What was not reported in the local press was the large-scale ritual revenge combat staged in Sydney not long after Bennelong’s death, perhaps sparked by the belief that Bennelong had been the victim of sorcery by his enemies. Such an event does not suggest that Bennelong died unwanted and unmourned by his people.
Lately, in the vicinity of the town [Sydney], a battle took place, where about 200 were engaged, I believe in consequence of the death of the celebrated Bennelong, who visited England some years ago, and was taken great notice of. The spears flew very thick, and about thirty men were wounded.
If Bennelong’s passing was commemorated with disdain by elements of the European population the opposite was true of the Eora. What was not reported in the Sydney press was the ritual revenge combat staged not long after Bennelong’s death. Details of this event appeared twelve months later in Edinburgh’s Caledonian Mercury in letter written on 17 April 1813 written by ‘a free merchant of India’, a passenger on the schooner Henrietta. According to the writer the battle involved two-hundred men. Such an event does not suggest that Bennelong died unmourned.[1] Boorong was also interred with Bennelong but the date of her death has not been determined.
[1] Lately, in the vicinity of the town [Sydney], a battle took place, where about 200 were engaged, I believe in consequence of the death of the celebrated Bennelong, who visited England some years ago, and was taken great notice of. The spears flew very thick, and about thirty men were wounded. (‘free merchant of India’ in ‘’New South Wales’’, Caledonian Mercury, 26 May 1814.)
| Aboriginal History Vol 33 | |
| Aboriginal History Vol 33 |
Kate Fullagar - Woollarawarre Bennelong: rethinking the tragic narrative |
| Aboriginal History Vol 33 |
Keith Vincent Smith - Bennelong among his people |
| Aboriginal History Vol 33 |
Kate Fullagar - Bennelong in Britain |
| Aboriginal History Vol 33 |
Emma Dortins - The many truths of Bennelong’s tragedy |
| Attenbrow, Valerie |
‘Aboriginal placenames around Port Jackson and Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia Sources and uncertainties’ in Aboriginal Placenames. Naming and Re-naming the Australian Landscape Aboriginal History Monograph 19 Edited by Harold Koch and Luise Hercus ANU E Press 2009 |
| Attenbrow, Valerie |
Sydney's Aboriginal past: investigating the archaeological and historical records, Sydney, UNSW Press, 2002. |
| Dictionary of Sydney |
Contains biographical entries for many of the people mentioned in text |
| Eora | |
| Powell, Michael and Hesline, Rex |
‘Making tribes? Constructing aboriginal tribal entities in Sydney and coastal NSW from the early colonial period to the present.’ Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society |
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