1789 – Elizabeth Pulley’s second year
Photo: descendant A. Maie from performance series, 'Centre of the Storm', 1998-2000
The previous
instalment, 1788 – Elizabeth Pulley’s first year, finished in December 1788
at the time of Ar-ab-anoo’s capture. Ar-ab-anoo was probably
from the Kayimai of
the Guringai nation
who were living around North Sydney/Manly/Kayoo-may.
The second year of settlement began with New Year celebrations, which
included the usual hoisting of the flag, suspension of work, and the Governor’s
dinner at which Ar-ab-an-noo was in
attendance. The band played, a singer
sang, but Ar-ab-an-noo was not
impressed and went to sleep. Ar-ab-a-noo’s
abduction had led to a few months of relative peace. The Traditional Owners, understandably, kept
their distance, as the little trust they may have had in the British would have
evaporated.
Ar-ab-a-noo, Nān-bar-ee and Ab-ar-óo/Boorong
Ar-ab-a-noo was quick to learn the English language and
customs, and was taken back to his people a few times so they could see he was
not harmed. But his people kept well
away. Phillip’s plan had backfired. By April Ar-ab-a-noo’s
fetter was taken off and he was free to move around the settlement, causing comment
wherever he went. In the same month
disaster struck.
Reports were coming in of large numbers of Aboriginal People being
found dead around the cove/Warrane and along the coast.
It was small-pox, probably brought in by the British. Whereas the settlers were immune, being
previously exposed to this disease, the Indigenous population had no
resistance. Between April and June they
died in their hundreds[1].
A number of Indigenous Australians who were found sick but still alive,
were brought into the settlement’s hospital for treatment. Of those, two children survived. The boy, Nãn-bar-ee,
was adopted by Mr. White, the surgeon-general, and the girl, Ab-ar-òo/Boorong, was ‘received into’ the family
of Mrs. Johnson, the clergyman’s wife.[2]
Then, in May, Ar-ab-a-noo,
who had been tending his people in the hospital, became ill and died eight days
later. According to Captain Tench, ‘the
governor, who particularly regarded him, caused him to be buried in his own
garden, and attended the funeral in person’.
I wonder if his remains were ever found or are still under or near the Museum of Sydney?
East side of the Cove: Governor’s
residence on corner of Bridge and Loftus Sts. [3]
Drawing A. Maie
The developing town
Life for Elizabeth, Anthony and now Robert continued with little
change. Couples married (Anthony was
witness to a friend’s wedding in September), children were born, and a number
of them and their mothers died during or after birth. The family may have been fortunate to receive new clothes in August when 'slops were served to the convicts' but not shoes which 'the detachment received the remainder of'.
The building and organisation of the
settlement struggled on. Two roads, one linking the landing, hospital and stores, and another
down to the magazine and Observatory, were under construction.
'
West side of Sydney Cove[4] (Drawing A. Maie)
A second and more stable boat was being built to transport supplies
between the Cove/Warrane and Rose Hill.
Temporary shelters were slowly being replaced by more permanent brick
buildings and Anthony would have been busy at the brickworks.
The brickworks[5]
Well, most of the time. On 11th
February Anthony, along with John Summers, was charged with ‘neglecting to work
where ordered’, and ordered 25 lashes.
Then, on 9th March, Anthony was charged again, and ordered 25
lashes. Perhaps there was a reason for
his reticence.
Photo: A. Maie
The brickworks were well out of town, so there was always a potential
lack of supervision of workers there. It
seems that conflict between the brickworkers and the Eora, possibly the Gadigal, Bidjigal or Gweagal bands of the who inhabited the area, which had come to public attention in December, was not isolated and
on 6th March it came to a head. Members
of the Brickmaker’s gang, and some others, armed with working tools and large
clubs, went towards Botany Bay/Kamay to attack and to plunder the Eora's fishing-tackle
and spears.
They were met or ambushed, depending on source, by a group from the local Aboriginal clans who killed one of the convicts and injured seven others. The convicts who escaped gave the alarm and
an officer, with a detachment of marines, was sent to rescue the wounded and
bring them back. Later two more armed
parties of marines reconnoitred the area to bring back the culprits to signal the Governor’s disapproval. They were not successful.
Over the next couple of months the convicts involved were rounded up,
charged, and ordered 150 lashes and to wear a leg iron for a year. Samuel Day, who had been Elizabeth’s
accomplice in the sea-pye incident the previous May, was one of them. Anthony, however, was not on the list. I would like to think that his reason for
shirking work during this period was because he would have known of the plans
for the impending attack and he did not want to be part of it. So, he stayed away. But I could be quite wrong. He may have just been ‘slacking off’.
Protecting food supply, the
Night Watch, and mutinies
As well as ‘slacking off’, the stealing of anything and everything at
both Sydney Cove/Warrane and the newly established Rose Hill gardens by all and sundry
continued unabatedly. In March six
marines were executed for a well-organised and long-term exercise of
systematically robbing from the stores.
By August a Night Watch was established in both places to try and quell
the nighttime raids. It turned out to be
very effective.
Tension between the officers continued.
This time Lieutenant-Governor Ross turned his ire on Governor Phillip
and Judge-Advocate Collins. Ross’
complaints related to the chain of command being abused, and he, or his
officers, being slighted or sidelined.
Underlying the complaint was the old grievance of who was in charge of
whom and who should be required to do what.
The newly established Night Watch, which was instructed to stop and
detain marines as well as convicts, was also a sore point.
Ross had had enough, and openly, and inappropriately, complained about
his situation. He was heard publicly
stating, ‘Would to God my time was
expired, too’. He was soon to get his
wish. Plans were already being made in
Britain to bring the marines home and replace them with an army corps. But Ross was not the only discontent. Insurrection was also becoming a problem at
Norfolk Island. In March news had come
from there of an unsuccessful convict mutiny.
The Kings birthday and the
first play
The tension was somewhat diverted mid-year with the celebration of the
King’s Birthday. This time the officers
were entertained at dinner in the newly built Government House (cnr. Bridge
& Phillip Sts). The highlight of the
night was the performance of Farquhar’s comedy of the Recruiting Officer by
some of the convicts.
Sixty people attended the play, held in a convict-hut especially fitted
up for the occasion with
‘three or four yards of stained paper, and a
dozen farthing candles stuck around the mud walls’. A ‘prologue and an epilogue, written by one
of the performers, were also spoken on the occasion; which...contained some tolerable allusions to
the situation of the parties, and the novelty of a stage-representation in New
South Wales.’
Expansion beyond the Cove
In the meantime explorations continued further west of Rose Hill in Darug country, north-west along the Hawkesbury River/Dyarubbin, past Richmond Hill and the waterfall at
the junction of the Grose and Nepean rivers, and north to Broken Bay/Garigal country. By December a party led by Lieutenant Dawes had reached the lower Blue Mountains/Colomatta but were unable to penetrate further.[6]
Drawing A. Maie
The usual selection of seeds and vegetables were planted in any
potentially suitable site on the way.
The parties noted yam planting, animal traps, hunting huts, and other
signs of organised Aboriginal husbandry along Dyarubbin.[7] They also noted the after-effects of
torrential rain and flooding along the river, which meant that the area would not be suitable
for European agriculture.
Diminishing stock and food
reserves
Back in the settlements provisions were, as usual, limited. Rats, which
had decimated everything in March, still proved to be a problem in the stores
in October. There was an imbalance in new births of sheep and goats, with
significantly more males than females being born. Everyone was henceforth forbidden to kill a
female. Fish once again returned with
the warmer weather in September, and by summer they were plentiful.
At Rose Hill and Norfolk Island clearing and planting of crops had
continued steadily throughout the year.
There was still hope that the gardens at Rose Hill and on Norfolk
Island, as well as in the Cove/Warrane, would soon produce crops beyond seeding
stock.
Rose Hill/Burramattagal country c. 1789 (Drawing A. Maie)
James Ruse, a farmer and one of a number of convicts whose sentences
were now expired, had been sent to Rose Hill to develop an experimental
farm. Even so, in November almost
everyone’s rations were again reduced.
The Indigenous population
re-emerges
The warmer weather also brought the Eora. The devastation caused by small-pox and the
usual lack of food in winter meant that very few Aboriginal people had been
seen on the shore or in canoes. Many had possibly run away or moved to other areas. Then
in September the attacks on solo or unarmed English recommenced.
At the end of November Phillip captured two adult males using the two Aboriginal children Nãn-bar-ee
and Ab-ar-òo/Boorong as bait. The men were Bà-n-eelon and Còl-bee (the English spelling). Còl-bee
was a chief or elder of the Ca-di-gal
band, and was very respected by Bà-n-eelon,
who remained quiet in his presence. Bà-n-eelon (Woollarawarre Bennelong) was from the Wangal band of the Eora/Dharug
nation. It was noted that both had obviously survived small-pox.[8]
It was not long before Còl-bee, after a number of unsuccessful attempts by the two of them, managed
to escape, even with an iron ring on one leg.
Bà-n-eelon, however, made himself right at home. He quickly imitated the language and manners
of the English, eating and drinking everything he was offered. He laughed, danced, sang, and skited about
carrying off women and fighting competitively, especially against the Cam-ee-ra-gal (based on the North shore,
and one of the largest and most powerful tribes in the area). He was quite a character; dressing in the
military red coat and trousers, flirting with the women, and generally keeping
the town entertained.[9]
Fear of starvation
In spite of these diversions everyone in the settlement was becoming
pre-occupied by a growing fear. As the
year drew to a close and 1790 began, Capt. Hunter wrote, ‘in every company, the
converfation turned upon the long expected arrivals from England...with a
fupply of provifions’.
© A. Maie, 2020
2023 update
[1] Estimates vary from
hundreds to thousands. Gov. Phillip
commented that, from the information he was able to gather, ‘one-half of those who inhabit this part of
the country died’. Arabanoo was taken back to his country 'to look for his friends but not one living person could be found' (The Australian Dictionary of Biography). The Indigenous
Australians called it ‘devil devil’. The question ‘where did it come from?’ remains unanswered. Smallpox has a 10-14 day incubation period so it is
unlikely to have come directly from the fleet’s human cargo. Bottles of 'variolas matter', now believed to have quite a long active life, were brought
in by Surgeon White for inoculation purposes and probably stored in the hospital laboratory. So either someone
accidentally or purposefully let it loose or it came from somewhere
unknown. I doubt if it would have been
on Phillip’s orders although he had enemies and some officers, let alone the
rest of the rabble, did target the First Peoples. The fact that there was no further mention of Aboriginal deaths in the journals for this period and that it took Governor Phillip ten months to inform Britain of the outbreak, and then only of the death of a Native American on the Supply, raises questions. One of the numerous articles written on the 1789 outbreak is the National Museum of Australia's Smallpox Epidemic.
[2] I have not yet found a reliable genealogy for Nãn-bar-ee.
Ab-ar-òo, also known as Boorong, was from the Burrumattagal
band of the Dharug nation (around Parramatta) and later became Bennelong's
third wife, https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-remember-boorong-bennelongs-third-wife-who-is-buried-beside-him-107280
[3]
Soas not to infringe copyright all sketches are my copies of original records
with additions.
[4] My
understanding is that George Street follows this early road, and that at this
stage the landing of goods, etc was carried out via the beach.
[5] I
have also uploaded this section about the brickworks onto Wordpress.
[6]
During the course of my research I have been constantly amazed how quickly and
extensively the newcomers travelled in their efforts to find suitable
settlement and agricultural sites.
[7] In his article, AustralianTemper and Bias, Bruce Pascoe summarises the evidence, recorded in explorer’s journals, of early Aboriginal
settlement and agriculture around Australia by the time of European arrival -
vast fields of agriculture, bread making, the damning of rivers and streams,
and building. Pascoe has published a detailed account of this in his adult's
and children's versions of Dark Emu.
[8]
One of the devastating results of the smallpox epidemic was that tribal groupings, territory divisions and cultural law including networks of authority as well as internal and inter-clan obligations were severely impacted.
[9] Over time Woollarawarre Bennelong, as he preferred to be called, performed a significant political role building bridges between different Eora clans and the British and becomes a respected 'chief'/elder. Detailed information about his story can be found at Bennelong among his people. In November 2018 the NSW State Government bought the
site where Bennelong is believed to have
been buried to establish a public memorial. Although Bennelong was born on Wangal country on the south side of the harbour and his family 'owned' the island Mel-Mel, which has special cultural significance, he was buried in Wallumedegal territory on the north side at Ryde. Both Abaroo/Boorong and Nãn-bar-ee are believed to be buried
beside him. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/18/bennelongs-burial-site-to-be-turned-into-public-memorial. It interests me to note that I was born on Wangal land.
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