Saturday 1 May 2004, page 20
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Having returned from Risdon Cove, Knopwood was joined that afternoon for
dinner by the naturalist Robert Brown, and the two would undoubtedly have
discussed Brown's intended departure tomorrow for an expedition with Humphrey
in an effort to reach the Huon River overland. Sunday TasmanianSunday 2 May 2004, page 20 Going gets tough in Huon forest 2 May 1804Humphrey and Brown start off on their expedition to reach the Huon River
overland, which they had seen a few weeks ago from the top of the mountain. The MercuryMonday 3 May 2004, page 19 Aboriginal Deaths at Risdon 3 May 1804An incident takes place at Risdon Cove when a group of Aborigines
unexpectedly attempted to move past and through the settlement. Many in the
camp were frightened by this unfamiliar spectacle; they thought that it was
an attack on them, and Lieutenant Moore -- in the absence of Lieutenant Bowen
who was still absent taking his recalcitrant prisoners to a distant island --
ordered one of the carronades to be fired to frighten the intruders off. NOTE: To what extent any credence can
be given to the accuracy of this evidence is uncertain, especially as a large
quantity of salt would have been needed for preservation purposes -- a
commodity which was extremely scarce just then. Also Governor Collins would
have been most unlikely to have allowed for anything of this nature to occur. |
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Tuesday 4 May 2004, page 10
Judging from the embarrassed reaction of Knopwood, nobody at Sullivans
Cove appears to be very keen to inspect the remaining evidence of the incident
at Risdon.
Suddenly, there
seems to be no boat available to ferry anybody across, and for the next few
days there is no official reaction from the Sullivans Cove settlement on the
matter.
Wednesday 5 May 2004, page 25
Following the request by Lieutenant Moore
a supply of food is sent to Risdon Cove, enough for one month.
Seemingly unperturbed by the earlier incident with the
Aborigines, settlers Clark and Birt clearly have no problem with the idea of
staying on at Risdon Cove, especially as they now have Cropped their Ground,
and are desirous of remaining there until they have reaped the Fruit of their
Labours.
Governor Collins is quite happy with that, and as a further
encouragement sent them each two ewes, all expected to lamb in the near future.
However, both Birt and Clark were told that all the present and new sheep are
and would remain government property until the third generation, and for this
reason would be marked as being public property.
Interestingly, Collins never formally announced the
(unrecorded) adoption of the name Hobart Town to the people, unless we may
accept the use of this name in today's parole book as an indication that the
issue had now been settled.
Whatever the case was, it took some time before others also
began using this name. Knopwood, for instance, took a fortnight before a new
entry into his diary commenced with the line Remarks Hobart Town Camp.
Thursday 6 May 2004, page 16
The weather that morning was so wet that
the divine service had to be cancelled, giving all and sundry more time to
spend on the building of their huts and other amenities.
During the day, the whaleboat with Lieutenant Bowen on
board returned from his exploration of the Huon River, while another arrival
was the Nancy from Sydney with despatches on board for Governor Collins.
A small sloop of only 20 tonnes, it had taken the Nancy
nearly seven weeks to make the journey from Sydney to the Derwent and it seemed
to have endured some pretty foul weather on the way as its sails required
extensive repairs after arrival. For this, the materials had to be released
from the local meagre supplies in the settlement store, forcing Collins later
to ask Governor King to have these materials (canvas and twine) replaced, as he
also had his own boats to worry about -- a sure indication of the extreme
scarcity of basic materials that governed the life of the early settlers.
In one of the despatches from Sydney reaching Collins that
day he is told that the Lady Barlow will be sent to the Derwent with a load of
Bengal cattle for breeding purposes. Collins is very pleased with this news; he
is familiar with the cattle and hopes to improve the Breed considerably by a
cross with a very fine young Cape Bull which he is still to receive from Port
Phillip in the Ocean.
This advance notice of the arrival of this stock is
welcomed, as it gave him time for the further preparation at the Government
Farm of a Shed and an Enclosure of several Acres of Ground for the reception of
this Cattle.
Friday 7 May 2004, page 18
Knopwood had a meeting with the Lt.
Governor respecting my garden by the house, the issue being that Knopwood, like
several other senior officers, had asked Collins for a parcel of land on which
to build a cottage.
His choice had fallen on some bushland fronting onto
today's Salamanca Place, but the paperwork connected with Collins's permission
had been a bit slow so he saw the Governor in the morning in an effort to speed
things up.
Collins is quite happy with Knopwood's choice, calls in his
clerk Shipman (also still working as an assistant to surveyor Harris), tells
him what is required, and as a result that same afternoon Mr Shipman measured
the ground.
NOTE: Precisely what went on during this survey of what was in effect the
setting out of a land grant to Knopwood remains vague, but during the later
part of his life Knopwood had endless trouble with the title to this land. One
reason was that the actual enclosed area was in fact much larger than what his
title indicated -- some of it even including land which is nowadays part of the
military barracks higher up on the hill.
One of the boundaries of this property adjoined the
south-eastern boundary of St Davids Park, one of the few visible items of
evidence still surviving from this early period of settlement. Another boundary
coincided with what nowadays is Montpelier Retreat.
Due to his fondness for the good life, Knopwood was in
later years forced to borrow money on his title to Cottage Green and its
surrounding land.
Towards the end of his life he was virtually dispossessed
of his land by Governor Arthur, who used the dubious assistance of a Hobart
lawyer to act as a straw man to gain ownership of Knopwood's land for a price
which did not take into account the planned improvements right in front of the
property (the construction of a roadway now called Salamanca Place).
This road would have increased the value of Knopwood's
property considerably -- a piece of information artfully kept hidden from the
elderly chaplain, who by then was living in poverty in faraway Rokeby.
AT Risdon Cove, Lieutenant Moore settled down to write his
formal report on the events of last Thursday, and one cannot help but gain the
impression from his letter that he is exaggerating the events to justify his
actions, but even then he can only report the actual death of two Aborigines.
NOTE: The number of deaths at Risdon Cove has always been a matter of dispute.
A later letter by Dr Mountgarret mentioned that three Aboriginals had been
killed, a number also used later by Governor Collins, an officer unlikely to
have accepted this or any other number if he had known it to be incorrect.
In later years, the incident continued to cause much
indignant and emotional gossip; but as with all gossip, the facts were slowly
embellished with unlikely details (see for instance the version of Evans
below), and by the time the inquiry into this incident was being held by the
Government in 1830 it is reasonable to suspect that the evidence then presented
would have been less than entirely reliable.
As mentioned, the whole affair seems to have been met with
general disapproval within the Hobart Town community.
A year later W.C. Wentworth, a Sydney lawyer who visited
Hobart Town in 1810 (and would have heard of the story then), put the blame
squarely on Lieutenant Moore, who directed a discharge of grape and canister
[towards] a large body [of natives] who were approaching, as he imagined, with
hostile designs, but as it has since been believed with much greater probability,
merely from motives of curiosity and friendship.
However, as time went by the story became more embellished,
as was evident when around 1820 a Tasmanian surveyor, G.W. Evans, expressed a
similar but rather more fanciful opinion: As they approached [the camp] they
were distinctly heard to sing, each man having in his hand a green bough, a
well-known emblem of peace among savage tribes. Either their signals of amity
were not well understood, or their numbers too great to be trusted: it is
otherwise impossible to conceive that a British officer would have had recourse
to so harsh and cruel a measure.
In the end it was the Tasmanian historian James B. Walker
who summed it up well when he wrote (October 1889) that: It seems clear that
the natives had no hostile intention in their visit. Everything suggests that
they were a party coming from the east, probably the Oyster Bay tribe, engaged
on a hunting expedition, and that they were [even] more astonished than the
English on coming into contact with them. The fact that they had their women
and children with them is perfectly conclusive proof that no attack was
contemplated.
We can easily understand how terrified the Risdon people
must have been with this sudden [appearance] of a horde of excited savages, yelling
and gesticulating. Utterly ignorant of their custom, unable to understand them
or to make themselves understood, the panic of the English convinced that the
natives had collected in force to kill them was natural enough. The soldiers no
doubt shared this general scare, and were probably quite inclined to take pot
shots at the black savages.
But Lt. Moore ought not to have lost his head. He, at
least, should have grasped the situation and restrained his men. A little more
presence of mind on his part [together with] the exercise of a little tact and
forbearance, and a collision would have been avoided.
But the harm had been done, as it became clear a few days
later from the menacing attitude of some Aborigines towards a group of men on
the eastern shore of the Derwent while gathering shells for the making of lime,
a clear signal that the mood of at least some of the Aborigines in the area had
changed.
Meanwhile, Governor King's instructions regarding
Lieutenant Bowen and Risdon Cove had also arrived in the Nancy among the other
official correspondence, and after pondering the question of how to best handle
this matter, Collins sent a note to Risdon for Lieutenant Bowen and Lieutenant
Moore, inviting them for a meeting at his house tomorrow.
Saturday 8 May 2004, page 24
The autumn weather seems to have come to
an end when the settlement woke up to a very sharp frost, reminding all and
sundry that winter is at their doorstep.
During the morning Lieutenant Bowen and Lieutenant Moore
arrived for the meeting with Governor Collins who firmly told them that,
according to instruction he has received from Governor King in Sydney, he was
to formally take over the command of the Risdon settlement from that moment
onward, but then diplomatically delegated the [daily] direction of the said
Settlement until further notice to Lt. Bowen. However, being at present
responsible for three settlements all several miles apart, Collins made it
quite clear that he wanted to close the Risdon Cove settlement down as soon as
possible.
Lieutenant Bowen and all the others at Risdon Cove under
his command were to return to Sydney on the Ocean after its return from Port
Phillip, and they were also firmly told that arrangements had already been made
with Captain Mertho for their own accommodation on the ship as well as all the
Risdon soldiers and convicts who would be returned to Sydney at the same time.
To facilitate the closing down of the settlement, Bowen was
also asked to provide Collins with a list of all the people at Risdon, their
trade etc, plus an inventory of the public stores at the settlement prior to
their transfer to the stores at Sullivans Cove. (Unfortunately, no paperwork on
these matters has come to light, making it impossible to determine with
certainty the names of all who at that time were living at the Risdon Cove
settlement and just what sort of an inventory they had at Risdon.)
They then discussed what to do with settlers Clark and
William Birt. Both men had been promised to receive a grant of 200 acres each
(80ha), but Collins argued that this would not be fair to the settlers who came
with him and who had only been promised the normal allocation of 100 acres
(40ha) each. But neither Birt or Clark seemed to have what it takes to be a
good farmer and there was the distinct possibility that both in the end would
want to return to Sydney, and so that matter was left in abeyance.
In the end, Birt and his family did indeed return to Sydney
on the Ocean, but Richard Clark and his wife were shortly after transferred to
the Collins settlement as a supervisor of the masons or, in modern language,
the foreman of the building gang.
However, what with the food situation as is was, Clark did
want to hold on to his paddocks at Risdon Cove and there are indications that
he later had the satisfaction of reaping the harvest from his land.
Meanwhile, the distribution of rations for the officers was
to be better (read: stricter) organised. From today onward their personal
servants were to call in at the government store every Monday morning at 10am
to take delivery of these rations. (Of course, this arrangement also had the
benefit of making these rations as issued -- including spirits etc -- more
private and away from the prying eyes of everyone else).
Finally, the old arrangement that work in the settlement
would cease at sunset became somewhat impractical (what with the sun setting
early behind the mountain anyway and the onset of much cooler weather) and a
new arrangement is made: The bell, for leaving off work in the evening, will
ring in future when the drum beats for the retreat.
Just what that time was is not recorded, but most probably
was at the onset of darkness, around 5pm.
Meanwhile, out in the bush, Mr Brown, Mr Humphrey and their
servants John Porter and a McGlauchlan (from Risdon Cove?) finally reached the
banks of the Huon River. The weather was not helpful; it rained most of the
time, while only the day before Brown recorded the conditions of the night just
spent out in the open as Frost, Ice thickness of sixpence. They seem to have
spent some time exploring the Huonville area as far as the present Glen Huon
district, and possibly as far downstream as Cradoc.
Sunday 9 May 2004, page 61
During the morning, Dr Mountgarret visited
the settlement at Sullivans Cove to see Knopwood, most likely to discus with
this influential parson the events of the past few days, and to give him his
version of these events.
Knopwood hears him politely but did not seem to express an
opinion; he clearly got rid of his visitor again fairly soon, as that same
afternoon he went “for a walk with my gun”.
Monday 10 May 2004, page 6
About this time, the removal of the Public
Stores from Risdon Cove to Hobart took place, but on Collins' specific
instructions they left the two carronades with their ammunition, plus some
tools to keep the Camp Gang at the settlement occupied.
Clearly, the settlement at Risdon Cove was perceived as
coming to an end, and in any case, any useful building materials and cut timber
still in store at Risdon was desperately needed at Sullivans Cove.
Because of this, the taking down of any unused huts (and
among them possibly still a number of prefabricated tent huts) at Risdon could
also be expected, and Collins is clearly working towards that end.
Lieutenant Bowen, Mountgarret and Wilson (the latter still
in charge of the store at Risdon Cove) came to the camp for a dinner with Lieutenant
Lord, after which Bowen stayed the night with Knopwood.
One of the things they had on their mind was the
christening of the native boy, a perfectly natural action for these people
brought up in the Christian morality of the late 18th century.
They discussed it and then decided that tomorrow was as
good a day as any to do so, while it also would give Knopwood a chance to
inspect more closely the scene of the events a week ago.
Wednesday 12 May 2004, page 47
The Reverend Knopwood, Lieutenant Bowen
and Lieutenant Lord had gone to Risdon Cove yesterday, where Knopwood formally
baptised the 2-year-old native boy, naively naming him Robert Hobart May. (From
an earlier letter by Mountgarret it would seem that two of the Aborigines
killed a few days ago had been the parents of this child, perhaps suggesting
that a feeling of guilt and subsequent responsibility for the child may have
been a possible reason for their action).
Today, still at Risdon, Knopwood later noted in his diary
that in the afternoon we took a walk to see where the natives attacked the camp
and the settlers. Clearly, the events of last week were still very much in
their mind; Knopwood will have asked around just what did happen, and later
they wandered about in and near the settlement to retrace the course of events.
NOTE: Whatever the motives were for what occurred at Risdon Cove on May 3 1804,
the Hobart Town community was clearly not impressed with the fact that it had
happened at all. It resulted in much indignant talk and gossip about these
events, and the incident later being added to the subjects on which a Inquiry
into the Military Operations Against the Aborigines of Tasmania was held in
1830.
This committee heard four witnesses about the incident at
Risdon Cove, only one of whom, a convict by the name of Edward White, had
actually been there when the confrontation took place. (To what extent he had
witnessed all that occurred was not revealed.) Knopwood, although not an eye
witness, had made his own investigations a few days later; another two who also
gave evidence, William Stocker and Robert Evans, were that day on the other
side of the river and much of their evidence seems to reflect the later gossip
rather than the precise testimony of eye witnesses.
The exact purpose of the presence of the visitors remains
unclear. Several sources claim that the Aborigines were hunting kangaroos, but
later and more fanciful suggestions that the visitors were gathering for the
purpose of holding a corroboree cannot be substantiated from contemporary
evidence. However, all later comments agreed on one thing: the behaviour of the
visitors was peaceful, and that there were no obvious hostile intentions.
From what can be deduced from the 1830 evidence and the
earlier correspondence of 1804, the first encounter seems to have been on the
river flat near the modern Risdon Jail and the Shones Corner traffic
intersection, where the visitors had met up with Lieutenant Moore's servant who
was carrying home a few kangaroos which he had shot earlier that day. Being an
essential source of food to them the Aborigines forcefully took one from him,
an action which this man took as an attack and hurried back to the camp to
report to his master what had just happened.
Taking a few soldiers with him, Moore then went to see for
himself just what was going on, and later reported that judging from their
appearance and numbers I thought them to be very far from being friendly.
Meanwhile, I was also informed that some of them were beating Birt, the
settler, at his farm. I then dispatched two Soldiers to his assistance, with
orders not to fire if they could avoid it. They did, however, find it necessary
to do so, and one was killed on the Spot, and another found Dead in the Valley.
(Lieutenant Moore, May 7, 1804).
(These and other comments about Birt suggest that this
settler had cleared and vegetated a parcel of land on the fertile river flat of
the Risdon Creek, some distance away from the settlement itself. This is
further supported by the remark of Moore that he had to send some soldiers to
Burk's hut to find out just what went on there, the distance being out of sight
and too far to shout.)
Moore then returned to the settlement on the hill, from
where they watched the group of Aborigines split up into two parties; one
followed the northern bank of the Risdon Creek, where after a short distance
they would have come face-to-face with the soldiers guarding the store on the
bank of the creek. (This may have been somewhere near the site of the present
monument; no details are known of any conflict here, although some older
members of the tribe were observed making spears).
The westward movement of the others higher up on the hill
however brought them directly into the settlement itself where, at the
panicking suggestion of an apparently very frightened Dr Mountgarret (John
Pascoe Fawkner quotes him as having urged Lieutenant Moore to shoot the black
devils down) and an equally frightened Martha Hayes (then with a baby only a
few days old), Lieutenant Moore gave the order to fire a carronade to
intimidate them. (This was the report which was heard at Sullivans Cove).
The visitors indeed took fright and fled into a nearby
gully, after which Mr Mountgarret with some Soldiers and Prisoners followed
them Some distance up the Valley, and had reason to suppose more were wounded,
as one was seen to be taken away bleeding (Lieutenant Moore, May 7, 1804).
The exact number of deaths remains unclear. In a report of
a few days later, Moore mentioned the death of two Aborigines; they had been
shot near the hut of settler Birt and afterwards identified as the parents of a
small boy, while Mountgarret added a third male person to this list. In a
subsequent report by Governor Collins to Governor King about the incident he
also used this number: three Natives were Killed on the Spot, although Knopwood
at the Inquiry of 1830 said that he supposed five or six (If so, there is no
other evidence to corroborate this figure).
The only actual eye witness before the committee was an
Edward White -- a former convict from Risdon Cove -- who stated that a great
many of the Natives [were] slaughtered or wounded, but when pressed for details
had no idea how many. Although many earlier and later commentators all solemnly
agreed that it was . . . our people who went from the camp to attack the
natives, the committee in its final summing up was not entirely sure about who
originated an aggression.
In view of all this, the extent to which any of the 1830
evidence about the number of Aborigines killed in May 1804 may be accepted as
correct remains uncertain, a problem which the committee itself already
recognised when it concluded that: . . . the numbers slain . . . have been
estimated as high as 50, but then added, significantly, that although the
Committee, [judging from] the ease with which [these] numbers (had a tendency
during the Inquiry to be) magnified, as well as from other statements
contradictory to the above, (the Members of the Committee) are induced to hope
that this estimate is greatly overrated.
In other words, the members of the committee recognised an
inclination by some witnesses to exaggerate the number killed without being
able to base them on coherent evidence, and therefore hesitated to accept any
of the mentioned numbers of people killed as gospel truth.
Fawkner, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions when
some 60 years later he wrote about the same occurrence and probably reflected
the wild and colourful rumours which soon would have swept the community on the
western shore of the Derwent when he recalled that the soldiers actually fired
upon the unarmed Aborigines while engaged in dancing, and that men, women and
children were fired upon. It was later said that not less than fifty were shot
down, while some others crawled away, only to die a lingering death in the
woods. About thirty bodies were later found, and burnt or buried at the choice
of those sent to clear the air of the smell -- a highly sensational account for
which there is not a shred of any other evidence to support it.
It should be remembered that Fawkner was only a young boy
when it happened and certainly did not witness any of the events at Risdon Cove
in person. He only would have repeated what his memory told him that he had
heard at that time, while his use of the figure of 50 tends to suggest that he
aided his memory with a copy of the findings of the Committee of Inquiry,
published by the British Parliament in 1831 -- as Fawkner did with some other
subjects and statistics he wrote about.
That shots were fired is beyond question, but any number of
deaths as stated in the evidence given to the committee or mentioned in earlier
rumours must be looked at with many reservations. There is no evidence on what
effect the firing of the carronade had other than a loud bang, while as far as
the soldiers were concerned their lack of professionalism, the legendary
inefficiency of the old flint-lock front-end loaders in use at that time, the
time it would have taken to reload these old weapons (at least one minute --
more under difficult circumstances), and the speed with which the frightened
visitors would have fled after the sound of the first few shots makes the
actual number of Aborigines they would have been able to shoot very problematic
indeed.
Thursday 13 May 2004, page 27
Being a Sunday, Lieutenant Bowen and the
Reverend Knopwood returned to Sullivans Cove early in the morning for Knopwood
to perform Divine Service. Curious for more details about the incident the week
before last, Governor Collins then invited Knopwood and Bowen to dine with him
that afternoon. Naturally, the talk around the table drifts onto the visit of
Knopwood to Risdon Cove a few days ago, and during the discussion the subject
of the christening of the Aboriginal boy last Friday crops up.
Collins was very much upset to discover that This Child . .
. has been baptised by our Chaplain without my knowledge or Consent having been
asked, and also somehow got the (seemingly not correct) impression that
Mountgarret wished to take this Native Boy back with him to England. He knew
that this was very much against the policy of the Government, and angrily
directed that the boy be returned to his own people, partly for the boy's own
sake and partly in order to retain good relations with the Aborigines.
When writing about this matter to Governor King the next
day, Collins once again expressed his abhorrence of the whole affair, because
it is was bound to create much ill will among the indiscriminating Savages
around them and would encourage them to revenge the Death of their Companions
upon those who had no share in the Attack. But I shall make a Point, if it is
at all in my power, of doing away with the Evil Impression which by this and a
former Affair they may have received of our dispositions towards them. (The
former Affair he is alluding to may have been the case when some weeks ago
another small boy had been caught by his men, and kept locked up for a short
while).
He then went on to say that he had instructed Lieutenant
Bowen to see to it that the child be returned to any Party of Natives that
might be seen in the neighbourhood of Risdon Cove because he thinks that they
may otherwise think that we had destroyed it.
In a later reply, Governor King very much agreed with
Collins' attitude towards what happened. Expressing his regrets about the
unfortunate Event at Risdon Cove, he hoped that the measures you had in
contemplation to gain their Confidence have had success. I [also agree with you
that] no native should be sent to England, as such measures are contrary to the
wish of the Government.
These Government policies were very clear; Lord Hobart had
specifically instructed Collins that You are to endeavour by every means in
your power to make contact with the natives, to gain their confidence, and to
instruct all persons under your Government to live in friendship and kindness
with them. And if anyone shall commit any act of violence against them or
wantonly hinder them in the exercise of their several occupations, you are to
bring such offenders to punishment according to the degree of their offence.
That day a prisoner by the name of William Peale died. A
middle-aged man from Yorkshire, he had been sentenced to death for stealing one
ewe and one lamb.
While the official cause of his death was not recorded, the
irregular and often inappropriate food issued to the convicts in combination
with respiratory problems and in particular pneumonia, caused by insufficient
clothing and working in cold and wet weather conditions, were usually the main
causes of death of convicts. (Several decades later, the cause of death of a
prisoner at Port Arthur usually had similar causes, and for quite similar
reasons.)
Saturday 15 May 2004, page 22
Hartley, a free settler who came with
Governor Collins from Port Phillip to Risdon, apparently still lives -- without
permission and quite contrary to instructions -- at Risdon Cove and now wants
to build a boat. Collins does not trust Hartley and reminds him that no boats
are permitted to be built without the specific approval of Governor King.
Because the prisoners know that the only chance of escape
is over water, Government policy is that boats not in use are to be securely
locked to a mooring chain and constantly guarded by a Centinel. Collins is also
in the process of having a boathouse erected on Hunters Island in which the
boats will be put away and locked up at night, thus making it far more difficult
for anyone to make off with a boat
under the cover of darkness.
Furthermore, no private person -- and that includes even
the free settlers -- is permitted to have or make boats without specific
Government approval. (It would be quite a number of years before this
regulation first was to be relaxed, and then quietly dropped.)
When writing to Governor King about this matter, Collins
warns him that I know that Hartley came out with government sanction to engage
in the Seal Fishery, but do believe that he should be limited to that only; he
should also be tied down by severe Prohibitions and Penalties not to Smuggle or
carry on any Trade whatsoever with any Vessel or Vessels which may be in port
here. With this oblique warning, Governor King certainly would have got the
message.
NOTE: Every community has its recognised troublemaker, and Hartley is the one
here.
During the early years of settlement in Australia, few
settlers managed to create more problems, arguments, administrative paperwork
and generally much hot air than Hartley ever did. Why Collins permitted Hartley
to stay at Risdon Cove, notwithstanding his formal disapproval is not clear,
but the probable reason was that Collins knew full well that Hartley's options
at Risdon would be quite limited and rather saw him isolated there rather than
going about and fermenting trouble within his own settlement.
Collins already had told him a few weeks ago that he would
not be allowed to stay at Risdon for whatever reason, whereupon Hartley began
to claim extravagant damages for his investments there, first from Collins,
then from Governor King.
When some time afterwards Hartley returned to London to
seek redress “from the British Government” for all the perceived wrongdoings to
him from the hands of Governor King and Governor Collins, it was in the end
Governor King who, with a sigh of great relief, bundled the considerable file
of papers on Hartley together and sent the whole lot off to London for the
bureaucracy there to sort it all out.
But London also soon got the size of him and in order to
get him out of the way mollified Hartley with vague promises for an appointment
in Sydney. He fell for that and returned to Sydney, again ready to create still
more trouble.
Sunday 16 May 2004, page 21
Robert Brown (1773-1858) began his
scientific studies as a medical student at the Edinburgh University, but did
not take a degree in this field as by that time he had developed an interest in
botany.
Sir Joseph Banks obtained him the position of naturalist on
the Flinders exploration around the Australian continent, enabling Brown to
gain a broad overall introduction into the coastal flora of Australia.
When the news of the arrival of the Collins expedition
became known in Sydney he travelled in the Lady Nelson to join them at Port
Phillip.
As this ship on her journey there travelled via northern
Tasmania, he was a member of the party which inspected the harbour of Port
Dalrymple and the Tamar River, visited the settlement at Port Phillip and then
stayed with the Collins expedition at the Derwent during the first five months
of the settlement in 1804.
Brown returned to England the next year to spend much of
the rest of his life as the keeper of the library of Sir Joseph Banks and in
various functions within the Linnean Society.
His several publications (and especially his Prodomus, a
major work on the Australian flora) were signify cant milestones in the
establishment of botany as a scientific discipline.
His physical stamina was incredible, and he managed to cram
an enormous amount of bush bashing into the relatively short period of five
months while he was here.
Even while Collins was still landing his people on the
shore of Sullivans Cove, Brown already climbed to the top of Mt Wellington,
which he did several more times.
He also made several ‘excursions’ around the mountain, one
to North West Bay, and one in the company of Humphrey to the Huon River.
On the expedition to the Huon Valley he said he woke up one
morning covered with frost “the thickness of a sixpence”.
Naturally, all this happened long before
the advent of modern bush walking gear.
Lt Bowen, Mr Wilson and Dr Mountgarret
arrive at Sullivans Cove with the “native boy” to show him to Governor Collins,
probably in an effort to make him change his mind.
But Collins, remembering the fiasco of sending the Sydney
Aboriginal Bennelong to London, rejected the idea out of hand, and told them
once more to return the boy to his own people.
For some unknown reason Collins' instructions were not
complied with; after the return of the Ocean to Sydney in August, a story about
the boy appeared in the Sydney Gazette, assuring its readers that “the little
captive was humanely received and cherished, and is at this time under the
protection of a Gentleman of the Settlement at Sullivans Cove.
“The little
creature was very fond of kangaroo flesh, but would at first only receive it
after it had been scorched upon the cinders; it is now becoming nicer in the
choice of food, and has consequently resigned a preference to the above mode of
cookery.
“He is
remarkably active and tractable, manages a stick, and even handles a spear with
surprising agility, and does not in any degree appear susceptible of fear or
apprehension; but on the contrary, opposes with frankness every imagined
danger.
“Against the
attack of a dog he not only defends himself with a stick, but in turn becomes
the assailant.”
A year later the name of the boy crops up once more as one
of those who were inoculated, indicating that at that time he was still about
in the Hobart Town settlement.
After that date, however, his existence vanishes from the
records.
During the day, botanist Robert Brown and the geologist
Humphrey returned from their 16-day expedition overland to the Huon River.
Brown had attempted this route before but had been defeated
by the thick virgin forests in the present Longley and Grove areas.
This time, and in the company of the geologist Mr Humphrey,
the expedition had been more successful although the going had been very hard,
very cold and very wet.
In the settlement they meet Lt Bowen, Wilson and
Mountgarret, who also had had their adventures over the past few days.
There was thus much to talk about, and in the end they all
ended up in the tent of Lt Lord for dinner and, no doubt, to talk about the
recent experiences of all those present.
It got late, and Bowen once again stayed overnight with
Knopwood in his tent.
Monday 17 May 2004, page 10
The next morning, Knopwood shares his
breakfast with Lt.Bowen, Mr. Wilson, Lt. Lord and the geologist Humphrey, after
which everyone went their own way.
Tuesday 18 May 2004, page 10
With its sails repaired again, the Nancy
sails for King Island for a seal-catching expedition. More rain.
Wednesday 19 May 2004, page 31
The new system of handing out the weekly
rations of food and other supplies from the quartermaster's tents on Hunter
Island (see April 2) seems to have run into some problems. Clearly, there are
still too many people milling about on the island for a variety of reasons at
any one time or are simply hanging about (the island was also used now as a
landing place of goods and passengers from ships arriving and leaving the
port).
The presence of all these people obviously endangered the
security of the goods (and weaponry!) stored on the island, and new rules are
issued. From now onward only one person at a time may enter the tents from
which the stores are issued, and the rest of the queue has to wait on the camp
side of the guard tent at the entrance of the island.
Furthermore, whenever a docket is signed for the issue of
goods from the public stores this form is to be handed to the Assistant Deputy
Commissary, and the applicant is to come back the next day to collect the
requested items.
And as far as the use of the wharf on the island is
concerned, people are told not to hang about there. Even the boat crews were
not to stay upon the Island longer than the business which took them may
require.
The weather also helped to discourage this growing habit.
Foul weather still persists and even late that afternoon the Nancy, which left
the cove yesterday, could still be seen down the river trying very hard to work
her way into open waters.
Thursday 20 May 2004, page 21
Knopwood makes a special note in his diary
that today Governor Collins attended Divine service -- suggesting that he did
not always do so?
Friday 21 May 2004, page 18
Today, four more Risdon Cove convicts are
moved to Hobart Town to work and their behaviour was such that all of them, for
one reason or another, were permitted to stay on. One of these four was a
woman, a Mary Lawler, who after a long separation was finally allowed to join
her husband again. Michael Lawler was a convict who had come out with Governor
Collins.
NOTE: Irish couple James and Mary Lawler had been tried and sentenced in 1802.
The wife had been transported to Sydney while the husband somehow managed to be
among those sent out with Collins. It may have been sheer coincidence that the
two should hear of each other while both were in the Derwent and after the
appropriate requests were made, Mary Lawler was among the first prisoners to be
transferred from Risdon Cove to the settlement at Sullivans Cove.
Collins would happily have approved, partly because he
believed very much in the steadying influence of the married couples in his
settlement, and also because both were known to be familiar with gardening. In
other words they knew how to work the vegetable gardens, fruit trees and the
like -- skills all badly needed in Hobart Town.
The Lawlers became industrious rural people with their own
16ha farm near Rokeby, where they successfully grew wheat and vegetables, and
later even employed other convicts as labourers on their farm.
The botanist Robert Brown is by now living at Risdon Cove,
using a room in Mountgarret's cottage. Making use of the boat transporting the
convicts from Risdon to Sullivans Cove he joined them, and then dropped in at
Knopwood's tent with an invitation for him to be the guest of the officers at
Risdon Cove for a few nights.
Knopwood was very pleased with this invitation, and so an
arrangement was made for him and surveyor Harris to visit Risdon tomorrow.
Saturday 22 May 2004, page 17
During the morning, Knopwood and Surveyor
Harris walked to Prince of Wales Bay, where a boat ferried them across to the
Risdon settlement.
They dined with Lieutenant Moore, Lieutenant Bowen and
Wilson, after which Knopwood stayed for the night as the guest of Bowen.
(In his diary notes, Knopwood did not make any mention of
Bowen's partner Martha Hayes, who had a new born baby.)
That day in the Hobart camp a prisoner by the name of
Nicholas Piroelle died, and for some unknown reason wild rumours began to
circulate within the small community that he might have been poisoned.
Sunday 23 May 2004, page 52
Knopwood still enjoyed himself at Risdon,
but at the same time kept a sharp eye on what went on there.
Dr Mountgarret accompanied Mr Brown, the botanist, to
Sullivans Cove, from where Brown was organising yet another expedition on and
around Mt Wellington. Then Dr Mountgarret hurried back to Risdon Cove where he
wanted to rejoin the company of Lt. Bowen and Knopwood.
Monday 24 May 2004, page 10
Still at Risdon, Knopwood got up early and
in the company of Mountgarret managed to shoot a large kangaroo, a welcome
addition to their meat rations.
Later that morning, he and Lieutenant Bowen returned to the
camp at Sullivans Cove where they spent the rest of the day, with Bowen staying
overnight in Knopwood's tent.
The evening is not without incident.
At 10pm the silence was shattered by the report of a gun from
near the stores on Hunter Island, and shortly afterward the sergeant in charge
of the guard on the island comes to the settlement with a convict who had tried
to rob the store of spirits, leather and the like.
Clearly, Collins' recent prohibitions about people being on
the island were not based on idle talk.
Tuesday 25 May 2004, page 14
Lieutenant Bowen, possibly in the company of Robert Brown, returned to
Risdon Cove, while at Sullivans Cove Knopwood busied himself with the layout of
his new allotment facing the cove, and especially with the important question
of where his garden was going to be.
He also proudly
noted in his diary that his hen was sitting on 19 eggs, a very important matter
in a place where eggs were a welcome extra to the standard rations issued from
the government stores.
Saturday 29 May 2004, page 26
In the morning, Lieutenant Moore and Wilson (an ex-army officer himself) went
to see Knopwood, probably seeking his views on the events of yesterday.
Knopwood wasn't quite sure what to think of the whole matter and invited
Lieutenant Lord and Humphrey to join them for a meal as an amicable venue to
discuss the matter.
But then the
matter reached the ears of Governor Collins who, with his background knowledge
of the military climate in Sydney, knew full well in advance who would be the
winner of an argument between an army officer and a naval officer before a
court martial in Sydney made up of army officers, and was wise enough to stay
out of the fight.
Choosing his
words carefully, Collins wrote to Governor King that, Lieutenant Bowen having
called Lieutenant Moore a rascal, threatening to shoot him and attempting to
arrest him with the help of a prisoner, he was of the opinion that the Honor of
the Kings Commission and the Regiment to which Lieut Moore belongs was
implicated in the business and therefore [he] could not settle it [locally] and
prevent it from going to you.
In response to
the rumours in the settlement about the recent death of Piroelle, Collins
published a notice to say that an autopsy had been performed. This stated that
the deceased had died from what appeared to be an old heart problem combined
with fluid in the lungs, and that his intestines showed nothing that could have
indicated foul play. There was therefore no reason for anyone to think that
Piroelle had died from other than natural causes.
Somewhere near
Mt Connection, Brown's servant William Porter complained that he felt dizzy and
that he was unable to continue any further. Brown, who also was a medical
doctor, attended him as well as he could, and then left him in the care of the
other servant, McGlaughlan, while he continued to explore the immediate neighbourhood.
But on his return Porter's condition had not improved, so he decided to spend
the night with his servant at that spot.
Sunday 30 May 2004, page 44
Rested enough to make it downhill again, Brown accompanied his ailing
servant back to the western shore of the Derwent where he was able to draw the
attention of a passing boat.
The crew
ferried the patient back to Risdon while Brown, now left with only one servant,
hurried once more uphill towards the top of the mountain, this time reaching as
far as the upper parts of “the settler's rivulet” -- probably meaning the upper
reaches of the New Town Creek, which put him somewhere below Mt Arthur just
north of Mt Wellington.
Meanwhile, at
Sullivans Cove, Knopwood and others clearly wished to keep Lt Moore at the camp
because later that morning he was still there having breakfast with Knopwood
and in the company of Humphrey.
Monday 31 May 2004, page 19
Brown set off early and being a fit man he reached the summit of Mt
Wellington at midday and used his time there to explore the area and measuring
the “magnetic influence” (magnetic field) of the Organ Pipes. But the terrain
at the top was not easy going and at one stage he lost his footing and sprained
his ankle so badly that he could not make any real progress, and then realised
that he was in trouble.
He managed to
get some distance down again, where he made himself a shelter and lit a fire to
keep himself warm during the coming night. In his field notes he recorded that
my foot gets more painful, and am scarcely able to stand on it. Slept none;
there was a cold wind but the shelter, the fire and a blanket defended me
tolerably well. Fortunately, the night was fine as the day before also had
been.
(This
unseasonably mild break in the weather probably saved Brown's life. If the
weather conditions had been normal as over the past month or so, he would most
likely not have survived his ordeal so close to the summit.)
Down below in
the settlement, Lieutenant Moore once again had breakfast with Knopwood, and
then the pair set off for Risdon Cove. This time Knopwood diplomatically stayed
at Moore's hut, but not before he had also called in at Lieutenant Bowen's hut.
Obviously, some serious negotiations were taking place but to no avail. Bowen
insisted on formally reporting the matter to Moore's commanding officer
(Lieutenant Colonel Paterson).
NOTE: After receiving the correspondence, this
experienced officer recognises trouble a mile off, and with appropriate excuses
quickly passes the matter on a court-martial with Lieutenant Moore in the dock.
The court
martial took place in September following the return of the Ocean back to
Sydney, the underlying issue being that Moore, as an army officer, refused to
acknowledge the authority of a naval officer -- which Bowen was -- while in the
background there was the nagging question of the status of the commanding
officer at Risdon Cove in view of the fact that Governor Collins was now
perceived to be in charge of the entire colony in southern Tasmania. (In
between all these arguments, it seemed to be conveniently forgotten that
Collins had delegated the daily running of the settlement to Bowen, thus
putting him in charge.)
After going
through the motions the Court -- as Collins had foreseen -- cleared Moore of
all charges, described Bowen's evidence in the case as malicious, vexatious and
groundless and chastised him severely for directing a convict constable to
apprehend a British officer.
Of course, this
judgment could be seen as somewhat biased, given the fact that nine of the 10
judges were fellow-officers of the NSW Corps, and the circumstances under which
Bowen had to assert his authority.
The finding of
the court certainly raised the eyebrows of Governor King who, upon hearing of
the outcome, immediately wrote a note to the President of the Court Martial
reminding him again of the fact that according to a General Order issued by
Collins, dated May 8, Bowen was indeed in command of the entire settlement at
Risdon Cove, including thus the military and that on this basis he had the full
right to ask Moore to hand over the Order Book.
But the court
was in no mood to alter its judgement, and fully confirmed their former
Sentence that very same day. Governor King does not seem to have made any
further efforts on the matter, probably because he knew that Bowen would soon
be on his way back to England anyway, while Moore was an officer not worth
making an issue about.
While in
hindsight we may now look upon this matter as an immature squabble between two
fellow officers who should have known better, the transcript of the evidence
throws an interesting light on the problems caused by the primitive conditions
and manpower problems that Bowen had to cope with while in charge of the
settlement.
Reading between
the lines of the transcript of the court hearing, however, a portrait emerges
of Moore as being a singularly difficult character to deal with, who only a
short time after the attempted arrest by Bowen required the high level
intervention of Collins himself to pull him into line.
Collins would
have been very glad indeed when both Bowen and Moore disappeared from his life
with the departure of the Ocean on August 9.
That day
botanist Brown and the geologist Humphrey returned from their 16-day expedition
overland to the Huon River. Brown had attempted this route before but had been
defeated by the thick forests in the present Longley and Grove areas. This
time, and in the company of the geologist Mr Humphrey, the expedition had been
more successful although the going had been very hard, very cold and very wet.
In the
settlement they met up with Bowen, Wilson and Dr Mountgarret, who also had had
their adventures over the past few days. There was much to talk about and they
all ended up at the tent of Lieutenant Lord for dinner and, no doubt, to talk
about the recent experiences of all those present. It gets late, and Bowen once
again stays overnight with Knopwood in his tent.