Early settlement in Port Macquare

Group 1: A focus on convicts

Where the convict is going to he cannot say until he is called by name … to a good master or a bad one, all is a chance …

Convict Charles Dolphus, remembering 1836

Who were the Hyde Park Barracks convicts?

The convicts were a motley crew, hailing from all parts of Britain and her colonies around the world. Of those convicts sent to NSW, about 60 per cent were English, 30 per cent Irish, and the other 10 per cent were Scottish, Welsh and from other parts of the British Empire.[2] We even know some convicts who came from places as exotic as South Africa, Jamaica, Canada, Portugal and Prince of Wales Island (now Malaysia).

Why were they transported to NSW?

The convicts who passed through the Barracks were transported for many different crimes, ranging from the most daring highway robbers and murderers to those born into extreme poverty, who committed petty crimes such as stealing food in order to stay alive. The vast majority of convicts were pickpockets, petty thieves, robbers and tricksters, but there were also political protesters and conspirators, machine breakers, notorious runaways, Greek pirates, rebellious Jamaican slaves, forgers, deserter soldiers, bank robbers, and murderers.

 

What happened to them?

In the colony, their lives unfolded for better or for worse. Most convicts were well-behaved and soon gained their freedom through hard work and obedience, but some convicts just couldn’t stay out of trouble. The records are full of names of individuals who committed repeat offences, who were thrown into solitary confinement, sentenced to walk on the treadmill, or to be flogged on the triangle outside the Barracks wall. Some even became notorious escapees, gamblers, swindlers, bushrangers and murderers. These convicts were banished from Hyde Park Barracks to more brutal places of secondary punishment, where they suffered the full range of severe punishments that the colonial government had to offer, some spending the rest of their lives in prison. 

Taken from: https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/stories/who-were-hyde-park-barracks-convicts

Research 1. A Day in the Life of a Convict

Each person in Expert Group One is required to access the following link and select one of the following aspects of convict life to research

 

• Escape
• Food
• Free time
• Health
• Punishment
• Rewards
• Work

https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/convict-sydney/day-life-convict

Once you have completed your independent research, be sure to teach the remaining members of your Expert Group what you learnt and record the aspects of a convicts life on your Venn diagram.

Select one of the following links to research.

• Learn about the early beginnings of Port Macquarie's penal settlement here:https://1drv.ms/w/s!AhCC05q1zB7ghWlNdb7fVrM-t8kZ
• Learn about female convicts in Port Macquarie here: https://1drv.ms/w/s!AhCC05q1zB7ghXmga2MWhrFAthtF
• Learn about the type of work the convicts did and who they worked for here:
• https://1drv.ms/w/s!AhCC05q1zB7ghWdg4mpzPrJnAVGX

 

 

Group 2: A focus on free settlers

Mar 20, 1867

Settlers

A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there.

Taken from: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/free-settlers

May 23, 1830

Free Settlers

In the early years of the colony, very few settlers came to Australia. Free settlers had to fund their own transport and were usually quite wealthy.

Research Activity 1. Settlers move onto Biripi Country

1. The following excerpt is taken from a book A Town Called Port, By John Moyes (1986). It makes reference to the convicts clearing land and building a school on land that Birpai peoples used to conduct Corroborrees. Convicts worked hard to earn their freedom, they did not have a right to decline work.

 

1837 Convicts were used to clear land at some of the grants at Beechwood. There were a lot of Aborigines in the area. The present Beechwood Public School site was previously a Corroboree Ground. It was said that there were then two camps on the south side of the river.

 

Read the passage and have a group discussion that considers the following:

• What were the priorities and values of the early settlers.
• What were the priorities and values of the Birpai peoples
• Do you think that this event caused conflict and tension between the different groups of people? Give justifications to support your response.

 

Hints

• corroboree definition- an Australian Aboriginal dance ceremony which may take the form of a sacred ritual or an informal gathering.
• This event happened in 1837.
• Port Macquarie was opened to free settlers in 1830 and many settlers came to farm the land.
• The last sentence in the passage refers to the Birpai peoples and how they had two camps on the south side of the river.

Research Activity 2: Building the Port Macquarie Breakwall

In the late 1800s there were no longer convicts in Port Macquarie, this meant that the hard work was completed by free settlers that usually were not wealthy landowners. To make the Breakwall a large amount of metal was required to be transported from the Aston Hill quarry into town and over Kooloonbung Creek to the site of the Breakwall.

There were no cars and the roads were poor, horses and bullocks were used to transport materials. There certainly was not the technology that is available to us today, street lighting via electricity became available in the 1880s. To get the metal to the starting point a bridge had to be built at the entrance to Kooloonbung Creek Forty men were employed, and the output of stone was 47,319 tons. Working conditions were hard and often not to the satisfaction of all workers. The Port Macquarie News reported workers saying:

                                        "We are made to work from 10 and 11 hours each day

                                         inclusive of Saturday in all sorts of weather and the worst

                                         of all , the men are not allowed to smoke during the first

                                         nine hours and yet the ganger will stand over the men all

                                         day long with his own pipe in his mouth"

 

Pretend YOU are one of the 40 men working on the Breakwall and you have just finished your shift. Write a paragraph in your journal that reflects what you are thinking and feeling. Consider the following questions in your response:

-How does your body feel?

-What are you looking forward to do in your free time after work? 

 

Research Activity 3: Choose one of the following links to learn about the early settlers in Port Macquarie:

• John Macdonnell: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AhCC05q1zB7ghW5q15T7HeSeedSK
• Archibald Innes: http://www.nma.gov.au/av/portmacquarie/lake-innes-estate/
• Captain Allman: https://www.jenwilletts.com/francis_allman.htm

 

Research Activity 4: Select one of the following to reflect on.

a) Look at the monument that recognises the pioneers of Port Macquarie. Do you think that this monument recognises the appreciation that Australian society has for the early pioneers? Can you give reasons for your response? http://monumentaustralia.org.au/search/display/101214-pioneers-monument

b) Look at the monument in memory of John Oxley. Do you think that this monument signifies the importance that the Port Macquarie community places on European history and settlement? Can you give reasons for your response? http://monumentaustralia.org.au/search/display/22801-john-oxley-expedition

C) Read this article in the local paper and reflect on the importance of colonial history to the people of Port Macquarie: https://www.wauchopegazette.com.au/story/5125676/new-site-confirmed-for-john-oxley-memorial/

 

 

 

 

Group 3: A focus on the Birpai peoples

   

Research Activity 1:

Read about how the first settlers impacted Biripi culture:

https://1drv.ms/w/s!AhCC05q1zB7ghWxBlQZ-vnYmcGWZ

Research Activity 2:

Read this plaque located on Allman Hill, Port Macquarie's first burial ground. What do you think the motive was for the murder?

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhCC05q1zB7ghXOLemfIDWgMVHEf

Research Activity 3:

• Read the following short extract located on a Port Macquarie plaque. Discuss: 

• Whether you think the Biripi men were sufficiently rewarded for saving the lives of the seven early settlers

• Whether the relationship indicates one group had more influence over the other group of people?

• https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhCC05q1zB7ghXWx5SVMXP96oe7F

 

Research Activity 4:

Skim through this local newspaper article, take notice of the quotes written in blue: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-08/port-macquarie-john-oxley-not-celebration-says-indigenous-people/951874

Reflect on the following questions:

• Does this article reflect history that Port Macquarie is not proud of?
• In what ways did Biripi people work with settlers during the convict years?
• What caused tension between the Biripi and settlers?

Research Activity 5: Select one of the following links to research independently:

1. Pacific Coast Birapai stories- View clips
   http://pacificcoast.com.au/itineraries-and-trails/aboriginal-stories/port-macquarie-wauchope-birpai/

2. View clips for the southern section of Birpai people who were located closer to the Taree area: http://pacificcoast.com.au/itineraries-and-trails/aboriginal-stories/taree-bripi/

3. Listen to the following clip that explains how Thomas Dick's photo collection of the Biripi people is a national treasure. Determine whether the relationships between early settlers and Biripi people were harmonious or tense or  perhaps you will find evidence that they were diverse.

   http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/forgotten-1920s-photos-reveal-insight-into-coastal/6970988

4. Read about the Biripi Totems:

   http://mnclibrary.org.au/totems-of-the-biripi/

5. Birapai plaque located in Port Macquarie. Is this plague indicative of the reconciliation process between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians? Can you give reasons for your response?http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/culture/indigenous/display/102479-birpai-nation

 

Remember to justify your responses.