Castle Hill convict rebellion

The Castle Hill Rebellion of 4 March, 1804, also called the Irish Rebellion, was a large scale rebellion by Irish convicts against British colonial authority in Australia. Martial law was declared in the Colony of New South Wales for over a week, during which time many dozens, possibly 120 people,Fact|date=February 2007 were killed in paddocks 40 km (25 mi) west of Sydney, in the area later known as Rouse Hill and Kellyville.

The rising

Many convicts in the Castle Hill area had been involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and subsequently transported to the Colony of New South Wales from late 1799. Phillip Cunningham, a veteran of the 1798 rebellion, and William Johnston, another Irish convict at Castle Hill, planned the uprising in which 500 convicts at Castle Hill planned to meet with nearly 1,000 convicts from the Hawkesbury River area, rally at Constitution Hill, and march on Parramatta and then Sydney (Port Jackson) itself.

On the evening of March 4th, 1804, a hut at Castle Hill was set afire as the signal for the rebellion to begin. With Cunningham leading, 200 rebels broke into the Government Farm's buildings, taking firearms, ammunition, and other weapons. The constables were overpowered and the rebels then went from farm to farm on their way to Constitution Hill at Parramatta, seizing more weapons and supplies.

When news of the uprising spread there was some panic with particularly hated officials such as Samuel Marsden fleeing the area by boat. In Sydney Major George Johnston rounded up a New South Wales Corps contingent of twenty-nine soldiers and forcibly marched them through the night to Parramatta while the Governor declared martial law. Fifty armed members of the Parramatta Loyal Association Corps [ [http://www.lancers.org.au/site/The_Military_at_Parramatta.asp The Military at Parramatta ] ] were also raised under the auspices of posse comitatus, and the combined force set out on a night march to attack the rebels.

Meanwhile, the rebels at Constitution Hill were having difficulties co-ordinating their force as many men were still missing and the anticipated reinforcements from the other convict farms had not appeared. When news reached Cunningham of the Major Johnston's movements, he decided to withdraw to the Hawkesbury Road to meet up with rebels there.

The second battle of Vinegar Hill

Johnston's forces pursued the rebels until the soldiers were only a few miles away from them. Johnston then sent an Irish Catholic priest known to the convicts, Father Dixon, in an effort to have him convince the rebels to surrender but also to slow them down and close the gap with his own forces.

When Father Dixon failed to persuade the rebels (now numbering approximately 430) to surrender, Major Johnston and a trooper also rode ahead to parley. Cunningham and Johnston came forward to meet them but during the parley the footsoldiers caught up and the two rebel leaders were quickly taken prisoner, Cunningham being struck by the sword of the Quartermaster. Major Johnston then ordered his men to open fire, and an unequal musketry duel began in which the military proved far superior to the untrained rebels. After fifteen minutes convicts began to break and flee. During the short battle fifteen rebels had fallen but after the battle several prisoners were killed by the soldiers and militia, Major Johnston preventing more killings by threatening his troops with his pistol. This did not stop the slaughter of over 150 convicts at night, in paddocks or on the sly out of view of the commanders. It was written by a local that 'shots could be heard day and night ringining out over the dales'.

As a consequence several hundred convicts were rounded up at Rouse Hill and force marched to Green Hills (today's Windsor) an hour or two walk west, to the Hawkesbury River. It was here at the Government Stores that Johnston hung Cunningham, who had received a fatal cut to the head and back from Quartermatser Laycocks sabre. He was more dead than alive when moved to the gallows. The troops were (officially) reported as having not sustained injury or wounds, yet Johnston waited three days before transfering the prisioners to the Parramatta garrison leaving three soldiers behind (unfit to travel). It was found, almost too late by Governor Gidley King, that the military officers at Parramatta had decided to hang one in three convicts being held. The Governor on hearing this came down to the tents weher the military trials were being held and put an end to it. Nine were committed to the gallows, three in chains for months on end and a tenth, Cunningham, the tenth, was killed in the field by Laycock.

In late 1801, the whipping parson, Marsden, hounded a dying Irishman over three days on his death bed, pestering and cajouling the dying man of the plans that the Irish rebels were cooking up. 'Tell me what your plans are and where are the pikes pikes are man...' to which he replied, 'we will have sport with you Parson'. The dying words would live in colonial history up to this very day - but are not true. The dying words of an Irishman being persecuted to give up his fellow countrymen and women, would obviously leave a 'red herring' and yes it was a beauty and the Rev. Marsden fell for it as did all English historians as it suits the panache they paint of this evolution of democracy in Australia. 'On rising up and taking the colony we will take the ships in harbour and sail home for Ireland'. What rot, the Catholic Irish had endured unbelievable hardship and deprivations at the hands of the Anglo English and were seeking a world better for their children and selves. Having taken the colony on 4th March, two weeks later on St Patricks day 17th March, they were to declare the Republic of New Ireland.

This so impacted the culture of the emerging infant colony that even in 1866 it was published of these events that they be best left unsaid. England almost lost this colony and no one is to ever know about it. Which is why so much of the written record, of which the English were masters of, has been destroyed about these events, people and places - as it is best left unsaid.

Aftermath

Following the end of the rebellion:
*Nine rebels were executedcite web | year = 2004 | url = http://www.battleofvinegarhill.com.au/whofought.htm | title = Who fought at the Battle of Vinegar Hill| work = The Battle of Vinegar Hill | publisher = www.battleofvinegarhill.com.au | accessdate = 2006-07-19 Derived from the book "The Battle of Vinegar Hill" by Lynette Ramsey Silver, published by Watermark Press, updated and expanded 2002. ] .
*Three received "200 lashes and exile to the Coal River chain gang."
*The remaining rebels, as well as other suspects, were allowed to return to their places of employment.

The battle site is believed to be near the present-day Castle Hill Settlement Site and was added in March 1986 to the Australian Registry of the National Estate (Place ID: 2964). Residential development has significantly diminished the area of the battle. Less that 0.2 km² (22 hectares) has remained undeveloped and conserved, as Castle Hill Heritage Park (2004). There is a sculpture at Castlebrook Cemetery commemorating the battle. However, there is some debate as to where the battle actually occurred.cite web | last = Riley | first = Cameron | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2003 | url = http://www.hawkesburyhistory.org.au/articles/Battle_of_Vinegar.html | title = The 1804 Australian Rebellion and Battle of Vinegar Hill | work = Historical Influences on the Hawkesbury | publisher = The Hawkesbury Historical Society | accessdate = 2006-07-19]

The bicentenary of the rebellion was commemorated in 2004, with a variety of events.cite web | year = 2004 | url = http://www.battleofvinegarhill.com.au/program.htm | title = Program | work = The Battle of Vinegar Hill | publisher = www.battleofvinegarhill.com.au | accessdate = 2006-07-19]

See also

* The first Battle of Vinegar Hill in Ireland; this rebellion is sometimes referred to as the second Battle of Vinegar Hill

On screen

An Australian 1978 TV series, "Against the Wind", included a dramatization over two episodes of the build-up to and ultimate defeat of the rebellion.

References