Tragedy

The stay in England was not a happy one for Bennelong and Yemmerawanne, with both men being afflicted with bouts of illness. Far from their families and Wangal country, they became increasingly home-sick and despondent. Yemmerawanne died at Eltham and was buried on foreign soil. Weak and depressed, Bennelong returned to Sydney with the new Governor, Captain John Hunter.

 

Quotes


The two natives of New South Wales at present in this metropolis, are in appearance scarcely human; they continue to reside in Mount Street, Berkley square, in the neighbourhood of which they are to be seen daily; they cannot walk without the support of sticks, and appear to have lost all that agility they are said formerly to have possessed; one of them appears much emaciated; notwithstanding they are indulged in every inclination, they seem constantly dejected, and every effort to make them laugh has for many months past been ineffectual. The Observer, 29 September 1793

 - The Observer, 29 September 1793

Research

The stay in England was not a happy one with both men being afflicted with illness and home-sickness.  The London Observer noted in September 1793 that:

The two natives of New South Wales at present in this metropolis, are in appearance scarcely human; they continue to reside in Mount Street, Berkley square, in the neighbourhood of which they are to be seen daily; they cannot walk without the support of sticks, and appear to have lost all that agility they are said formerly to have possessed; one of them appears much emaciated; notwithstanding they are indulged in every inclination, they seem constantly dejected, and every effort to make them laugh has for many months past been ineffectua.[1] Yemmerrawanne’s died on 18 May 1794 at Eltham of a lung ailment.  The London newspapers briefly noted his death, adding, ‘His companion pines much for his loss’.[2]

Weakened by illness, Bennelong boarded HMS Reliance at Chatham on 22 July 1794 and remained there as a ‘Supernumerary’ ‘borne for victuals only’. The ship, under the command of Henry Waterhouse, did not leave port until 2 March 1795.  Bennelong’s fellow-passengers included Matthew Flinders, George Bass, John Hunter (the new Governor of New South Wales) and master shipwright Daniel Paine.  After treatment by the acting ship’s surgeon, George Bass, Bennelong soon recovered. During the course of the voyage Bennelong provide Eora words to both Flinders and Paine.

[1] Observer 29 September 1793

[2] London Chronicle, London, 27 May 1794; Morning Chronicle, 28 May 1794; Morning Post, 29 May 1794

Links

Primary Texts
Blackburn
Bradley
Clark
Collins/1
Collins/2
Dawes – language notebooks
Dumont d’Urville/1
Dumont d’Urville/2
Fowell
Hunter
Johnson
King
Nagle
Phillip/2
Phillip/3
Smyth
Southwell
Tench
Turnbull/3
Waterhouse
White
Worgan
Secondary Texts
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’ inAboriginal Placenames.Naming and Re-naming the Australian LandscapeAboriginal 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