Bennelong
Depiction of Bennelong with the Sydney Opera House, National Aboriginal Day Magazine, 1981, artist unidentified.
Woollarawarre Bennelong (born c. 1764, died 3 January 1813) was a diplomat, politician, and elder of the Eora people, who were the original inhabitants of Sydney Cove, Australia (Broome 2015). Bennelong is largely known for his relations with the British colonizers, most notably Governor Arthur Phillip. Bennelong and Philip were able to develop a relationship despite their meeting through Philip’s abduction of Bennelong.
Early life and family
Bennelong was born in approximately 1764 along the south shore of the Parramatta River (Australia Museum 2021). There is little known about his life before his contact with the colonizers. He was a member of the Eora people, a fishing and hunting society who are the original inhabitants of the shores of present-day Sydney (Broome 2020). Bennelong had five sisters, two of whom Bennelong arranged marriages for. Bennelong arranged these marriages primarily to forge political ties with neighboring Indigenous tribes (Smith 2009). Bennelong’s first wife died before his abduction, most likely from smallpox. Another wife Barangaroo, whom he may have been courting when abducted, gave birth to a daughter of Bennelong who did not survive infancy (Smith 2009). Bennelong would abduct his third wife, Goroobarooboollo when she was approximately seventeen years of age following a duel with his rival Mety from the Gweagal people. She would remain with Bennelong until his voyage to Britain (Smith 2009). Upon his return, he fathered a son, Dicky, with another unidentified woman. Dicky briefly married, but he would succumb to illness, childless, at the age of nineteen (Smith, 2009). Bennelong’s final wife, Boorong, is buried with Bennelong at Kissing Point (Smith 2009).
Sydney Cove, Port Jackson. Watercolor painting by William Bradley c. 1788
First Contact
Australia had had contact with European explorers as early as 1605, but it was after James Cook’s claim at Possession Island in 1770 that the British sent a fleet in search of a base in the Pacific and a penal colony in 1786 (Broome 2020). On 26 January 1788, the First Fleet under the leadership of Governor Arthur Phillip landed in Sydney Cove. The Eora people responded, angrily shaking their spears at the fleet and observing them upon landing (Broome 2020). For the next two years, despite minor contacts, the Eora people mostly avoided the strange, pale invaders (Broome 2020). Phillip’s orders from the crown were initially to contact and maintain friendly relations with any Indigenous peoples he may encounter (Karskens 2016). These orders, however, were subject to the objectives and aims of the colonizers. In Grace Karskens’ article “Phillip and the Eora” Karskens quotes Watkin Tench, “Our first object was to win their affections, and our next was to convince them of the superiority we possessed: for without the latter, the former we know would be of little importance.” (2016: 43-44).
Kidnapping and Revenge
Phillip was unable to convince any of the Eora to come in willingly to establish communications. By the end of the first year, Phillip was becoming more desperate with crops failing in unfamiliar soil and his complete lack of knowledge about the intentions of the Eora people (Broome 2020). Phillip then decided to take more drastic actions by kidnapping members of the Eora people to establish contact. His first attempt failed when the man he kidnapped quickly died of smallpox, which was ravaging the First Australian inhabitants since the arrival of the colonizers (Karskens 2016). As skirmishes between the Eora and the conquests escalated Phillip again decided to employ kidnapping tactics and succeeded in taking two warrior Eora men, Coleby and Bennelong (Karskens 2016). Coleby would quickly escape but Bennelong remained in the Governor’s house for six months (Broome 2020).
Bennelong and Phillip strategically learned from each other during this time. Bennelong learned limited English phrases, discussed Eora customs, and entertained the colonizers through imitation (Perkins and Cole 2008). During the entirety of his stay, Bennelong was held captive. Despite this Phillip and Bennelong developed a close relationship referring to each other as “father” and “son” respectively (Karskens 2016). When the chain was finally removed from Bennelong’s ankle in April 1790, he summoned a guard under the guise of illness. When the guard took Bennelong outside, Bennelong removed his English attire and disappeared into the bush (Perkins and Cole 2008).
With Bennelong back among the Eora, Phillip had lost what he hoped would be his intermediary. There remained no contact for the next four months. Some scholars attribute this to Eora law which required retribution for Bennelong’s kidnapping (Karskens 2016). Phillip was finally invited to a feast by the Eora. Upon his arrival and after friendly greetings between Phillip and Bennelong, an Eora warrior threw a spear into the shoulder of Arthur Phillip. Panic ensued as Phillip was taken back to the settlement at Sydney Cove, but Phillip refused to retaliate (Broome 2020). This is seen as an indication that Phillip understood his punishment to some extent and following the spearing relations between Eora and the colonizers were re-established, with the Eora as the initiators (Karskens 2016). Bennelong and Phillip would resume their close relationship, with Bennelong requesting that Phillip build a British-style cabin at what is now Bennelong Point, the site of the Sydney Opera House (Dortins 2018). Philip obliged Bennelong’s wish and had the cabin built.
Above: Captain Arthur Phillip, oilpainting by Francis Wheatley, c. 1786
Below: The Spearing of Arthur Phillip, Artist Unknown, c.1790
Portrait of Bennelong, a Native of New Holland, Artist unknown, c. 1810
Journey to Britain
Over the next two years, Bennelong spent his time with the Eora people and with Phillip at Government House. Relations with colonizers and First Australians began to deteriorate during these years, and eventually, Arthur Phillip decided to return to Britain (Fullagar 2009). Bennelong had been turning up to Government House with young men who were either soon to be or recently promoted to warrior status within the Eora community (Fullagar 2009). One of these young men was Yemmerawanne, the young man who would accompany Bennelong on his upcoming voyage to Britain (Fullagar 2008). Phillip had proposed bringing a Native Australian back to England as early as 1791, and on 10 December 1792 Phillip, Bennelong, Yemmerawanne, a handful of freed convicts, kangaroos and dingoes set off on the HMS Atlantic destined for Britain (Fullagar 2009).
Bennelong would arrive in London in May of 1783 to a reception much smaller than the welcome for Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Oceania that had preceded him. This is partially evidenced by an absence of a meeting with King George III which other prominent Indigenous translators and diplomats had received upon their visit to London (Fullagar 2008). Further evidence of Britain’s indifference to Bennelong and Yemmerawanne is the amount of press coverage they received compared to the front-page stories of their Indigenous predecessors. There are less than a handful of newspaper articles dedicated to the travelers from Botany Bay, and most of what is known of their time in Britain comes from their expense account kept by Arthur Phillip to ensure reimbursement from the crown (Fullagar 2008). The Indigenous Australian travelers spent the first five months in London, provided with an array of English clothes, and waited upon by a servant. While in the city they attended the theater, visited several landmarks, and even attended Warren Hasting’s infamous trial (Fullagar 2008). After London, Bennelong and Yemmerawanne moved to Eltham near Greenwich, most likely due to a combination of Arthur Phillip’s navy contacts, Temmerawanne’s failing health, and the presence of Lord Sydney, the man whose Bennelong’s homeland was now named for (Fullagar 2008).
Return to Australia and Death
Yemmerawanne would succumb to illness and die in Eltham on 18 May 1794 (Smith 2009:18). Following his compatriot’s death, Bennelong wished to return home and secured a spot aboard the HMS Reliance which embarked for Australia in February 1795 (Fullagar 2008). He arrived in September 1795 after nearly 3 years away from his homeland, half of that at sea or port (Smith 2009). Tensions between Indigenous people and the colonizers had heightened since Bennelong’s departure. Upon his return, he disappointed many of the colonizers who hoped he would reject his culture by returning to his people. He spent a limited amount of time at Government House and in Sydney as did many other Aboriginal people, but he also married and spent much of his time as a respected elder of the Eora at Parramatta (Smith 2009).
Bennelong passed away on 2 January 1813 on the north shore of the Parramatta River (Smith 2009). His cause of death is unknown but his numerous wounds from years of payback and skirmishes as an Eora warrior and his heavy alcohol use late in his life were likely contributors (Smith 2009). Bennelong was buried next to one of his wives, Boorong, at Kissing Point near the river that separates the land on which he lived and the land on which he was born (Smith 2009).
Yemmerawanne's Grave in Greenwich, England
Photo courtesy: https://www.londownunder.uk/aboriginal/i/20562268/bennelongs-friend
Bennelong's Grave in Sydney, Australia Photo: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
Above: Advertisement for the Bangarra Dance Theater's production of Bennelong, photo courtesy of: https://meetmeattheopera.com/free-stream-sydney-opera-house-bangarra-dance-theatre-bennelong/
Below: Australian Children's Book, artwork by Bern Emmerichs
Legacy of evolving narratives and historiographies
The story surrounding Bennelong, particularly the years after his return from Britain, has evolved in recent years from portraying him as a broken man between two worlds, to a man doing his best for his people to adapt to a drastically changing environment. Many colonizers had become embittered towards Indigenous Australians by the time Bennelong had returned from Britain. This is reflected in their writings and particularly in Bennelong’s obituary (Smith 2009). Thus, the original narrative emerged that Bennelong returned a broken alcoholic with a home among neither the colonizers nor the Eora. As late as 1997 there was even Aboriginal literature that supported this version of Bennelong’s story (Smith 2009).
In the later 19th century Social Darwinism began to shadow a narrative of Bennelong that fit in with the notion of an inferior race naturally declining into extinction. Emotions towards the description that Bennelong’s fate was common in the dying out of an inferior were that of regret, but with certainty that the strongest had survived (Dortins 2018). This outlook persisted largely until the end of World War II which resulted in a widespread rejection of eugenics and Social Darwinism. In the mid-1940s two works of historical fiction provide a look at how the story of Bennelong was viewed mid-19th century. Eleanor Dark wrote The Timeless Land from several different perspectives including that of Bennelong. While Dark may have been ahead of her time in using the perspective of First Australians, her writing of Bennelong is skewed with stereotypes and paternalism (Padmore and Gardiner 2020). Ernestine Hill’s My Love Must Wait is a historical fiction that follows the life of Matthew Flinders, and her depiction of Bennelong and Indigenous Australians is much more overt in its racism and paternalism (Padmore and Gardiner 2020). In both cases, Bennelong is depicted as childlike. Most recently, the story of Bennelong’s penchant for alcohol has been used, “to imply that Aboriginal people’s ‘problems’ are self-inflicted.” (Dortins 2020: 126). Since alcohol was introduced to First Australians by the colonizers, a stereotype has persisted portraying Aboriginal people as helpless to the evils of alcohol, and unable to consume intoxicating beverages responsibly. Even though this view has dissipated recently, “the ongoing narration of Bennelong’s story as a cultural and an alcoholic tragedy carries a persistent implication that transculturation is analogous to a shameful cultural addiction,” (Dortins 2020: 126).
In the 21st century scholars and historians have made efforts to reexamine primary sources and archive material, considering colonial attitudes toward Indigenous people. Historians Emma Dortins and Keith Vincent Smith have provided solid evidence that Bennelong died as a respected elder of the Eora tribe (Padmore and Gardiner2 020). Considering the perspective of colonizers and the records of Bennelong’s kin Keith Smith concludes that Bennelong intentionally distanced himself from the British after seeing the cruelty of their world (Smith 2009). Bennelong returned to lead a tribe over one hundred strong, married twice, had a son, participated in numerous revenge battles, and died amongst his kin as a respected elder (Smith 2009). Bennelong did use alcohol, but Dortins and Smith both prove that this monolith of an identity does not fully define the man. He was a skilled politician and diplomat, and worked tirelessly to secure “an enduring reciprocal relationship with the British,” (Smith 2009: 24). In 2017 Bennelong was performed by the Bangarra Dance Theater at the Sydney Opera House, the point where Bennelong had Phillip build him a cabin over 120 years prior.
“The trajectory of these representations of early encounters between Europeans and Indigenous peoples indicates that the processes of colonization and decolonization, the ways in which real people are portrayed, and Australia’s quest for reconciliation with its violent pasts, continue to central to the stories and future of the country.” (Padmore and Gardiner 2020: 446)
Sydney Opera House on Bennelong Point where Phillip once built Bennelong a cabin to live in. Photo courtesy of: https://www.picture-worl.org/sydney-australia-opera-house-bennelong-point.html
References
Broome, R. (2020). Aboriginal Australians. Au Academic.
Dortins, E. (2018). The Lives of Stories. ANU Press.
Fullagar, K. (2008). "Savages that are come among us": Mai, Bennelong, and British Imperial Culture, 1774-1795. The Eighteenth Century, 49(3).
Fullagar, K. (2009). Bennelong in Britain. Aboriginal History, 33, 31-51.
Karskens, G. (2016). Phillip and the Eora. Sydney Journal, 5(1), 39-55.
Padmore, C., & Gardiner, K. (2018). Writing Bennelong: The cultural impact of early Australian biofictions. The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 55(3), 433-448. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021989418812004
Perkins, R., & Cole, B. (Directors). (2008, October 12). They have come to stay (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In First Australians. Blackfella Films.
Smith, K. V. (2009). Bennelong among his people. Aboriginal History, 33, 7-30.
Woollarawarre Bennelong. (2021, November 6). Australian Museum. Retrieved November 15, 2022, from https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/trailblazers/woollarawarre-bennelong/