The British Garrison in Australia 1788-1841 military supervision of convict work gangs--Part V.Introduction This is the final Part in the series of articles on convict work gangs which have appeared in Sabretache since March 2003. Included in this Part are: * A map showing the locations of known stockades with a legend identifying these. Where stockades shown have not been mentioned in the texts of previous Parts some brief notes confirming their existence are shown. * An illustration of the stockade at Cox's River Cox's River is a major tributary to the Warragamba Dam, west of Sydney in Australia. Activities
* The 1834 and the 1832 plans of stockade lay-outs. * Graves associated with the stockades. Section Stockade Sites on the Great Roads The legend to the map shows three stockades conforming to the 1832 plan and 12 stockades conforming to the 1834 plan. Other stockades, which have not been mentioned in previous Parts and are not all shown on the map, with a confirming source of existence and some notes:
Razorback Range (Journal of the Royal Australian Historical
Society, Vol 25, 1940, p. 429)
Myrtle Creek (Journal of the Royal Australian Historical
Society, Vol 25, 1940, p. 429)
Gibraltar (Mittagong) (Journal of the Royal Australian Historical
Society, Vol 25, 1940, p. 429)
Newcastle--convicts in the ironed gang at this stockade were employed in the construction of the harbour breakwater breakwater, offshore structure to protect a harbor from wave energy or deflect currents. When it also serves as a pier, it is called a quay; when covered by a roadway it is called a mole. . Detachments of garrison troops had been stationed there since the initial establishment of settlement at Newcastle. See also-James Backhouse, A Narrative of a visit to the Australian Colonies, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Johnson Reprint 1967, p. 404. Maitland (also shown as Green Hills). The Australian of 28 January 1841 reported the committal com·mit·tal n. 1. The act of entrusting: committal of the property to an attorney. 2. The act or an instance of committing to confinement. 3. of John Marsh John Marsh may refer to:
Harper's Hill (Greta), The Sydney Herald Of 9 October 1837 reported that at the 'Road and Bridge Gang Stockade at Harper's Hill a sly grog shop The Grog Shop is a concert club and bar located in Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. In 2005, the Grog Shop celebrated its 10th anniversary. Originally a small capacity rock venue, the Grog Shop relocated to its current location in the summer of 2003 and has a maximum had operated in the gang itself the grog was brought up by the driver of the ration cart but no blame was attached to the commanding Officer as he was 'considered very active'. Lieutenant Smith of the 28th Regiment was the 'active' commandant (WO 17/2321. See also Backhouse, p. 391. Illawarra, a small military detachment was stationed in the Illawarra from 1826 to 1831, originally located at Red Point (Pt Kembla) and later at Wollongong, it was not until 1835, with the commencement of work on local roads and the construction of the harbour, that stockades were established at Dapto and on Flagstaff Hill Flagstaff Hill usually refers to a hill on which a flag was erected for signalling or souvreignity purposes. Place names
Honeysuckle honeysuckle, common name for some members of the Caprifoliaceae, a family comprised mostly of vines and shrubs of the Northern Hemisphere, especially abundant in E Asia and E North America. Hill, Stony Ridge Backhouse mentions (p. 308) visiting small Road Gangs at these locations approximately 8km and 20km west of Cox's River on the Great West Road and 'another twixt twixt also 'twixt prep. Betwixt. that place and Bathurst. Black Bob's Creek mention is made also of a Road Gang at this location on the Great South Road 11 km south of Berrima. Road Gangs worked out of irons, under the supervision of free or ticket-of-leave overseers. They were not usually guarded and none of the above three stations appear in Monthly Returns. Consequently they are not covered not covered Health care adjective Referring to a procedure, test or other health service to which a policy holder or insurance beneficiary is not entitled under the terms of the policy or payment system–eg, Medicare. Cf Covered. in this series of articles which consider the role of the garrison regiments in the road building program. Stockades in the Sydney metropolitan area, not shown on map: Bradley's Head The Australian_of 28 January 1841 reported 'Four convicts attached to the Stockade at Bradley's Head made their escape on Tuesday evening'. Cockatoo Island Cockatoo Island may be a reference to:
Georges River
The Georges River is a waterway in the state of New South Wales in Australia. and Lansdowne Bridge The Sydney Herald of 14 May 1835 reported 'the government has at last determined upon stationing a Military Detachment on the Liverpool-road for which purposes the spot occupied by the Lansdowne Bridge party will be formed into a stockade. The military will be under the command of Captain Montgomery, 50th Regiment. James Backhouse James Backhouse (July 8 1794 - January 20 1869) was a botanist and missionary for the Quaker church in Australia. Backhouse was the fourth child of James and Mary Backhouse of Darlington, Yorkshire, England. visited the ironed gang at Georges River in1836 where the gang was 'employed raising stone, which is conveyed up the George's River to Lansdowne Bridge'. Backhouse p. 417 Goat Island Goat Island. 1 Former name of Yerba Buena Island, San Fransisco Bay, Calif. 2 Island, W N.Y., in the Niagara River, dividing Niagara Falls into the American and the Canadian falls. The Australian_of 28 January 1841 reported the appointment of an Assistant Superintendent Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was a rank used by police forces in the British Empire. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. to the ironed gang at Goat Island. See also Backhouse p. 457. Longbottom (Concord) The Sydney Herald of 2 May 1842 reported the escape of three prisoners from the Longbottom Stockade. Pennant Hills A metal quarry was opened here in 1832 to supply blue metal for the streets of Sydney and suburbs. It was sited in the Sir Thos Mitchell Reserve, Yates Avenue, Dundas, and operated for 70 years. The metal was carted down to the Parramatta River The Parramatta River, New South Wales, Australia, is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove and Duck Rivers. The river begins at confluence of Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek west of Paramatta and travels in an to the then 'Pennant Hills Wharff located at the river end of Wharf Street. The stockade was located adjacent to the quarry. A guard detachment of the 28th Regiment was posted there from 1837 to 1840. Refs: Council sign in Yates Avenue; Sir Thorns Mitchell, Report upon the progress made in Roads and in the construction of Public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. in New South Wales New South Wales, state (1991 pop. 5,164,549), 309,443 sq mi (801,457 sq km), SE Australia. It is bounded on the E by the Pacific Ocean. Sydney is the capital. The other principal urban centers are Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Lismore, Wollongong, and Broken Hill. from the year 1827 to June 1835, Wm Hansen, Sydney, 1856, p.68; WO 17/2321-2324. Victoria Barracks There are several Victoria Barracks in the world.
tr.v. bar·racked, bar·rack·ing, bar·racks To house (soldiers, for example) in quarters. n. 1. A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. Stockade were committed for trial for robbery. Woolloomooloo The Sydney Herald of 15 February 1836 reported 'a large gang of convicts under a military guard, are at present quarrying the rock at the base of Woolloomooloo Hill, near the intended new gaol The old English word for jail. GAOL. A prison or building designated by law or used by the sheriff, for the confinement or detention of those, whose persons are judicially ordered to be kept in custody. . The stone is to be used in the erection of a new gaol, courthouse and barracks'. It is believed that with a military detachment deployed, the convicts would have been housed in a stockade. The mention of stone for barracks is of interest as the Commanding Royal Engineer, Captain Barney, had only arrived in Sydney in December 1835, and although he recognised, at an early stage the need for new barracks, work did not begin until 1840. The Monthly Returns give the deployments of troops to most country and metropolitan Sydney stockade sites from 1831, but not all sites are covered. Woolloomooloo and Victoria Barracks are notable omissions, probably because the detachments there were drawn from the Sydney garrison. The Monthly Returns from 1831 are in the War Office Series WO 17/2315 onwards. These are available in most State Libraries in the Australian Joint Copying Project microfilms, indexed in the Project Handbook Part 4. 2: The Stockade at Cox's River 'The Fort On Cox's River near Bathurst NSW' in the collection of the Mitchell Library, Sydney, is a water colour painting attributed to Major General James Pattison Cockburn. Of course there was never a 'Fort' on Cox's River and the painting is obviously of the convict stockade established there from 1832. The painting conforms to the topography of the known site of the stockade. The attribution to Major General Cockburn is open to challenge. Cockburn (1779?-1847)was a Royal Artillery “RGA” redirects here. For other uses, see RGA (disambiguation). The Royal Regiment of Artillery, generally known as the Royal Artillery (RA), is an Arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it is made up of a number of regiments. officer with a well documented record as a watercolourist, having gained some experience in his term at the Royal Military Academy Royal Military Academy has been the name of two different institutions of the British Army. The original Royal Military Academy was at Woolwich in London and was established in 1741 to train engineering and artillery officers, whose skills were too complex to learn solely on , under the eminent topographic artist, Paul 1832 Plan of the stockade at Cox's River based on Assistant Surveyor Nicholson's plan. Reference State Records NSW/Surveyor-General Sketch Book/Vol 2, Folio 17/45. The plan has been retouched to improve clarity 1834 plan for so-called 'stockades' issued to Deputy Surveyor-General Perry. These stockades had no perimeter fence perimeter fence perimeter n → Umzäunung f or palisades Palisades, cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). . This plan, also, has been retouched. Sandby. Cockburn was commissioned on 2 March 1795, served at Maim, The Cape of Good Hope Noun 1. Cape of Good Hope - a point of land in southwestern South Africa (south of Cape Town) 2. Cape of Good Hope - a province of western South Africa Cape of Good Hope n → , and in the East Indies. He served in Canada from 1826 to 1832 and is well represented in Canadian collections. Cockburn was Director of the Royal Laboratory, Woolwich, from October 1838 to December 1846. Joan Kerr, in the 'Dictionary Of Australian Artists' has suggested that Cockburn may have painted the Cox's River scene while en route from Canada to England. There appears to be no record of a visit to New South Wales of as distinguished as Cockburn and the suggestion that he returned to England via New South Wales is a shaky proposition with no supporting evidence. It has also been suggested that Cockburn may have executed the painting from sketches sent to him from New South Wales. The painting has been used in by the Miegunyah Press as an illustration of von Hugel's 'New Holland journal'. There it is identified as " 'Convict Stockade at Cox's River Crossing, c1835" water colour by an unknown artist". This seems a more realistic assumption. (1) Whoever the artist may be, the painting visually confirms the existence of palisaded stockades in the New South Wales convict system. The Graves A handful of gravestones are the lasting reminders of the commitment of the garrison regiments to the construction of the Great Rods. Fortunately New South Wales was a healthy station; here the troops were not exposed to the tropical diseases which ravaged rav·age v. rav·aged, rav·ag·ing, rav·ages v.tr. 1. To bring heavy destruction on; devastate: A tornado ravaged the town. 2. the regiments in the West Indies and in India, the latter their usual station after service in Australia. Nevertheless there were almost certainly more deaths along the roads than those which are marked by monuments, erected usually by the comrades of the dead. Eight, only, have come to notice during research for this series of articles. Of these one, adjacent to Springwood spring·wood n. Young, usually soft wood that lies directly beneath the bark and develops in early spring. on the Great Western Road, has been disturbed by a re-alignment of the road and lost. The inscription has fortunately been recorded in the history of the soldier's regiment.. It reads: Sacred to the Memory of Francis Smith Who Died May 5th 1836 aged 43 years having served for 25 years A Soldier in HM 4th the King's Own Regiment. Private Smith had been at the 17 Mile Pinch in the first Muster for April-June 1836 in the detachment commanded by Lieutenant Campbell, with two sergeants and 22 R&F, with one sergeant and 20 R&F at Springwood. Smith had been transferred to the detachment at Springwood in the second quarter and died there. There was no Assistant Surgeon at Springwood, the nearest was at Emu Plains. (WO 12/2218, WO 17/2320) Further along the Great Western Road, at the Forty Bends Cemetery, at the base of Hassan's Walls, is a grave of William Travis-see right. Three members of the Berrima detachment were not buried near the stockade site but in the church yard of All Saints' Anglican Church which had been established at Sutton Forest in 1830.The first two soldiers died in 1835 during the service of the first detachment of the 50th the Queen's Own Regiment at Berrima; the inscriptions on their headstones have weathered badly and brass plates now show the detail which was originally inscribed in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. : Pte Michael McGee Late 50th Or Queen's Own Regiment Who Departed This Life On 4th November 1835 Aged 32 Years, and Pte Patrick Connelly Late 50th Or Queen's Own Regiment Who Departed This Life on 21st November 1835 Aged 34 Years. From an examination of the Muster Roll for the period it seems that McGee died of natural causes but Connelly was recorded to have drowned. (WO 12/6128) The incidence of the two burials so close in time may have been the reason which prompted Ensign Waddy wad·dy 1 Australian n. pl. wad·dies A heavy stick, especially a war club. tr.v. wad·died , wad·dy·ing, wad·dies To strike with a waddy. to write to Headquarters concerning the fee charged by the local parson for the burial of soldiers. Waddy wrote: Sir, The Chaplain of the District having charged Ten Shillings for the internment of a soldier who died here some time ago, I have the honor [sic] that you will let me know if he is entitled to make such a charge' Although no formal reply has been found, attached to Waddy's letter in the State Archives NSW NSW New South Wales Noun 1. NSW - the agency that provides units to conduct unconventional and counter-guerilla warfare Naval Special Warfare file is what appears to be a draft reply:
Memo--'The following fees to be received for the Burial of free
persons was established by the Govt Order 22 December 1810, and
confirmed by the Colonial Act 6 Geo IV, 1st Nov 1825, viz-
S
The Chaplain 5.0
Clerk 2.6
Bellringer 6
Grave Digger 2.6
10.6
The third grave is of particular interest and, fortunately, the inscription is still legible, it reads: O'Brien, a labourer from Donohill, County Tipperary, had enlisted in the 80th on 17 June 1831 and served in Ireland until May 1833 when the Regiment moved to Chatham prior to embarking as guard detachments on convict transports. O'Brien embarked on the Waterloo on 29 October 1834 and reached Hobart on 3 March 1835. There, the convicts and the guard detachment disembarked, O'Brien going on to join the regiment in Sydney in May. In July he was posted to the garrison at Norfolk Island until February 1836 when he returned to Sydney and joined the detachment commanded by Lieutenant Briggs at Berrima. On 19 February 1837 O'Brien, accompanied by Private James Hayes and two women, went to an inn, three miles (4.8 km) south of Berrima on the Great South Road, where they were drinking with two assigned convicts, Jones and McCafferty, and a freeman, John Moore. O'Brien became involved in an altercation with Jones who accused him of being responsible for a flogging inflicted on Jones while a member of the ironed gang at Berrima. O'Brien, by then the worse for drink, was ordered from the inn by the proprietor, on his way back to Berrima he was set upon by Jones, McCaffery and Moore and beaten to death. O'Brien's body was found by Hayes and the culprits were quickly apprehended. They appeared before the Supreme Court in Sydney on 5 May 1837; Jones was found guilty of murder and executed on 8 May. McCaffery and Moore were freed. (2) The circumstances of O'Brien's murder throw light on an aspect of garrison service in the Colony which was of continual concern to senior officers--the association of soldiers with convicts. In evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transportation on 12 May 1837, Lieutenant Henry Breton, 4th Regiment, stated that the system in New South Wales tended to lead to demoralisation Noun 1. demoralisation - a state of disorder and confusion; "his inconsistency resulted in the demoralization of his staff" demoralization confusion - disorder resulting from a failure to behave predictably; "the army retreated in confusion" 2. of the men. Among the causes were drunkenness and '.... intercourse between the military and the prison population, which we cannot prevent ...' (3) At the site of the Towrang stockade, at the bottom of the slope from the powder magazine, and beside the Towrang Creek, are the last three known graves on the Great Roads. The headstones are those of Private John Moxey, 80th Regiment, Elizabeth Whiticker [sic], and Mary Brown. John Moxey's grave was the subject of an article--'The Soldier at Towrang' by Lt Col Don Goldsmith, which appeared in Sabretache in April 1967, shortly after a visit to the stockade site by members of the ACT Branch of the Society that year. Moxey died on 16 November 1838 after 22 years service. The headstone is engraved en·grave tr.v. en·graved, en·grav·ing, en·graves 1. To carve, cut, or etch into a material: engraved the champion's name on the trophy. 2. with the verse: Remember me as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I, As I am now so you must be Prepare for Death to follow me. Beneath, this has been inscribed: This Stone was Erected by his Comrades as a Token of Respect Towards a Good and Deserving Soldier Next to Moxey's headstone is Elizabeth Whiticker's (Whittaker?), 'Who departed this life, June 9, 1841, aged 33 years'. A search of the Muster Rolls (WO 12) failed to find any Whiticker, or similar name, in the detachment of the 80th at Towrang at that time. Elizabeth may have been the wife of a civilian overseer or Commissariat clerk. With the graves of Private Moxey and Elizabeth Whiticker is the most poignant of all those on the Great Roads. It is of 'Mary Brown, Who departed this Life, the 25th Day of June, AD 1841 '. Mary Brown was four years old. There was a Sergeant John Brown in the Towrang detachment at that time. Previously at Port Macquarie he had moved to Towrang in December 1840. It is believed that Mary was his daughter as Senior NCOs would be the most likely to have their families with them. Mary's grave is an eloquent reminder of the hardships borne by the families who faithfully followed their husbands and fathers to the remotest parts of Australia where there were no medical facilities to support. At the time of Mary's death there was no assistant surgeon at Towrang. How had the toddler, Mary Brown, reached Towrang? By ship from Port Macquarie to Sydney, where her father remained for six months with the Headquarters, then the 200 kilometre journey to Towrang. The soldiers marched, had the toddler trotted alongside, being carried by her mother or father when tired and, if lucky, enjoying a ride on the baggage wagon? Were there any other children in the detachment? It was a typical experience for those families 'following the drum', one which is only too frequently overlooked when appraising the role of the garrison regiments in New South Wales. (1) Dictionary of National Biography The Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB entry for Cockburn; Joan Kerr (ed) The Dictionary Of Australian Artists. Melbourne, OUP OUP (in Northern Ireland) Official Unionist Party , p. 169; Carl Freiherr von Hugel, New Holland journal, Melbourne, MUP MUP - Multiple Universal naming convention Provider , p. 341; Conversation Elizabeth Ellis, Mitchell Library. (2) WO 12/6127-9; Colonel Fyler, The History Of The 50th Or (The Queen's Own Regiment), London, 1895, Chapman and Hall Chapman and Hall was a British publishing house, founded in the first half of the 19th century by Edward Chapman and William Hall. Upon Hall's death in 1847, Chapman's cousin Frederic Chapman became partner in the company, of which he became sole manager upon the retirement of Ltd, p. 369. LINDA EMERY. (3) British Parliamentary Papers 1837-1838,Vol 22, p. 136. |
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