The
Castle Hill Rebellion of 4 March 1804, also called the
Irish Rebellion, was a large scale rebellion by
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
convictDuring the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government, many for petty crimes they were driven to commit because of the poverty they were forced to live in...
s against
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
colonial authority in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
.
Martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
was declared in the Colony of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
for over a week, during which time many dozens, possibly 120 people, were killed in
paddockThe term paddock may refer to*the name for an enclosure where horses are kept in British English.*in Australian and New Zealand English, the term can mean any field in the agricultural sense...
s 40 km (25 mi) west of Sydney, in the area later known as
Rouse HillRouse Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rouse Hill is located 42 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of The Hills Shire and the City of Blacktown...
and
KellyvilleKellyville is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kellyville is located 36 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of The Hills Shire, part of the Hills District region.-History:...
. On the 4th of March 1804 the convicts of Australia (most originating from Ireland), led by Phillip Cunningham (a veteran of the Irish rebellion in 1798 and the mutiny of the convict transport ship
Ann), rebelled against the British colonial authority in Australia.
The
Castle Hill Rebellion of 4 March 1804, also called the
Irish Rebellion, was a large scale rebellion by
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
convictDuring the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government, many for petty crimes they were driven to commit because of the poverty they were forced to live in...
s against
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
colonial authority in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
.
Martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
was declared in the Colony of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
for over a week, during which time many dozens, possibly 120 people, were killed in
paddockThe term paddock may refer to*the name for an enclosure where horses are kept in British English.*in Australian and New Zealand English, the term can mean any field in the agricultural sense...
s 40 km (25 mi) west of Sydney, in the area later known as
Rouse HillRouse Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rouse Hill is located 42 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of The Hills Shire and the City of Blacktown...
and
KellyvilleKellyville is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kellyville is located 36 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of The Hills Shire, part of the Hills District region.-History:...
. On the 4th of March 1804 the convicts of Australia (most originating from Ireland), led by Phillip Cunningham (a veteran of the Irish rebellion in 1798 and the mutiny of the convict transport ship
Ann), rebelled against the British colonial authority in Australia. Within a few days the convicts separated from the British Empire to create their own Empire known as the Australian Empire, appointing Phillip Cunningham as the first King of Australia on the 6th of March 1804.
The rising
Many convicts in the
Castle HillCastle Hill is a suburb in the north-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Castle Hill is located 31 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Hills District of the Greater Western Sydney region...
area had been involved in the
Irish Rebellion of 1798The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in the Kingdom of Ireland...
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 RiverThe Hawkesbury River, also known as Deerubbun, is one of the major rivers of the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its tributaries virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.-Geography:-Course:...
area, rally at
Constitution HillConstitution Hill is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Constitution Hill is located 28 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.-History:Constitution...
, and march on
ParramattaParramatta is a suburb in the west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It sits on the bank of the Parramatta River, west of the Sydney central business district, approximately at the geographical centre of its metropolitan area. It is known colloquially as 'Parra'.Parramatta is the...
and then
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
(Port Jackson) itself.
On the evening of March 4, 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 MarsdenThe Reverend Samuel Marsden was a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, credited with bringing Christianity to New Zealand...
fleeing the area by boat. In Sydney Major George Johnston rounded up a
New South Wales CorpsThe New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
contingent of twenty-nine soldiers and force-marched them through the night to Parramatta while the Governor declared martial law. Fifty armed members of the Parramatta Loyal Association Corps were also called out and the combined force set out 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 rebellion
Phillip Cunningham, being involved in two previous rebellions, knew that the most important element of a rebellion was secrecy. Because of this, the guards at the Castle hill settlement only managed to receive word of a planned rebellion a few hours before it began (some of the convicts sold the information to the guards in exchange for alcohol). The guards failed to act in time and John Cavenah set fire to his hut at 9pm, signalling the convicts to begin the rebellion. Cunningham acted quickly knowing that firearms were going to be needed if the rebellion was to be a success. With an army of 200 convicts behind him they headed to the government farm building and took all firearms, ammunition and weaponry they could find. Initially the convicts ran rampant and created havoc; looting and hunting down the officers of the British Empire shouting “Death or Liberty”. After a few hours Cunningham took control of the convicts and over the next 2 days drew up plans for the new Empires expansion and was hence elected King of the Australian Empire (undisputedly voted in by the convicts).
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
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
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 230) 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 down by the sword of Quartermaster Laycock. 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.
At midnight on March 4, Captain Daniel Woodriff of
HMS CalcuttaHMS Calcutta was an East Indiaman converted to a 56-gun Fourth Rate Royal Navy ship of the line. She served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Third-Rate Magnanime captured...
landed 150 of his crew and
marinesThe Royal Marines are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service. They are also the United Kingdom's specialists in amphibious warfare, including the operation of landing craft; mountain warfare;...
to assist the New South Wales Corps and Governor King. On March 17, Woodriff and his crew departed for England.
Australian Empire's Expansion
The Australian Empire quickly expanded to the areas of Rouse Hill and Kellyville murdering any British official or redcoat they could find while recruiting any and all convicts along the way. During the Empires expansion they obtained almost one third of the entire colony’s armaments. British officers such as Samuel Marsden fled the area by any means possible (in his case; boat) to avoid capture and to alert other surrounding colonies of the uprising. As a result, news of the uprising quickly reached Sydney and the then Major; George Johnston. Who then mobilised the New South Wales Corps contingent, marching through the night to reach Parramatta joining forces with the Parramatta loyal association corps and assigning
posse comitatus to strengthen their forces to oppose the rising threat of the Australian Empire.
Meanwhile the Australia Empire had plans to meet up with nearly 1,000 convicts from the Hawkesbury River colony. However missing forces and the general unruly (and often drunk) population of the Australian Empire proved difficult for Phillip Cunningham to control resulting in a delay in the initial plan to meet up with the Hawkesbury River convicts. However when Phillip Cunningham had received news of Major George Johnston’s plans he had no choice but to retreat his forces back towards Hawkesbury River.
The Downfall of the Australian Empire:
Having trouble catching up to the convicts of the Empire, Major Johnston sent of a Pastor of the church known to the convicts to slow their retreat down. Father Dixon; oblivious to what Major Johnston had actually intended him to do, attempted for several hours to parlay with Phillip. The King refused the offer to talk terms with the Father and informed him that he would only speak with the Major.
During this exchange between the convicts and Father Dixon, March Major George Johnston’s forces gathered much ground. Major Johnston, receiving the news from Father Dixon, rode out ahead of his troops with a foot soldier to parley with Phillip Cunningham; Phillip rode out to do the same. Unfortunately for Cunningham, Johnston and the foot soldier had no intention of parlaying with him, and took him prisoner. During this time the British soldiers caught up with the convicts and proceeded to opened fire. The abilities of the trained British soldiers proved far superior to the untrained and often uneducated convicts of the Empire and resulted in the battle only lasting 15 minutes before the convicts fled. Several convicts were captured and many died. The Captured were either executed or punished by lashing. The remaining members of the Empire disbanded and were allowed to return to their initial places of
employment. Phillip Cunningham was executed without trial.
Aftermath
Following the end of the rebellion:
- Nine rebels were executed.
| First Name |
Surname |
Means of death |
| Phillip |
Cunningham |
Executed at Windsor without trial. |
| William |
Johnston |
Executed at Castle Hill and then hung in chains, just outside Parramatta on the road to Prospect. |
| John |
Neale |
Executed at Castle Hill. |
| George |
Harrington |
Executed at Castle Hill. |
| Samuel |
Humes |
Executed at Parramatta and then hung in chains. |
| Charles |
Hill |
Executed at Parramatta. |
| Jonothan |
Place |
Executed at Parramatta. |
| John |
Brannan |
Executed at Sydney. |
| Timothy |
Hogan |
Executed at Sydney. |
- Two were "reprieved, detained at the governor's pleasure."
| First Name |
Surname |
| John |
Burke |
| Bryan |
McCormack |
- Four received "500 lashes and exile to the Coal River chain gang." (Coal River was the original name for Newcastle
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
.)
| First Name |
Surname |
| John |
Griffin |
| Neil |
Smith |
| Bryan |
Burne |
| Connor |
Dwyer |
- Three received "200 lashes and exile to the Coal River chain gang."
| First Name |
Surname |
| David |
Morrison |
| Cornelius |
Lyons |
| Owen |
McDermot |
- Twenty-three other rebels were also exiled to the Coal River. This group included:
| First Name |
Surname |
Other information |
| John |
Cavenah |
| Francis |
Neeson |
| ? |
Tierney |
Convict |
| Robert |
Cooper |
Assisted rebels. |
| Dennis |
Ryan |
Assisted rebels. |
| Bryan |
Spaldon |
Emancipist An emancipist was any of the convicts sentenced and transported under the convict system to Australia, who had been given conditional or absolute pardons...
. Also punished with as many lashes as he could stand without his life being endangered. |
| Bryan |
Riley |
Emancipist. Also punished with as many lashes as he could stand without his life being endangered. |
- Thirty-four prisoners were placed in irons until they could be 'disposed' of. It is not known whether some, or all of them, were sent to the Coal River.
| First Name |
Surname |
| Owen |
Black |
| Thomas |
Brodrick |
| Brien |
Burne |
| Thomas |
Burne |
| Jonothan |
Butler |
| Jonothan |
Campbell |
| William |
Cardell |
| Nicholas |
Carty |
| Thomas |
Connel |
| James |
Cramer |
| Peter |
Garey |
| Andrew |
Coss |
| James |
Cullen |
| William |
Day |
| James |
Duffy |
| Thomas |
Gorman |
| Edward |
Griffin |
| Jonothan |
Griffin |
| James |
Higgans |
| Thomas |
Kelly |
| Jonothan |
Moore |
| Edward |
Nail |
| Douglas |
Hartigan |
| Peter |
Magarth |
| Jonothan |
Malony |
| Joseph |
McLouglin |
| Jonothan |
Reilley |
| Jonothan |
Roberts |
| Anthony |
Rowson |
| George |
Russell |
| Richard |
Thompson |
| Jonothan |
Tucker |
| James |
Turoney |
- 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.
The bicentenary of the rebellion was commemorated in 2004, with a variety of events.
See also
- List of Irish rebellions
- The first Battle of Vinegar Hill
The Battle of Vinegar Hill was an engagement during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on 21 June 1798 when over 15,000 British soldiers launched an attack on Vinegar Hill outside Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, the largest camp and headquarters of the Wexford United Irish rebels...
in Ireland; this rebellion is sometimes referred to as the second Battle of Vinegar Hill.
On screen
An Australian 1978 TV series,
Against the WindAgainst the Wind was a 1978 Australian television mini-series.It is a historical drama portraying both the British occupation of Ireland, and the development of New South Wales and Australia...
, included a dramatization over two episodes of the build-up to and ultimate defeat of the rebellion.