To export this article to Microsoft Word, please log in or subscribe.
Have an account? Please log in
Not a subscriber? Sign up today
Refshauge, W. F.. "An analytical approach to the events at Risdon Cove on 3 May 1804." Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. Royal Australian Historical Society. 2007. HighBeam Research. 8 May. 2013 <http://www.highbeam.com>.
Refshauge, W. F.. "An analytical approach to the events at Risdon Cove on 3 May 1804." Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. 2007. HighBeam Research. (May 8, 2013). http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-166091774.html
Refshauge, W. F.. "An analytical approach to the events at Risdon Cove on 3 May 1804." Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. Royal Australian Historical Society. 2007. Retrieved May 08, 2013 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-166091774.html
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Risdon Cove was the first English settlement in Tasmania, established in September 1803 by Lieutenant John Bowen, RN. In February 1804 David Collins relocated his own settlement from Port Phillip. He chose to settle nearly eight kilometres down the Derwent from Bowen, and on the other (western) shore, at Sullivans Cove. Collins, the Lieutenant Governor, was the senior officer and from June 1804 onwards he progressively closed down Bowen's settlement. But Risdon Cove was not just the first settlement, it possesses the more dubious distinction of being the site of the first conflict between the Tasmanian Aborigines and the newly arrived English. It is a place that is important in understanding the early development of Australia, especially of Tasmania. In recent years the nature of these events and their import has been hotly contested. (1) The renewed interest in the events has not been reflected in the management of the site, which is now run down and neglected. (2)
This article offers a new direction for understanding these events by drawing out evidence implicit in the documentary records and reconsidering the topography of the site. Its focus is upon that first conflict when the Tasmanian Aborigines collided with the English settlement on 3 May 1804, nearly eight months after the settlers' arrival. That event has generally been regarded as of some significance because it was the first of the many conflicts that characterised early Tasmania. As the first conflict it cannot follow, but may set, the participants' expectations of each other. It is then of some interest to examine just what did happen at Risdon Cove.
The broad outline of what happened is well known. A very large number of Aborigines, variously estimated to number three hundred, or as many as five or six hundred, appeared unexpectedly on the fringe of the little settlement, itself numbering perhaps eighty. By chance, this occurred when Bowen was absent, leaving in charge Lieutenant William Moore, commander of the local detachment of the NSW Corps. By the actions of taking a killed kangaroo from one of the settlement's hunters, and reportedly threatening and perhaps using violence against the farmer William Birt and his wife, the Aborigines alarmed Moore. He sent two soldiers to assist Birt, and those soldiers killed two Aborigines. In order to disperse the Aborigines, said Moore, he ordered a carronade to be fired, whereupon the Aborigines retreated up a valley, leaving a two-year-old boy behind. The discharge of the carronade was heard at Sullivans Cove and the disturbance was investigated immediately. That evening, having been called to Sullivans Cove, Moore was interviewed by Collins. But beyond this brief account, little seems to be agreed.
There is not much direct evidence relating to the events. There is a short letter from Jacob Mountgarrett, sometime surgeon to the new settlement but now simply a settler. He had been present and wrote the same day to Reverend Robert Knopwood at Sullivans Cove. The letter and additional comments are in Knopwood's diary. (3) A few days after the audience with Collins, Moore completed his own account. It was enclosed, with Collins' gloss, in the next report by Collins to Governor Philip King. (4) Also important is McGowan's work on the archaeology of the site. (5)
Other reports from contemporaries emerged over the years. Of these, the most important are in the 1831 report Military Operations against the Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land: notably the evidence given by Edward White who had been a convict at Risdon Cove. (6) Evidence was given orally and written down by the Committee's scribe. There are several consequences, importantly that details of each witness's speech may be lost. A likely candidate is the date of the conflict, given always as 3 May 1804, whereas in one or perhaps two instances it was wrongly described by the witnesses as having been about three or four months after the arrival of Bowen's party (evidence of James Kelly and perhaps of White). On the other hand, there are instances where the words used by the witness seem to have been deliberately preserved as the note-taker enclosed an unusually vivid phrase in quotes. For example, when the Aborigines first saw White, they were plainly astonished, or, as the scribe reported White's speech, 'they looked at me with all their eyes'. The key figure in the events was Moore. After all, he had authorised his soldiers to fire, thereby making himself responsible for killing and injuring Aborigines. His actions have often been presented as irresponsible, with hints or explicit claims that he was drunk, that he panicked, or that he shot the Aborigines as sport. (7) Moore does appear to have been a difficult man, whom Bowen was unable to control. That he successfully stared down Bowen suggests that he did have a certain strength of character even if his principles appear dubious.
What was thought of Moore has in turn influenced assessment of the evidence. For example, where his report conflicts with evidence from the convict eye-witness, Edward White, the latter's account has almost universally been preferred. Yet this is unwise on at least two grounds. First, Moore's report was written for the Lieutenant Governor, following the interview on the evening of the events. Moore may have been less than candid in his written report but Collins knew of the events from Moore's mouth and had had the opportunity to test his responses. Collins was unhappy with the course of events but not obviously with the report. Second, conflicting records are sometimes clues for a more inclusive reconciliation. By using a rather more analytical approach to such evidence as there is, this essay takes a first step towards such a result.
Collision
Before considering Moore's actions, the situation in which the participants found themselves needs to be clarified. The topography of the settlement is a useful starting point: indeed one that has been much neglected. Risdon Cove is on the eastern side of the Derwent River, near the top of an irregular tongue of land separating the Derwent from Pitt Water, and Ralphs Bay from Frederick Henry Bay, running down to South Arm Peninsula about 25 km south. The settlement itself was placed on a plateau which is about thirty metres above Risdon Brook, in turn leading up to higher country and thence to Mount Direction. There are a number of drainage lines tributary to the Brook, extending some distance inland from the Cove. A number of these drain lines converge just outside the eastern edge of the original settlement, through a small area of relatively flat country. Risdon Brook skirts the southern side of the settlement, and penetrates up into a steep sided but short valley separating this side of the plateau into two lobes. South of the Brook the land rises steeply, in places by more than 1:1.
In his first despatch to Governor King, on 20 September 1803, Bowen wrote that:
we are situated on a Hill commanding a perfect view of the River and the land, with fresh Water at the foot of it ... The Banks are more like a Nobleman's Park in England than an uncultivated Country; every part is beautifully Green and very little trouble might clear every Valley I have seen in a Month.
He drew up the first plan of his settlement shortly after this, sending it back to Sydney with his next despatch, dated 27 September. (8) It is a simple, imprecise sketch, but apt for its purpose. He wrote: 'I have not yet drawn any lines for the Town, waiting till I can cut down the large Timber about the Hill, when my view will not be so obstructed'. His settlement was on relatively open, park-like country with the higher ground behind it more heavily timbered--sufficiently so to obstruct his …
Quadrant; March 1, 2008
Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society; December 1, 2006
Browse back issues from our extensive library of more than 6,500 trusted publications.
Help us improve our websites
Become a member of our Customer Advisory Panel. Your opinion matters!
Join the panelHighBeam Research is operated by Cengage Learning. © Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
The HighBeam advertising network includes: womensforum.com GlamFamily