The Roving Party

Last updated
The Roving Party
The Roving Party.jpg
First edition
Author Rohan Wilson
Country Australia
Language English
Genre Western, Historical novel
Publisher Allen & Unwin
Publication date
2011
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages282
ISBN 9781742376530
Followed byTo Name Those Lost 

The Roving Party is a 2011 novel written by Tasmanian author Rohan Wilson. [1] Wilson's first book, it is published by Allen & Unwin. The Roving Party won the 2011 Vogel Award. [2] [3] The novel was also shortlisted for the 2011 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction. [4]

Contents

Plot summary

John Batman, ruthless, singleminded; four convicts, the youngest still only a stripling; Gould, a downtrodden farmhand; two free black trackers; and powerful, educated Black Bill, brought up from childhood as a white man. This is the roving party and their purpose is massacre. With promises of freedom, land grants and money, each is willing to risk his life for the prize. Passing over many miles of tortured country, the roving party searches for Aborigines, taking few prisoners and killing freely, Batman never abandoning the visceral intensity of his hunt. And all the while, Black Bill pursues his personal quarry, the much-feared warrior, Mannalargenna.

Historical basis for novel

Black Bill and Catherine Kennedy

The novel is based on the life of William 'Black Bill' Ponsonby, of whom little survives in the historical record. What is known of William Ponsonby is that he was raised by James Cox of Clarendon, near Nile, in Northern Tasmania. It is unknown how Cox came by an indigenous child but the practice of child abduction was common at the colonial frontier in Tasmania. At some point Ponsonby was baptised and he appears to have worked on Clarendon farm, and became a capable farmer. [5] A man who is highly likely to be Ponsonby is mentioned as a witness to a sexual assault at a farm near Freeman's Reach on the South Esk River in December 1825 [6] and the next mention of him is in his assistance in capturing the Bushranger Thomas Jeffries in December 1826, [7] with local settlers John Batman John Helder Wedge and John Charles Darke. [8] It appears that around this time Ponsonby took up with John Batman as an employed hand.

William Ponsonby went on to assist John Batman with his commission to capture remnants of the Indigenous clans who were attacking settlers in the Ben Lomond district. On September 7, 1829, Ponsonby, in a party of assigned men and mainland Aboriginal men, attacked an indigenous encampment at the Break O'Day Plains [9] (near modern day Fingal) capturing members of the plangermaireener clan as well as killing and wounding several others [10] - the incident described in the novel. At or around this time also met Catherine Kennedy, another baptised Tasmanian Aboriginal raised by settlers at Cross Marsh (now Kempton), in the south of Van Diemens Land, and married her at Batsman's property on 16 August 1830. [11] Shortly afterwards, and due to their success in the aforementioned roving party, John Batman appealed to Governor Arthur to have 100 acres of land granted to William and Catherine as a reward for his service, a controversial proposal at the time. [12] Ponsonby appears to have sought a partner to help run the property but ultimately this land was never granted and was subsequently sold by Batman. [13] [14] [15]

Little more is known of the fate of the couple; however, G.A. Robinson, in his diaries, and John Batman, in his letters, refer to a 'civilised' aboriginal woman at Ben Lomond who was subsequently abducted by hostile Aboriginal clans. James Simpson, police magistrate at Campbell Town wrote in 1831 that, 'Black Kate' left William Ponsonby after a domestic dispute and was 'forcibly taken by the blacks at Ben Lomond', even though she 'spoke nothing of the language'. [16] A similar report in March 1831 described an Aboriginal woman 'brought up by whites' living with two sawyers at 'Stringybark Gully- 6 Miles from Massey's farm' (perhaps under Stringy Bark Tier, near Deddington) - whereupon she was captured when the sawyers were attacked by hostile clansmen. Despite a search party being organised by Massey, it was presumed that she was killed by her abductors . [17]

Subsequently, Robinson reported in his diaries that Catherine Kennedy was killed by Maleteherbargener (probably Moulteherlargenner / Multiyalakina aka Eumarrah [18] an Elder of the Tyerrernotepanner (Stony Creek) Nation. [19]

As to Black Bill, John Glover stated to Robinson in January 1834 that 'Batman's former black absconded and headed a tribe.' [20] but no mention is made of his fate.

John Batman

See the wikipedia entry for John Batman. John Batman was engaged to track and capture the (Tasmanian) Aboriginal at large that were harassing colonial settlers in the South-Esk and Ben Lomond region. He was initially permitted by Lieut-Governor George Arthur to select a party of nine men including two ‘Sydney Aborigines’ and three ticket-of –leave men commissioned to serve three years in the bush, or in the field police, before receiving conditional pardons. The six others might receive tickets of leave after 12 months service as dictated by Batman's appointment as a leader of a Roving Party under Thomas Anstey, Police Magistrate at Oatlands. Anstey was also responsible for the Roving Party led by Gilbert Robertson that had captured 5 Aboriginal people near Swanport on 7 November 1828. Arthur eventually approved a grant of 2000 acres for Batman after one year of service, making the commission a profitable venture for Batman. [21] [22]

The 'Dharug'

Pigeon and John Crook were two Aboriginal men employed by John Batman for the purposes of tracking Indigenous Tasmanians. In the novel they are described as 'Dharug', that is men of the Dharug Nation from the modern day Sydney Basin area. Pigeon and Crook emigrated to Van Diemens Land at Batman's request sometime before September 1829, however they were not Dharug men. Pigeon (Indigenous name Beewurher/Warroba) was a Yuin man from the Shoalhaven area and John Crook (Indigenous name Yunbai) was from the Illawarra or Tharrawal language group in southern NSW. After the success of the operation described in the novel, Pigeon and Crook accompanied Batman back to Sydney for the purposes of procuring more Indigenous men. Ultimately, 7 NSW Indigenous men were employed by Batman for Roving Parties over the 4 years between 1829-1833 and were based at his property at Kingston on the Ben Lomond Rivulet. Command of the NSW men, and further Roving Parties, was taken by Anthony Cottrell, a local constable and pound-keeper, but further successes may have been attributable to the employment of a Tasmanian Indigenous woman karnebutcher or 'Sall' rather than the presence of the NSW men. Pigeon and Crook were also reported to have been recommended land grants adjacent to Kingston but, although plans of the region show their grants, they never took up the land. It appears that Batman sold these allotments, along with William Ponsonby's, to help finance his expedition to Port Phillip and the founding of Melbourne. Due to the discontent of the men, and their perceived lack of efficacy by the colonial government, all of the NSW men were returned to NSW by March 1833. [23]

James Gumm

James Gumm was a convict transported to Van Diemens Land in 1822. [24] By the time of his employment with John Batman he was a'ticket of leave' man and he was employed by John Batman as a general farmhand or for the purposes of capturing hostile Indigenous clanspeople. He had a long relationship with Batman, after the events described in the novel he remained a roving party member under the leadership of Cottrell but probably still residing at Kingston. Gumm accompanied John Batman when he sailed to Port Phillip in the venture to establish a settlement that would eventually become the city of Melbourne. [25]

Awards and nominations

Related Research Articles

Aboriginal Tasmanians

The Aboriginal Tasmanians are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and erroneously, thought of as being an extinct cultural and ethnic group that had been intentionally exterminated by white settlers. Contemporary figures (2016) for the number of people of Tasmanian Aboriginal descent vary according to the criteria used to determine this identity, ranging from 6,000 to over 23,000.

History of Tasmania

The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the most recent ice age when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation in the 19th century.

John Batman Australian settler and explorer

John Batman was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer, best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne.

Frenchmans Cap Mountain in Western Tasmania, located in Wilderness World Heritage area

Frenchmans Cap is a mountain in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is situated in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.

Ben Lomond (Tasmania)

Ben Lomond is a mountain in the north-east of Tasmania, Australia.

Deddington, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Deddington is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Northern Midlands in the Central LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 34 kilometres (21 mi) east of the town of Longford. The 2016 census has a population of 121 for the state suburb of Deddington. The town is situated on the Nile River and lies in the foothills of Ben Lomond.

South Esk River

The South Esk River, the longest river in Tasmania, is a major perennial river located in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia.

North Esk River

The North Esk River is a major perennial river located in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia.

Evandale, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Evandale is an historic town in northern Tasmania, Australia. It sits on the banks of the South Esk River, 18 km south of Launceston. Named after early colonial explorer and Surveyor-General George Evans, the town is famous for its late-Georgian and early-Victorian buildings with relatively untouched streetscape, a popular Sunday market and as a host to the annual World Penny Farthing bicycle Championships. At the 2016 census, Evandale had a population of 1,345.

Tasmanian emu Extinct subspecies of bird

The Tasmanian emu is an extinct subspecies of the emu. It was found in Tasmania, where it had become isolated during the Late Pleistocene. As opposed to the other insular emu taxa, the King Island emu and the Kangaroo Island emu, the population on Tasmania was sizable, meaning that there were no marked effects of small population size as in the other two isolates.

Campbell Town, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway. At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 772.

Stacks Bluff

The Stacks Bluff is a peak in northeast Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is situated on the Ben Lomond plateau.

Tasmanian Gothic

Tasmanian Gothic is a genre of Tasmanian literature that merges the traditions of Gothic fiction with the history and natural features of Tasmania, an island state south of the Australian continent. Tasmanian Gothic has inspired works in other artistic media, including theatre and film.

Mount Barrow

Mount Barrow is a mountain in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia. With an elevation of 1,406 metres (4,613 ft) above sea level, the mountain is located 22 kilometres (14 mi) east-north-east of Launceston. The mountain habitat is a mixture of temperate old growth rainforest, subalpine and alpine landscapes.

Tooms Lake Town in Tasmania, Australia

Tooms Lake is a rural locality and a lake in the local government areas (LGA) of Northern Midlands, Southern Midlands, and Glamorgan-Spring Bay in the Central and South-east LGA regions of Tasmania. The locality is about 47 kilometres (29 mi) north of the town of Triabunna. The 2016 census has a population of nil for the state suburb of Tooms Lake.

Norman James Brian Plomley regarded by some as one of the most respected and scholarly of Australian historians and, until his death, in Launceston, the doyen of Tasmanian Aboriginal scholarship.

Elizabeth River (Tasmania)

The Elizabeth River is a minor perennial river located in the Somerset Land District, in the Midlands region of Tasmania, Australia.

Luggenemenener

Luggenemenener was an early nineteenth-century Tasmanian Aborigine woman, who lived in the early 1800s. She endured the Black Wars and risked her life to protect her young son from a genocide of her people. Her homeland was in north-east Tasmania's Ben Lomond region. According to the French explorer Nicolas Baudin, Tasmania was originally known as Lutruwita.

Tarenorerer, also known as Walyer, Waloa, or Walloa, was a rebel leader of the Indigenous Australians in Tasmania. Between 1828 and 1830, she led a guerrilla band of indigenous people of both sexes against the British colonists in Tasmania during the Black War.

Rohan Wilson is an Australian novelist who was born and raised in Launceston, Tasmania, where he currently lives.

References

  1. ↑ Booktopia interview with Rohan Wilson
  2. ↑ The Australian/Vogel Literary Award
  3. ↑ Theconversation.com
  4. ↑ Premier.vic.gov.au
  5. ↑ "Colonial Times (Hobart)". 8 Oct 1830.
  6. ↑ Gough, Julie (2009-10-24). "Manuscript 3251: Van Diemen's Land 1821-1862 Original accounts from frontier Tasmania". Manuscript 3251. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Hobart Town Gazette". 28 Jan 1826.
  8. ↑ von Stiegliz, Karl Rawdon (10 April 1956). Six Forgotten Bushrangers of Van Diemens Land (PDF). Birchalls Launceston: Self-published. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "The Hobart Town Courier". 3 Oct 1839.
  10. ↑ The Hobart-Town Courier, 12 September 1929, p2
  11. ↑ Morgan, Sharon (2003). Land Settlement in Early Tasmania: Creating an Antipodean England. Cambridge University Press. p. 159.
  12. ↑ "Colonial Times (Hobart)". 1 Oct 1830.
  13. ↑ "Colonial Times (Hobart)". 8 Oct 1830.
  14. ↑ Morgan, Sharon (2003). Land Settlement in Early Tasmania: Creating an Antipodean England. Cambridge University Press. p. 159.
  15. ↑ Moore-Robinson, J. (17 Oct 1934). "The Life of John Batman". The Mercury (Tasmania).
  16. ↑ Plomley (Ed.), N.J.B. (Brian) (2008). Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals of George Augustus Robinson. Quintus. QVMAG. p. 111.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ "Launceston Advertiser". 14 Mar 1831.
  18. ↑ Michael Roe (2005). "Eumarrah (1798–1832)". Eumarrah - Biography. Australian Dictionary of Biography . Australian National University . Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  19. ↑ Plomley (Ed.), N.J.B. (Brian) (2008). Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals of George Augustus Robinson. Quintus. QVMAG. pp. 579, 1041.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ Plomley (Ed.), N.J.B. (Brian) (2008). Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals of George Augustus Robinson. Quintus. QVMAG.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ "SEARCH PAGE: List of immigrants to VDL/Tasmania before 1905 with country of departure or ancestry beyond the UK & Ireland (Ongoing draft)". List of immigrants to VDL. 2010-05-10. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  22. ↑ "List of immigrants to VDL/Tasmania before 1905 with country of departure or ancestry beyond the UK & Ireland (ongoing draft)". BEYOND THE PALE - world immigrants to Van Diemen's Land before 1900. 2010-05-10. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  23. ↑ Plomley (Ed.), N.J.B. (Brian) (2008). Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals of George Augustus Robinson. Quintus. QVMAG. pp. 505–507.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ "Convict Records: James Gumm". Convict Records. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  25. ↑ Plomley (Ed.), N.J.B. (Brian) (2008). Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals of George Augustus Robinson. Quintus. QVMAG. pp. 506–7.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.