1793 to 1795 1794 1795: overview
Environmental impacts on settlement
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- February 1795
- February 1795: Atkins
- July 1795: Atkins
- Slavery: a failed experiment.
- 12 th February, 1795: Atkins
- February 1795: Collins
Environmental impacts on settlement.Rapid changes impacted upon both Aboriginal people and settlers. The first settlements were perched on the river banks and prone to flooding. January 1795: Collins‘In consequence of the heavy rains, the river at the Hawkesbury rose many feet higher than it had been known to rise in other rains, by which several settlers were sufferers. The flood was not serious and affected only those low-lying farms near South Creek (Hunter to Banks, 12 Oct. 1795, Letters of Governor Hunter 1795-1802, pp. 2-3).’97 The impact of the closer settlement was attested by the captain of the colonial schooner who complained in February and May of the dangers posed to navigation by the extensive felling of trees to clear land for farming. The May entry is also important in highlighting the importance of the Hawkesbury as a food source for the colony and the impact of drought. Significantly the next paragraph began “At that settlement an open war seemed about this time to have commenced between the natives and the settlers”98. February 1795‘The master of the schooner complained that the navigation of the river was likely to be hurt. The settlers having fallen many trees into the water, he was apprehensive they would drift ashore on some of the points of the river where, in process of time, sand, etc. might lodge against them, and form dangerous obstructions in the way of craft which might be hereafter used on the river.’99 May 1795On the 21st (May) 100 the colonial schooner returned from the Hawkesbury, bringing upwards of eleven hundred bushels of remarkably fine Indian corn from the store there. The master again reported his apprehensions that the navigation of the river would be obstructed by the settlers, who continued the practice of falling and rolling trees into the stream. He found five feet less water at the store-wharf than when he was there in February last, owing to the dry weather which had for some time past prevailed.101 Despite the distress caused by his self-induced stomach-disorders and his related religious ramblings, Richard Atkins’ Journal displayed a keen eye for the weather and climate of his new home.102 No doubt the variability of the Australian climate took him by surprise, but he made important observations about the affect of clearing the land on increasing the incidence of frost. His records must be taken into consideration when examining the impact of environmental change on the capacity of Aboriginal people to survive on what used to be their land.103 February 1795: Atkins‘1 Feby. Excessive Hott. Wind West. 2 Do. Do. 3 Thick fog in the morning. Excessive Hott. From this day to the 11 Nothing material, in general fine weather which has been of infinite service to the Corn. 12 Excessive cold with Showers from the S W. Every year before this we had hot weather but the Seasons have changed perhaps in consequence of the country opening so fast. July 1795: Atkins16 Hard frost, Ice and Inch thick W. S W. 17 Hard Frost, the temperature of the Air is certainly changed since the country has been opened. The Frost has been considerably more severe than before. 18. Hard Frost. Wind West. 19 Heavy Fog.’104 Slavery: a failed experiment.The beginning of 1795 saw an increase in agricultural activity in the colony. Two accounts point to the settlers experimenting with slavery as a means of increasing production. The first is a direct observation by Richard Atkins that in February 1795 the officers had “formed the Idea that the Natives can be made Slaves of”. It is not surprising that attention has not been previously drawn to this important point. Until recently Richard Atkins’ Journal was only available to the general public on a badly warped micro film in the Mitchell Library. It is now available on the Internet. Atkins’ comment is supported by David Collins’ observation, in the same month of February, that Aboriginal boys on the farms were “capable of being made extremely useful”. Collins comment is another example of the coded way in which he wrote. February 1795: AtkinsRichard Atkins’ Journal entries for February 1795 show him to be a keen observer of the world around him. His comments on the weather show that land clearing was having micro-climatic effects. As a magistrate and human being he was angered by the excesses of the NSW Corps. 12th February, 1795: Atkins‘It appears the determined resolution of the military to support the Despotism of the Lt Govr. It is now carried on in a higher degree than in his time. If a complaint is made that another owes him 20 shillings the Comg. Officer without hearing what the person complain'd of has to say sends a Constable and orders him to pay it. - They seem to adopt the Idea that the Natives can be made Slaves of, than which nothing can be more false, they are free as air and Govr. Phillips's conduct was highly approved of for reprobating that Idea. Mr. C. buissiness on that head is a disgrace to those concerned.’105 February 1795: Collins‘Several native boys, from eight to fourteen years of age, were at this time living among the settlers in the different districts. They were found capable of being made extremely useful; they went cheerfully into the fields to labour, and the elder ones with ease hoed in a few hours a greater quantity of ground than that generally assigned to a convict for a day's work. Some of these were allowed a ration of provisions from the public stores.’106 I can identify only two people that Atkins could have referred to as “Mr C.”. One was David Collins. Atkins may have been upset at Collins’ inaction on the matter, but slavery was outside Collins’ character. However, it must be noted that Collins purchased Wellow Farm on Freemans Reach around this time. The other was Lieutenant William Cummings. Cummings was an Irishman with prior military service who came to the colony in September 1791 as an ensign in the NSW Corps. He appears to have been unsuited for military duties and somewhat erratic in financial matters. Cummings attracted raised eyebrows by receiving Grose’s first land grant - before official permission to do so had been received. The grant of 25 acres at Parramatta was followed by another of 100 acres also in Parramatta in April 1794 and he received a third grant of 75 acres at Prospect in November 1799. Records show that this last grant, while registered on 12th November, 1799 was made by Paterson so Cummings may have been farming Prospect Hill as early as 1794. He was arrested in late 1794 for what was described by Acting-Governor King on 28th September 1800 as alleged misconduct,107 He was released from arrest in February 1795 and attempted to resign sometime in 1795; making three different attempts to do so before he was allowed to sell his commission in 1800. The only information that I have found relevant to his arrest is a letter that King wrote on 9th November 1799, “Lieut. Cummings was put under an arrest sometime in 1794 from which arrest he was liberated soon after, but from that period until the sailing of the Barwell from Port Jackson in September 1799 and probably till this moment he has never been allowed to do any duty in the Corps waiting as I understand the acceptance of his Resignation on which appears from Colonel Grose’s letter not to be the case but to be allowed to go out on half pay. I have only to add that previous to Lieut Colonel Paterson’s departure from England he expressed his concern to me that Mr Cummings business remained unsettled as he not only stood the first for a company as oldest Lieut but that the other Officers had to do his duty”.108 He appears to have had some financial difficulties in mid 1795. John Cobley in his Sydney Cove, 1793-95, Angus and Robertson, 1983, noted that in July 1795 Cummings lost a case involving ownership of a goat (page 268) and that Sarah Fielder swore an affidavit that Cummings was indebted to her for £20 (page 270). He bought and sold a number of farms. He sold his Prospect farm to William Lawson and it became Greystanes. Joseph Holt saw Cummings in 1808 on a farm he had bought on the Hawkesbury. He appears to have fallen into financial hardship in later years. According to Joseph Holt, “Cummings was in want of his breakfast before I left the colony”,109 which was in 1812. Around this time Cumming’s father had power of attorney over his affairs.110 In March 1795 Cummings undertook at least one and possibly two expeditions in search of the missing cattle. It appears from David Collins that this was in his capacity as an officer of the NSW Corps, despite his apparent suspension from duties and attempts to resign. In his search for the missing cattle he displayed some fluency in Aboriginal languages. He did not find the cattle but he brought back the skull bones of what Paterson thought was Buffon’s manatee – a creature somewhat like a dugong that was found in the Americas and Africa. We also know about Cummings through the memoirs of Joseph Holt. The following description would have occurred in 1800. ‘When first I went to the country, I was invited to dine with Lieutenant Cummings, of the Botany Bay corps, and Mr Cummings was very much acquainted with the natives, as he was a man went out to hunt the kangaroos and other sport. He was a Irishman, and, the day I dines with him, there was about fifty natives round his house, and their nature is to ask, when they see a stranger, who he is and they say: 'Name you are miel' - that is to say 'a stranger'. Mr Cummings said I was his brother, which reached the ear of almost every native in the colony. After that I went by the name of Mr Cummings' brother.’111 Whether Cummings as the only land-holding officer whose surname began with “C” was experimenting in slavery is not particularly important. Atkins’ accusation and Collins’ coy description of the forced labour of Aboriginal boys provides evidence that some settlers were taking Aboriginal children as hostages and slaves, thus exacerbating the conflict. The failure of William Dampier’s experiment in slavery was repeated a century later. The failure of the experiment in slavery should be seen as a victory for Aboriginal non co-operation. One of the boys on Cummings farm was almost certainly Charley who appeared later on the Hawkesbury. Directory: docs docs -> Application for acem docs -> Observational Assessment of Teaching Practices Teaching Assessment Initiative Proposal Submitted to The Teachers for a New Era project docs -> Traditional British values docs -> From Warfighters to Crimefighters: The Origins of Domestic Police Militarization docs -> Borzoi Club of America Register of Merit Program I. What is a Register Of Merit docs -> Protecting the rights of the child in the context of migration docs -> United Nations E/C. 12/Esp/5 docs -> 9th May 1950 the schuman declaration docs -> Getting To Outcomes® in Services for Homeless Veterans 10 Steps for Achieving Accountability Download 327.81 Kb. Share with your friends:
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