1804 Risdon Cove massacre

On 3 May 1804, a number of Aboriginal Tasmanians were killed by guards of the fledgling British settlement at Risdon Cove, Van Diemen's Land. The events occurred in mysterious circumstances, perhaps as the result of a misunderstanding. Conflicting eyewitness evidence indicated that either three Aboriginals were killed or "a great many were slaughtered and wounded" when a large group came upon the 75–80 colonists there.

G. F. Evans: Risdon Cove from Old Government House, c. 1890

Events

The original records show that on 3 May 1804 a large group of aboriginals from either the Oyster Bay (Paredarerme) or Big River nation walked near the recently established one-year-old British settlement and outpost at Risdon Cove. Soldiers of the 102nd Regiment of Foot (NSW Corps) stationed at the settlement mistakenly thought they were under attack and under the orders of Lt. William Moore launched three engagements against the intruders.

Illustration of a brig of war's 12-pounder carronade, c. 1830

About 300 aboriginals, men, women and children, who had banded together approached the Risdon Cove settlement whilst occupied on a kangaroo hunt. The aboriginal people had arrived at the settlement and some were upset by the presence of the colonists. There had been no widespread aggression, but if their displeasure spread and escalated, Lieutenant Moore, the commanding officer at the time, and his dozen or so soldiers, could not be expected to be able to protect the settlement from a mob of such size. The soldiers were therefore ordered to fire a 12-pounder carronade (a short-barrel, heavy calibre naval cannon known to sailors as "the smasher") in an attempt to disperse the aboriginals. The clergyman Robert Knopwood heard "roar of the cannon at Risdon at 2 p.m". That being said, at least a second shot would be necessary to adjust the elevation and windage. The 12-pounder carronade was one of two ordered to be salvaged from the ship Investigator, by Governor King and given to Lieutenant Bowen, "unmounted". The 12-pounder carronade weighed 330 kg (728 lb). A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. It was probably a blank round, although some historians allege grape shot was used to explain an alleged but uncorroborated high figure of deaths.

"Brown Bess" musket, c. 1773

In addition, two soldiers fired Brown Bess muskets in protection of a Risdon Cove settler being beaten on his farm by aboriginals carrying waddies (clubs). Bear in mind a well disciplined and trained soldier could reload and fire the flintlock musket once every 20 seconds. The Brown Bess musket is a muzzle-loading, smooth bore, 990 mm long barrel, flintlock, weighing about 5 kg, shooting a 0.75 calibre projectile. Its effective firing range is 100 to 300 metres. In close-quarters fighting it was often used as a club.

The affray began at 11:00 in the morning and the final shot, the carronade, was heard in Hobart 3 hours later. That is 10,800 seconds. The Rate of Fire is 20 seconds so there were 540 reloads and shots fired, if a soldier's powder was dry and there were no misfires. When you multiply that by the number of soldiers armed with the Brown Bess musket and there would be thousands of musket balls, but the only musket balls found were slag, in a fireplace, along with a musket ball probably to emit heat on cold damp nights.

In To All Sportsmen (1814) Colonel George Hanger wrote, "A soldier's musket, if not exceedingly ill-bored (as many are), will strike a figure of a man at 80 yards; it may even at a hundred; but a soldier must be very unfortunate indeed who shall be wounded by a common musket at 150 yards, providing his antagonist aims at him; and as to firing at a man at 200 yards with a common musket, you may as well fire at the moon and have the same hope of hitting him. I do maintain and will prove that no man was ever killed at 200 yards, by a common musket, by the person who aimed at him."

These soldiers killed one aboriginal outright, and mortally wounded another, who was later found dead in a valley. Moore's account lists three killed and some wounded. It is therefore known that in the conflict some aboriginals were killed, and that the colonists "had reason to Suppose more were wounded, as one was seen to be taken away bleeding". It is also known that an infant boy about 2–3 years old was left behind in what was viewed as a "retreat from a hostile attempt made upon the borders of the settlement". The boy was brought into British colonial society and given the name Robert Hobart May.

Aftermath

"There were a great many of the Natives slaughtered and wounded", according to the Edward White (later to be discredited, as he was not even in Tasmania at the time of the incident), an Irish convict who later spoke before a committee of inquiry nearly 30 years later in 1830, but could not give exact figures. White alleged to have been an eyewitness, although he was working in a creek bed where the escarpment prevented him from viewing events. Claiming to be the first to see the approaching aboriginals, he also said that "the natives did not threaten me; I was not afraid of them; (they) did not attack the soldiers; they would not have molested them; they had no spears with them; only waddies". That they had no spears with them is questionable, and White's claims need to be assessed with caution.

Historiography

In Truth-Telling at Risdon Cove (2022), George Brown, Roger Karge, and Scott Seymour provide documentary evidence that the Edward White, who gave eye-witness testimony before the 16 March 1830 Broughton Committee, was not actually present at the massacre. The only possible Edward White, who boarded the Atlas in Cork on 29 November 1801, did not arrive at Port Jackson till 7 July 1802.

The other Edward Whites transported to the colony were:

• Edward White, one of 175 convicts transported on the Morley (November 1816)
• Edward White, one of 10 convicts transported on the Seppings (1 December 1839)
• Edward White, one of 230 convicts transported on the Elphinstone (6 April 1842), who arrived in Van Diemen's Land
• Edward White, one of 389 convicts transported on the Moffatt (10 August 1842), who arrived in Van Diemen's Land
• Edward White, one of 204 convicts transported on the Bangalore (28 March 1848), who arrived in Van Diemen's Land
• Edward White, one of 300 convicts transported on the Randolph (24 April 1849)
• Edward White transported on the London (December 1850)
• Edward White, one of 270 convicts transported on the Lord Raglan, (3 March 1858)
• Edward White, one of 210 convicts transported on the Adelaide (13 May 1863)

His contemporaries had believed the approach to be a potential attack by a group of aboriginals that greatly outnumbered the colonists in the area, and spoke of "an attack the natives made", their "hostile Appearance", and "that their design was to attack us".

A macabre postscript to the story was an allegation, unsupported by documentary evidence, that the bones of some of the Aboriginal people were shipped to Sydney in two casks.

See also

• List of massacres of Indigenous Australians