GENERAL HISTORY
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT
+Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. I, pp. 9-32, 373
In 1783 England recognized the Independence of her American
Colonies, and thus lost the settlements to which she usually
transported her criminals. By 1786 her gaols had become woefully
overcrowded, and consequently it was decided to establish a penal
colony at Botany Bay. Captain Phillip was selected as commanding
officer of the expedition.
GOVERNOR PHILLIP'S FIRST COMMISSION
GEORGE R.
George the Third, etc., to our trusty and well-beloved Captain Arthur
Phillip, greeting:
We, reposing especial trust and confidence in your loyalty, courage and
experience in military affairs, do, by these presents, constitute and
appoint you to be Governor of our territory called New South Wales,
extending from the northern cape or extremity of the coast called Cape
York, in the latitude of 10° 37' south, to the southern extremity of the
said territory of New South Wales or South Cape, in the latitude of 43°
39' south, and of all the country inland to the westward as far as the
one hundred and thirty-fifth degree of longitude reckoning from the
meridian of Greenwich, including all the islands adjacent in the Pacific
Ocean, within the latitude aforesaid of 10° 37' south and 43° 39' south,
and of all towns, garrisons, castles, forts, and all other
fortifications or other military works which now are or may be hereafter
erected upon this said territory. You are therefore carefully and
diligently to discharge the duties of Governor in and over our said
territory by doing and performing all and all manner of things thereunto
belonging, and we do hereby strictly charge and command all our officers
and soldiers who shall be employed within our said territory, and all
others whom it may concern, to obey you as Governor thereof; and you
are to observe and follow such orders and directions from time to time
as you shall receive from us, or any other your superior officer
according to the rules and discipline of war, and likewise such orders
and directions as we shall send you under our signet or sign manual, or
by our High Treasurer or Commissioners of our Treasury for the time
being, or one of our principal Secretaries of State, in pursuance of the
trust we hereby repose in you.
Given at our Court at St. James's the twelfth day of October, 1786, in
the twenty-sixth year of our reign.
By His Majesty's command.
SYDNEY.
GOVERNOR PHILLIP'S INSTRUCTIONS
G.R.
Instructions for our trusty and well-beloved Arthur Phillip, Esq., our
Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over our territory of New
South Wales and its dependencies or to the Lieutenant Governor or
Commander-in-Chief of the said territory for the time being. Given at
our Court at St. James's the 25th day of April 1787 in the
twenty-seventh year of our reign.
You are to fit yourself with all convenient speed, and to hold yourself
in readiness to repair to your said command, and being arrived, to take
upon you the execution of the trust we have reposed in you, as soon as
conveniently may be, with all due solemnity to cause our said Commission
under our Great Seal of Great Britain constituting you our Governor and
Commander-in-Chief as aforesaid to be read and published.
And whereas we have ordered that about 600 male and 180 female convicts
now under sentence or order of transportation whose names are contained
in the list hereunto annexed should be removed out of the gaols and
other places of confinement in this our kingdom, and be put on board of
the several transport ships which have been taken up for their
reception, it is our Royal will and pleasure that as soon as the said
convicts, the several persons composing the civil establishments, and
the stores, provisions, etc., provided for their use, shall be put on
board the _Supply_, tender, and the transport ships named in the margin,
and be in readiness to depart, that you do take them under your
protection and proceed in the _Sirius_ with the said tender and
transports to the Port on the coast of New South Wales, situated in the
latitude of 33° 41' called by the name of Botany Bay, agreeably to the
instructions with which you will be furnished by the Commissioners of
our Admiralty, in pursuance of our Royal commands already signified to
them.
According to the best information which we have obtained, Botany Bay
appears to be the most eligible situation upon the said coast for the
first establishment, possessing a commodious harbour and other
advantages which no part of the coast hitherto discovered affords. It is
therefore our will and pleasure that you do immediately upon your
landing, after taking measures for securing yourself and the people who
accompany you as much as possible from any attacks or interruptions of
the natives of that country, as well as for the preservation and safety
of the public stores, proceed to the cultivation of the land,
distributing the convicts for that purpose in such manner, and under
such Inspectors and Overseers, and under such regulations as may appear
to you to be necessary and best calculated for procuring supplies of
grain and ground provisions.
The assortment of tools and utensils which have been provided for the
use of the convicts and other persons who are to compose the intended
settlement are to be distributed according to your discretion, and
according to the employment assigned to the several persons. In the
distribution, however, you will use every proper degree of economy, and
be careful that the Commissary so transmit an account of the issues from
time to time to the Commissioners of our Treasury to enable them to
judge of the propriety or expediency of granting further supplies. The
clothing of the convicts and the provisions issued to them, and the
several civil and military establishments, must be accounted for in the
same manner.
The increase of the stock of animals must depend entirely upon the
measures you may adopt on the outset for their preservation; and as the
Settlement will be amply supplied with vegetable productions, and most
likely with fish, fresh provisions, excepting for the sick and
convalescents, may in a great degree be dispensed with. For these
reasons it will become you to be extremely cautious in permitting any
cattle, sheep, hogs, etc., intended for propagating the breed of such
animals to be slaughtered until a competent stock maybe acquired, to
admit of your supplying the settlement from it with animal food without
having further recourse to the places from whence such stock may have
originally been obtained.
It is our will and pleasure that the productions of all descriptions
acquired by the labour of the convicts should be considered as a public
stock, which we so far leave to your disposal that such parts thereof as
may be requisite for the subsistence of the said convicts and their
families, or the subsistence of the civil and military establishments of
the settlement may be applied by you to that use. The remainder of such
productions you will reserve as a provision for a further number of
convicts, which you may expect will shortly follow you from hence, to be
employed under your direction in the manner pointed out in these our
instructions to you.
From the natural increase of corn and other vegetable food from a common
industry, after the ground has once been cultivated, as well as of
animals, it cannot be expedient that all the convicts which accompany
you should be employed in attending only to the object of provisions.
And as it has been humbly represented to us that advantages may be
derived from the flax-plant which is found in the islands not far
distant from the intended settlement, not only as a means of acquiring
clothing for the convicts and other persons who may become settlers, but
from its superior excellence for a variety of maritime purposes, and as
it may ultimately become an article of export, it is, therefore, our
will and pleasure that you do particularly attend to its cultivation,
and that you do send home by every opportunity which may offer, samples
of this article, in order that a judgment may be formed whether it may
not be necessary to instruct you further upon this subject.
And whereas we are desirous that some further information should be
obtained of the several ports or harbours upon the coast, and the
islands contiguous thereto, within the limits of your government, you
are, whenever the _Sirius_ or the _Supply_ tender, can conveniently be
spared, to send one, or both of them, upon that service.
Norfolk Island, situated in the lat.----, and long.----[blanks in
manuscript] east from Greenwich about----, being represented as a spot
which may hereafter become useful, you are, as soon as circumstances
will admit of it, to send a small establishment thither to secure the
same to us, and prevent it being occupied by the subjects of any other
European power; and you will cause any remarks or observations which
you may obtain in consequence of this instruction to be transmitted to
our Principal Secretary of State for Plantation Affairs for our
information.
You are to endeavour by every possible means to open an intercourse with
the natives and to conciliate their affections, enjoining all our
subjects to live in amity and kindness with them. And if any of our
subjects shall wantonly destroy them, or give them any unnecessary
interruption in the exercise of their several occupations, it is our
will and pleasure that you do cause such offenders to be brought to
punishment according to the degree of the offence. You will endeavour to
procure an account of the numbers inhabiting the neighbourhood of the
intended settlement, and report your opinion to one of our Secretaries
of State in what manner our intercourse with these people may be turned
to the advantage of this colony.
And it is further our royal will and pleasure that you do by all proper
methods enforce a due observance of religion and good order among the
inhabitants of the new settlement, and that you do take such steps for
the due celebration of public worship as circumstances will permit.
And whereas many of our subjects employed upon military service at the
said settlement and others who may resort thither upon their private
occupations, may hereafter be desirous of proceeding to the cultivation
and improvement of the land, and as we are disposed to afford them every
reasonable encouragement in such an undertaking: It is our will and
pleasure that you do, with all convenient speed, transmit a report of
the actual state and quality of the soil at and near the said intended
settlement, the probable and most effectual means of improving and
cultivating the same, and of the mode, and upon what terms and
conditions, according to the best of your judgment, the said lands
should be granted, that proper instructions and authorities may be given
to you for that purpose.
[Having fairly established the first settlement of white men on the
continent of Australia, Governor Phillip wrote an account of his work to
the Colonial Secretary.]
GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO LORD SYDNEY
Sydney Cove, New South Wales, _May 15th, 1788._
My Lord,
I had the honour of informing your Lordship, by Captain Cox, who was
returning to Europe from Madras that I was ready to sail from the Cape
of Good Hope, and which I did, with the ships under my command, the 12th
of November. The 25th, being eighty leagues to the eastward of the Cape,
I left the _Sirius_, and went on board the _Supply_ tender, in hopes, by
leaving the convoy, to gain sufficient time to examine the country round
Botany Bay and fix on the most eligible situation for the colony before
the transports arrived.
The _Supply_, sailing very badly, had not permitted my gaining the
advantage hoped for, but I began to examine the bay as soon as we
anchored, and found that tho' extensive, it did not afford shelter to
ships from the easterly winds; the greater part of the Bay being so
shoal that ships of even a moderate draught of water are obliged to
anchor with the entrance of the bay open, and are exposed to a heavy sea
that rolls in when it blows hard from the eastward.
Several small runs of fresh water were found in different parts of the
bay, but I did not see any situation to which there was not some very
strong objection. The small creek that is in the northern part of the
bay runs a considerable way into the country, but it had only water for
a boat. The sides of this creek are frequently overflowed, and the
lowlands a swamp. The western branch runs up for a considerable
distance, but the officers I sent to examine it could not find any
water, except in very small drains.
The best situation that offered was near Point Sutherland, where there
was a small run of good water; but the ground near it, as well as a
considerable part of the higher ground, was spongy, and the ships could
not approach this part of the bay.
Several good situations offered for a small number of people, but none
that appeared calculated for our numbers, and where the stores and
provisions could be landed without a great loss of time. When I
considered the bay's being so very open, and the probability of the
swamps rendering the most eligible situation unhealthy, I judged it
advisable to examine Port Jackson; but that no time might be lost if I
did not succeed in finding a better harbour, and a proper situation for
the settlement, the ground near Point Sutherland was in the meantime to
be cleared and preparations made for landing under the direction of the
Lieutenant-Governor.
As the time in which I might be absent, if I went in the _Supply_, must
have been very uncertain, I went round with three boats, taking with me
Captain Hunter, and several officers, that by examining different parts
of the port at the same time less time might be lost.
We got into Port Jackson early in the afternoon, and had the
satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world, in which a
thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security, and of
which a rough survey, made by Captain Hunter and the officers of the
_Sirius_ after the ships came round, may give your Lordship some idea.
The different coves were examined with all possible expedition. I fixed
on the one that had the best spring of water, and in which the ships can
anchor so close to the shore that at a very small expense quays may be
made at which the largest ships may unload.
This cove, which I honoured with the name of Sydney, is about a quarter
of a mile across at the entrance and half-a-mile in length.
We returned to Botany Bay the third day, where I received a very
unfavourable account of the ground that was clearing.
The ships immediately prepared to go round, and the 25th--seven days
after I arrived in the _Supply_--I sailed in her for Port Jackson,
leaving Captain Hunter to follow with the transports, it then blowing
too strong for them to work out of the bay. They joined me the next
evening, and all the transports were moored in the cove.
Two sail had appeared off Botany Bay the 24th, under French colours, and
anchored there before the _Sirius_ left it--the _Boussole_ and the
_Astrolabe_. These ships were commanded by Monsieur La Perouse, who
having expressed a desire of sending letters to Europe, I sent an
officer over, it being only eight miles, to tell him in what time it was
probable the ships might sail.
The clearing the ground for the people and for erecting storehouses was
begun as soon as the ships got round, a labour of which it will be
hardly possible to give your Lordship a just idea.
The necks of land that form the different coves, and near the water for
some distance, are in general so rocky that it is surprising that such
large trees should find sufficient nourishment, but the soil between the
rocks is good, and the summits of the rocks, as well as the whole
country round us, with few exceptions, are covered with trees, most of
which are so large that the removing them off the ground after they are
cut down is the greatest part of the labour; and the convicts, naturally
indolent, having none to attend them but overseers drawn from amongst
themselves, and who fear to exert any authority, makes this work go on
very slowly.
As there are only twelve convicts who are carpenters, as many as could
be procured from the ships have been hired to work on the hospital and
storehouses. The people were healthy when landed, but the scurvy has for
some time appeared amongst them, and now rages in a most extraordinary
manner. Only sixteen carpenters could be hired from the ships, and
several of the convict carpenters were sick. It was now the middle of
February; the rains began to fall very heavy, and pointed the necessity
of hutting the people; convicts were therefore appointed to assist the
detachment in this work.
The great labour in clearing the ground will not permit more than eight
acres to be sown this year with wheat and barley. At the same time the
immense number of ants and field mice will render our crops very
uncertain.
Part of the live stock brought from the Cape, small as it was, has been
lost, and our resource in fish is also uncertain. Some days great
quantities are caught, but never sufficient to save any part of the
provisions; and at times fish are scarce.
Your Lordship will, I presume, see the necessity of a regular supply of
provisions for four or five years, and of clothing, shoes and frocks in
the greatest proportion. The necessary implements for husbandry and for
clearing the ground brought out will, with difficulty, be made to serve
the time that is necessary for sending out a fresh supply.
The labour of the convicts shall be as is directed, for the public
stock, but it is necessary to permit a part of the convicts to work for
the officers, who, in our present situation, would otherwise find it
impossible to clear a sufficient quantity of ground to raise what is
absolutely necessary to support the little stock they have; and I am to
request that your Lordship will be pleased to direct me to what extent
that indulgence may be granted the officers of the garrison.
The _Sirius_ shall be sent to the northward to barter for stock, and
which shall be employed solely for the purposes of increasing the breed
of such cattle as she may procure. The _Supply_ is in no ways calculated
for this service, as in the least sea her decks are full of water.
The beginning of May the rainy season was once more supposed to be set
in, but after a week we had fine weather.
The three transports for China sailed the 5th, 6th, and 8th of May; and
the _Supply_ having been caulked sailed the 6th to Lord Howe Island, to
endeavour to procure turtle, in hopes of checking the scurvy with which
most of the people are affected, and near two hundred rendered incapable
of doing any work. It is not possible to send the _Sirius_ to the
northward, for she must then have her carpenters, and only three of
those hired from the transports now remain; and tho' the detachment
began to build barracks for the use of the men and huts for the officers
the 14th of February, and near a hundred convicts were given to assist
in this work, they are not yet finished, nor is the hospital or the
storehouse that is to receive the provisions still remaining on board
three transports, and on these works the carpenters of the _Sirius_ are
employed. I have before pointed out the great labour in clearing the
ground as one cause of our slow progress.
Your Lordship will, I hope, excuse the confused manner in which I have
in this letter given an account of what has passed since I left the Cape
of Good Hope. It has been written at different times, and my situation
at present does not permit me to begin so long a letter again, the
canvas house I am under being neither wind nor waterproof.
I have, etc.,
A. PHILLIP.
EARLY DIFFICULTIES
+Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. I, pp. 45-51
The young colony was threatened by many dangers, but Governor
Phillip with untiring energy and skill averted them, and with
unusual foresight prophesied the future greatness of the country.
GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO UNDER-SECRETARY NEPEAN
Sydney Cove, _July 9th, 1788._
My Dear Sir,
You will see by my letters to Lord Sydney that this colony must for some
years depend on supplies from England.
The _Sirius_ will be sent to the northward for live stock as soon as we
can spare her carpenters; and from what Monsieur la Perouse said to
Captain Hunter, one of the Isles des Navigateurs is the most likely to
furnish us with what we want. But though these Islands supply two or
three ships very abundantly, they will afford but very little towards
the support of this colony, the situation of which I have particularly
pointed out in my letter to Lord Sydney, and which I shall recapitulate
in this, as the ship by which I now write may arrive before either of
those that have my despatches on board.
The Lieutenant-Governor has about four acres of land in cultivation. I
have from eight to ten in wheat and barley. The officers will be able to
raise sufficient to support the little live stock they have, and which
is all that can be expected from them. All the corn raised this year and
the next will be saved for seed, and if necessity should oblige us to
use it, it would be only a few days' support for the colony; and from
the rats and other vermin the crops are very uncertain.
This country is subject to very heavy storms of thunder and lightning,
several trees having been set on fire, and some sheep and dogs killed in
the camp since we landed.
All the provisions we have to depend on until supplies arrive from
England are in two wooden buildings which are thatched. I am sensible of
the risk but have no remedy.
The greatest part of the stock brought from the Cape is dead, and from
the inattention of the men who had the care of the cattle, those
belonging to Government and two cows belonging to myself are lost. As
they have been missing three weeks, it is probable they are killed by
the natives. All my sheep are dead and a few only remain of those
purchased for Government. The loss of two cows and four bulls falls very
heavy. The horses do very well.
With respect to any resources that the Cape of Good Hope might afford, I
have only to observe that the strong westerly winds that prevailed all
the year between the Cape and the southern extremity of this country
would render a passage to the Cape very tedious if attempted to the
southward, and little less so if ships go to the northward. Batavia and
our own settlements are at a great distance; and when the transports are
sailed I shall have only the _Sirius_ to employ on a service of this
kind; and as I should not think myself at liberty to send either to the
Cape or the East Indies unless in a case of the greatest necessity, it
would in all probability then be too late. I mention these circumstances
just to show the real situation of the colony, and I make no doubt but
that supplies will arrive in time, and on which alone I depend. The
provisions sent to support this colony for two years being put on board
three ships, was running a very great risk, for had they separated and
afterwards been lost the consequence is obvious, for this country at
present does not furnish the smallest resource except in fish, and which
has lately been so scarce that the natives find great difficulty in
supporting themselves. Any accident of this kind will be guarded
against, of course; and soldiers or convicts when sent out will be put
on board the ships with provisions to serve them for two years after
they land; and in our present situation I hope few convicts will be sent
out for one year at least, except carpenters, masons, and bricklayers,
or farmers, who can support themselves and assist in supporting others.
Numbers of those now here are a burthen and incapable of any kind of
hard labour, and, unfortunately, we have not proper people to keep those
to their labour who are capable of being made useful.
Officers decline the least interference with the convicts, unless when
they are immediately employed for their (the officers) own conveniency
or when they are called out at the head of their men; the saying of a
few words to encourage the diligent when they saw them at work, and the
pointing out the idle when they could do it without going out of their
way, was all that was desired. The convicts were then employed in
clearing the ground on which the officers were encamped, and this they
refused; they did not suppose they were sent out to do more than
garrison duty, and these gentlemen (that is, the majority of the
officers) think the being obliged to sit as members of the Criminal
Court an hardship, and for which they are not paid, and likely think
themselves hardly dealt by, in that Government had not determined what
lands were to be given to them. But I presume an additional force will
be sent out when the necessity of making detachments in order to
cultivate lands in the more open country is known, and from four to six
hundred men, will, I think, be absolutely necessary.
If fifty farmers were sent out with their families they would do more in
one year in rendering this colony independent of the mother country _as
to provisions_ than a thousand convicts. There is some clear land which
is intended to be cultivated, at some distance from the camp, and I
intended to send out convicts for that purpose, under the direction of a
person that was going to India in the _Charlotte_, transport, but who
remained to settle in this country, and has been brought up a farmer,
but several of the convicts (three) have been lately killed by the
natives, and I have been obliged to defer it until a detachment can be
made.
The natives are far more numerous than they were supposed to be. I think
they cannot be less than fifteen hundred in Botany Bay, Port Jackson,
and Broken Bay, including the intermediate coast. I have traced thirty
miles inland, and the having lately seen smoke on Lansdown Hills, which
are fifty miles inland, I think leaves no doubt but there are
inhabitants in the interior parts of the country.
Lists of what articles are most wanted will be sent by the Commissary,
and I am very sorry to say that not only a great part of the clothing,
particularly the women's, is very bad, but most of the axes, spades, and
shovels the worst that ever were seen. The provision is as good. Of the
seeds and corn sent from England part has been destroyed by the weevil;
the rest is in very good order.
The person I have appointed Provost-Marshal is likewise very useful in
superintending the carpentry; the person sent out by the contractor, who
assists the Commissary in the delivery of provisions, one that was clerk
of the _Sirius_, a master smith, and two farmers, are very useful
people, and I beg leave to recommend them to Government. The granting
them lands would draw their attention from their present occupations.
A convict who fled to the woods after committing a robbery returned
after being absent eighteen days, forced in by hunger; he had got some
small support from the people, and the few fish left by accident on the
beach after hauling the seine, and had endeavoured to live amongst the
natives, but they could but give him but little assistance; he says they
are now greatly distressed for food, and that he saw several dying with
hunger. It is possible that some of the natives at this time of year
might find it easier to support themselves on birds and such animals as
shelter themselves in the hollow trees, than on fish; but then, I think,
they would not go to the top of the mountains, where at present it must
be very cold. I intend going to Lansdown or Carmarthen Hills as soon as
the weather permits, if it is possible, and which will explain what is
at present a mystery to me--how people who have not the least idea of
cultivation can maintain themselves in the interior part of this
country. When I went to the westward, in hopes of being able to reach
the mountains, we carried six days' provisions, and proceeded five days
to the westward; returning we were very short of provisions, and our
guns only procured us two scanty meals.
I shall conclude with saying that I have no doubt but that the country
will hereafter prove a most valuable acquisition to Great Britain,
though at present no country can afford less support to the first
settlers, or be more disadvantageously placed for receiving support from
the mother country, on which it must for a time depend. It will require
patience and perseverance, neither of which will, I hope, be wanting on
the part of
Dear Sir,
Yours, etc.
A. PHILLIP.
PHILLIP'S RESIGNATION
After four years of strenuous labour Phillip was forced to leave the
work he had so well begun.
GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO LORD GRENVILLE
Sydney, _21st November, 1791._
My Lord,
I am honoured with your Lordship's letter of the 19th of February in
answer to mine to Lord Sydney, and beg leave to assure your Lordship
that I should not hesitate a moment in giving up my private affairs to
the public service; but from a complaint which so very frequently puts
it out of my power to use that exercise which my situation requires and
the present state of this colony, in which I believe every doubt
respecting its future independency as to the necessaries of life is
fully done away, I am induced to request permission to resign the
Government, that I may return to England in hopes of finding that relief
which this country does not afford.
I have, etc.
A. PHILLIP.
NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS
+Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. I, p. 122; Vol. II, pp.
573-576
The New South Wales Corps was a body of soldiers forcibly recruited
to guard the convicts at Port Jackson. The soldiers quickly passed
from bullying the convicts to bullying the free population, and
assumed a high-handed attitude towards the Governor himself.
THE RIGHT HON. W.W. GRENVILLE TO GOVERNOR PHILLIP
Whitehall, _19th June 1789._
Sir,
The discontents which have prevailed in the marine detachment, and the
desire expressed by most of the officers and men to return home as soon
as they shall have performed the tour of duty they had undertaken, have
led to the making arrangements for relieving them. With that view His
Majesty has ordered a corps to be raised for that particular service,
consisting of three hundred rank and file and a suitable number of
officers under a Major-Commandant. This corps is ordered to be in
readiness for embarkation on the 1st of October next, and will, it is
expected, soon after that time proceed upon the voyage.
GRENVILLE TO PHILLIP
_Dec. 24th, 1789._
The corps which I before informed you was to be raised to serve within
your Government, instead of the marines now doing duty there, has been
complete for some time past. A detachment from it, consisting of about
100 officers and men, has been put on board the convict ships for their
greater security against attempts which the convicts might meditate,
and the remainder, under the command of Major Grose, amounting as you
will see by the enclosed establishment to upwards of 200 more, will, I
expect, embark at Portsmouth on board His Majesty's ship the _Gorgon_,
in the course of a few days.
GOVERNOR HUNTER TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND
Sydney, New South Wales,
_10th Aug., 1796._
My Lord,
Having occasion in my letter, No. 9. by the ship _Marquis Cornwallis_,
to notice very particularly a paragraph in your Grace's letter of the
10th of June, 1795, which related to the conduct of the military serving
upon Norfolk Island in 1794, and which gave me occasion to mention
similar outrage having been committed by the soldiers here since my
arrival, I signified in that letter that I thought it might be improper
in me to suppress or keep from your Grace's knowledge that outrage, and
that it should be communicated at a future opportunity. I therefore
enclose for your Grace's information a paper, No. 1, containing the
particulars, stated in as brief a manner as possible. I forbear, my
Lord, to make any observations upon this violent and extraordinary
conduct on the part of the soldiers. I transmit only a statement of the
facts, leaving your Grace wholly uninfluenced by anything I might have
occasion to remark upon so daring a violation of the peace and order of
the settlement, as well as in defiance of those laws by which that peace
is to be preserved.
But as an alteration in the ration had at that time been ordered, I
think it necessary to observe that their temper at the moment was so
violent that they positively refused to take it unless they were served
all flour, instead of part flour and part corn, a desire which could not
be complied with without manifest injustice to others, and also insisted
upon being paid short-allowance money for the time they were on short
ration, which they say Governor Phillip had promised them. This last
demand I must request your Grace's instructions upon.
The paper No. 2 is the Public Order which I gave out immediately after
the outrage; No. 3 is a copy of my letter to the commanding officer of
the corps upon that occasion; and No. 4 is a paper which was intended
to quiet the minds of the inhabitants of the settlement, who might
naturally (if no steps were taken to punish the offenders in this case,
nor any particular notice be taken of the offence committed by them)
conceive themselves subject to such violence and oppression from the
military whenever any soldier might think fit to take offence at them.
These papers are all which I think it necessary to trouble your Grace
with upon this occasion, as the facts will best speak for themselves,
and prevent the possibility of a conjecture that any unfair
representation could have been intended.
I should feel myself deficient in that duty which I owe to His Majesty's
service in this part of the world were I not to take a liberty which I
have no reason to believe your Grace will be offended at--I mean, in
remarking that the manner in which this corps has, since employed upon
this service, been recruited, does in a great measure weaken the effect
or service which we would expect to derive from the assistance of the
military. Soldiers from the Savoy, and other characters who have been
considered as disgraceful to every other regiment in His Majesty's
service, have been thought fit and proper recruits for the New South
Wales Corps, which, in my humble opinion, my Lord, should have been
composed of the very best and most orderly dispositions. They are sent
here to guard and keep in obedience to the laws when force may be
requisite, a set of the worst, the most atrocious characters that ever
disgraced human nature; and yet we find amongst those safeguards men
capable of corrupting the heart of the best disposed, and often superior
in every species of infamy to the most expert in wickedness amongst the
convicts. Our stores, provisions, and granaries must be intrusted to the
care of these men; what security can we have in the hands of such
people? None, my Lord. Your Grace will see the impropriety of such
recruits being sent to this country, and mixed with a corps who have the
care of our most valuable concerns. Not to detain your Grace, I will beg
permission to observe that a corps of military to be permanently
established for the service of this colony, to which the dregs and
refuse of our native country are directed by its laws to be sent as a
punishment, cannot be attended with that advantage which may have been
expected from it.
This, I confess, my Lord, to be my opinion, and for this reason, that
they will make connections with infamous characters here, whatever
attention may be paid by their officers to prevent it; by this means
they will in time be corrupted and rendered unfit people for the trust
which we must repose in them. It might probably be thought expensive to
relieve them as other garrisons, once in three, four, or five years; but
I cannot help believing, my Lord, that the service would be much
benefited by such a measure; and two forty-four-gun ships armed _en
flute_ sailing at a proper season would complete the relief, and return
in from twelve to fourteen months, frequently less. The expense
attending this measure will probably be an objection; but, my Lord,
although the saving to be made by it may appear too remote to merit
immediate notice, yet I am convinced it would ultimately prove a saving,
and no inconsiderable one.
I have, etc.,
JNO. HUNTER.
(Enclosure No. 1)
STATEMENT OF THE CASE OF JOHN BAUGHAN
John Baughan who officiates as foreman of the carpenters working at
Sydney, and a private soldier of the New South Wales Corps, of the same
profession, had some dispute when formerly working together on an
occasion when Baughan had the direction. This dispute, it appeared, had
not subsided in the mind of the soldier, and probably was not wholly
forgot by the other. It, however, was more conspicuous in the soldier,
from the following circumstance:--One day when sentinel over a
storehouse, knowing that Baughan was at work in a house some distance
from his post, he set his arms down against the wall of the store, and
seeing a man whom he knew, standing on the outside of the building in
which Baughan was at work, entered into a conversation with him, of
which Baughan was the subject, and in which much abuse was bestowed
which it was meant that he, Baughan, should hear. Baughan went out at
the back door unperceived, and seeing the soldier without his arms, went
to his post, where he found the musquet, which he took up and carried to
the guardhouse and delivered to the sergeant of the guard. The soldier
was, of course, taken notice of and relieved, being without his arms.
The next day, 5th February, at half-past nine o'clock in the forenoon
the whole of the corps off duty at this place assembled, and in the
most public and tumultuous manner proceeded to the dwelling of John
Baughan, broke open his gates, doors and windows, entered his house,
chopped the corner-posts of it, broke his bedsteads and bedding, chairs,
window-frames, drawers, chests, and, in short, completely demolished
everything within his possession to a considerable amount, for the man
had by great labour and industry built himself a neat house and had it
well furnished.
Upon their first approach, having had a few minutes' notice, he armed
himself with a loaded gun and defended himself by threats for some time,
but their numbers were so many that they surrounded his paling which
enclosed the house, which some tore down, and entered on the opposite
side to that which he endeavoured to defend, came behind him, secured
and threw him down with his face to the ground, whilst one held an axe
over his neck, and swore if he offered to stir, he would chop the head
from his body. During the time he remained in this situation they
completed the ruin of his whole property, to the very great terror of
the man's wife, after which they went off cheering, as if something
meritorious had been effected, and marched in a body across the parade
before their commanding officer's house.
After so daring an attack in the open day, upon the dwelling-house of an
inhabitant, and in direct defiance of all law, civil or military, they
could only be considered as in a state of mutiny. I immediately issued
in Public Orders the papers No. 2.
(Enclosure No. 2)
GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL ORDER
_5th Feb., 1796._
Parole--Milbrook.
Countersign--Cawsand.
The very riotous manner in which the soldiers have conducted themselves
this morning, and the very unwarrantable liberty they have thought
proper to take in destroying the dwelling-house of John Baughan, is so
flagrant a crime against the laws established in this colony that
nothing but the want of proof to substantiate who the principal actors
in this disgraceful business were, could possibly prevent their being
immediately tried for so glaring an offence against the peace of the
colony.
The Governor thinks it necessary to assure the soldiers that he
considers their conduct upon this occasion to have been disgraceful to
the character of a British soldier, and that he did hope to have found
men amongst them who would have had pride enough to have stood forward
and have pointed out the ringleaders of so mutinous a conduct, for in no
other light can it be considered than that of mutiny when the military
assemble in such numbers unknown to their officers, who are at all times
ready to listen to any complaints they may have to make, and to see that
agreeable to common justice they are redressed. If the soldiers expect
that the Governor or any of the officers in this settlement can
hereafter consider them as hereafter meriting the honourable appellation
of British troops, it must be by their bringing forward the ringleaders
or advisers of this disgraceful conduct, in order that the stigma may be
wiped away by such worthless characters being brought to trial for this
shameful conduct.
(Enclosure No. 3)
GOVERNOR HUNTER TO CAPTAIN PATERSON
Sydney, _7th Feb. 1796._
Sir,
Since I saw you this morning I have turned in my mind the subject of our
conversation, and I have in consequence changed my intention of speaking
to the soldiers myself. I see that it would be a condescension on my
part which their violent and unsoldierlike conduct does not entitle them
to from me. I stand in this colony as the Chief Magistrate, and the
representative of our Sovereign; anything, therefore, that could lessen
me in the eye of the public would be degrading the King's authority,
which shall never suffer in my person whilst I am capable of giving it
its full power and consequence. I never can or will listen to the
complaints of any set of men who feel themselves above preferring them
with moderation, and a decent submission to the laws and regulations of
the colony; they must not--they shall not--dictate laws and rules for
the government of this settlement; they were sent here by His Majesty to
support the civil power in the execution of its functions, but they seem
disposed to take all law into their own hands, and to direct it in
whatever way best may suit their own views.
Their violence upon the late occasion shall be laid before the King,
and the principal actors in it shall be pointedly marked, in order that
justice the most perfect be done to everyone concerned in it. I must
declare to you, sir, that the conduct of this part of the New South
Wales Corps has been, in my opinion the most violent and outrageous that
was ever heard of by any British regiment whatever, and I shall consider
every step they may go farther in aggravation as rebellion against His
Majesty's Government and authority, of which the most early notice shall
be taken, and those concerned be in due time obliged to answer for it
most probably with their lives. This is all I think it necessary to
trouble you with. Their conduct will be pointedly marked thro' all its
stages, and I will be firm and resolved in such steps as it may be
necessary for me to pursue, and of this you, as their commanding
Officer, will be pleas'd to inform them.
I am, etc.,
JNO. HUNTER.
THE IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS
+Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. II, p. 128
In 1795, while Great Britain was at war with France, a great
rebellion broke out in Ireland. During its suppression many of the
Irish were transported to Port Jackson, and caused much trouble and
disaffection among the convicts there.
GOVERNOR HUNTER TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND
Sydney, New South Wales, _15 Feb. 1798._
My Lord Duke,
I have for some time been in doubt whether the representation I am about
to make to your Grace should be private or public, but on considering
that it might occasion the adoption of some measure interesting to the
concerns of this colony, I have preferred the latter mode.
In order that your Grace should have the earliest opportunity of taking
into consideration the subject I am about to introduce, I could have
wished to have been enabled to communicate it immediately.
To come without further preface to the point in question, I have to
inform your Grace that the Irish convicts are become so turbulent, so
dissatisfied with their situation here, so extremely insolent,
refractory, and troublesome, that, without the most rigid and severe
treatment it is impossible for us to receive any labour whatever from
them. Your Grace will see the inconvenience which so large a proportion
of that ignorant, obstinate, and depraved set of transports occasion in
this country by what I now state, and which has taken place since I
wrote my letter No. 30, herewith forwarded.
In addition to their natural vicious propensities they have conceived an
opinion that there is a colony of white people in some part of this
country in which they will receive all the comforts of life without the
necessity of labour. They have lately taken away two of our breeding
mares to carry them towards that part of the country and have made
several attempts to possess themselves of others. This, my Lord, is a
serious inconvenience to the colony. The loss of any part of our small
stock of these useful animals is a matter of peculiar concern.
A correspondence, it seems, has been carried on by these people from one
district to another, and plans have been projected for their escaping
from the colony, and a few have attempted by land, as well as by water,
and for the want of our having earlier information they have succeeded.
I have found it necessary to divide them as much as possible, to prevent
such schemes being formed; but by this separation they have a better
opportunity of irritating and inflaming the minds of those convicts who
before such acquaintance have been found of better disposition.
Having already mentioned in my letter, No. 30, the escape of those who
had taken away two of our boats, and the disappointment of another gang,
and similar attempt, I have now to inform your Grace of a far more
numerous gang, who had provided what they thought necessary for their
expedition, had fixed upon the place of general rendezvous, and were
furnished with a paper of written instructions how they were to travel
in point of direction from hence to this fancied paradise, or to China.
This paper of directions will warrant my suspicion that some wicked and
disaffected person or persons lurk somewhere in this colony, and I have
done all in my power to discover them, but hitherto without success.
Having received early information of the intention of this party, who
were said to have increased to about sixty, I planted a party of armed
constables, on whose vigilance I could depend, and they secured a gang
of these Defenders of about twenty and brought them to prison. The next
day I spoke to them, but observing a considerable degree of obstinacy
and ignorance about them, I conceived there could be no better argument
used to convince them of their misconduct than a severe corporal
punishment, which was inflicted, and they have since been strictly
looked after at their work. Some of those fellows had been provided with
a figure of a compass drawn upon paper which, with written instructions,
was to have assisted them as their guide. The ignorance of these deluded
people, my Lord, would scarcely be credited if such positive proof of it
were not before us, and yet (which seems to imply a kind of
contradiction) it is extraordinary with what art and cunning they form
their horrible plans of wickedness and villainy.
In their schemes of desertion from the colony, their own death, if they
succeed in getting away, is inevitable; but their minds have been worked
up to such a pitch of folly, rashness, and absurdity, that nothing but
experience will convince them; if we suffer them to escape into the
country they are lost, not only to us but to the world, for perish they
must.
For the sake, therefore, of humanity, and a strong desire to save these
men, worthless as they are, from impending death, I ordered four of the
strongest and hardiest of their numbers to be selected by the people
themselves, and to prepare for a journey of discovery for the
satisfaction of their associates, in order that they might have an
opportunity of relating upon their return whatever they saw and met
with. I had, farther, for the safety and preservation of those four,
directed three people, long accustomed to the woods, and acquainted with
some of the mountain savages, to accompany them; these men had also a
little knowledge of the language of the savages, from having lived some
months amongst them, and they were instructed to lead them back when,
fatigued and exhausted with their journey over steep and rocky
mountains, through thick and extensive woods, and fording deep and rapid
rivers, they should feel disposed to abandon their journey. This plan
was no sooner settled than I received information that a party of these
miscreants had agreed with the four above-mentioned to meet them at a
certain place absolutely to murder the very persons intended to be their
guides, and to possess themselves of their arms and munitions and
provisions, in addition to what each was supplied with, and to take
their own route. These circumstances will, no doubt, appear to your
Grace wild and extravagant; but after having mentioned their ignorance
in the manner I have it may serve to convince your Grace that there are
improper persons in this colony who work upon that ignorance to a
dangerous degree. In consequence of the information of this design
against their guides, I ordered four soldiers to attend them to the foot
of the first mountain with orders how to act if any others attempted to
join them; none appeared, and the whole of them returned with the
soldiers, most completely sick of their journey.
Our flocks and our crops, my Lord, are all I feel any concern about;
strict, rigid, and just punishment shall constantly hang over these
delinquents, and this, I trust, they are already convinced of. I hope
the return of the above three, and the story they can tell, will serve
to make them more contented with their present lot, and open their eyes
to the comforts which in this country they may derive and enjoy, and
which are certainly superior to any they ever possessed in their own.
Strange as such instances of human ignorance and depravity are, I have
to inform your Grace that a small party of those very people, some short
time after, actually contrived to make their escape, and after
travelling for many weeks through the country, made shift to reach the
sea-coast, near Botany Bay, but in a part where no boat has ever been
seen. Providentially, however, a boat had lost her way in going to
George's River and found those unhappy deluded wretches, on a place
where they had been nine days, and where they must soon have perished
but for this miraculous event. They were brought back almost exhausted
from want of food, and from sad and powerful conviction have promised to
warn their countrymen against such wild excursions in future.
I will here take an opportunity of mentioning that those men who had
left a part of their crew upon an island to the southward, and had
returned and taken a larger boat at Broken Bay, and had been wrecked
upon the coast to the northward, built out of the ruins of their vessel
a small boat in which they reached the above Bay; but not being able to
possess themselves of another, fit for their purpose, were, for want of
food, driven to the necessity of travelling across the country; they
wrote to me, but it was impossible to listen to their feigned story;
they were armed and carried some appearance of an intention to defend
themselves; they, however, surrendered themselves up, and were tried and
severally pleaded guilty of the robberies wherewith they were charged,
and two out of the six suffered death--an awful example, which, I hope,
will have a proper effect and prevent such attempts in future. Several
of them assured me that they had seen the wreck of the first boat--which
I mentioned in my letter No. 30--and it is very probable the crew have
perished.
I have, etc.,
JNO. HUNTER.
THE BLIGH MUTINY
+Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. VI, pp. 208-213,
240-242
As the free settlers became numerous and prosperous they became
self-assertive, and the most energetic naturally fell foul of a
tactless autocrat like Governor Bligh, who governed New South Wales
as if all were of the same status.
MAJOR JOHNSTON TO VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH
Headquarters, Sydney, N.S.W.
_11th April, 1808._
My Lord,
A series of almost incredible circumstances have imposed upon me the
distressing task and responsibility of superseding the authority vested
in Governor Bligh by His Majesty's Commission, and of assuming the
Government of this colony until His Majesty's pleasure shall be
signified, or until the arrival of an officer authorized to relieve me
in the Command.
Whenever the facts that have influenced me throughout so solemn a
transaction shall be laid before my Gracious Sovereign, I humbly trust
His Majesty will approve of my conduct, and that it will be apparent I
had no alternative but to put Governor Bligh in arrest to prevent an
insurrection of the inhabitants, and to secure him and the persons he
confided in from being massacred by the incensed multitude, or, if the
Governor had escaped so dreadful an end, and retained his authority, to
see His Majesty's benevolent and paternal Government dishonour'd by
cruelties and merciless execution.
The event that I have the honour to report to your Lordship took place
on the 26th of last January, and although such a space of time has since
elapsed, I have found it impossible to prepare that arranged detail, and
that connected chain of evidence which so uncommon a subject has made it
my indispensable duty to transmit to your Lordship.
Why I have been unable to perform this task, I shall, as I proceed,
endeavour to explain, and I respectfully hope that the information and
the evidence which I now propose to forward will prove to your Lordship
that Governor Bligh has betrayed the high trust and Confidence reposed
in him by his Sovereign, and acted upon a predetermined plan to subvert
the Laws of his country, to terrify and influence the Courts of Justice,
and to bereave those persons who had the misfortune to be obnoxious to
him, of their fortunes, their liberty, and their lives.
In the accomplishment of this plan, one act of oppression was succeeded
in a progressive course by a greater, until a general sensation of alarm
and terror prevailed throughout the settlement. Several inhabitants were
dispossessed of their houses, and many others of respectable characters,
or who had become opulent by trade, were threatened with the Governor's
resentment if they presumed to build upon or alienate their own lands.
These measures and various other acts of violence were projected and
supported by the Governor and a junto of unprincipled men, amongst whom
it was well known and has since been proved, the notorious George
Crossley, sent to this colony for perjury, was the principal person, and
the one most confided in by the Governor.
Your Lordship will not be surprised that a Government conducted by the
aid of such a Minister should be hated and detested as well as feared.
All the inhabitants who were a little advanced in their circumstances
beyond the common mass dreaded the approach of the moment when their
turn would come to be sacrificed to the avarice, the resentment, or the
fury of the Governor and his friends.
But whilst they were trembling with apprehension for their own safety,
the eyes of the whole were suddenly turned from the contemplation of the
general danger to that of Mr. Macarthur, a gentleman who was many years
an officer in the New South Wales Corps, and who now possesses a large
property in this Country.
The extent of Mr. Macarthur's estate, the number of his flocks and
herds, it had been long seen, had made him extremely obnoxious to Gov'r
Bligh. Mr. Macarthur, sensible how much he had to dread from the
ill-will of an officer of the Gov'r's well-known character, endeavoured
to provide for his security by the most scrupulous circumspection and
prudence of conduct. Secluded in a profound retirement on his estate,
and unceasingly engaged in its management and the care and education of
his children, his name was never heard of in any public business; but
neither caution nor prudence could long shield him from the hostile
spirit of the Governor. The attack was first commenced upon his
reputation, and terminated in the imprisonment of his person in the
Common Gaol.
After a variety of introductory measures, which your Lordship will find
detailed in the copy of the proceedings of a Court of Criminal
Judicature, to which I shall hereafter refer, Mr. Macarthur surrendered
as a prisoner at its bar on the 25th of last January, charged with two
separate misdemeanours. When the members of the Court had been sworn in,
and they were proceeding to swear in Richard Atkins, Esq., the
Judge-Advocate, Mr. Macarthur presented a protest, in which he urged a
variety of objections against that officer's presiding at his trial. Mr.
Atkins endeavoured to prevail upon the Court not to receive or hear the
protest read; but the members being of opinion it ought to be heard,
directed Mr. Macarthur to proceed. The Judge-Advocate then retired from
his chair and waited until Mr. Macarthur had read the protest. When that
was done he advanced again, and declared Mr. Macarthur should be
immediately committed to Gaol.
The Court then interfered on behalf of Mr. Macarthur, and after a long
altercation the Judge-Advocate retired from the Court-House, leaving
behind him his papers.
These were immediately taken possession of and examined by the Members,
and those papers led to a discovery that the whole plan of the trial had
been arranged, and every question prepared that was to be asked the
evidence of the prosecution by the infamous Crossley.
A very awful impression was made upon the minds of the inhabitants, as I
have been informed, when they saw Mr. Macarthur taken to the gaol; many
respectable persons hastened to him; and when the Court assembled at 10
o'clock his two bonds men presented a copy of the Warrant for his
apprehension and a deposition from themselves.
The Court directly wrote to the Governor a letter expressive of their
concern and praying Mr. Macarthur might be restored to his bail. To this
letter no answer was given, and the Court having waited till 3 o'clock
adjourned.
When it was known that the Court had broken up without having procured
Mr. Macarthur's enlargement, the agitation of the town became greatly
increased, and information was brought to me at four o'clock by Mr.
Harris, Surgeon of the New South Wales Corps, that an insurrection of
the Inhabitants was to be feared. In a few minutes after I had received
this intelligence a Dragoon arrived with a letter from the Governor, in
which I was informed that six of the officers of the New South Wales
Corps had been charged with treasonable practices, and were summoned to
appear before the Governor and the Magistrates at nine o'clock the next
morning. I immediately set off in a carriage to the Town.
On my arrival at the Barracks I saw all the Civil and Military Officers
collected, and the most respectable inhabitants in conversation with
them. The common people were also to be seen in various groups in every
street murmuring and loudly complaining, whilst others were watching the
movements of Crossley and the Magistrates who frequently passed from the
Judge Advocate's to the Government House. At this moment it was also
known that the Governor was shut up in Council with the depraved and
desperate Crossley, Mr. Palmer, the Commissary, Mr. Campbell, a
Merchant, and Mr. Arndell (the latter three, Magistrates) and that Mr.
Gore (the Provost-Marshal) and Mr. Fulton (the Chaplain) were also at
Government House, all ready to sanction whatever Crossley proposed or
the Governor ordered.
The gentlemen who had assembled on my arrival earnestly entreated me to
adopt decisive measures for the safety of the inhabitants and to dispel
the great alarm, as it was understood throughout the town that the
Members of the Court of Criminal Judicature would be thrown into Gaol;
and it was expected after such a measure nothing could limit the excess
of the Governor's cruelties; the gentlemen also warmly urged me to bail
Mr. Macarthur, so that he might consult with them on the measures most
proper to recommend at so extraordinary a crisis.
As I had no doubt of the illegality of Mr. Macarthur's confinement, I
felt no difficulty in acceding to the request, and Mr. Macarthur being
released from the Gaol directly joined the Assembly of Officers and
inhabitants who were then at the Barracks.
In a short time after, a letter was presented to me imploring me
instantly to put Governor Bligh in arrest, and to assume the Command of
the Colony. This letter was also approved of by all the Officers of the
Corps present at Head-Quarters; and as the events I had myself witnessed
left me no cause to doubt the propriety and necessity of complying with
this requisition, I immediately ordered the Corps under Arms, and
directed four Officers to proceed to Government House and summon
Governor Bligh to resign his authority. The Corps quickly followed,
attended by the Civil Officers and a considerable number of respectable
inhabitants.
The four officers who had carried the summons met me at the Governor's
door and reported that he was nowhere to be found, nor any information
to be obtained of him, although the strongest assurances had been given
that his person should be strictly guarded from insult or violence.
After a rigid search the Governor, however, was at last discovered, in a
situation too disgraceful to be mentioned, and which I solemnly declare
to your Lordship would have been most gratifying to my feelings had it
been possible to have concealed from the public. As soon as Governor
Bligh made his appearance, I assured him of his personal safety and of
every attention in my power to offer him.
Whilst the search was making for Governor Bligh I was entreated by the
Civil Officers and the Inhabitants to proclaim Martial Law, and this
request meeting my approbation, Martial Law was instantly proclaimed and
continued in force until the next day. As not a single act of disorder
or irregularity was committed during the interesting scene that I have
had the honour to describe to your Lordship, and as the most perfect
peace and tranquillity were restored throughout the whole settlement I
published a Proclamation the next morning, revoking the order of the
preceding evening and restoring the Civil Government.
I ordered the Court of Criminal Judicature to assemble that Mr.
Macarthur might be arraigned on the Indictment that was found amongst
the Judge-Advocate's papers, and that the trial might proceed on the
plan Crossley had suggested to secure his conviction. The evidences were
examined in the order Crossley had prescribed, and every question asked
that he had previously dictated. Your Lordship will discover from the
copy of the Trial that Mr. Macarthur was acquitted without being put on
his defence, and that a complete disclosure was made of the plans which
had been deliberately formed for the ruin and destruction of that
gentleman.
I respectfully trust this trial and the confessions of the Magistrates
and other confidential persons will convince your Lordship of the guilty
intentions of Governor Bligh, and how little he regarded the sacred
personage whom he represented by suffering himself to be guided by a
wretch like that man Crossley to persecute and oppress His Majesty's
subjects.
I am now, my Lord, arrived at the most painful part of my task--an
explanation of the causes that have prevented me from preparing a better
arranged Statement of the transactions in which I have been engaged; and
it is with deep concern I find myself obliged to report to your Lordship
that the opposition from those persons from whom I had most reason to
expect support has been one of the principal obstacles I have had to
encounter.
When the officers and inhabitants found themselves relieved from the
oppressions of Governor Bligh, the general joy that was felt displayed
itself in rejoicings, bonfires, illuminations, and in a manifestation of
the most perfect unanimity. Even the lowest class of the prisoners were
influenced by the same sentiments, and for a short time abandoned their
habits of plundering. The contemplation of this happy scene more than
repaid me for the increase of care, fatigue, and responsibility to which
I had submitted for the public benefit; but the unanimity in which I
felt so much pleasure I quickly discovered was not to be preserved
without a sacrifice of His Majesty's interests, and a departure from the
regulations that have been made to check the importation of Spirituous
Liquors into the Colony.
I shall no longer obtrude upon your Lordship on this occasion than to
solicit that whenever the representation of what has taken place here
shall be communicated to my Gracious Sovereign, your Lordship will have
the goodness to offer my humble assurances that I have sacrificed
comparative ease, and have taken upon myself so great a responsibility
rather than submit to be a witness of His Majesty's sacred name being
profaned and dishonoured by deeds of injustice and violence.
I have, etc.,
GEO. JOHNSTON.
PROCLAMATION
GEORGE JOHNSTON
The Public Peace being happily and, I trust in Almighty God, permanently
established I hereby proclaim the Cessation of Martial Law. I have this
day appointed Magistrates and other Public Functionaries from amongst
the most respectable officers and inhabitants, which will, I hope,
secure the impartial Administration of Justice, according to the laws of
England, as secured to us by the Patent of Our Most Gracious Sovereign.
Words cannot too strongly convey my approbation of the behaviour of the
whole body of the People on the late memorable Event. By their manly,
firm and orderly conduct they have shown themselves deserving of that
Protection which I have felt it was my duty to give them, And which I
doubt not they will continue to merit.
In future no man shall have just cause to complain of Violence,
Injustice or Oppression; No free Man shall be taken, imprisoned, or
deprived of his Home, Land or Liberty, but by the Law; Justice shall be
impartially administered without regard to or respect of persons; and
every man shall enjoy the fruits of his industry in Security.
SOLDIERS!
Your conduct has endeared you to every well-disposed inhabitant in this
Settlement, Persevere in the same honourable path And you will establish
the credit of the New South Wales Corps on a basis not to be shaken.
God Save the King.
By Command of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor.
(Signed) NICHOLAS BAYLY,
Secretary.
Head-Quarters, Sydney, 27th January, 1808.
MR. NICHOLAS BAYLY TO GOVERNOR BLIGH
Sydney, _28th January, 1808._
I am directed by His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor to acquaint you that
the late Magistrates and other persons (who it is proved you were in the
habit of consulting) have been examined on Oath before Committees
constituted under the Lieutenant-Governor's authority; that from the
confessions of those Persons it appears that you have been acting upon a
settled plan to subvert the Laws, to terrify and influence the Courts of
Justice, and to deprive every person who had the misfortune to be
obnoxious to you of their Property, Liberty, and Lives. The
Lieutenant-Governor feeling that an offence of such magnitude must be
productive of the most serious consequences, is impelled by sentiments
of Humanity to give you this early notice that you may consider and
seriously reflect on the measures which may be necessary for your
Justification.
His Honour has further directed me to assure you that as soon as the
examinations are complete, you shall be furnished with a Copy, and that,
if you think proper, all the Evidences shall be re-examined in your
presence, and be directed to answer any questions you like to propose to
them. His Honour has also desired me to assure you that it will give him
the greatest satisfaction to contribute by every means in his power to
the Alleviation of the distress of your present situation, and to the
comfort and accommodation of you and your family.
NICHOLAS BAYLY,
Secretary.
The British Government called the chief actors in the mutiny before a
commission of inquiry. Johnston was dismissed from the army; MacArthur
was forbidden to return to New South Wales for eight years; and Bligh
was made a vice-admiral.
THE BEGINNING OF THE WOOL INDUSTRY
+Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. V, pp. 510 and 566
The wool industry in Australia was founded by John MacArthur. Once
established, the flocks increased rapidly in numbers and quality,
and as it became possible to export wool, its manufacture was
stimulated in the older countries. The annual value of Australia's
wool export is now over £26,000,000.
GOVERNOR KING TO EARL CAMDEN
Sydney, N.S.W., _20th July, 1805._
My Lord,
By Mr. MacArthur, who arrived the 9th Ult'o, I had the honour of
receiving your Lordship's Letters dated as per margin.
It will be my Duty and Interest to pay the strictest attention to His
Majesty's Commands and your Lordship's wishes in every point that can
advance the increase and improvement of the breed of sheep for which a
better foundation could not be laid, or the Success more ensured, than
the progressive increase of the Stock throughout the Colony. Mr.
MacArthur possesses at least a third of the Numbers, a considerable part
of which were reported at the last muster to bear Wool of the finest
kind, and the rest, as well as the other flocks, are continually
improving from the hairy Coverings of the original breed to wool of
different qualities, principally owing to the introduction of a few
Spanish Rams some years ago.
Soon after Mr. MacArthur's arrival we conversed together respecting the
Objects of his laudable and, I hope, successful pursuits for the general
benefit of the Colony, as well as for that of his Family, which he now
regards as attached to the soil. His having bought a Ship to be employed
in the Whale Fishery, I consider an object equally laudable and
beneficial, exclusive of his being able to export the Wool of his
increasing breed to England once in Eighteen Months or Two Years, and
returning with Articles of use and Comfort to sell the Inhabitants. Nor
ought I to doubt from his assurances, that every expected benefit may be
derived from his exertions, as he is certainly very equal to conduct and
promote the Object he has so earnestly and, I hope, successfully
embarked in. To attain which he does and will possess every local
advantage that a good Stock to begin with, a good Climate, and fine
natural pastorage can offer.
Taking your Lordship's Letter No. 18 as a data, respecting the Land to
be located to Mr. MacArthur, wherein you do me the honour to signify His
Majesty's Commands that "I will have a proper grant of Lands, fit for
the pasture of sheep, conveyed to the said John MacArthur Esquire, in
perpetuity, with the usual reserve of Quit-Rents to the Crown,
containing not less than Five Thousand Acres," and Your Lordship having
noticed that "It will be impossible for Mr. MacArthur to pursue this
plan unless he shall be indulged with a reasonable number of Convicts
(which he states to be not less than thirty) for the purpose of
attending his sheep, and that as Mr. MacArthur will take upon himself
the Charges of maintaining these Convicts, a saving will accrue to
Government; and that you doubt not I will provide him with such as shall
appear as most suitable to his Objects."
In order to expedite Mr. MacArthur's Object of exporting fine Wool to
England, I have directed One hundred of the finest woolled Ewes from
Government Stock to be chosen for this gentleman to add to his own, for
which he is to pay Grain into the Stores at the rate of Two Pounds
sterling for each Ewe. As I do not consider it an Object for Government
to interfere in this pursuit, Seeing that the greatest exertions will be
made by Mr. MacArthur, And notwithstanding every attention has been paid
to improve the Fleeces of Government Sheep, Yet that Stock will always
be a reserve for supplying present and future Settlers with proportions
thereof, which will at once save the Necessity of purchasing to Supply
New Settlers who have Claims, and preserve a residue for those deserving
characters who may be allowed the advantage of exchanging Grain for
Ewes, agreeable to my Lord Hobart's Acquiescence with my proposal on
that Subject.
The number of Male Convicts assigned to Mr. MacArthur for the Care of
his Stock, etc., previous to his return, was Sixteen; Since then they
have been increased to Thirty, exclusive of those hired and retained in
his service who have served their terms. Should Mr. MacArthur wish for
an increase, they shall be assigned him when more arrive from England;
but your Lordship will observe by the number and employment Return that
the Public Labour absolutely necessary to be carried on, and in which
Agriculture on the part of the Crown is nearly given up, will not allow
of more Men being assigned at present until more arrive.
I have, etc.,
PHILLIP GIDLEY KING.
MACARTHUR'S OBSERVATIONS ON SHEEP-FARMING
A Report of the State of Mr. MacArthur's Flocks of Sheep, with some
observations on the Advantages which may be expected from the Growth of
fine Wool in New South Wales.
Paramatta, N.S.W., _2nd Oct., 1805._
The fine Woolled Sheep imported here from the Cape of Good Hope in the
Year 1797 were said to be of the Spanish Breed. The excellence of the
fleece of these Sheep combined with the consideration of their peculiar
form, bears strong evidence in favour of the Correctness of this Report,
tho' it is impossible to say whether they originally sprung from the
best kind of Sheep that is bred in Spain. Be this as it may nothing is
better established than that the Wool of this Breed of Sheep has
considerably improved in this Climate, and as Mr. MacArthur has had the
good fortune to bring out from England Four Rams and one Ewe, purchased
from His Majesty's Flock of Spanish Sheep, It is to be hoped that these
valuable animals will be the cause of a still further Melioration in the
Quality of our Wool. Indeed there appears no reason to fear but that the
Wool of this Country may by care and judicious Management be placed on
an equality with the very best that is grown in Spain. It has been Mr.
MacArthur's invariable practice to keep the Spanish Breed apart from all
others, and as fast as Spanish Rams have been reared they have been put
among the coarse-woolled Ewes. The result of this system has proved
extremely satisfactory, his Flocks now consist of more than Five
Thousand, of these Sixty are of the pure Spanish kind, and the whole are
much improved in the quality of the Wool; he is of Opinion the best
judge will be unable to discover any material difference between the
perfect and the mixed Breed in Seven years.
With respect to Constitution, Size, and Aptitude to fatten, he has tried
all the Breeds he could obtain in the Colony, and he has found the
Spanish surpass them all in every one of these qualities. In the
representations that Mr. MacArthur had the honour to make in England to
His Majesty's Ministers, he stated that he thought a Flock of Sheep
would double itself in Two Years and a half, longer experience induces
him to think it may be done in rather less time; but in the Estimate he
now proposes to make, he will govern himself by the same data on which
his original Calculations were made, for he is desirous rather to
repress too sanguine Expectations than to encourage such as may prove
fallacious.
Estimating the Sheep in New South Wales at Twenty Thousand, a plain
Arithmetical progression will prove that the present Stock may increase
in Twenty Years to Five Millions, and calculating two pounds and a half
of clear washed Wool to each Sheep, they would produce almost twice as
much Wool as England now purchases from Spain at an Annual expense of
One Million Eight Hundred Thousand pounds.
Should Great Britain still require a much larger supply, Sheep can be
easily multiplied to any Extent in the immeasurable Forest which
Surrounds us.
It is difficult for the Mind to embrace all the Advantages which must
flow from the Successful Progression of this great National Object; for
if we contemplate the progress of the Cotton Manufactory we shall see
that at the commencement of the Eighteenth Century the quantities of raw
cotton imported into England did not exceed Two Millions of Pounds
weight. At this period it amounts to more than Twenty Millions; and
altho' its price has considerably advanced, yet Manufactured Cotton
Goods have fallen full Two Hundred per cent. This prodigious diminution
in price is attributable to no other cause than the introduction of
Machinery, by which the expense of Manual Labour is comparatively
reduced to nothing.
Now, repeated experiments have demonstrated that the same Machinery is
equally applicable to every Branch of the Woollen Manufactory, and in
truth it would long since have been adopted, but for the popular Clamour
that thousands of Labourers would be thrown out of employment. "It
cannot be denied," say its Opponents, "that Machinery would reduce the
price of Woollen, as it has done that of Cotton Cloths, but the two
Cases bear no Analogy, for when Machinery was applied in the Manufacture
of Cotton the increased Quantity of the raw material furnished
abundance of Employment in some other branch to those whose Labour the
Machine superseded. Make but the same experiment in the Woollen
Manufactory, and its fatal effects upon the poor will soon be felt; for
as you cannot increase the quantity of Animal Wool now being brought
into the Market, any Invention that has a tendency to diminish Manual
Labour is, and must be, pernicious."
This reasoning has had great weight on the Minds of best informed Men;
but if we can by our united Efforts (as assuredly we can) raise in this
Colony any Quantity of fine Wool, all its force would be at once
demolished. Whatever the demands of Great Britain may be for that
Commodity, we certainly may supply it. The universal use of Machinery
might then be safely sanctioned, and the British Manufacturers would be
enabled so to reduce the price of Woollen Cloths, as would assure
throughout the world the most Monopoly that any people ever possessed.
We also should largely participate in the profits of this gainful Trade
and should enjoy the pleasing Consolation that our Labours were
contributing to the Support and Prosperity of that parent Country to
whom our debt of Gratitude can never be paid.
JOHN MACARTHUR.
EMANCIPIST CONTROVERSY
+Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. VII, pp. 245, 580-617
A storm of protest was aroused among the free settlers by the
action of Governor Macquarie in recognizing convicts as ordinary
members of society directly their terms of imprisonment had
expired. The free community became sharply divided into emancipists
and anti-emancipists.
GOVERNOR MACQUARIE TO VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH
Sydney, N.S.W., _30 April, 1810._
My Lord,
I had the honour to address Your Lordship by Lieutenant-Colonel Foveaux
in a brief Despatch, under dates the eighth and twelfth of last Month;
but lest that Despatch may not get safe to Hand I shall in my present
one recapitulate the substance of my last, and furnish your Lordship
with a more detailed Account of my Proceedings.
I was very much surprised and concerned on my arrival here, at the
extraordinary and illiberal Policy I found had been adopted by all the
Persons who had preceded me in Office respecting those men who had been
originally sent out to this Country as Convicts, but who, by long habits
of Industry and total Reformation of Manners, had not only become
respectable, but by many degrees the most Useful Members of the
Community. Those persons have never been countenanced or received into
society. I have, nevertheless, taken upon Myself to adopt a new line of
conduct, Conceiving that Emancipation, when united with Rectitude and
long-tried good Conduct, should land a man back to that Rank in Society
which he had forfeited, and do away, in as far as the Case will admit,
all Retrospect of former bad Conduct. This appears to me to be the
greatest Inducement that can be held out towards the Reformation of the
Manners of the Inhabitants, and I think it is consistent with the
gracious and Humane Intentions of His Majesty and His Ministers in
favour of this class of people. I am aware it is a measure which must be
resorted to with great Caution and Delicacy; but I am hopeful that in
time it may be extended beyond the line within which I must restrict
myself for the present. The Number of Persons of this Description whom I
have yet admitted to my Table consist of only four. Namely: Mr. D'Arcy
Wentworth, Principal Surgeon; Mr. William Redfern, Assistant Surgeon;
Mr. Andrew Thompson, an opulent Farmer and Proprietor of Land; and Mr.
Simeon Lord, an opulent Merchant. Three of these Persons have acquired
Property to a large amount; they have long conducted themselves with the
greatest Propriety, and I find them at all times ready to come forward
in the most liberal manner to the assistance of the Government. In order
to mark my sense of the merits of Mr. Andrew Thompson, I have already
appointed him a Justice of the Peace and Magistrate of the Hawkesbury,
where he has a large property, and I intend to confer the same Marks of
Distinction on Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Simeon Lord when Vacancies in the
Magistracy at Sydney, where they both reside, may occur.
Before I conclude this Despatch, permit me to express my grateful
acknowledgements to your Lordship for the Appointment I have now the
Honour to Hold, and to assure your Lordship that, as far as my
judgement and Abilities extend, I shall exert them in the faithful
discharge of the Trust reposed in me, with the Hope that in the wide
field for improvement here, my Services may not be unimportant, and that
they will ultimately meet with the Approbation of my Sovereign and His
Majesty's Ministers, and thereby Confirm the Opinion you did me the
Honour to form in my Favour.
I have, etc.,
L. MACQUARIE.
GOVERNOR MACQUARIE TO EARL OF LIVERPOOL
Sydney, N.S.W., _17th Nov., 1812._
My Lord,
Since my last Public Despatch under Date 28th Oct. 1811, Transmitted per
ship Friends, via Rio-de-Janeiro, I have been honoured with Your
Lordship's Several Despatches, under Dates 26th July 1811, and 4th, 5th
and 19th May, 1812; and also the several other Letters with their
respective Enclosures and Accompanying Documents from Your Lordship or
the Under-Secretary of State, as noted in the margin.
In the first Despatch I had the Honour of addressing to Lord Castlereagh
(Your Lordship's immediate Predecessor in Office) under date the 30th of
April, 1810, I stated my Reasons for restoring those Persons _who had
been Convicts_, to that Rank in Society, which they had lost, but which,
by long habits of Rectitude and Meritorious Conduct in this Colony they
were fully entitled to be restored to. I have found the greatest benefit
to result from the adoption of this System of Policy. Some Men who had
been Convicts have been appointed Magistrates by me; Some of the same
Description of Men have been honoured with His Majesty's Commission,
which in my Mind is alone a sufficient proof of the eligibility of these
persons for any Society. On all occasions I have found and experienced
very great assistance from those Persons in the Habitual and Zealous
discharge of the Several Duties attached to their respective Situations;
and they act at all times as if they conceived it to be their
indispensable and first Duty to assist the Government of the Country.
Altho' the principal Leaders, who headed the Faction which occasioned
so much mischief and Anarchy in this Country (previous to my arrival),
have left it, Yet the Seeds of it were so deeply sown that a
considerable part of that factious spirit still exists among some
discontented and disaffected Persons in this Colony, whose restless and
Vicious Minds cannot endure any Control or legitimate form of
Government. The only measure of mine which to my knowledge they have
dared to attempt to counteract, is this extension of just and humane
Indulgence to those Persons (who had formerly been Convicts), whom I
have brought forward and patronised by admitting them to my Society, but
whom the factious Persons herein alluded to found it advantageous to
their Interests and illiberal Prejudices to consider as Outcasts,
beneath their notice and for ever doomed to oblivion and Neglect.
It would therefore be highly gratifying and Satisfactory to Me, if Your
Lordship would have the goodness to honour me with a Communication of
His Royal Highness the Prince Regent's Sentiments on this Subject which
I consider as one of the greatest possible Interest and Importance to
the Welfare, Prosperity and Happiness of this rising Colony; which, as
it was originally settled for the Reception, Punishment, and eventual
Improvement of Convicts, appears to Me to require that their
Improvement, Welfare and Happiness should form the first and chief
Object of Attention in the important Duties entrusted to the Governor of
it.
This Despatch will be delivered to your Lordship by Lieutenant Richard
Lundin of the 73rd Regiment, to whom I take the liberty of referring
Your Lordship for any particulars relative to the Colony that may have
escaped my recollection in my Public Despatches; and I further beg leave
to recommend him to your Lordship's Favour and Protection.
I have, etc.,
L. MACQUARIE.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
+Source.+--The State and Position of Western Australia, by Captain
Frederick Chidley Irwin of H.M. 63rd Regiment; late Commandant of the
Troops, and Acting Governor of the Colony, 1835, pp. 32-37, 42-46.
The settlement of Western Australia was undertaken in 1825, with
the purely philanthropic idea of relieving the overcrowded
population of Great Britain. The early difficulties were due to the
ignorance of conditions in the country, and the unsuitability of
the emigrants. Mr. Peel was chief promoter of the scheme.
The reader's attention will now be drawn to some of the mis-statements
with respect to the colony, which have appeared in recent publications.
Under this head he would especially notice a work entitled "England and
America." At page 33, Vol. 2 of the work in question, there is said to
be, in Western Australia "abundance of good land and of land, too,
cleared and drained by nature." After adverting to the amount of capital
and live stock, and the number of labourers introduced by the first
settlers, it is asked, what has become of all that capital, and all
those labourers? Then comes the following passage: "Why this failure
with all the elements of success--plenty of good land, plenty of
capital, and enough labour? The explanation is easy: In this colony
there never has been a class of labourers. Those who went out as
labourers no sooner reached the colony than they were tempted by the
superabundance of good land to become landowners."
The writer proceeds to state, that Mr. Peel (who, as he had been
informed, had brought out a capital of £50,000 and 300 persons of the
labouring class) had been thus left without a servant to make his bed,
or to fetch him water from the river; and that, in the absence of his
people, his capital had perished. "The same thing," he adds, "happened
in many cases." Further on, it is stated that some of the labourers, who
had become independent landowners, died of hunger, at a period when a
large supply of food had reached the colony, and that they were starved
because where they had settled was not known to the Governor, nor even
to themselves--"such," says this writer, "was the dispersion of these
colonists, in consequence of superabundance of good land." It is added,
that the settlers who remained had petitioned for convicts, though one
of the chief inducements to settling in the colony was an undertaking,
on the part of the English Government, that none should be sent thither.
If this writer's statement be correct, that labourers on their arrival,
tempted by the superabundance of good land, did with impunity desert
their masters, leaving their property to perish, and did themselves
become landowners, it will be apparent, either that there were then no
laws in the colony, or that they were not in force. The reverse,
however, is the fact--there were laws, and they were enforced.
The following is No. 8 of the land regulations: "No grant of land will
be made to servants under indenture; nor shall persons receive grants
who shall appear to have come to the settlement at the expense of other
individuals without sufficient assurance of their having fulfilled the
condition of any agreement under which they may have come." The author
does not remember an instance of this regulation being relaxed; and it
is manifest that destruction of property and the ruin of the capitalist
must have been inevitable, had the Government not enforced it.
Equally without foundation is the statement that the indentured servant
could desert his master with impunity. The indenture was binding equally
on master and servant, and was strictly enforced by the colonial law. If
the master failed to give the wages, food, or whatever else might have
been stipulated for in the indenture, the servant, on establishing his
complaint before a magistrate, obtained his discharge. On the other
hand, if the master proved a breach of the indenture by the servant
unduly absenting himself, refusing to work, etc., the magistrate was
under obligation to imprison the servant. Also any person employing an
indentured servant, without permission of the master, was subject to a
very heavy fine.
Mr. Peel and his people were in this manner circumstanced. The author
has read many of their indentures; in all of these Mr. Peel was bound to
pay them daily wages (generally three shillings) out of which their food
and clothing were to be deducted. The capital imported by Mr. Peel,
though very considerable, was understood to consist chiefly of stores
and live-stock. However this may have been, he found it convenient after
a time, to grant most of his people permission to work for other
settlers, reserving a right to recall them when he chose; but allowing
them the alternative of their discharge, on their reimbursing him the
expense of their passage out. As his people could get higher wages when
working for others, they gladly accepted the permission. Occasional
misunderstandings took place between him and some of them, and it was
not till after the Governor, accompanied by the Law-Adviser of
Government, had more than once repaired in person to Mr. Peel's
location, that an adjustment of those differences was effected. The
author has known several servants of Mr. Peel to be imprisoned for
breaches of indenture. A number of them, however, were excellent men,
who would have conscientiously adhered to him, had he not given them the
option of working for others.
It is but justice here to acknowledge the great benefit conferred on the
settlement by Mr. Peel, in the introduction of men who were not only of
good conduct, but well acquainted with farming pursuits or with trades.
For himself, the author feels happy in having this opportunity to
express his sense of it, having had upwards of four years in his
service, a family brought out by Mr. Peel. The father of this family is
a man of intelligence and observation. Besides his own trade of brick
and tile-making, he has a complete knowledge of farming, gardening,
bricklaying, lime-burning, and brewing, in which various occupations he
employs himself. Such is his industry that he has been seen working for
hours in the garden by moonlight, after spending a long day at labour in
the field. His wife is a regular dairywoman. One of the sons is a
carpenter, and another a ploughman, besides having each a knowledge of
their father's trade; and the rest of the family, down to the youngest,
are training up habits of industry and labour.
Although, as has been shown, the conditions of the indentures were by
the colonial laws enforced, it will nevertheless be manifest, that no
law, in any country, can prevent an artful and unprincipled servant
(anxious to be rid of his engagement) from acting in so vexatious a
manner, that some masters, in preference to keeping such a one, would
forgo any benefit the indenture might offer. Such a course has been
adopted in the colony by some masters thus circumstanced. Those,
however, who had been careful to bring out men of good character, and to
whom they allowed an equitable compensation for their services, have
rarely had cause for complaint; and, on the contrary, have generally
been rewarded by the cheerful obedience of their servants.
The author is the more desirous of disproving the alleged lawless state
of society in the colony, as the implied reproach is totally unmerited
by the Governor, Sir James Stirling, who has been most indefatigable and
self-denying in his exertions for the public welfare; and it is equally
so by the magistracy, who have, from the outset, administered the laws
with vigour and impartiality.
With reference to the assertion that some individuals had perished with
hunger from not having been able to inform the Governor as to where they
had settled, the author can only say, that he did not hear of any such
circumstance while in the colony, and that he considers it very
improbable; as, with the exception of the people connected with Mr.
Peel, the settlers at the period alluded to were located on the Swan and
the Canning, by following down which rivers they could have reached in
the course of a single day the towns of Perth or Freemantle.
He has also to confess his ignorance of the colonists having, as stated,
petitioned for convicts--he knows that such a wish was not expressed in
their memorial drawn up in 1832, and laid before His Majesty's
Government by Sir James Stirling in person. The colonists having had
before their eyes, in the neighbouring penal settlements, the serious
evils inflicted on society by the employment of convicts (especially as
indoor servants) have firmly resisted the temptation to seek such a
remedy for their wants. The extreme difficulty, which it is notorious
respectable families there experience, to sufficiently guard the morals
of their offspring, and to secure their being brought up in the
necessary principles of virtue and integrity, is alone a consideration
which, it is believed, will keep the colonists in Western Australia
stedfast on that point. No mere worldly prosperity whatsoever can
compensate for the tremendous risk to which children in a penal
settlement are exposed, as many a heart-broken parent can testify.
It now remains for the author to offer a few observations
1. On the failures that occurred among the early settlers.
2. On the origin of the reports so widely circulated to the prejudice of
the country.
3. On the tardy progress of the colony, compared with what had been
expected.
The following extract from one of the earliest despatches of the
Governor (written in January 1830, and addressed to the Secretary of
State) will serve to preface these remarks, as it bears immediately on
the first point. Adverting to the circumstances under which the first
settlers came out, he thus proceeds: "There could not be a great number
with minds and bodies suited to encounter the struggle and distresses of
a new settlement. Many, if not all, have accordingly been more or less
disappointed on arrival, with either the state of things here, or their
own want of power to surmount the difficulties pressing round them. This
has been experienced, in the beginning, by every new colony; and might
have been expected to occur here, as well as elsewhere. The greater
part, incapable of succeeding in England, are not likely to prosper here
to the extent of their groundless and inconsiderate expectations. Many
of the settlers who have come should never have left in England a safe
and tranquil state of life; and, if it be possible to discourage one set
of people, and to encourage another, I would earnestly request that for
a few years, the helpless and inefficient may be kept from the
settlement; whilst, as to the active, industrious, and intelligent they
may be assured with confidence of a fair reward for their labours."
If, after what has been said, it be granted that Western Australia, as
far as natural advantages go, is well suited for the purpose of
colonization, still it will be apparent, from the principle on which the
colony was founded, that its success must be greatly dependent on the
capital and exertions of the settlers. The charge of maintaining a
military and a civil establishment being all His Majesty's Government
was pledged to, every other expense was to be borne by the emigrant;
such as his outfit, voyage, and settlement in the colony.
No arrangement prior to leaving England having been made by the
emigrants to ensure the advantages of co-operation on the part of their
friends at home, and among themselves in the colony, each depended on
his own energy and resources for his success; and the foregoing
description of many of the original settlers will account for the
disappointments that ensued in various instances.
Few who abandoned the settlement under such circumstances, were willing
to admit their failure was the result of their own want of exertion, or
their unfitness for the enterprise in which they had embarked;
accordingly, wherever they went, and in their letters home, the blame
was laid on the country. Thus many of the evil reports respecting it,
which were current at home and in the neighbouring colonies, may be
traced to this source.
A prevalent cause of distress among the early settlers arose from their
having generally brought out with them little ready money, compared with
their other property. This was chiefly owing to the Government
regulations admitting of land being assigned to those only who
introduced labourers, and various kinds of property required by farmers.
Many of the settlers, therefore, to the extent of their means, were in
this way amply provided; but having understood in England that money
would be of little use in a new country, numbers, without questioning
what they wished to be true, incautiously expended most of their means
in the property that would entitle them to obtain land in the colony.
However, when they had been some time in the settlement, they discovered
that there, as in other places, money was needful; and on wishing to
procure some by the sale of part of their property, they found it
difficult to do so without loss, in consequence of most other settlers
having brought out similar investments.
Another cause of depression, which has borne seriously on the settlers,
has been the occasional high price of the necessaries of life. With a
view of remedying this evil, cargoes of provisions have been repeatedly
imported by the Local Government--the actual cost alone being charged to
the settler. Even a shipload of bullocks and pigs was introduced from
Java. But, numbers of the bullocks and pigs getting loose, soon became
as wild and difficult to recapture as if they had been natives of the
woods, whither they had betaken themselves.
Experience has shown that the system of free grants, which was the first
adopted in Western Australia, is decidedly injurious to the prosperity
of a settlement, from the facility it affords to persons possessed of
comparatively little capital to acquire extensive tracts of land, the
greater part of which, for want of means, they cannot use for
agricultural or pastoral purposes. It also occasions the too wide
dispersion of the settlers; thus necessarily increasing the expense of
Government, and, at the same time, producing serious inconvenience to
the farmer.
WAKEFIELD'S SCHEME OF COLONIZATION
+Source.+--A Letter from Sydney. E.G. Wakefield (Gouger, 1829), Appendix
The failure of the first attempt to settle Western Australia gave
rise to much thought upon the theory of colonization. The ideas
most generally accepted were those of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who
summarized his theory as follows:
OUTLINE OF A SYSTEM OF COLONIZATION
It is suggested:
Article I.
THAT a payment in money of---- per acre, be required for all future
grants of land without exception.
Article II.
THAT all land now granted, and to be granted, throughout the colony, be
declared liable to a tax of---- per cent. upon the actual rent.
Article III.
THAT the proceeds of the tax upon rent, and of sales, form an EMIGRATION
FUND, to be employed in the conveyance of British labourers to the
colony free of cost.
Article IV.
THAT those to whom the administration of the Fund shall be entrusted, be
empowered to raise money on that security, as money is raised on the
security of parish and county rates in England.
Article V.
THAT the supply of labourers be as nearly as possible proportioned to
the demand for Labour at each Settlement; so that Capitalists shall
never suffer from an urgent want of Labourers, and that Labourers shall
never want well-paid employment.
Article VI.
THAT in the selection of Emigrants, an absolute preference be given to
young persons, but that no excess of males be conveyed to the colony
free of cost.
Article VII.
THAT Colonists providing a passage for emigrant Labourers, being young
persons, and equal numbers of both sexes, be entitled to a payment in
money from the Emigration Fund, equal to the actual contract price of a
passage for so many labouring persons.
Article VIII.
THAT Grants be absolute in fee, without any condition whatever, and
obtainable by deputy.
Article IX.
THAT any surplus of the proceeds of the tax upon rent and of sales, over
what is required for Emigration, be employed in relief of other taxes,
and for the general purposes of Colonial Government.
FOUNDATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
+Source.+--Six Months in the new Colony of South Australia (J. Horton
James, 1839), pp. 1, 28-37
The settlement of South Australia was undertaken to test
Wakefield's theory; but instead of turning their land to good
account the colonists left it idle, hoping to sell at a high price.
The result was disastrous.
SITUATION AND EXTENT
The New Province, called South Australia, which, by an Act of the
Imperial Parliament, was erected into a free British colony on 15th
August, 1834, is situate on the South Coast of the Great Island
Continent of New Holland, in the Southern or Indian Ocean, extending
from 132° to 141° E. longitude, and from 38° to 26° S. latitude, and
contains nearly two hundred millions of acres. It is twelve thousand
miles distant from Great Britain.
This distance of twelve thousand miles ought to be performed by a fast
sailing ship in twelve weeks, at the rate of a thousand miles per week,
which is the fair average running of a good ship on distant voyages; but
it is better to allow something for light winds and calms near the
Equator, and to say in round numbers one hundred days in all, which is
rather more than fourteen weeks.