were
able to look down upon them, literally, and
feel that their station in the community was
not at the bottom. Of course, they were not
really poor like the Africans they heard about
at Mass, and everyone would put their
pennies into a small cardboard box for them.
pounds of best end lamb neck chops, and
none of your shoulder chops please, three
pounds of sausages, and a nice piece of
corned beef for Sunday.
‘There you go,’ said Bob Mallory, patriarch of
his family which took up two pews near the
front of the church at Mass on Sundays.
‘Thank you very much, Mr Mallory,’ she said,
wincing as she saw him shove an little extra,
perhaps a chop or a couple more sausages,
into the top of the parcel for good measure.
She felt the colour come to her cheeks and
was glad that the little bell over the door
tinkled to signal another customer so she
could leave. Unless it was one of her
neighbours, but in any case, she would not
have to look at Mr Mallory and acknowledge
his kindness again.
‘Think of those poor people,’ their mother
would say to the children when they wouldn’t
eat their cabbage. ‘They’d be grateful for
your food.’
But those poor people could have lived on
Mars as far as the Doman family was
concerned. They did receive rare visits from
relations that travelled, their Auntie Jean and
Uncle Jimmy, and their arrival at the Doman
home, once it was built, was a cause for
great excitement. But when Jean and Jimmy
travelled they went to the Far East, to places
with exotic names like Siam or Singapore, or
to America. Africa was all wild jungle – not a
place for tourists.
‘He’s such a nice man,’ they all said and they
were right. But she stopped telling her
husband about the extras after the first
couple of times. It only made him unhappy.
She piled the parcels up in the cool air of the
butcher’s shop where the opening and
closing of fridges blew a blast of welcome
cold air over the ladies in the summer. If
there was no-one to talk to there were the
wall charts with pictures of different animals
dissected into parts to show where the chops
and brisket came from. She wished the
children would eat tripe; it was a lot cheaper
and nutritious. She pondered the rump steak
on the large picture of the cow, wondering
who in the town could afford that. Nobody
she knew ate steak, well perhaps a minute
steak for the Galanders – they had no
children of their own to feed. She could do
with sending a few of theirs down to them to
live, just overnight and they could come back
in the morning. But how silly, she was
daydreaming again, what a silly idea. They
were nice people, and besides the
mulberries they sometimes gave the children
plums from their tree. Perhaps the doctor
could afford steak, she thought, and there
were the people in that two story house not
far from the Church. But they were not
Catholics, they wouldn’t come to this butcher.
They’d go to Slade’s, down the road. She
sighed. Perhaps it was just as well her
The slaughter yard that had operated beside
Cameron Station for thirty years disappeared
with the neighbourhood farms as the land
was broken up for the expanding population
of Sydney after the Second World War. The
family that had operated the slaughter yard
made a smooth transition into opening the
first local butcher shop – Mallory’s, which
quickly became a source of information and
gossip. As they passed over their weekly
meat orders written on scraps of paper, the
women of Cameron would exchange the
stories of births and deaths, of problems with
children, of illness and success at school,
recipes, stories from favourite radio
programs. They revealed where to buy the
scarce supplies that were available and
made arranged swaps for those that couldn’t
be bought.
As the family grew so did the shopping list,
the meat order requiring a special trip of its
own to fill the green vinyl trolley their mother
lugged up the hill. Two pounds of mince, four
44
children didn’t eat tripe, they shouldn’t
always make do, they had to learn to have
some spine. Bugger it, she thought, a little
shocked that words like that seemed to come
into her head.
neighbours and the Italian man had an
enormous collection of vegetables.
‘Hello there,’ called their father back to him
and leant his hoe against a tomato stake and
went to the fence to see what his neighbour
wanted. The Italian man spoke almost no
English and their father spoke no Italian, so
these were usually short conversations.
‘Well, here we go,’ said their father as he led
the family into their brand new house a year
after it was begun. The design was made up
so that there were really two sides to the
house, one with the master bedroom, a good
sitting room and the large kitchen that would
be called an ‘eat in kitchen’ now, but was just
called the kitchen then and was where the
mother cooked and the family ate. Running
down the other side of the house was a
bedroom off the kitchen and a hall that took
them to two more bedrooms and a bathroom.
Of course the toilet was still outside and
would stay there where it could be accessed
by the dunnyman in the early hours of
Wednesday mornings. At first the parents
relished the luxury of the master bedroom,
with its fancy light fitting of three creamy
globes, wooden skirting boards and three
windows. But soon they decided to move to
the quiet side of the house and moved the
two girls, Saturday and little Tuesday, into
the spacious front room, with the two older
boys, Sunday and Monday, in the larger
room near the kitchen, and the younger boy,
Wednesday, in the smaller room closest to
his parents. The kitchen however was the
room that they mostly lived in. The good
sitting room was left for visits by relatives at
Christmas, or for the odd occasion when the
doctor called. In her search for decorating
materials their mother had uncovered two
rolls of striking red, black and white
wallpaper for that room and created what
would later be called ‘feature walls’ but to
them was just ‘making do’, covering one and
a half walls in the wallpaper, the rest she
painted yellow.
The man lifted something heavy and it was
soon revealed to be another huge white
marrow from his patch. His neighbour knew
that his wife would again scratch her head at
the thing, wondering how people could eat
such tasteless fare, unaware of any way of
cooking vegetables other than boiling in
salted water. She would certainly not fry
them, frying was full of fat and not at all good
for you.
‘Ah, thanks,’ said Mr Doman with a smile,
pleased to see his expression reflected back
on his neighbour’s face. The man spoke for a
few more minutes, resulting in nodding but
not understanding by his neighbour, except
for the word that sounded like Communist
but he was not sure. They waved goodbye
and the two men returned to their garden
work, one scratching his head as he dropped
his plump cargo to the ground and picked up
the hoe. He knew the expression that would
greet him when he handed another one of
these over to his wife. But things were good,
there seemed an abundance of food that
summer and she found herself pregnant yet
again. Well, it was God’s will for them to
have all these children. Things seemed to be
going along steadily, the bees hummed
around her as she hung washing, keeping
one eye on little Tuesday as she played with
the pegs beneath the rope line. There was a
real sense of accomplishment. Then he had
the accident.
Biographical Note - Bronwyn Rodden
Bronwyn Rodden was born in Sydney, Australia. She won the 1992
Patricia Hackett Prize (for short fiction) and was selected for the
first New Poets Program Workshop. Her work has appeared
alongside Eavan Boland in Wee Girls, an international anthology of
women writing from an Irish perspective, and in The Turning Wave
an anthology of Irish Australian writing. She holds an MA Writing
and her poetry and short fiction has been published in literary
journals in Australia and the U.K. and broadcast on radio in Sydney
and Adelaide. She was recently awarded an Emerging Writer Grant
by the Australia Council for the Arts.
finally in school and the garden was
producing enough vegetables in the summer,
even enough to swap some with their
‘Hi,’ called the Italian man over the back
fence. It was 1950 and most of the kids were
45
PORT HACKING or PORT AIKIN
An Investigation By Merle Kavangh
Nelson which accompanied the Investigator
Matthew Flinders, in company with George
as
Bass and William (‘Boy’) Martin sailed their
small boat ‘Tom Thumb’ through the
tender on part of the Queensland section of
entrance to a port late in March 1796,
Matthew Flinders’ circumnavigation of
seeking a ‘large river, said to fall into the
Australia. Hacking was quite often in trouble
sea some miles south of Botany Bay’xxxvii.
for his misdeeds which included shooting and
They had been swept past it earlier in a
wounding a woman and stealing goods from
the Investigator and selling them. Though
gale, which ‘thoroughly drenched’ them and
most of their possessions. Seeking shelter,
sentenced to death twice, he was pardoned
they entered a cove further south to dry
once and transported for seven years to Van
themselves, their guns and powder and to
Diemen’s Land on the other occasion. There
find fresh water. A few aboriginals
the Lieutenant Governor, David Collins
became inquisitive and as their numbers
considered him ‘one of the most useful men I
grew, the boat party became a little
have’. Governor King, too, thought kindly of
uneasy. To keep on friendly terms with
him, writing ‘He is still a good man and I am
them, Flinders trimmed some of their
inclined to believe the last crime was
beards, but, anxious to avoid trouble, they
committed to obtain spirits’. Governor
took the first opportunity of leaving, pushing
Lachlan Macquarie, a canny Scotsman, wrote
the small craft out into the surf. Some
in 1816 ‘As Mr. Hacking was become
natives had been in the boat though they
superannuated and useless as a Pilot from
jumped out when the boat pulled
drunkenness and other infirmities, it became
momentarily into a bank, but others held on
necessary to remove him from that situation’.
to it. It was with some difficulty and a little
He was granted a pension.xli
deceit - indicating they would stay - that
It was not in Flinders’ nature to highlight his
they eventually departed, sailing north and
achievements by giving his name to features
enduring a furious thunderstorm at night
on his explorations, so with the information he
before entering the port.xxxviii
had, he followed the usual practice of the
They found the ‘large river’ was really an inlet of
day, which was to ignore any native names.
the sea and after a couple of days exploring the
He called it Port Hacking, thus honouring the
port, Matthew Flinders recorded in his journal:
man who had told him of its existencexlii.
Bass and Flinders had examined the port on
It having been a pilot named Hacking from whom
1 April, 1796, a day to celebrate April fools!
the first information of it had been received, it was
named after him: by the natives it is called
A playful joker must have been at work
Deeban.xxxix
because a few years later the port was also
known as ‘Port Aicken’! Various spellings
Flinders had been told by Henry Hacking, the
are found – Aicken, Aikin, Aken even Aitken,
pilot, that he had met with this ‘river’
but the use of this name for the port
southward of Botany Bay, on his kangaroo
continued over the years between 1806 –
hunting excursions.xl Hacking had arrived as
1870 in the Sydney newspapers. As the
Quartermaster on the Sirius in 1788. He was
Sydney Gazette did not commence
an adventurous man, once attempting but
publication until 1803, it is difficult to pinpoint
failing to find a route over the Blue Mountains
when the Aiken name began its association
and on several occasions sent by the
with Port Hacking.xliii
governor to the Cowpastures area south west
of Sydney, to where the colony’s cattle had
strayed. He was a pilot for Port Jackson and
in charge of the battery on Garden Island. In
1802 he was appointed first mate of the Lady
1806 Boatload of salted fish brought to Hospital
Wharf, procured in and about Port Aiken.xliv
1821 Owen Byrne granted 60 acres at
Wattamolla in 1821 in the vicinity of Port Aikin.xlv
1828 Bushrangers were lifting and slaughtering
cattle in the vicinity of Port Aiken.xlvi
46
1839 Gov. Gipps steamed into Port Aiken to
avoid a strong wind on steamer Maitland.xlvii
1842 Cutter Industry lost off Port Aiken on Dec.
15. Her crew took a boat, reached safety. xlviii
1847 Schooner Maid of Cashmere ran ashore
south of Port Aiken, wrecked. No lives lost. xlix
1848 Alexander Port Aiken from Shoalhaven in
company with Henry, Louisa & Wave.l
1849 Dolphin wrecked off Port Aiken, April.li
1870 Drowned body on Curramulla(sic.) Beach
between Botany Heads & Port Aitken Hds.lii
spot for erecting some buildings; but we found
very little fresh water’.lvi
Another record of the exploration of Botany Bay
told a similar story. ‘The western branch of the bay
is continued to a great extent, but the officers sent
to examine it could not find there any supply of
fresh water, except in very small drains.’lvii
However Arthur Phillip was not happy with the open
aspect of the Bay and judged it advisable to
examine Port Jackson, but not wanting to delay and
realising that the ‘best situation that offered was
near Point Sutherland, where there was a small run
of good water’lviii, he gave the order that:
Could Aiken possibly be a corruption of
‘Hacking’? Drop the ‘H’ and the ‘g’ and you
have almost the same sound. Or was Aiken a
real person connected with the port? At least
one historian presented a scenario where an
unrecorded midshipman named John Aiken
had arrived with the first fleet on the Sirius and
probably sighted the port while searching for
water on the southern shore of Botany Bay.liii
There were some searches of this nature
made when the first fleet arrived.
The ground near Point Sutherland … be cleared and
preparations made for landing under the direction of the
Lieutenant-Governorlix.
Phillip’s party left on 21 January in small boats and
while away for three days, the work went on.
Lieutenant William Bradley, who remained at
Botany Bay recorded several events in his journal -
The Supply, with Governor Phillip and his aidede-camp, Philip Gidley King, 2nd Lieutenant on
the Sirius, temporarily on board , anchored on
18th January 1788 in the northern section of
Botany Bay, the better to be noticed by the
slower ships still sailing up the coast. The
three transports, Scarborough, Friendship and
Alexander, arrived the following day. Philip
Gidley King recorded –
An officer and party of men were sent from the Sirius to
clear away to a run of water on the so.(south) side of the
bay … Mr. King returned having been up an inlet on the
so.side 5 miles. He found the country something better
than what it was round the bay but not any water.
Mr. King and Mr. Dawes were again sent up the inlet to
determine as near as they could the extent of it. Major
Ross attended the operation on shore as our settling here
was not yet determined on. It was not judged proper to
land any of the convicts but thenecessary works were
carried on by the marines and seamen.lx
At 3 (on 18 January 1788) the boats were hoisted
out and Governor Phillip and some Officers
belonging to the Supply with Lieutenant Dawes and
myself, landed on the north side of the Bay and just
looked at the face of the country.liv
On Tuesday 22 January they dug a sawpit, ‘the whole
depth of it was little else but sand and swamps all around’.
There was not very good news on the return of King and
Dawes. -
John Easty, a Private Marine on the
Scarborough, kept a journal written in his own
style, this entry probably written on 19th
January
Mr. King and Mr. Dawes returned after having been by their
account about 12 miles up the western inlet without being
able to determine how much further it ran.lxi
An Aiken man might have been part of one or
more of these searches around Botany Bay,
though sighting a glimpse of Port Hacking to the
south should have aroused some interest and
have been noteded. But was there an Aiken with
the first fleet?
the Bay is very Hand-Some one as Ever I Saw in
my Life Everywhare Seeming Level with Sanddy
Beach in most places … the Comd and Major ross
and the Adjutant (John Long) with Some of the rest
of the officers went to Examamn the head of the
Bay as not having found any fresh water as yet att
8 night the officers Returned gave an account of
finding of a fresh water river att the head of the Baylv
The only Aiken was James Aiken/Aitkin on the
Supply, listed as a seamanlxii, but shown as
Masters mate on board the Supply in the
memorial of James Aikin to Governor King
dated 13 May 1805. It also states that for the
last six years he had been Master of the
John Hunter, in charge of the Sirius, arrived on
20 January, leading the remaining vessels into
the bay. He recorded that on the first day of
his arrival on Sirius ‘I went with the governor to
examine the south shore, in order to fix on a
47
colonial schooner Francis but was currently
finding difficulty in pursuing a source of
‘beechley mar’ (beche de mer) because of the
restrictions placed on British subjects leaving
the colony by American ships. Aikin was told
to go to England in the Harriot.lxiii However,
the devious Aiken left on the Harriot but
transferred to the American ship Criterion,
proceeding to the Fejee (sic.) Islands where a
cargo of sandal-wood was procured and taken
to Canton. From there they brought to Sydney
a quantity of tea and other goods, but the ship
was not allowed to land her cargo. A
Proclamation was issued on 12 July 1806
forbidding ‘intercourse’ of any kind between the
colony and the Honorable East India
Company’s territories and the coasts of China
and islands adjacent thereto.lxiv
James appears to have avoided any
punishment as on 22 September 1806 James
signed the supportive Settlers Address to
Governor Bligh and on 1 March 1807 he was
Master of the King George, a colonial vessel
owned by Kable & Co. and plying to the
Feegee Islands (sic.)lxv
In 1807 the death of James Aiken is recorded
in the St. Phillips Church of England Parish,
Sydney, parents unknown.lxvi A letter dated
21 December 1881 appeared in the Sydney
Morning Herald at that time:
‘The locality referred to was discovered by, and named
after Commander James Aitken, R.N., what at that time
was a midshipman serving on this station. Midshipman
Aitken was sent to search the coast for water,
and whilst so engaged made the discovery of
the port and river, which was thereupon called
after him. I may mention that Commander
Aitken, R.N. was my paternal greatgrandfather, and the facts as stated by me
have been a tradition in our family for nearly a
century.
Commander Aitken died in Parramatta, and
was buried in Sydney in the old cemetery
where the Town Hall now stands. E.B.
Woodhouse, Mount Gilead, Campbelltown
James Aitken seems to have had a major
undocumented promotion, but this sometimes
happens in family histories with the departed
being elevated in status by their descendants.
But is he the real Aiken of Port Aiken fame?
48
Research into the family of E.B. Woodhouse
reveal a chain reaching back through three
generations of the Woodhouse family to an
Aiken. Although the first entry below is for
Edmund D., there is no doubt that it applies to
the letter writer, Edmund B. and that a
transcription error had been made.
Edmund D. Woodhouse born 1859, son of
Edmund H.
& Gertrude Woodhouse
Edmund H. Woodhouse born 1823 to George and
Elizabeth Woodhouse
George M. Woodhouse came free Dromedary, married
Elizabeth Aiken 1811lxvii
Elizabeth Aiken was born 1796 with records
supporting the fact that she was the daughter of
James Aicken and Susannah/Susan Ballard, a
convict who arrived on the Royal Admiral in
1791. In the 1805-6 Muster, Susannah is
shown as ‘free by servitude’ and employed by or
living with Mr. Aicken, with Marsden’s female
muster showing she was concubine with two
children, 1 male and 1 female. Following the
death of James in 1807, the Sydney Gazette of
27 November 1808 reported that Susannah
Ballard was appointed administrator of the
Estate of James Aicken. These records indicate
that Susannah and James lived as husband and
wife and almost certainly were parents of the
two children. The female was Elizabeth who
married George M. Woodhouse in December
1811 at St. Johns, Parramatta aged 15 years,
the Sydney Gazette reporting her as daughter of
Captain James Aikin. She died at the age of 47
in 1843.lxviii The male child was possibly James,
who died in 1837 aged 36.lxix James, the
father, of course, was the Master’s Mate of the
Supply in the first fleet who worked as Master
on a number of local schooners, beginning with
the Frances in the late 1790s. In his memorial
of 13 May 1805 regarding his desire to leave on
the Criterion, he described himself as ‘with an
increasing family, destitute of subsistence in a
country remote from home’. Unfortunately for
him this appeal had no affect on the authorities.
If the name of this man, James Aiken,
became attached to Port Hacking, how did
this come about? The descendant has
stated that he was a midshipman who was
sent to search the coast for water. This title
might not be the correct one, though he was
in the Royal Navy. His participation in a
search for a good water supply with others
from the first fleet, has certainly not been
proved, but is a possibility. The fact that
James Aiken became Master of the Colonial
Government Schooner, Frances/Francis in
the late 1790s might have given him the
opportunity to have his name connected with
the Port, already named Port Hacking by
Flinders, as he sailed in this vessel past the
port’s entrance to Van Diemens Land on a
number of occasions. But no evidence of such
connection has been found.
Was there another Aiken (and variations) man
who arrived in the late 18th or early19th
century, who could possibly be the one we are
seeking? Searching the early Musters and
Censuses we find three gentlemen with this
surname.
1. John Aiken arrived on the Scarborough but
as he is not listed on the first fleet arrivals, it is
assumed he came on the second fleet. He
was a convict and is shown in the 1800/2
musters as ‘Pardoned by Hunter’ and in the
1805/6 musters as ‘free by servitude’ and part
of the Parramatta Association.lxx From there
he disappears from the records.
2. John Aiken, a carpenter, came free on the
Margaret in 1801. By 1814 he has a ‘wife’
Frances and in the 1825 Muster he is shown
as Landholder, Parramatta, with wife Frances
born in the colony and six children between the
ages of 16 and 1 years.lxxi An unlikely
contender.
3. John Aken could have possibly been a
catalyst for the change from Hacking to Aiken
particularly as he had a close association with
Matthew Flinders. John Aken, however, did
not arrive in Australia until 1802, so he
certainly did not sight the port while looking
for water for the first fleet. He was Chief
Mate of the Hercules which arrived in Sydney
1802, probably on its maiden voyage. It was
a convict transport on which 44 persons died.
On the voyage out there was a plot to seize
the ship and during the fight 13 convicts were
killed. The Captain was charged with their
deaths but acquitted. He was also charged
with shooting the man suspected of being a
ringleader, for which he was convicted of
manslaughter and fined £500, though
Governor King granted him a conditional
49
pardon. Aken was, of course, right in the
middle of all the action. When an
investigation into the Captain’s conduct was
enquired into by a committee, it included the
Naval Officer at Port Jackson, the master of a
whaler and a lieutenant of H.M.S.
Investigator, Matthew Flinders’ ship used for
his circumnavigation journeys.lxxii
Flinders had taken on as Master, John Thistle,
who had previously been on the Buffalo
and on the long voyage from England, they
had become good friends. The charting of the
southern coastline of Terra Australis began at
Cape Leeuwin and they were a good way
ahead with it, at the mouth of Spencer Gulf
when disaster happened on 21st February
1802. Thistle was sent to the mainland in a
cutter ‘in search of an anchoring place where
water might be procured … At dusk in the
evening the cutter was seen under sail,
returning…’ As the cutter had not arrived half
an hour later, a second boat under First
Lieutenant Robert Fowler was sent to look for
her and a gun fired to attract attention.
However, the strong ripplings of tide had
almost swamped the second boat, and as night
fell little hope was held for the men in the
cutter. The following days were spent
searching, but only the upturned boat, stove in,
and one oar were found. Flinders named the
southern extremity of the mainland Cape
Catastrophe.lxxiii
Fowler told Flinders, that Thistle had had his
fortune told prior to the long voyage and it was
foretold that the ship on arriving at her destination
would be joined by another vessel but by then
Mr. Thistle would be lost. The ship’s had crew
heard of this and also went to the fortune teller
who told them they would be shipwrecked, but
not in the ship in which they would sail from
England. Flinders, himself, was aware that every
time his boat’s crew went to embark with him in
the Lady Nelson, they were very apprehensive.
He recommended to other commanders that they
prevent their crews from consulting fortune
tellers!lxxiv After some months in Port Jackson,
Flinders sailed north on the Porpoise as the
Investigator was not seaworthy, and this ship
came to grief on what is now known as Wreck
Reef, off the Queensland Coast. Any of the
crew of the Investigator on board would have had
their expectations of shipwreck fulfilled.
Flinders returned in a small boat to Port Jackson
l
and sailed out again on the Cumberland,lxxv the
governor appointed Mr. John Aken as Master.
Charles Bateson, Australian Shipwrecks, Vol. 1 1622-1850.
Charles Bateson, op.cit.
lii
M. Hutton Neve, op.cit., p. 22
liii
M. Hutton Neve, op.cit., pp. 5/6.
liv
Jonathon King, op.cit., p.38, 40.
lv
John Easty, Memorandum of the transactions of a Voyage
from England to Botany Bay 1787-1795, Angus &
Robertson, Ltd., Sydney, 1965, p.89/90.
lvi
John Hunter, An Historical Journal of the transactions at
Port Jackson and Norfolk Island with the Discoveries which
have been made in NSW and in the southern ocean, John
Stockdale, Piccadilly, London, Jan. 1793 (Facs. No. 148))
Libraries Board of South Australia, 1968, p.42
lvii
The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay,
Australiana facsimile editions No. 185, Libraries Board of
South Australia, Adelaide, 1968, p.45.
lviii
Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol.1, Lansdown
Slattery & Co., Mona Vale, 1979, p.122.
lix
loc.cit.
lx
Lieut William Bradley, A voyage to New South Wales, The
Journal of Lieut. William Bradley of H.M.S. Sirius 17861792 (Facs.) Trustees of Public Library of NSW in assn.
with Ure Smith Pty.Ltd 1969, pp.59 and 61.
lxi
Lieut. William Bradley, op.cit. p.62.
lxii
Jonathon King, op.cit., p.113.
lxiii
Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. 5,
Lansdown Slattery & Co., Mona Vale, 1979, p.620/1
lxiv
Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. 6,
Lansdown Slattery & Co., Mona Vale, 1979 pp.109/110
lxv
Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. 6, pp. 189,
272.
lxvi
NSW Birth, death and marriage index, death 1807 2251.
lxvii
NSW BDM index 1859 1565 40, 1823 6898 18, 1811
5181 47A, General Muster of NSW 1814 , Ed. Carol J.
Baxter, ABGR in Assn. with Soc. of Australian
Genealogists, Sydney, 1987, p.83, No.3648.
lxviii
Census of New South Wales, November 1828, Eds.
Malcolm R. Sainty, Keith A. Johnson, Library of Australian
History, Sydney, 1980, p.403, No. W2463; Musters of New
South Wales and Norfolk Island 1805-1806, Ed. Carol J.
Baxter, ABGR in Assn. with Soc. of Australian
Genealogists, Sydney, 1989, pp. 18, 152; NSW BDM index,
1811 1304 3A, 1843 246 278; Sydney Gazette 28.11.1811.
lxix
NSW BDM 1837 2135
lxx
Musters and Lists New South Wales and Norfolk Island
1800-1802, Ed. Carol J. Baxter, ABGR in association with
Soc. of Austn. Genealogists, Sydney, 1988, p.123; Musters
of New South Wales and Norfolk Island 1805-1806, Ed.
Carol J.Baxter, ABGR in assn. with Soc. of Austn.
Generalogists
Sydney, 1989, p.7.
lxxi
General Muster List of New South Wales, 1823, 1824,
1825, Ed. Carol J. Baxter, ABGR, a Project of the Society
of Australian Genealogists, Sydney 1999, pp. 4/5.
lxxii
Charles Bateson, The Convict Ships 1787-1868,A.H. &
A.W. Reed, Artarmon, NSW, 1974, pp.179-182
lxxiii
Jean Fornasiero, Peter Monteath and John West-Sooby,
op.cit. pp.129/131.
lxxiv
Loc.cit.
lxxv
Max Colwell, ‘Matthew Flinders’, B.H.P. Journal,
Summer 1973, p.6.
lxxvi
Jean Fornasiero, Peter Monteath and John West-Sooby,
op.cit.,pp. 197, 277, 280.
lxxvii
M. Hutton Neve, op.cit., p.7
li
When the ship reached Mauritius, Flinders was put
under arrest and Aken was taken from the ship also.
A French passport for Flinders on the Investigator and
not the Cumberland, was not accepted and with
difficult relations between Flinders and Decaen, the
Captain-General of the island, Flinders was accused
of being a spy. He was to languish there for seven
years, preparing his charts, notes and memoirs. In
1805 Aken was allowed to leave for England with
Flinders’ writings, which included the name Flinders
had given the southern continent - Australia.lxxvi
John Aken’s close association with Flinders, who
had named the port for Hacking, supports a dual
Aken/Hacking connection with Flinders. This could
have helped to establish the alternate name of Aiken,
which was used publicly in the early 1800s about the
time John Aken joined Flinders. Did the names
become confused? The similarity between the two
names is quite marked when spoken. After Mitchell’s
survey the name Port Hacking began to appear on
maps,lxxvii but the Aiken name lingered on for many
years.
This research appears to have shown Mr. Edmund
Woodhouse’s claim to be a definite probability,
despite no proof positive of James Aiken going in
search of water. But there is a small doubt and so it
still remains one of history’s perplexing puzzles.
James D. Mack, Matthew Flinders, 1774 – 1814, Thos.
Nelson (Aust.) Ltd., Melbourne, 1966, p.20.
xxxviii
Matthew Flinders, Narrative of Tom Thumb’s Cruise to
Canoe Rivulet, Ed. Keith Bowden, Brighton, 1985, p.8;
Mack, op.cit. p.21.
xxxix
Matthew Flinders, A voyage to Terra Australis, ed. Keith
Bowden, Pall Mall, London, 1814, p.ci.
xl
Matthew Flinders, Narrative of expeditions along the
Coast of New South Wales for the further discovery of its
Harbours from the year 1795-1799, Reel FM3/688 (Mitchell
Library)
xli
Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol. 1, 1788-1850,
Ed. Douglas Pike, p. 498; James D. Mack, op.cit., pp.
120/1; Convict Life in Australia: An Illustrated History,
‘From Convict to Colonist’, Hamlyn , Sydney, 1977, pp.
97/100.
xlii
Jean Fornasiero, Peter Monteath and John West-Sooby,
encountering Terra Australis, 2004, Wakefield Press, Kent
Town, S.A., p.305
xliii
Anthony Barker, When was that? Chronology of
Australia, John Ferguson, Sydney, 1988, p.32.
xliv
M. Hutton Neve, Bygone Days of Sutherland Shire, Shire
Pictorial Pubns.., Caringbah, 1970, p.7.
xlv
loc.cit.
xlvi
loc.cit.
xlvii
Sydney Gazette, 8 Oct.1839 p.2.
xlviii
Jack Loney, Wrecks on the New South Wales Coast,
Oceans Enterprises, Yarram Vic. 1993, p.21
xlix
Loney, op.cit.,p.22.
xxxvii
50