Appin, 1816
Two hundred years ago, under orders from Governor Macquarie, Captain WBG Schaw, Captain James Wallis and Lieutenant Charles Dawe of the 46th Regiment led expeditions against ‘hostile natives’ in the Nepean, Hawkesbury and Grose valleys and the Liverpool district.
On the early morning of 17 April 1816 at least 14 people of the Dharawal tribe were killed when James Wallis’ detachment encountered a camp at Appin near the banks of the Cataract River.
In our collection are the instructions from Governor Macquarie to Schaw, Wallis and Dawe regarding the punitive expedition, along with a copy of Captain Wallis’s journal which he kept during the expedition. We also have a copy of the report by Governor Macquarie to the Secretary of State Lord Bathurst (SRNSW: NRS 4518 [4/10583, pp74-77]).
These documents are part of the Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1825 - an extensive name and subject index - and you can check entries for the names of those involved, including:
- James Wallis
- WBG Schaw
- Charles Dawe
- John Warby
- Lieutenant AG Parker
You will also find entries under the heading Aborigines.
Related information
- Audio: Life Matters program (on ABC Radio National) about the Appin massacre, 1816 of a group of Aboriginal people - the Dharawal people - at Appin, 17 April 1816
- Campbelltown Art Centre exhibition, commissioned Aboriginal and First Nations Canadian artists, marks the 200th Anniversary
The attached digitised documents are from the diary of James Wallis [4/1735 pp55-57] and we have included a transcript below.
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17th April
A little after one o’clock AM we marched,
Noble joined us, and led us where he had seen the
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
now heard a child cry. I formed line ranks,
enter(ed) 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 morn appearing, so
dark as to be able only 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, I led up
two women and three children they were
all that remained to whom death would
not be a blessing, t’was a melancholy
but necessary duty I was employed
upon, fourteen dead bodies were counted
in different directions, the bodies of Durell
and Kinnahygal I had considerable dif-
iculty 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 im-
possible to bury them, I detached Lieut
Parker with the bodies of Durell and
Kinnahygal, 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 (sic) was
with the other natives to pass. In the camp
we found abundance of plundered potatoes
and corn and numbers of spears clubs
etc, Mr Kennedy afforded me much assistance
in supplying me with carts, ropes etc
at his and Mr Sykes request I left a
Corporal and three privates to protect
them from the revengeful fury of the
natives, till I received the Governors
commands, the prisoners I forwarded in
a cart, Warby was to escort them to Mr
Cuddens, who was directed immediately
to proceed to Liverpool, where I hope he
will arrive early this evening, in consequence
of this opportunity I did not send the dragoon
who had been thirteen hours out without
?ing(?) his horse, with a hurried letter
I wrote to the Governor, enclosed to Mr Howe (?)
Lt Parker returned without having seen any
natives, as I suppose they heard our firing.
18th According to the Governors instructions marched
my detachment and encamped near Dr
Redfern’s old stock yard in Airds a few
miles from where the natives were supposed to be.
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