Australia's first officially sanctioned massacre of Aboriginal people - Appin 1816
'Twas a melancholy but necessary duty....'
(Captain Wallis, 1816)
"You can't call it a massacre if it takes place during war...."
(Anonymous ex-member of the Australian military, March 2016)
The Appin Massacre - what happened?
The massacre of a group of Aboriginal men, women and children at Appin, New South Wales, Australia by soldiers of the 46th Regiment of Foot Grenadiers under the command of Captain James Wallis early in the morning of 17 April 1816 can be cited as the first, officially sanctioned massacre in the long history of conflict between the original Australians and invading Europeans following the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney on 26 January 1788. It occurred within the context of a program of punitive actions - in fact a secret declaration of war - taken during 1816 against the Aboriginal population in the immediate vicinity of Sydney, and instigated by Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the colonial military forces, Lachlan Macquarie. The governor's public proclamations and secret orders during 1816 were extreme, aiming to remove Aboriginal people from the vicinity of Sydney, kill those who opposed aspects of European settlement, deprive the Aboriginal people of access to land and livelihood, and instill terror in the survivors, thereby ameliorating concerns raised by settlers seeking increased access to land and resources. The main Aboriginal group to suffer were the Dharawal of the coast and upper highlands / tablelands. Involved in instigating Macquarie's actions were the Gundangara people of the mountainous areas south west of the Sydney region, who happened to be visiting the areas closer to Sydney due to an extensive drought upon their traditional lands.
Following the events of the 17 April 1816 massacre, Governor Macquarie issued further secret orders to the military early in May. These supported the actions taken on the night of the massacre and extended their punitive nature. Macquarie also issued official and public statements supporting and praising the action of Captain Wallis and his men in their brutal treatment. Macquarie made no reference to the Aboriginal victims, did not call for any investigation into their fate, did not seek medical treatment for any of the victims, and basically hid the true circumstances of the massacre from his superiors back in England and the community at large in Australia. Macquarie's ultimately responsibility for the massacre is clear from the historical record.
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| Governor Lachlan Macquarie |
Lachlan Macquarie had arrived in the colony during 1810. However, by 1816 he was facing internal dissension, personal problems and alcoholism, all of which appeared to harden his attitude towards the Indigenous population, causing him to seek to appease those settlers who were not only responsible for atrocities, but who sought to extend those atrocities by completely destroying the livelihood and culture of the local people. Macquarie's weakness in not taking a moral stand against the demands of those settlers with vested interests reflect the widespread racist attitude of the British and belief in the superiority of Western civilisation. Their failure to recognise and support the richness, value and humanity of Aboriginal culture would lie at the heart of ongoing abuse and mistreatment of Indigenous Australians through to the present day. Macquarie's action was not the first such gross abuse of power and privilege in such a genocidal manner, and it would not be the last.
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| Augustus Earle, Aboriginal family at the home of Dr. Charles Throsby, Glenfield, circa 1826, watercolour on paper. Collection: National Library of Australia. |
A list of sources at the end of this article provides context to the action carried out by the authorities under Macquarie, including the military regiments and local settlers. A brief outline of events surrounding the massacre is presented below, largely taken from the original account by Captain Wallis and additional material, including military and scientific reports and the writings of Governor Macquarie and his administration. As noted above, Macquarie was ultimately responsible for the massacre, though Wallis led the attack in a brutal and indiscriminate manner, as though dealing with a military 'enemy', and not a collection of innocent people of all ages. Wallis's action revealed the extent to which the British establishment, and most especially its military arm, was not attuned to a fair and equitable treatment of Aboriginal populations, either in Australia or abroad.
The precise timing of events near Appin late in the evening of 16 April, and between 1 am and dawn on the morning of 17 April 1816, are suggested below, based on the facts as they are known and conjecture by the present author. It should be noted that the contemporary accounts are one-sided and biased, presenting the non-Aboriginal perspective alone. There is no first-hand account from the Aboriginal side, and it seems none was ever sought by the authorities. The detailed documents from which this brief account was complied are reproduced at the end of this piece. The only partial, preliminary account from an Aboriginal perspective known to the author is that given in 2016 by Frances Bodkin, great-great granddaughter of Kanabaygal, leader of the group that was massacred. Following that 200th anniversary, broader comment by Indigenous people on the massacre has been made. Some of that material is reproduced below.
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Preliminary account from an Aboriginal perspective
Frances Bodkin, a Bidigal Dharawal person is a descendant of Canabygle and has to date provided the only detailed account from an Aboriginal viewpoint. She outlines her knowledge of the massacre in the following 27 February 2014 interview: Appin Massacre, April 1816. The transcript below is by Michael Organ. It also includes editorial comments. A variant of the account was published in Bodkin (2014) and Foley and Read (2020):
In 1813 there was a drought and in drought times the Gundangara were allowed [by the Dharawal] to come down from the high country and live on the plains because their country, having been high, dried out first. And of course because Canabayagal was living with the Gundangara at the time – he was a Dharawal man – he came down [with them] to start the proceedings, the requests. And of course The requests were made and the Gundangara were allowed to come down to the plains.
But what happened then was, the Gundangara are a very war-like mob – still are – and they came onto the plains and they expected them to be as they had been in the last drought, many years beforehand. But there were fences, there were strange animals, and they began a war of attrition. So much so that in 1816 there was a request made to Governor Macquarie to rid of the lands of the troublesome blacks. And so he vacillated on it, because many of his people were friends.
Anyway, the rule of the use of the lands was that as soon as it rained the Gundangara had to go back to their own lands. And this particular night it began to rain, which meant that the Gundangara had to go back. Well, Canabayagal was at the Dharawal encampment speaking to his brothers and talking with them and discussing about thanking them for allowing them to come down and apologising for the trouble. And that was when the …
What it was – it’s really quite strange – a declaration of war was made, and it was made by a man called Thomas Davey, who had been Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania at the time, and it wasn’t signed by Macquarie as it should have been. [NB: This is not correct. Macquarie made the declaration in his secret orders; Davey was in Tasmania at the time and sought to ameliorate the local people.]
So, anyway, the troops were sent out, the marines were sent out, on this declaration of war, to rid the lands of troublesome blacks. And what was happening – there were three contingents went out – one led by a man called Schaw who went to the north west. He did not find anyone. A Dawes went to the west and he found a family of Gundangara who were very sick, and they gave him their child and he brought it back to the Macarthur lands on his way back.
But the one Wallis led the troops down south west, and one of the people who was asked to guide -he was employed by Macquarie at the time - his name was Bundle. And he led the troops down to Glenfield farm where Throsby lived. And he got to the farm and Throsby warned him that the troops were actually going to, came with the specific order to kill the Dharawals, not the troublesome blacks.
So Bundle and Warby – John Warby who was his best friend – took off to go down and warn the Dharawal people. But, because there were three separate camps – there was the men meeting, the senior men meeting; there was the boys, or the young noisy teenagers; and then there was the women and the children. They went first of all to the children’s camp so that Bundle could take the yarra – which is a special implement, a very sacred object – and give that to his oldest son [D’haramuoy] who at the time was 14 and tell him to go and hide it so that no one can find it.
So young D’haramuoy took off with the yarra. They warned the women and the children. They were starting to get stirred up. By the time they got to the men’s camp the troops had already arrived, because the troops were on horseback, and with the kids they were running. And the most senior men were killed and had their heads removed. And Canabayagal's head is still to be returned to us. And we are still waiting for a decision to be made on that.
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A Summary Account of the Appin Massacre from non-Aboriginal sources
16 April 1816
Daylight a.m. – A detachment of the 46th Regiment of Foot Grenadiers, comprising 35 soldiers under the command of Captain James Wallis, marches to the the banks of the Georges River, south west of Sydney. They are operating under secret instructions from Governor Lachlan Macquarie to rid the area around Sydney of Aboriginal people i.e. men, women and children of all ages. This will involve killing, capture and incarceration. They are ordered to secure "Native Prisoners of War".
Evening p.m. - One of the military guides Tyson receives information from Thomas Noble, an Aboriginal man, concerning Aboriginal movements near Appin. Noble is later rewarded £3 for this information. A number of Aboriginal people assist the military in regards to the movement and camps of local Aboriginal people during Macquarie's punitive campaign. Often these Aboriginal informers are from different tribes than the local people. For example, during the Tasmania campaigns against the local natives in the 1820s and 1830s, Aborigines from the Illawarra region of New South Wales are used to hunt them down.
Late evening p.m. - Tyson informs Captain Wallis of Aboriginal people at Broughton's Farm near Appin, including seven so-called "murderers" plus more to come. It is unclear who the so-called murders are, and how they are located within, or separate from, the local native population. Due to the fact that Aboriginal people had no legal standing under British law, accusations against them are unproven, though are acted upon as though they were.
11p.m. - Tyson tells Wallis that Noble had seen their camp fires at sunset. Wallis decides to attack the camp. Wallis's decision to attack at night, rather then seek during the day to apprehend those accused of "murder", points to the military nature of his expedition, and the disparate treatment of the local Indigenous population. Macquarie's orders h
1 a.m. - A little after this time the soldiers under Captain Wallis march to Broughton's Farm.
c.1.30 a.m. - Around this time the Aboriginal people - comprising a group of mostly innocent men, women and children - who had been at the camp supposedly seen by Noble become aware that the soldier's are looking for them and approaching in the dark. They decide to leave the camp and head in the opposite direction, towards the gorge of the Cataract River.
c.2 a.m. - Near Broughton's Farm, Thomas Noble joins the regiment and guides them to the Aboriginal camp he had seen earlier that night.
c.3 a.m. - The regiment arrives at the camp. They find it deserted, but fires are still burning. Wallis fears that the Aboriginal people had fled. They continue to search for the people.
c.4 a.m. - The regiment's scouts hear a child's cry nearby.
c.4.15 a.m. - Captain Wallis's detachment prepares to engage with the Aboriginal people and forms battle-line ranks of 2-3 soldiers deep. Wallis has decided to attack indiscriminately.
c.4.30 a.m. - The soldiers march through the scrub from the abandoned camp towards the sound of the child's cry. This is in the direction of a cliff - the "precipitous banks of a deep rocky creek" - where the people will be trapped.
c.4.45 a.m. - The approaching soldiers hear dogs belonging to the Aborigines bark.
c.5 .am. - The grey dawn of the moon provides a degree of light to the soldiers as they advance
The soldiers encounter a group of Aboriginal men, women and children.
Smart fire ensures from the muskets of the soldiers as they begin shooting in the semi-darkness
The soldiers fire indiscriminately at men, women and children.
Many are killed in the darkness.
People flee, "rushing in despair" over the cliff.
Those killed include women and children and the old man Balyin.
The Aboriginal man and lead protector of the group Kincabygal stands up to the foreign soldiers.
He is shot 5 times and falls over the cliff, or is forced over the cliff. He dies from gunshot wounds or the cliff fall whilst defending the escape of the group he was defending.
The Aboriginal man Dunell also dies, either from gunshot wounds or being forced over the cliff. His body ends up at the bottom of the cliff.
In the semi-darkness, Aboriginal people bound from rock to rock as they are shot at and forced to their death above and over the cliffs.
Many bodies end up at the base of cliff.
It is not clear whether the soldiers meaningfully force the people to their death over the cliff, or they ran for fear of their lives.
Whatever the truth, the fact remains that the action of Captain Wallis and the soldiers is directly responsible for the massacre.
c. 6.a.m. - The killing ends.
The sun rises.
Captain Wallis and his men survey the scene of the encounter and the victims at the bottom of the cliff.
c. 7 a.m. - Wallis records 14 dead bodies; William Byrne later states that there were 16 killed.
No detailed information is provided in regard to the dead, as to their name, age, sex, injuries and circumstances of death.
The only information given is that the dead include the old man Balyin plus 11 women and children in "the rocky place they fell in," i.e. at the bottom of the cliff.
No information is given on those who were injured and survived. It is possible that some of those injured had been shot and bayoneted.
The soldiers say the bodies at the bottom of the cliff are not able to be buried. They are therefore left there.
It is unclear whether the dead were eventually buried by local Aboriginal survivors or non-Aboriginal settlers.
8 a.m. - Wallis leads up 5 survivors from the bottom of the cliff - 2 women and 3 children. As they look around they see their family and friends dead and dying.
These five people are tied up and taken in a cart to the goal in Sydney as "prisoners of war", according to the orders of Governor Macquarie.
Also transported with them were two Aboriginal men Bitugully and Yelloming.
According to Macquarie's orders, any surviving "fine healthy good-looking [Aboriginal] children" between the ages of 4 and 6 are transferred to the Native Institution model school. It is unknown whether the young massacre survivors were included in this group.
No reference is given to the survivors being injured or any medical aid given by the British to any Aboriginal people affected by the military attack.
10 a.m. The bodies of Kincabygal and Dunell are brought up from the base of the cliff and handed over to Lieutenant Parker.
Lieutenant Parker is sent to nearby McGee's Hill to string up the bound-in-chains bodies of Kincabygal and Dunell from prominent trees on a hill.
Byrne later states that 3 bodies were hung from the trees following the massacre.
This latter action is carried out according to Governor Macquarie's direct orders so that the Aborigines in the neighbourhood will see what has taken place and become terrorised.
Captain Wallis returns to the original Aboriginal camp where the soldiers find "stolen" potatoes and corn, along with the newly declared illegal spears and clubs which are the traditional hunting implements of the local people.
Later....
Lieutenant Parker later cuts down the bodies of Kincabygal and Dunell from the trees at McGee's Hill.
Parker removes the heads through decapitation.
It is assumed that the two headless bodies are buried nearby by the soldiers.
The two heads, plus another of a woman (perhaps one of the massacre victims), are then passed on by Parker to the naval surgeon Patrick Hill in Sydney.
Hill subsequently takes the two Aboriginal male heads, and the female head, to England for partial preservation and study.
A detailed phrenological report is later published on the personality of Kincabygal based on his skull measurements.
The skulls subsequently enter the collection of the University of Edinburgh, where they remain until they are returned to Australia in 1991.
Captain Wallis writes an official report on the massacre for the governor. Wallis is subsequently rewarded with the posting of Commandant at Newcastle in June 1816, for his work in supporting Macquarie's punitive expeditions.
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Known Victims of the Massacre
Killed (shot and/or driven over cliff) – 14
Balyin (old man)
Durelle / Dunell – hung from a tree – skull collected
Kinnabygal – shot 5 times - hung from a tree – skull collected
Unnamed woman – skull collected
Unknown others (10)
Wounded - ????
Unknown
Captured - 5
2 woman and 3 children aged between 4 and 11
(included Naala, son of Bundall / Bundle)
Escaped
D’haramuoy (young man, brother of Naala)
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Documentary Evidence
The following is a list of documents relating to the Appin Massacre of Aboriginal men, women and children during April 1816. They concern events immediately prior to, and following on, the massacre. The aforementioned account has been constructed from these documents and records. No other contemporary records of the massacre exist.
1. Governor Macquarie, 9 April 1816 - Secret orders to his military regiments
…..In case the [Aboriginal people] make the smallest resistance or attempt to run away after being ordered by the friendly Native Guides to surrender themselves as Prisoners, you are to fire upon them, saving the Women and Children if possible. ….. The Prisoners taken - young and old - are to be brought in with you to Parramatta and delivered over there to the Magistrates, to be secured at that station till they receive my Instructions respecting their future disposal. Being desirous to procure Twelve Boys and Six Girls - from between four and six years of age – for the Native Institution at Parramatta, you will select and secure that number of fine healthy good-looking children from the whole of the Native Prisoners of War taken in the course of your operations, and direct them to be delivered to the Superintendent of the Native Institution at Parramatta immediately on their arrival there.
2. Governor Macquarie, 10 April 1816 - Diary notes
I therefore, tho, very unwillingly felt myself compelled, from a paramount sense of public duty, to come to the painful resolution of chastising these hostile tribes, and to inflict terrible and exemplary punishments upon. I have this day ordered three separate military detachments to march into the interior and remote parts of the colony, for the purpose of punishing the hostile natives, by clearing the country of them entirely, and driving them across the mountains. “In the event of the natives making the smallest show of resistance - or refusing to surrender when called upon so to do - the officers commanding the military parties have been authorised to fire on them to compel them to surrender; hanging up on trees the bodies of such natives as may be killed on such occasions, in order to strike the greater terror into the survivors.
3. Captain James Wallis, 16-17 April 1816 - Journal entries
16th April - Went to the banks of Georges River, and surveyed the settlement to procure information. This evening Tyson returned and informed the natives were still at Broughton’s. That there were seven murderers amongst them and that as more would arrive in that night. From Thomas Noble, a prisoner with information. About eleven o’clock he came and informed me Noble had seen their camp at sunset.
17th - A little after one o’clock a.m. we marched. Noble joined us, and led us where he had seen the natives encamped. The fires were burning but deserted. We feared they had heard us and were fled. A few of my men who wandered on heard a child cry. I formed line ranks, entered and pushed on through a thick brush towards the precipitous banks of a deep rocky creek. The dogs gave the alarm and the natives fled over the cliffs. A smart firing now ensued. It was moonlight. The grey dawn of the moon appearing so dark as to be able early to discover their figures bounding from rock to rock. Before marching from Quarters I had ordered my men to make as many prisoners as possible, and to be careful in sparing and saving the women and children. My principal efforts were now directed to this purpose. I regret to say some had been shot and others met their fate by rushing in despair over the precipice. I was however partly successful - 1 led up two women and three children. They were all that remained, to whom death would not be a blessing. Twas a melancholy but necessary duty I was employed upon. Fourteen dead bodies were counted in different directions. The bodies of Dunell and Kincabygal I had considerable difficulty in getting up the precipice - I regretted the death of an old native Balyin and the unfortunate women and children - from the rocky place they fell in. I found it would be almost impossible to bury these. I detached Lieut. Parker with the bodies of Dunell and Kinnabygal, to be hanged on a conspicuous part of a range of hills near Mr Broughton’s and after to lay in ambush at a ford where it was expected Boodbury was with other natives to pass. In the camp we found abundance of plundered potatoes and corn, and numbers of spears, clubs &c.
4. Governor Macquarie, 8 May 1816 - Additional secret orders to his military regiments
On any occasion of seeing or falling in with the Natives, either in bodies or singly, they are to be called on, by your friendly Native Guides, to surrender themselves to you as Prisoners of War. If they refuse to do so, make the least show of resistance, or attempt to run away from you, you will fire upon and compel them to surrender, breaking and destroying the spears, clubs, and waddies of all those you take Prisoners. Such Natives as happen to be killed on such occasions, if grown up men, are to be hanged up on trees in conspicuous situations, to strike the Survivors with the greater terror….. Such Women and Children as may happen to be killed are to be interred wherever they may happen to fall….. The Native Prisoners are to be hand-cuffed, or tied two and two together with ropes….
5. Sydney Gazette, 11 May 1816 - First public report of the massacre, more than one month after the event
……It appears that the party under Capt. Wallis fell in with a number of the natives on the 17th ultimo, near Mr. Broughton’s farm, in the Airds District, and killed fourteen of them, taking two women and three children prisoners. Amongst the killed were found the bodies of two of the most hostile of the natives, called Durelle and Conibigal.
6. Governor Macquarie’s report to England, 8 June 1816 - Macquarie's untruthful brief summary account of the massacre
The occurrence of most importance which took place was under Captain Wallis’s direction, who, having surprized one of the native encampments and meeting with some resistance, killed 14 of them and made 5 prisoners; amongst the killed there is every reason to believe that Two of the most ferocious and sanguinary of the Natives were included, same few other prisoners were taken in the course of this route and have been lodged in Goal. This necessary but painful duty was conducted by the Officers in Command of the Detachments perfectly in conformity to the instructions I had furnished them.
7. William Byrne (aged 7) - reminiscences from 1903
The Government then sent up a detachment of soldiers who ran a portion of them into a drive, shot sixteen of them, and hanged three on McGee's Hill. After the three bodies had been strung up, they... cut off the heads and brought them to Sydney, where the Government paid 30s and a gallon of rum each for them.
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The Severed Heads of Kincabygal and Dunell
Lt. Parker took the dead bodies of Kanabaygal and Durelle and hung them up on trees. He later took them down and severed the two heads, plus another, before passing them on to Patrick Hill, a Royal Naval surgeon, who left Sydney by the Willerby on 28 October 1816. Hill then gave them to Sir George Mackenzie, subsequent author of Illustrations on Phrenology (Edinburgh 1820). Mackenzie wrote about the Kanabaygal skull at length in his book and also included an illustration (Review of Illustrations of Phrenology, Edinburgh Review, January 1821, p.106). During 1824 he deposited the skull with the Phrenological Society. It eventually came into the collection of the University of Edinburgh.
Extract from Illustrations on Phrenology:
The skull of Carnimbeigle, a ‘New Holland Chief’ had deep eye sockets suggestive of a lack of language skills. Other shapes on the skull indicated strong leadership skills.
“In Plate 8 we have a more interesting subject for phrenology, which bear conspicuously some of the marks most prominent in the last plate. This is drawn from the skull of Carnimbeigle, a chief of New South Wales, who was killed by a party of the 46th Regiment in 1816. His skull is now on our possession, having been presented to us by Mr Hill, Surgeon, R.N. who received it from Lieutenant Parker of the 46th. The sockets of the eyes are so deep, and so concave upwards, that it may be presumed Carnimbeigle was not an adept in language. The organ of number is very small indeed, remarkably so, as well as the organs of tune, order, and colour. Relative position or locality is large, and Form about the ordinary size, rather small. The forehead is very low, inclining rapidly backwards ; hence Nos. 19. 30. 31. 32. are small. There is but little benevolence ; and 7. and 9. are small. There is a large development of 17v 18. 10. 11. 12. 5. 4. 3. ; and 2. is considerable, while, I . is small. The organ of veneration is the highest part of the head. If we are to judge of the natives of New Holland from this specimen, and from two others, of which casts are in our collection, we should say that the knowing and reflecting faculties give little hope of their being capable of improvement in knowledge, while the religious and moral faculties may be improved by exertions properly directed.” Although, therefore, the progress of these people may be slow; and although their reasoning powers are not such as to lead us to think that their lower propensities can be under perfect control; still, by working on their love of approbation, by acts of kindness, much may be done for these miserable beings in improving their moral and religious condition. Their lower propensities do not seem considerable, when compared with foreheads that indicate more intelligence than they seem to possess, although they are large in proportion to their own. The first step towards improving such a people, is to give them confidence, before any attempt is made to work upon their feelings. As their reasoning powers are weak, and their self-esteem strong, much patience must be bestowed upon them ; and firmness being well developed, renders the necessity of patience and perseverance more apparent. Carnimbeigle clearly possessed all the qualities which we should expect to find in a chief of such a people. Confidence in himself, courage in a high degree, ambition, a strong sense of justice, much cautiousness, with a talent for stratagem, are qualities that constitute a leader among savages ; and such also are the qualities which, when united with great talents, form a great leader in civilized life. * From the marks of its action on the bones of the skull, the temporal muscle, which appears to have been uncommonly large, must have been in almost constant and laborious activity. Connected with this, is the remarkable condition of the teeth of both jaws. They are much worn, and look as if they had been ground away and polished. Although the enamel of the points is totally gone, and the bony portion wasted almost to the sockets, not one of them has the least appearance of having been carious. Having mentioned to Mr Hill, that these circumstances had struck us as remarkable, and requested him to inform us if the natives of New Holland were as careless about their food as those of Madagascar, who eat up sand and whatever else may chance to adhere to it, he was so kind as to give us the following account, in which will be found some farther particulars respecting Carnimbeigle.
“In New South Wales, I was at one time a fortnight among the natives, at the Five Islands, a place about sixty miles from Sidney, and had an opportunity of observing their mode of living. At that place there is a creek, which abounds with mullet ; and from that circumstance, it is a favourite haunt with the natives, fish being their most choice food. Their mode of cooking is very simply merely placing them on the fire or hot ashes without any preparation. When half roasted, they tear out the entrails, which, after having been placed for a little on the fire, they devour, generally covered with ashes, sand, and other impurities. This is always their first, and apparently most savoury morsel. They then proceed to the rest of the fish, which they eat half roasted, giving no quarter to the head, or any part that can be masticated : this is invariably covered with sand. It is truly astonishing the quantity of mullet one of these savages will consume, and that without salt, or any kind of substitute for it. Next to fish, the oppossum and other wild animals seem to be in the greatest request, which they prepare and eat much in the same way. When at the Five Islands, I may observe, that we had two huts erected, and between them we had a large fire. We had always a number of the natives round us, both night and day ; and I had frequent opportunities of seeing the process of cooking and eating their fish. I had also occasion to see a native devour an oppossum and its young one. He placed both on the fire at the same time, without skinning the animals, frequently turning them, and rubbing off with his hand the singed fur. He then commenced operations on the smaller, which he completely demolished, bones, entrails, &c. I then thought he had made a pretty good meal, and that he would have shared out the large one to the other natives who were sitting round the fire, and whose greedy eyes and watery mouths seemed to anticipate the pleasure of the meal ; — but no ! To my utter surprise, the large one went the same road with the smaller, with the exception of a few of the hard bones, which he could not masticate. This was done in silence. During the whole process he did not exchange a word with any one ; and I observed this to be a general rule. When a native joined our party with a stock of provender, he squatted himself down before the fire, and did not condescend to speak to any one until he had stuffed himself. Then, if he had any to spare, he shared it among the rest, joined in the conversation, or went to sleep. In the case of the oppossum, the savage looked round with perfect satisfaction, and want to sleep. When hard pressed with hunger, I am told, they eat the root of the fern, which I have no doubt will be covered with sand. I have never had occasion to see them eat it.
* Another favourite morsel of theirs, is a large grub which is found under stones. The particular insect to which it appertains, I believe, is not yet known in England. I shall endeavour to ascertain its habits, and procure a specimen. I have seen a native pick them from under stones, and eat them with avidity.
* As you appeared to have taken an interest in this subject, I thought perhaps the preceding observations might account for the appearance of the teeth in the skull in your possession. Be assured I shall endeavour to ascertain if there is any other circumstance connected with their history, which will account for it.
* In the upper jaw, you will observe one of the alveolar processes absorbed. At the age of puberty, it is a general custom of these people to knock out one of the front teeth. I may observe, that Carnimbeigle was a most determined character, one of the few who were hostile to the settlers, and who annoyed them very much by destroying their cattle. A party of the military were sent out against him and his confederates ; but he could not be found, until they procured two native guides. He was then traced to his den, and, being placed at bay, he died manfully, having received five shots before he fell."
List of Donations made to the Phrenological Society – Skull of Carnimbeigle, a New Holland Chief, presented by Sir G.S. Mackenzie, Bart. Transactions of the Phrenological Society, 1, 1824, p.xv.
…Mark what follows. “The reader is requested to compare the skull of Carnimbeigle, the New Holland Chief, with that of Robert Bruce.” Sir George possesses this inestimable treasure, to wit, Carnimbeigle’s skull, and finds the he had confidence in himself, courage in a high degree, ambition, a strong sense of justice (in which Bruce was very deficient), beside much cautiousness, and a talent for stratagem. (The Monthly Review, X, 1829, p.547).
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Descendants
* Aunty Frances Bodkin - ..... of C
* Uncle Gavin Andrews - great great grandson of Naali (Ellen), daughter of Naala, son of Bundle.
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Contemporary commentary
The 200th anniversary of the Appin Massacre in 2016 brought to public attention its significance like never before. Some of the reports and commentary since then is included below.
Matt Wordsworth, Push for recognition of Appin massacre, ABC Television, 8 November 2010, duration: 2.28 minutes. Interviews with politician Phil Costa and Dharawal Gavin Andrews and Frances Bodkin.
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Dharawal people remember horrific Appin massacre, NITV, April 2016, duration: 6.12 minutes. Includes an interview with Uncle Gavin Andrews, descendant of Bundle, and reference to the With Secrecy and Dispatch exhibition held at the Campbelltown Arts Centre during 2016.
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References
ABC, Fact Check: Was Lachlan Macquarie a mass murderer who ordered the genocide of Indigenous people? Not cut and dried, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University / ABC Fact Check, Australian Broadcasting Commission and the RMIT University, 10 November 2017. Available URL: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-27/fact-check-did-lachlan-macquarie-commit-mass-murder-and-genocide/8981092.
Aboriginal leaders are talking the change and changing the talk, Western Sydney Frontiers [blog], 21 April 2016.
Allas, Tess and Leah Flanagan, With Secrecy and Despatch [exhibition and symposium], 9 April – 12 June 2016, Campbelltown Arts Centre. Produced with support from UNSW Art & Design, the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts NSW, the Australia Council for Arts and Winga Myamly Reconciliation Group. Available URL: https://www.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/whats-on/events/with-secrecy-and-despatch.
Andrews, Gavin, A declaration of war [video], A History of Aboriginal Sydney [website], University of Western Sydney, 2020. Duration: 4 mins 16 secs. Available URL: http://historyofaboriginalsydney.edu.au/south-west/declaration-war-gavin-andrews.
-----, Bundle's Story, [video], A History of Aboriginal Sydney [website], University of Western Sydney, 12 February 2014. Duration: 3 mins 33 secs. Available URL: https://www.historyofaboriginalsydney.edu.au/south-west/bundle's-story-gavin-andrews.
----- and Francis Bodkin, Ora Minarkelo Nandiri (People who see through times of darkness), Wollondilly Shire Council, 2001, 3p.
Appin Massacre, Monuments Australia [webpage], 2010. Available URL: http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/indigenous/display/20069-appin-massacre.
Bertola, Vera, Ancestors to rest in peace in their homeland of Appin, Daily Telegraph, 2 February 2015. [Repatriation of 3 Aboriginal skulls from the Edinburgh University Department of Anatomy. Included the skulls of Kannabi Byugal and possibly 2 other men from the massacre, included Duel.]
Bodkin, Francis, Appin massacre – April 1816 [video], A History of Aboriginal Sydney [website], University of Western Sydney, 27 February 2014. Duration: 5 mins 8 secs. Available URL: http://www.historyofaboriginalsydney.edu.au/south-west/appin-massacre-april-1816-frances-bodkin.
-----, The Appin Massacre 2016, in Peter Read, Aboriginal narratives of violence, Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues, 18(1), 2015, 75-85.
Bullimore, Kim, Fact: Australia was invaded, not peacefully settled, Red Flag, 3 April 2016.
Byrne, William, ‘Reminiscences’ in Old Memories: General Reminiscences of Early Colonists, II – Mr. William Byrne Snr., Old Times, Sydney, I(2), May 1903, 105. [Byrnes was a 7 year old at the time of the massacre and records some events from the time.]
Chalker, Glenda, Appin massacre remains [video], A History of Aboriginal Sydney [website], University of Western Sydney, 27 February 2014. Duration: 2 mins 28 secs. Available URL: https://www.historyofaboriginalsydney.edu.au/south-west/appin-massacre-remains-glenda-chalker.
Connor, John, The Hawkesbury-Nepean frontier war, Wartime – Journal of the Australian War Memorial, 18, 2002, 48-50.
Corr, Barry, Pondering the Abyss - online history of contact between settlers and Aborigines in the Hawkesbury River region from 1788-1910… [website], 2016. Available URL: http://www.nangarra.com.au/.
Costa, Phillip, Appin Massacre Memorial Ceremony, Private Members Statement, Legislative Assembly, Parliament of New South Wales, Sydney, 14 May 2008. Available URL: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20080514035.
-----, Appin Massacre Site [video], YouTube, 21 February 2011. Duration: 1 min 17 secs. Available URL: https://youtu.be/cMdJdcPhZ8U.
Daley, Paul, Restless Indigenous Remains, Meanjin, 73(1), 2014. URL: https://meanjin.com.au/essays/restless-indigenous-remains/.
-----, The bone collectors: a brutal chapter in Australia’s part, The Guardian, 14 June 2014. URL: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/14/aboriginal-bones-being-returned-australia.
Davis, Joseph, Indigenous Dispossession, Decapitation and Child Abduction on the Plains of Cannabygle (1800-1816), academia.edu, October 2021, 14p.
Foley, Dennis and Peter Read, What the Colonists never knew: A history of Aboriginal Sydney, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 2020, 236p.
Fowler, Verlie, Massacre at Appin in 1816, Macarthur Advertiser, 22 August 2001. Available URL: http://www.cahs.com.au/massacre-at-appin-1816.html. Accessed 1 April 2016.
Hoctor, Michelle, Sadistic massacre continues to haunt, Illawarra Mercury, 13 November 2010.
Hollis, Hannah, Appin massacre: Descendants of Dharawal people renew calls to repatriate remains, NITV / SBS Television, The Point, 18 April 2016.
Karskens, Grace, Appin Massacre, Dictionary of Sydney [webpage], 2015. Available URL: http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/appin_massacre. Accessed 1 April 2016. [Detailed report on the massacre.]
-----, People of the River: Lost words of early Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2020, 678p.
Lynch, Paul, Appin Massacre, Private Members Statement, Legislative Assembly, Parliament of New South Wales, Sydney, 5 May 2011. Available URL: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20110505044.
Madsen, Ann, Appin Massacre - Remembering and Reconciliation, Winga Myamly Reconciliation Group [website], 13 April 2016.
-----, The Appin Massacre - A collection of stories and historical events [pdf], Winga Myamly Reconciliation Group, 2016.
McBride, Laura and Smith, Mariko, The Appin Massacre, Australian Museum, Sydney, 31 August 2021.
McGill. Jeff, Should the Appin Massacre be covered at the Australian War Memorial?, Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser, 17 September 2013. Available URL: http://www.macarthuradvertiser.com.au/story/1782332/should-the-appin-massacre-be-covered-at-the-australian-war-memorial/.
Morris, Lulu, The Appin Massacre, National Geographic, 18 April 2017. Available URL: https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/australia/the-appin-massacre.aspx.
Mylrea, Peter, Speculations on the Appin Aborigine Massacre, Grist Mills, Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society, 13(3), December 2000.
Organ, Michael, Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850, Aboriginal Education Centre, University of Wollongong, 1989, 649p.
Partridge, Amanda, Aboriginal and Macarthur community come together for Appin Massacre ceremony, Daily Telegraph, 28 March 2013. Available URL: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/macarthur/aboriginal-and-macarthur-community-come-together-for-appin-massacre-memorial-ceremony/story-fngr8h70-1226608559341.
Pickering, Michael, Ancestral remains from the Appin massacre [video], A History of Aboriginal Sydney [website], University of Western Sydney. Duration: 4 mins 34 secs. Available URL: http://historyofaboriginalsydney.edu.au/south-west/ancestral-remains-appin-massacre-michael-pickering.
Smith, Ken Vincent, ‘Dual: sentenced and reprieved’ in Mari Nawi – Aboriginal Odysseys, Rosenberg Publishing, 2010, 76-83.
Taweel, Shayma, Appin Massacre - 200 Years On, Students Support Aboriginal Communities [blog], 27 June 2016.
Tobin, Mark, Call to return massacre site to Aboriginal people, ABC Radio, 8 November 2010. Available URL: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-08/call-to-return-massacre-site-to-aboriginal-people/2328714.
Turbet, Peter, The First Frontier: The Occupation of the Sydney Region 1788 to 1816, Rosenberg Publishing, Dural, 2011, 302p.
Wallis, James, Diary 16-17 May 1816, Colonial Secretary Papers, State Records of New South Wales, 4/1735, 55-57. Available URL: https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/stories/massacre-appin-17-april-1816.
Wellington, Ian, Appin Massacre commemoration 2013 [video], A History of Aboriginal Sydney [website], University of Western Sydney. Duration: 5 mins 37 secs. Available URL: https://www.historyofaboriginalsydney.edu.au/south-west/appin-massacre-commemoration-2013.
White, Charles, The Aborigines of New South Wales, Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser, 8 July 1865. URL: TROVE. [Makes reference to the Appin massacre.]
-----, The Story of the Blacks – The Aborigines of Australia, Lithgow Mercury, 27 May 1904; Shoalhaven Telegraph, 8 June 1904. URL: TROVE, Various, National Library of Australia. [Reproduces reports from the Sydney Gazette of 1816 re the Appin massacre.]
Wordsworth, Matt, Push for recognition of Appin massacre, ABC TV News, New South Wales, 8 November 2010.
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Initially published on 7 April 2016 in association with the 200th anniversary commemorations.
Last updated: 2 February 2023.
Michael Organ
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