1790 - Elizabeth Pulley's third year and on the move
Descendant: A. Maie
We left Elizabeth and Anthony at the end of 1789 when everyone in the new colony was feeling abandoned and desperately in need of supplies from Britain.
Growing
despair.
The New Year did not fulfil
their wishes. It was now two years since
the First Fleet entered Port Jackson and almost three years since it left the
homeland. In that time not a word had
reached them directly from England. The
feeling of isolation experienced when the transports had returned to England
the previous year deepened.
The supplies which had been brought
out with the transports were coming to an end.
Everyone was feeling abandoned and dejected with a growing concern about
the lack of food. As Capt. Tench
expressed it, ‘Famine besides was approaching with gigantic strides’. Phillip did not expect the provisions to last
beyond May. Marines had no shoes, the
convicts clothing was in tatters, and the settlement was beginning to look like
a gypsy camp.
The only ships left which could
be used to procure anything were the Sirius
and the Supply. The previous year the Sirius had travelled to the Cape of Good Hope to obtain
provisions. During the journey it
suffered storm damage and had been out of commission for eight months. Now repaired, plans were instigated to send
it to China to obtain more. It never
made it.
Lightening
the load.
To ease the stress on the
settlement at Sydney Cove/Warrane, and as prospects seemed more promising at Norfolk,
Phillip had gradually over the years sent more and more convicts and marines to
the island. In March Lt. Ross, some
officers, a company of marines, and about two hundred convicts, including
children and their belongings, were placed on board the Sirius and Supply to be
relocated there.
All on shore watched anxiously
as the ships sailed out of the harbour and disappeared from view. The passengers on the Sirius were to be landed at Norfolk Island on the ship’s way to
China, and the Supply was to return
to the Cove/Warrane. Landing at Norfolk had
never been easy, and this time the Sirius
was caught in the currents and hit a reef.
Although no lives were lost the ship was wrecked. Phillip was devastated.
Last
chance.
With a heavy heart Phillip
ordered the last remaining vessel, the Supply,
to be prepared to sail for Batavia the following month. It was to procure flour and, while there, hire
another vessel to bring back more supplies.
After the Supply’s departure
the settlement was placed on its severest rationing yet and work was reduced so
that time could be spent at home gardening; not that many took advantage of it.
Tightening
the belt
All private provisions and
remaining animals were taken for public use and carefully guarded. The killing of animals was forbidden, not
that this prevented people, that is, convicts, marines, and seamen, stealing or
killing them. Punishment increased in
severity. Phillip turned over his
private supply of flour for public use and placed himself on the same rations
as everyone else.
Fishing was a priority and, as
the seines now needed repair, Traditional Aboriginal-style techniques and equipment
were employed instead. Attempts were made
to hunt the local kangaroos but their wariness made them a difficult target and
the enterprise was soon abandoned.
Boilers were erected on the
east side of the Cove/Warrane to extract salt from sea water. Salt was essential for preserving meat. A tallow-hut was built, probably for making
candles and soap. As original structures
were now starting to decay, the building and repair, especially of secure
storehouses, continued slowly.
The silence in the settlement
weighed heavily as so many living quarters were now empty and little work was
being undertaken by marines or convicts.
Rumours of England’s abandonment of the colony were rife. People were seen crying. Officers wrote of how Captain Cook had led
them astray and that this country was an alien land which did not support life.[1] Phillip had already had enough and prepared a
letter home requesting temporary leave.
Elizabeth
and Anthony
So far I have found no mention of
Elizabeth, Anthony and son Robert during this time. Like everyone else they would have been
affected by the lack of food, resulting in little energy. Anthony’s work at the
brickworks would have been reduced. It
may be possible that Elizabeth’s sentence was now over, although Anthony
probably still had some time to serve.[2]
So everyone struggled through.
In May, although Phillip had tried to conceal how badly the settlement was doing,
it must have been obvious and Bà-n-eelon
made his escape. Undeterred, Phillip
ordered the ground to be prepared ready for planting of wheat and barley in
both the Cove/Warrane and at Rose Hill/Burramatta.
Desperate
for help from Britain
Since the arrival of the First
Fleet a party of marines had been sent to Botany Bay/Kamay every week just in case an
English vessel had arrived there by mistake, but none had. In January of 1789 a party of seamen had been
sent to the bluff on South Head/Barraory/Tarraibe and a flag-pole erected so that a flag could be
raised as a signal at the first sighting of ships. During the following months, as the waiting
continued, the temporary shelters that had been erected there were replaced by
permanent huts.[3]
Then the miracle everyone had
been hoping for occurred. On 3rd June,
while the celebrations for the King’s birthday were being prepared, a flag was
seen raised at South Head/Barraory/Tarraibe. Excitement
and confusion reigned. People ran about
aimlessly, some women with children in their arms. Others hugged each other. Everyone held their breath. Phillip headed off down the harbour to check
and returned with the news that a transport from England, the Lady Juliana, had finally arrived.
Disappointing
news
However all was not as
expected. The transport carried over two
hundred women convicts, some too old to work, and no supplies apart from two
years provisions for the women on board. It also carried news of other transport ships
and their convict loads following closely behind. The most devastating news was that the fleet’s
supply ship, the Guardian, with its
load of supervisors, skilled workers, and provisions, had been shipwrecked on
an iceberg at the Cape of Good Hope.
Those items which had been salvaged were transferred to the other ships
in the fleet.
The Lady Juliana also brought news from home of the King’s illness, the
French Revolution, and letters from family and friends. A few days later work was suspended and a
public Thanksgiving Service held to celebrate the King’s recovery. The whole settlement attended the service,
with Rev. Johnson presiding. Afterwards
the Officers dined and were entertained at Government House.
…better
news
Throughout the month four more
transports sailed into the harbour discharging their cargoes of male and female
convicts, the first detachments of the soldiers who were to replace the
marines, and, on the Justinian, some
extra provisions and stores. As soon as
the stores were landed the full allowance of rationing was restored, afternoon
work reinstituted, and the daily routine once more signalled by the drum. Bread was baked, liquor distributed, every
convict received a pair of shoes, and women were employed sewing new slops
(clothes) for the men.
…and
disorder
Stealing had not eased with the
arrival of the Second Fleet and the reinstatement of full rations. As soon as the first ships were anchored,
people were caught sneaking on board to take anything they could. In the hospitals and sick tents the sick
would steal from each other.
The hospital was full. A large number of the Second Fleet’s convicts
had not been well cared for on their journey, having been shackled like
slaves. Many convicts had died. The bodies of those who died on arrival were
thrown overboard into the harbour or buried on the north shore/Cammerraygal country. Even more died during the following months. Burials were almost a daily occurrence,
although weddings kept a similar pace.
According to one of the recently arrived female convicts, ‘The Governor
was very angry, and scolded the captains a great deal’, saying ‘it was
murdering’.
By the end of June three
hundred and forty nine new arrivals had been admitted to the hospital. By mid-July this increased to four hundred
and eighty eight. The hospital
overflowed. A portable hospital and
extra ‘sick tents’ were erected. The
stores, also, had been damaged. One
thousand and twenty eight pounds of rice and one thousand five hundred pounds
of flour had to be condemned.
The masters of the ships,
hoping to take advantage of the great need in the settlement, immediately set
up their own stores to sell clothing, accessories, and other goods at highly
inflated prices. Needless to say they did
not sell much. They had misjudged the
amount of money available in the colony and soon admitted defeat, packing up
their goods and returning to England with them.
The settlement was now bursting
with activity and people. It was a case
of everyone for themselves. As housing
was limited, long-term residents were shuffled to make way for the new. One newcomer, Capt. Hill, could not believe
the state of the colony, the lack of buildings and resources, and the rationing
with which he was made to comply. His
letter home laid the blame squarely on Phillip’s ignorance and lack of
ability. I guess he felt he could have
made a better job of it.
Phillip
at wit’s end
Phillip, on his part, was
responding yet again to news of England’s plan to continue sending two fleets
of convicts per year from its overcrowded English and Irish gaols. All he could do was stress how difficult it
was to motivate long-term convicts to do anything, and how little support the
civil and military officers were willing to give. He viewed them all as ‘dead weight’, and
continued to beg England to send supervisors, artisans, agricultural experts
and free settlers instead. It was a long
and frustrating battle.
By the end of August all the
transports were on their journey back to England, taking with them those
marines and officers who wanted to return, as well as letters and other gifts
to family members and the Home Office.
That was not all. Some had an extra
cargo of stowaways, often with full knowledge of the ships masters. The absconders who were caught during the
pre-sailing raids were returned to shore and punished.
The
colony expands west, attended by the NSW corps
By the end of the year most of
the new arrivals had been bundled off to Norfolk Island and Rose Hill/Burramatta where the
focus of agricultural effort was now concentrated. A few remained at the Cove/Warrane to assist with
public building and maintenance, or to be maintained as servants. Both groups were also joined by a detachment
from the NSW corps, which was to work alongside the Marines. Our story now moves with them.
Rose
Hill/Parramatta/Burramatta
After the arrival of the Second
Fleet, the establishment of the satellite town at Rose Hill/Burramatta took on greater
urgency. The town was laid out,
boundaries tagged, and the sites for an overnight house for the Governor, huts
for the convicts, and barracks for the soldiers, marked. As bricks and tiles were made in Sydney/Cadi, a
road was built from the brick kilns to the Cove/Warrane for their transportation. Bricks were then ferried to Rose Hill/Burramatta by
boat. Another road was laid out at Rose
Hill/Burramatta from the landing place to allow their transport west to the hill. Bricklayers and labourers were gradually relocated
there to build the much-needed storehouses and huts and clear tracks of land
for cultivation.
Dharug, Burramattagal and Guringai unrest
Conflict between the new
arrivals and local Indigenous Australians continued. My reading of the journal records is that the
settlers robbed the local Indigenous Peoples frequently and that most of the
Indigenous attacks were on straying cattle or for food. A number of the Dharug people expressed their anger at the invasion at Rose Hill/Burramatta and that they were being forced further and further out as their land, food and
water resources were increasingly being taken over.
In October 1790 a formal
protest to Gov. Phillip was made by Maugaron
on behalf of the Burramattagal people
about their loss of lands. This was ‘the
first recorded formal protest in Australia’ and
Phillip wrote that he was very aware of their anger. He reinforced the
detachment. [3.1]
However the problems were more
widespread than that. The Indigenous People
had kept well away from both settlements during this time. They were probably terrified of getting sick or
being captured as well as aghast at seeing yet another load of intruders being
deposited onto their land. Also, during
winter, the fish had disappeared and Aboriginal families and groups had moved
to where food was more plentiful. A few
had been sighted in August by Officers on an excursion southwest of Rose Hill/Burramatta.
Early in September a party on
the way to Broken Bay[4]
had come across Baneelon and Colby in a group at Manly who expressed their fear of the Governor’s game keeper, McEntire. Baneelon requested to see Governor Phillip who arrived later that day accompanied by well-armed party in the boat. The meeting did not go well. After a friendly beginning and exchange of gifts Governor Phillip was surrounded by the locals and a young Guringai man speared him in the shoulder. An exchange of fire ensued until Phillip and party escaped. The wound was not fatal and Phillip soon recovered. However, the garrison at Rose Hill was strengthened. [5]
Elizabeth,
Anthony and Robert on the move
Photo A. Maie
It was likely that at some
stage during the second half of the year that Elizabeth, Anthony and Robert moved
to Rose Hill, being transported there by boat along Parramatta River. Whether they were part of the group of
bricklayers and labourers who moved there in July, or whether they were sent
there once clay had been discovered and brick-making commenced in September, is
a matter of conjecture. All I am aware
of is that in March of the following year Anthony was charged at Rose Hill with
being in possession of a pair of stolen shoes.
It was also during this period that Elizabeth became pregnant with their
second child.
Although located at Rose Hill,
Elizabeth and Anthony would have known of Phillip’s accident and of other
events occurring in Sydney/Cadi. The movement
of people and goods between Rose Hill and the Cove/Warrane was a daily occurrence and
news of the comings, goings, and shenanigans at both settlements would have
been the topic of many conversations.
Runaways
and executions
Runaways had been a constant
feature of both settlements since arrival.
Some runaways returned starving, others were found dead in the bush, and
still others were never heard of again.
Three events particularly would
have been of great interest to Elizabeth and Anthony. The first was the surrender early in the year
of ‘Black Caesar’, a man of African heritage who had been working as a servant
in England and had been charged with stealing.
He was transported to Australia on the Alexander, the same ship as Anthony and became a repeated absconder.[6] On his surrender Caesar spoke of seeing
cattle[7]
in the care of an Aboriginal group.
The second was the abscondment
of five male convicts in a stolen punt from Rose Hill to Sydney Cove /Warrane in
September. On reaching the Cove/Warrane the
escapees stole another boat and headed out to sea, never to be seen again. The escape had been carefully planned, with
the men taking provisions, bedding, clothes and utensils with them. They had collected their provisions over a
number of weeks, so everyone in the settlement would have known about it.
Another major event was the
execution of two men found guilty of armed robbery at Rose Hill in October.
Bà-n-eelon and Còl-bee re-appear
In October an interesting
reversal took place at Sydney Cove/Warrane. One
day Bà-n-eelon and Còl-bee caused quite a stir by returning
to the settlement with a few friends. They proceeded to show their friends
around and introduce them to those they knew.
Gradually the visits of the local Aboriginal People increased in
frequency until they occurred on a daily basis.
While in the settlement they would be fed and sometimes slept overnight. As the frequency increased Aboriginal women
began to leave their children in the settlement to be fed and cared for while
they went on ‘walkabout’. Food was
scarce, but no longer scarce in town
Bà-n-eelon’s
visits became so frequent that Phillip built a hut on the point on the East
side of the Cove /Warrane for him and his family, which probably included his second
wife Barangaroo[8]. Sometimes the sounds of Baneelon’s group singing and dancing around the fire at night could
be heard in the town. By December Bà-n-eelon, Còl-bee and a group of friends would remain in the settlement three
or four days at a time. During one of
these visits Abaroo, who had been
living with the clergyman’s family, went to join them.[9] Nanbarree,
who had been living with Surgeon White, also spent a night away but
returned the next day.
In December some of the local Aboriginal People joined Phillip on one of his regular visits to Rose Hill. Bà-n-eelon,
Barangaroo and Còl-bee also
visited at various times. However none
stayed long, indicating they wanted to return to Sydney/Cadi as soon as possible. Barangaroo
would not even stay overnight. None seemed
comfortable in the area[10].
McEntire
In any case the visits at both
settlements came to an abrupt end later in the month when McEntire, Phillip’s
game-keeper, was fatally speared while in Botany Bay/Kamay. In a way it was not unexpected. The Aboriginal People did not like him and,
in fact, feared him. Even Còl-bee had expressed his fears to
Phillip when they had met in September.
The story was that McEntire had
been staying in an overnight hut on the North shore of Botany Bay/Kamay when some of
the local Dharug or Gadigal approached him. Thinking they were friends, he walked towards
them unarmed. One of the group speared
him. McEntire made it back to the settlement
hospital where Còl-bee and others
came in expressing their concern. They
gave the name of the perpetrator as Pemulwuy,
from Bid-ee-gal group living in
Botany Bay/Kamay, and promised to deal with him.[11]
Nevertheless Phillip was so
outraged at what seemed an unprovoked attack that he reluctantly, and not
without opposition from some Officers, sent out two successive parties to
capture and bring back, or kill, as an example, six of the clan. Both raids were unsuccessful. The Dharug
in the area had long gone and the parties ended up getting lost, probably due
to misdirection by their Indigenous guides.
Còl-bee’s and Bà-n-eelon’s, promises of ‘taking care
of Pemulwuy’ were also never carried
out. In fact, at one stage they were
seen going in a totally different direction.
McEntire finally died in
January 1791. It was suspected that the
attack on him had not been unprovoked:
if not this time, then on previous occasions. The feeling in the settlement was that he did
not treat the First Nations people kindly and they definitely did not trust
him. Judge-Advocate Collins wrote, ‘this
man had been suspected of having wantonly killed or wounded several of the
natives in the course of his excursions after game’.
Settling
in
By the end of 1790 Rose Hill
was becoming a thriving community. Land had
been cleared, crops planted and the brick kiln erected. Well over five hundred
convicts had moved there. Convict huts
had been built along two cross streets, each with its own garden; thirty two men only group houses along the
main street, nine houses for single women along the cross street, and ‘several
small huts where convict families of good character are allowed to reside’ –
most likely where Elizabeth, Anthony and Robert lived.[12]
Drawing: A. Maie
The Governor’s hut was finished,
and the barracks begun. The new
storehouse was nearly complete. There
was a church camp, a blacksmith’s, a hospital, a bakery, brick-kilns where
Anthony probably worked, the superintendent’s house, and cattle-yards, and on
the other side of the river, the Government farm, barn and granary.
Site of the brick kilns (Photo: A. Maie)
Ending
the year on a good note.
The end of 1790 also saw the
arrival of the Dutch snow, Waaksamheyd,
hired by the Supply in Batavia to
bring out flour, rice and salt. And, at
Rose Hill, a Christmas divine service would have been conducted by Rev.
Johnson, with all in attendance.[13]
© A. Maie, 2020
[1]
Initially British agricultural and husbandry practices did not naturally thrive
in the Australian environment and the colonial leaders were constantly on the
lookout for more appropriate sites. It
is interesting to be updating this in 2020 when Australia is in the middle of
an horrendous drought and fire season, as well as diminishing water
supplies. The whole issue of appropriate
land and water use practices is being seriously debated.
[2]
There were a number of convicts who had now completed their sentences, were
officially ‘free’, and under no obligation to work. Some of them wanted to return to England
[3] According to https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/south_head ‘Aboriginal names for the area were recorded as Woo-la-ra or Tarralbe for Outer South Head, Burra-wa-ra or Barraory for Inner South Head, and Mit-ta-la (or Metallar) for Green Point (Laings Point). According to the same source Nanbarry, made an unsubstantiated claim in 1790 that,
‘as it is recorded in the journals, this
was one place the aborigines did not go near.
To them the area was considered to be a ‘place of death’’. The journals record that the area was
understood to be a burial or cremation ground, and a place of ‘engagements’
(i.e. a place where internal and intertribal conflicts were resolved through
‘payback’ combat). Arabanoo, who had been captured by Phillip in December 1788, was taken there in February for a visit where he
demonstrated Indigenous burial practices and how to light a fire with two
sticks. He died from smallpox on 8th May 1789 and is thought to be buried in what was Phillip's garden.
[3.1] Maugaron was father to Boorong (who we have already met as Nanbaree), Ballooderry (who appears later in this story), Yerranibe Goruey and Warraweer Wogul Mi all of whom went to Sydney to live with the colonists. Maugaron and his second wife Tadyera were forced from Parramatta. Later Bennelong came to live with Boorong at Kissing Point/Wallemedagal country, where Maugaron had moved. (Karskens, The Colony, pp. 454, 455)
[5] From a cultural perspective Indigenous specialists have explained that the spearing of Phillip could have been intentional but was not aimed at killing him. Because the spear used was not a 'killing spear' with barbs, and the position of entry was not in an area of the body which would have been fatal, it could have been a warning that they were unhappy with the way that they had been treated and with the actions of McEntire and that nothing had been done. The action was in accordance with their tradition of 'payback'.
[6]
‘Black Caesar’s’ story appears to be one of working hard and reliably for
periods, followed by stealing, being charged and escaping into the bush.
[7] Cattle
had disappeared from the Governor’s farm in 1788.
[8]
The area's Indigenous name was Tu-bow-gule, now named Bennelong Point
where Sydney Opera House is located. Bà-n-eelon's first wife had died. Barangaroo was from the Cammeraygal band north of the harbour and must have been imposing as
this was remarked upon by the officers.
She was also a fishing woman and in control of the food supply, making
and using lines and hooks to fish from a canoe, with a small fire inside for
cooking the catch. She did not like the
new arrivals at all, refusing to mix with, or dress like, them. Barangaroo
Reserve is named after her and, in addition to everyday public access, serves
as a focal site for Indigenous ceremonial events. When she died in 1791 Barangaroo was buried in Phillip's garden as were her daughter Dilboong, who died in infancy, and Arabanoo. The hut was demolished after Bà-n-eelon's death however the area continued to be an important meeting place for Aboriginal people who continued to camp there until authorities forced the closure of their camp in 1880's. (Hinkson, M. ‘Exploring ‘Aboriginal sites in Sydney: a shifting
politics of place?’ in Aboriginal
History, Vol. 26, 2002)
[9] Abaroo, also known as Boorong,
became Baneelon’s third wife after the death of Barangaroo.
[10]
My understanding is that band/clan/language differences needed to be respected
and ‘just arriving’ without proper ceremony was unacceptable and could be
dangerous.
[11] Pemulwuy was later to lead the
guerrilla-style resistance against the outward thrust of English settlement in
areas around the Georges River, the Nepean/Dyarubbin, and beyond.
[12] I
thought I read, possibly in an Historical Journal, that the married quarters
were near the brick kilns but as I am unable to find the reference this cannot
be confirmed.
[13]
Rev. Johnson had been complaining of the lack of attendance during the year
until Phillip announced that those who did not attend in future would
experience a reduction in rations.
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