Maria (brigantine)

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Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
Name:Maria
Builder: Dublin
Launched: 1823
Fate: Wrecked off Cape Jaffa, 1840
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 135, [1] or 136 [2] (bm)
Length: 70.19 ft (21.4 m) [2]
Beam: 20.99 ft (6.4 m) [2]
Draught: 10.9 ft (3.3 m) [2]
Sail plan: Brigantine
Armament: Single cannon
Notes: Passenger ship

Maria was a brigantine launched in Ireland in 1823. She wrecked in the Colony of South Australia during July 1840 somewhere near the current site of the town of Kingston SE, South Australia. Aboriginal Australians on the Coorong massacred all 25 survivors of the wreck. A punitive expedition, acting under instructions from Governor Gawler that were later found to be unlawful, summarily hanged two presumed culprits.

Brigantine Vessel with two masts, the forward of which is square rigged, the main mast rigged a gaff mainsail and at least a square topsail

A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail. The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.

Aboriginal Australians term used to refer to some groups of Indigenous Australians

Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland, Tasmania, and often the Tiwi people. This group contains many distinct peoples that have developed across Australia for over 50,000 years. These peoples have a broadly shared, though complex, genetic history, but it is only in the last two hundred years that they have been defined and started to self identify as a single group. The definition of the term "Aboriginal" has changed over time and place, with the importance of family lineage, self identification and community acceptance all being of varying importance. In the past, Aboriginal Australians lived over large sections of the continental shelf and were isolated on many of the smaller offshore islands when the land was inundated at the start of the inter-glacial. However, they are considered distinct from the Torres Strait Islander people, despite extensive cultural exchange.

Contents

History

Background

Maria was launched from Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, in 1823. [2] The data below are from Lloyd's Register (LR).

Grand Canal Dock

Grand Canal Dock is a Southside area near the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. It is located on the border of eastern Dublin 2 and the westernmost part of Ringsend in Dublin 4, surrounding the Grand Canal Docks, an enclosed harbour where the Grand Canal comes to the River Liffey. The area has undergone significant redevelopment since 2000, as part of the Dublin Docklands area redevelopment project.

Lloyds Register company

Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and business services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and engineering. The organisation dates to 1760. Its stated aims are to enhance the safety of life, property, and the environment, by helping its clients to ensure the quality construction and operation of critical infrastructure.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1825W.LawsonJ.GrayDublin–BarbadosLR [1]
1830J.Brooks
D.Levey		MartinLiverpool–GibraltarLR; repairs in 1827 and 1828

Maria no longer appears in LR in 1835 and subsequently. She may have transferred her registry to Australia.

Final voyage

Maria left Port Adelaide on 26 June 1840 for Hobart Town, Van Diemens Land, with 25 persons on board, including the captain and his wife. The ship's complement consisted of Captain William Ettrick Smith, his wife, Samuel Denham and Mrs Denham (née Muller) and their five children (Thomas, Andrew, Walter, Fanny, and Anna), and Mrs York (sister of Mr. Denham), who had recently been widowed, and her infant. Also aboard were James Strutt, previously with Lonsdale's Livery Stables and who had been hired as Mrs Denham's servant, George Young Green and Mrs Green, Thomas Daniel and Mrs Daniel, Mr. Murray, plus the ship's mate and crew: John Tegg, John Griffiths, John Deggan, James Biggins, John Cowley, Thomas Rea, George Leigh and James Parsons. During the voyage, Maria foundered on the Margaret Brock Reef—which is between Cape Willoughby and Cape Jaffa. [2]

Cape Willoughby South Australia

Cape Willoughby is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the east end of the Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island in the gazetted locality of Willoughby about 22 kilometres south east of the town of Penneshaw.

Cape Jaffa South Australia

Cape Jaffa is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located at the south end of Lacepede Bay on the state's south east coast about 20 kilometres south west of the town centre of Kingston SE. The cape is described as being "a low sandy point" with "its sea face is about One nautical mile (1.9 km) long" and having a "wooded range rises near the S[outh] part of the cape and reaches a height of 77 metres at Mount Benson, about 8.5 nautical miles S[outh] E[ast]". A settlement known as King's Camp in some sources and as Cape Jaffa in other sources is located about 0.5 nautical miles to the north west of the cape. This settlement includes a jetty fitted with a navigation aid and a marina. The southern coastline of the cape forms part of the Bernouilli Conservation Reserve.

Massacre

Major O'Halloran's expedition to the Coorong, August 1840. Major O'Halloran's expedition to the Coorong, August 1840 - Google Art Project.jpg
Major O'Halloran's expedition to the Coorong, August 1840.

The passengers and crew safely reached land and commenced trekking the Coorong coast towards Encounter Bay, some 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the north. According to a later account,[ clarification needed ] around 60 kilometres (37 mi) from the wreck, in company with some friendly Aboriginal Australians, they came across a track and at once had a dispute as to whether or not to follow it, and decided to split up: Captain Smith and the crew took to the track and most of the passengers continued along the shoreline. Two days later some of this latter group split from the party in the hope of rejoining the Captain. Around this time they were attacked and killed by a group of the Milmenrura (or "Big Murray Tribe", now known as Tanganekald, also known as Tenkinyra), stripped of their possessions and buried in the sand. [3] Such detail of how the Maria survivors came to be widely separated into three groups can only be supposition, as none lived to tell the tale.

Encounter Bay bay

Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baudin, the commander of the Baudin expedition of 1800–03. It is the site of both the mouth of the River Murray and the regional city of Victor Harbor. It is one of four ‘historic bays’ located on the South Australian coast.

Response

Word of the murders of multiple white people by natives reached Adelaide and W. J. S. Pullen. A group of sailors and three Aboriginal interpreters set out to investigate on 28 July, and on 30 July reached a massacre site, recovering two wedding rings. On 1 August, they encountered a group of Aboriginal Australians in possession of blankets and clothing. They returned to Adelaide with the rings, which were identified as belonging to Mrs York and Mrs Denham. [4]

William Pullen British explorer

Vice-Admiral William John Samuel Pullen was a Royal Navy officer who was the first European to sail along the north coast of Alaska from the Bering Strait to the Mackenzie River in Canada. His 1849 journey was one of the many unsuccessful expeditions to rescue Sir John Franklin and explore the Northwest Passage.

Major O'Halloran was commissioned to investigate further and left Adelaide on 15 August. Reinforcements were called for and on 22 August, O'Halloran left Goolwa with a mounted troop, including Alexander Tolmer, Captain Henry Nixon, Charles Bonney, and William Pullen. They followed the coast, while boats sailed parallel. On 23 August the force ran into a number of Aboriginal Australians and rounded up 13 men, two boys, and 50 women and children. He shackled the men and set the others free, though they voluntarily remained nearby. [5]

Thomas Shuldham O'Halloran was the first Police Commissioner and first Police Magistrate of South Australia.

Alexander Tolmer Australian police chief

Alexander Tolmer was a South Australian police officer and Police Commissioner. He migrated to the new colony in 1840 and was made sub-inspector by Governor George Gawler.

Charles Bonney Australian politician

Charles Bonney was a pioneer and politician in Australia.

In his report, O'Halloran stated that his captives yielded up the man who had killed a whaler named Roach some two years previously, and pointed out where one of the Maria murderers could be found. O'Halloran pronounced a death sentence on them. Two Aboriginal Australians who tried to escape by swimming were shot and wounded. Maria's log-book was recovered in one of their wurleys, as were numerous articles of clothing, some blood-stained, and other incriminating evidence. At 3.00pm on 25 August, the two condemned men were summarily hanged from sheaoaks near the graves. [5]

O'Halloran was not exceeding his brief; he was following his instructions from Governor Gawler, whose instructions were:

"...when to your conviction you have identified any number, not exceeding three, of the actual murderers...you will there explain to the blacks the nature of your conduct ...and you will deliberately and formally cause sentence of death to be executed by shooting or hanging". [6]

In Australia, little blame was apportioned to O'Halloran for his part in this affair; not so for Governor Gawler, who was severely criticised by sections of the press, notably the Register . [7] In London, the Colonial Office was of the opinion that both Gawler and O'Halloran were liable to be tried for murder. [7] The Aborigines' Protection Society roundly condemned Gawler's actions. [7] The Society also questioned the legality of the actions; the Chief Justice, though, was of the opinion that South Australian law could not be applied, because the tribe had not pledged allegiance to the Crown. [8] The controversy may have played a part in Gawler's recall some months later.

On 10 April 1841, members of the Tenkinyra tribe guided Richard Penny to a spot where they promised the remains of a drowned white man were buried. He believed it would be Captain Collet Barker, who was speared to death in the same area on 30 April 1831. They found instead the bodies of four of the five from Maria still unaccounted for; one drowned and four bashed to death. The Aboriginals told Penny that the attack had followed the shipwrecked party's refusal to hand over clothing that they had considered their just entitlement for guiding and sustaining the group and carrying the children across their land. The Maria party had promised plenty of blankets and clothing from Adelaide after they returned, but the Aboriginals started to help themselves to the goods and a fight ensued, ending in the killing of the shipwrecked party. [9]

Afterwards

Maria's hull was never found, though pieces of wreckage washed ashore at Lacepede Bay. A cannon reported to have belonged to the Maria and which "was probably carried for the look of the thing or for signalling" was purchased from the Lee family of Middleton by D. H. Cudmore around 1914 as a garden feature for his home "Adare" in Victor Harbor, South Australia, then as a family tradition fired to welcome each New Year. [10] A plaque commemorating the wreck of Maria was unveiled at Kingston SE on 18 February 1966. [11]

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

The Kaurna people are a group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. Pronunciation of the word "Kaurna" varies slightly by the background and origin of the speaker; the most common is English, sometimes, native [ɡ̊auɲa] or, less often,. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna culture and language were almost completely destroyed within a few decades of the European settlement of South Australia in 1836. However, extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both language and culture.

George Gawler Governor of South Australia (1838-1841)

Lieutenant-Colonel George Gawler, KH, was the second Governor of South Australia: from 17 October 1838 until 15 May 1841.

Adelaide Plains South Australia

The Adelaide Plains is a plain in South Australia lying between the coast on the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east. The southernmost tip of the plain is in the southern seaside suburbs of Adelaide around Brighton at the foot of the O'Halloran Hill escarpment with the south Hummocks Range and Wakefield River roughly approximating the northern boundary.

The Aboriginal people of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, known as the Gunai/Kurnai people, fought against the European invasion of their land. The technical superiority of the Europeans' weapons gave the Europeans an absolute advantage. At least 300 people were murdered, but other figures estimate up to 1,000; however, it is extremely difficult to be certain about the real death toll as so few records still exist or were even made at the time. Diseases introduced from the 1820s by European sealers and whalers also caused a rapid decline in Aboriginal numbers. The following list was compiled from such things as letters and diaries.

The following lists events that happened during 1840 in Australia.

Matthew Moorhouse Australian politician

Matthew Moorhouse was a mass murderer, an English pioneer in Australia, pastoralist, politician, and Protector of Aborigines in South Australia. He led the Rufus River massacre, where he and his men murdered 30-40 Maraura men, women and children.

Peacock & Son was a tanning and wool-brokering business in the early days of South Australia. Three members of the family were notable public figures: William Peacock was a successful businessman and one of the colony's first parliamentarians. His eldest son Joseph Peacock carried on the family business and was a member of parliament. His youngest son Caleb Peacock was a member of parliament and Mayor of Adelaide from 1875 to 1877, the first such born in the Colony.

Australian frontier wars series of conflicts

The Australian frontier wars is a term applied by some historians to violent conflicts between Indigenous Australians and white settlers during the British colonisation of Australia. The first fighting took place several months after the landing of the First Fleet in January 1788 and the last clashes occurred in the early 20th century, as late as 1934. A minimum of 40,000 Indigenous Australians and between 2,000 and 2,500 settlers died in the wars. However, recent scholarship on the frontier wars in what is now the state of Queensland indicates that Indigenous fatalities may have been significantly higher. Indeed, while battles and massacres occurred in a number of locations across Australia, they were particularly bloody in Queensland, owing to its comparatively larger pre-contact Indigenous population.

Henry Inman (police commander) Australian police chief

Henry Inman (1816–1895) was an English cavalry officer, pioneer of South Australia, founder and first commander of the South Australia Police, overlander and Anglican clergyman.

Water Witch was a single-masted vessel rigged as a cutter built during 1835 in Van Diemen's Land and sunk in 1842 whilst moored in the River Murray at Moorundie, south of Blanchetown in South Australia (SA). Her wreck site was discovered in 1982 and received statutory protection as a historic shipwreck in 1983. The wreck site was the subject of an underwater survey in March 1984. She is notable for being the first European vessel to enter the River Murray via its mouth, her role in the charting of the lower reaches of the River Murray including Lake Alexandrina whilst under the command of William Pullen and her association with Edward John Eyre.

The Rufus River Massacre was a massacre of Aboriginals that took place in 1841 along the Rufus River near Wentworth, Australia. It was the result of six months of guerrilla warfare by the local Aboriginal people (Maraura), who blocked an overlander route through their land. The original cause of much of the trouble with the Aboriginal groups was the Europeans engaging in sexual relations with the women without giving the food and clothing promised first. That initiated an escalating cycle of conflicts, which eventually included the Aboriginal groups stealing thousands of European sheep.

James Rigby Beevor (1811–1849) was a pioneer colonist and pastoralist of South Australia and a murder victim of the Australian frontier wars. Mount Beevor in South Australia is named after him.

Rapid was the brig that brought William Light's surveying party to the new colony of South Australia. She was wrecked in 1841.

James Collins Hawker

James Collins Hawker (1821-1901) was an English-born explorer, surveyor, diarist and pastoralist of South Australia, aide-de-camp to Governor George Gawler, and subsequently Comptroller of H.M. Customs at Port Adelaide.

The Aboriginal People of South Australia are the aboriginal people who lived in South Australia prior to European colonization of Australia: their descendants and their ancestors. There is much debate and controversy in identifying the names, territorial boundaries, and language groups of the Aboriginal peoples of South Australia. Post-colonial history is also dogged by poor record keeping and deliberate obfuscation. This article should be taken as a rough guide only about the Aboriginal People.

Avenue Range Station massacre

The Avenue Range Station massacre was the murder of a group of Aboriginal Australians by white settlers during the Australian frontier wars. It occurred in about September 1848 at Avenue Range, a sheep station in the southeast of the Colony of South Australia.

Dundalli was an Aboriginal lawman who figured prominently in accounts of conflict between European settlers and indigenous aboriginal peoples in the area of Brisbane in South East Queensland. Traditionally described as a murderer, savage and terrorist, he is now thought variously to have been a guerilla leader or to have coordinated a decade-long resistance to white colonization the area. He was hung publicly in Brisbane in 1855 by order of the Sheriff of New South Wales.

Governor Gawler was built in 1840. This made her the first sailing vessel built in South Australia. She traded between Port Lincoln and Port Adelaide, but also carried cargo and passengers to Melbourne and Hobart Town, including soldiers, police, criminals, an executioner, as well as numerous civilians. When she wrecked in 1847, she was the first South Australian ship to be wrecked.

References

  1. 1 2 LR (1825), Seq.№M284.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Shipwreck - Maria". Australian National Shipwreck Database . Australian Government. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Noble, Captain John 1970), Hazards of the Sea: Three Centuries of Challenge in Southern Waters, Sydney: Angus and Robertson. ISBN   0 207 12070 6
  4. ↑ "Supposed Wreck and Murder at Encounter Bay". The Southern Australian . 14 August 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 30 September 2018– via Trove. Pullen's journal, 28 July to 3 August.
  5. 1 2 "Late Shipwreck and Murders at Encounter Bay". The Sydney Herald . 8 October 1840. p. 3. Retrieved 30 September 2018– via Trove.
  6. ↑ "Major O'Halloran's Instructions and Execution of two Natives at Encounter Bay". The Southern Australian . 15 September 1840. p. 3. Retrieved 30 September 2018– via Trove.
  7. 1 2 3 Foster R., Nettelbeck A. (2011), Out of the Silence, p. 27-32 (Wakefield Press).
  8. ↑ "A Famous Wreck". The Evening News . 5 October 1895. p. 1 Supplement: Evening News Supplement. Retrieved 29 May 2013– via Trove. This reference states that the bodies were stuffed down wombat holes, where others coyly refer to "shallow graves"; it is also one of the few to touch on the contentious possibility of cannibalism.
  9. ↑ "The Milmenrura Murders". The Southern Australian . 23 April 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 30 September 2018– via Trove.
  10. ↑ "From Rosaline's Notebook". The Mail . Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 10 February 1934. p. 16. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  11. ↑ National Trust of South Australia. Kingston Branch (1966), Souvenir of the occasion of the unveiling of the plaque commemorating the loss of the brigantine "Maria", 1840 : Friday, February 18, 1966, Kingston Branch of the National Trust of South Australia, retrieved 23 November 2015
  12. ↑ H. A. Lindsay (1975). "Ch. 11: Aborigines in the Murray Valley". In G. V. Lawrence and Graeme Kinross Smith (ed.). The Book of the Murray. Rigby Publishers. ISBN   0 85179 917 5.

Further reading

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