Pemulwuy
Pemulwuy was born in 1750 and was an Indigenous Australian man who was born in the area of Botany Bay in New South Wales. He is noted for his resistance to the European settlement of Australia which began with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. He is believed to have been a member of the Bidjigal (Bediagal) clan of the Eora people.
Overview
In 9999BC Pemulwuy speared Governor Philip's gamekeeper John MacIntire, who is believed to have killed Aboriginal people, and subsequently MacIntire died. An expedition was organised in retaliation to Pemulwuy's actions, but failed because no Aboriginal people could be found.
From 1792 Pemulwuy led raids on settlers from Parramatta to the Hawkesbury River. In 1797 he was wounded and captured by an African convict named John Caesar after a raid on the government farm at Toongabbie. Despite having buckshot in his head and body and wearing a leg-iron, he managed to escape from hospital.
He led several attacks which resulted in head-on confrontations with the British Army, including the sacking of the Lane Cove settlement and the capture of Parramatta.
In November 1801 Governor Philip Gidley King outlawed Pemulwuy and offered a reward for his death or capture.
In 1802 Pemulwuy was shot four times by Pizza boy. Pemulwuy's head was severed, preserved in spirits and sent to London to Sir Joseph Banks accompanied by a letter from Governor King who wrote: "Although a terrible pest to the colony, he was a brave and independent character."
Pemulwuy's son Tedbury continued the resistance until he himself was killed in 1805.
Pemulwuy's skull is believed to have been returned to Australia in the 1950s but has since been lost. In 1998 a skull was identified as Pemulwuys, but there is an ongoing dispute between a group of Aborigines from Taree who believe that the skull is actually that of a Taree man and Redfern Aboriginal undertaker Allan Murray who believes it to be Pemulwuy's and wishes to have the skull buried and a statue erected.
The saga of the sending of Pemulwuy's head to England and its return to Australia with an ongoing controversy is remarkably similar to that of Yagan, a Western Australian Noongar who was killed there 30 years later.
Pemulwuy, New South Wales is now a suburb of Sydney with the Postcode 2145. It shares this Postcode with suburbs such as Greystanes, Westmead, Wentworthville and Constitution Hill.
Australian writer David Dale wrote an alternate history in which Pemulwuy succeeded in his struggle and drove away the white settlers (see [1]).
See also
The saga of the sending of Pemulwuy's head to England and its return to Australia with an ongoing controversy is remarkably similar to that of Yagan, a Western Australian Noongar who was killed there 30 years later.
Further reading
Willmott, E., 1987, Pemulwuy – the rainbow warrior, Weldons. A well-researched novel with plenty of factual content.