Blood revenge : murder on the Hawkesbury, 1799 / Lyn Stewart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stewart, Lyn, 1947- author.

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aboriginal Australians--Crimes against--Australia--New South Wales.

Aboriginal Australians.

Trials (Murder)--Australia--New South Wales--History.

Trials (Murder).

Culture and law--History.

Culture and law.

History.

Aboriginal Australians--Crimes against.

New South Wales.

Physical Description:

247 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Kenthurst, N.S.W. : Rosenberg Publishing, 2015.

Summary:

Blood Revenge examines the first time that white men were held to account in a criminal court of New South Wales for killing Australian Aborigines. It happened in 1799, just eleven years after the New South Wales colony was established. This book answers the disturbing question: Why were five men found guilty of killing two Aborigines-yet they were never punished? The story lays bare the nature of black-white relations at the colony's Hawkesbury River frontier settlement. Governor John Hunter tried to carry out his orders and stop the wanton killing of Aborigines. Inevitably there was a divide between policy and practice, and tensions and disputes between the Governor and members of the New South Wales Corps and the fledgling judiciary. In Blood Revenge the politics of this murder case read like a missing chapter of Doc Evatt's Rum Rebellion. Historians writing about black-white relations say we will never reach true reconciliation until we are prepared to face the truth of our history. Author Lyn Stewart's own ancestor was amongst those who murdered two Aborigines at the Hawkesbury River settlement over two hundred years ago. 'My grandfather thought this was something we should not talk about.' she writes. 'By delving into this part of my family history I have learned not only why the murders happened but also about the volatile and uncertain relationships between settlers and Aborigines as the colony's land grants steadily displaced the local people from their traditional lands. It is a history we must understand.' Now retired as a health professional, Lyn Stewart's career was in dietetics in a wide variety of employment and self-employment situations. Her first university study was in agricultural science from which she gained an abiding interest in plant life. She has written two books about plants, specifically palms and cycads, and co-authored a book of good nutrition practice in catering. In the last few years Lyn has been a contributing author to two compendium publications, one medical-scientific, the other of general readership interest. Researching and writing this story has been a long-term ambition and the reason Lyn was moved to return university in 1989 to study Australian history. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Death of Hodgkinson and Wimbo 15

2 The Argyle Reach Settlers 23

3 Hawkesbury Aborigines Encounter British Colonists 44

4 Violence Escalates 67

5 An Unusual Charge for Murder 87

6 The Trial Begins 94

7 The Evening of the Murders - the Evidence 111

8 Evidence From the New South Wales Corps 129

9 The Defence 142

10 The Politics - Governor Hunter, Mr Dore and the New South Wales Corps 160

11 The Reckoning; the Verdict, Hunter's Response and the Outcome 188

12 Conclusions 200.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 238-240) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

1925078469

9781925078466

9781925078589

1925078582

OCLC:

909197889

Publisher Number:

99963467084