Annual Meeting of the Aborigines at Parramatta

Earle, Augustus, 1793-1838.

The annual meeting of the Aboriginal tribes at Parramatta, New South Wales, the Governor meeting them [picture]

[1826?] 1 watercolour ; 17.1 x 26 cm. (National Library of Australia)

On the 28 December 1814 Governor Macquarie organised a meeting with local tribes at Parramatta to discuss the enrollment of children in a newly formed "Asylum for Native Children". At one o'clock Macquarie and his wife, accompanied by a number of civil and military officers, arrived at the market place adjacent to St John's Cathedral. After talking for an hour to overcome the suspicions of the local aborigines three children were finally yielded up to the project and a meal of roast beef and ale was provided to those in attendance.   

Wine, Tabacco, and Maize, 1791, Schaeffer's Farm, Parramatta

A later view of the original site of Schaeffer's farm showing 'Subiaco'

December 7, 1791, ... Went to Schaeffer’s farm. [see history of this site] I found him at home, conversed with him, and walked with him over all his cultivated ground. He had one hundred and forty acres granted to him, fourteen of which are in cultivation, twelve in maize, one in wheat, and one in vines and tobacco. He has besides twenty-three acres, on which the trees are cut down, but not burnt off the land. He resigned his appointment, and began his farm last May; and had at first five convicts to assist him: he has now four. All his maize, except 3 acres, is mean.

Lennox Bridge, Parramatta, 1836-1839

Lennox Bridge, looking south down Church Street,
Parramatta Council Heritage Centre Collection

David Lennox was born in Ayr, Scotland, and was trained as a stonemason. He was experienced in bridge 

building under the famous engineer Thomas Telford having worked on a stone bridge across the Severn in 

Gloucester and the Menai suspension bridge in north-west Wales. After the death of his wife, he sought 

employment in the colony arriving as an unassisted migrant in 1832. His talents were soon recognised and he 

was appointed as Superintendent of Bridges; became the first skilled bridge builder on the mainland. Any 

doubts about his ability were dispelled after his design and construction of a horseshoe shaped bridge at 

Lapstone (1833) and the 110 feet clear span bridge at Lansdowne over Prospect Creek (1834-1836).[55]

The Parramatta Female Orphan School

On 13 May 1787, the First Fleeters sailed from Portsmouth Harbour - 1530 people consisted of officials and their wives, marines and their wives, the ships’ crews, male and female convicts, and children.

Total forty five children landed at Sydney Cove in 1788. These were the sons and daughters who were born during the voyage, or accompanied their parents on board the ships at Portsmouth. Twenty-three were the children of marines and ten were born during the voyage. The remaining twenty-two were the children of women convicts, and eleven of these children were born during the voyage to Australia.

Boxing Match, Baulkham Hills, Jack Kable v George Glew, 1827

A typical 19th-century boxing match, often held in warehouses, courtyards of inns, or in open fields away from the eyes of local authorities. This painting was by boxer Jim Byrne's friend Jem Ward, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ward_painting.jpg

The following blow-by-blow description of a boxing match at Baulkham Hills, near Parramatta, was taken from 'The Australian' and gives us an insight into the popularity of boxing in Colonial Sydney and the colourful language of the times. Jack Kable came to the attention of the press after beating Bill Clark in five rounds in a boxing match on Parramatta Road on 20 February 1824 and later he beat Joe Dargin at the Windsor Racecourse in 11 rounds.

"TURN-UP FOR ONE HUNDRED POUNDS A SIDE —BETWEEN KABLE AND GLEW .        

"Black spirits and white, Red spirits and grey, Mingle, mingle, mingle, Mingle while you may."  

News of this long since anticipated ,"turn-up" being chalked down as a "dead certainty" for Monday morning last, spread like wild fire in a drouthy summer, and set the Sydney "kiddies" on their pivots all Saturday and Sunday. Every "gymnastified" amateur, each gentle and simple flat and knowing "un" that could muster a "prad," a "shay," or a "heavy drag," might be seen and heard, " like claps of thunder," rattling their "tits" along the streets and off along the Parramatta-road from peep o'day on Sunday, and for 3 or 4, and more than 20 hours after: and many a " cove " that would not, or could, not raise the wind, toddled it on " shanks mare," with, or without a "pal" to while away the journey.

Parramatta's Rangihou Reserve and its Maori History

Rangihou Reserve and vicinity, Parramatta, Google maps, September, 2013 

The Rangihou Reserve in Parramatta was central to Maori activity in Australia in the early 1800s. This was mainly due to the support and encouragement of Samuel Marsden who set up a school and farm to be used by his Maori visitors. The site he chose was in the area surrounding the Rangihou Reserve, originally the territory of the Barramattagal clan of the Darug people.

Tom Thompson Mural

Tom Thompson, Mural, Parramatta City Council, 2013

Hidden away in the old Council Chambers Building at Parramatta, is a colourful mural by Tom Thompson.  It depicts various colonial views and significant historical figures of Parramatta.  The mural is very large measuring 632 cm (w) x 183 cm (h), painted in watercolour or gouache straight onto an internal plaster wall. The mural was commissioned in 1957 to celebrate the opening of the Council Chambers building in May 1958.

The 'Red Cow' Inn Parramatta

Red Cow Inn, Parramatta

In colonial times most visitors to Parramatta would have had to choose between stopping over at one of its two most famous inns, The ‘Red Cow’ or the ‘Woolpack’. The first of these stood at the rear of the site of the present Commercial Bank in George street. While the name ‘Red Cow’ seems a little prosaic it was actually a very literal reference to the many red cows grazing in the pastures around the newly formed town. The earliest reference I could find to the inn was an 1803 advertisement posted by John Williams, a draper, who advertised his shop as being ‘... opposite the RED COW.’ One of its earliest functions was a supper held within its walls in October, 1814, to celebrate the victories of Wellington over the Napoleonic forces in Spain.