Rum Rebellion - Literature Search
We are asked that, to understand the "Rum Rebellion", we need to understand the Sydney of the day and Europe of the time.
"After serving as a young marine officer in the American Revolutionary War, Johnston [as well as Macurthur and Macquarie] served in the East Indies, fighting against the French, before volunteering to accompany the First Fleet to New South Wales. After serving as adjutant to Governor Arthur Phillip, Johnston served in the New South Wales Corps and he was a key figure in putting down the Castle Hill convict rebellion in 1804." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Johnston_(Royal_Marines_officer)
George and Ester had met on board ship. Ester Abrahams was a convict being transported to NSW with her baby daughter, Rosanna. George Johnston was a Veteran of the American Civil War, where he grabbed the flag from the previous flag bearer - his own dying father. He was on the First Fleet as adjutant to Commander Arthur Phillip. The First Fleet anchored at Farm Cove on 26 Jan 1788.
On 4 March 1790, George Johnston junior, first of seven children, was baptised. Ester's sentence expired in 1793 and from 1800 she called herself "Julian" instead of
Abrahams. Rosanna assumed the name Rosetta Julian and, at 18, married Issac Nichols.
".."A year after his return to Sydney, on 12 November 1814, Johnston and
Esther, married at St John's Church in Parramatta, with Rosanna and her
husband, Isaac Nichols, acting as witnesses at the wedding." ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Abrahams
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| Annandale House (probably 1905, when the house was demolished) |
Johnston had been given land grants, which formed the Annandale Estate, which are now Stanmore and Annandale suburbs. Annandale House was in what is now Stanmore. The grandeur of the house is mention by Bligh who gave himself land he called Camperdown (after battle of 1797)
The "Napolenic Wars" were raging.
Plan of the town of Sydney in New South Wales [cartographic material] 31st October 1807 By Jas. Meehan, assistant surveyor of Lands by order of His Excellency Governor Bligh
Literature Search
The Rum Rebellion | STUFF YOU MISSED IN HISTORY CLASS
"The Rum Rebellion overthrew William Bligh, governor of New South Wales, in 1808. It was Australia’s only military coup and was only given that nickname much later."
England was distracted by the Napolionic Wars, at the time (with the Royal Navy captains leading crew which rebelled over conditions)
National Museum of Australia
"The Rum Rebellion remains Australia’s only coup d’état, though Bligh was
by no means the only unpopular governor to have been deposed in
Britain’s colonies during the 19th Century.
Proclamation by Lieutenant-Governor George Johnston, 27 January 1808:
In future, no Man shall have just Cause to complain of Violence, Injustice or Oppression: – No FREE MAN shall be taken, imprisoned or deprived of his House, Land, or Liberty, but by the Law. Justice shall be impartially administered, without Regard to, or Respect of Persons; and every Man shall enjoy the Fruits of his Industry in Security."..
State Library of NSW sl.nsw.gov.au
"On 26th January 1808, officers and men of the New South Wales Corps
marched to Government House in Sydney in an act of rebellion against
Governor William Bligh."...https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/terra-australis-australia/1808-rum-rebellion
National Library of Australia nla.gov.au
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| 1958 School Text |
AUTHOR:
CALL NO: MMp 1677
Details: Muir copy pbk
This Comic Book Account was published in 1858 as part of a series of text books for school children. The book identifies the location of the events (of early sydney) and portrays Johnston travelling to his country estate - Annandale, drunk, over the rough roads in a horse an buggy.
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| Probably published 1928 |
AUTHOR: Taussig, Charles William, 1896-1948
CALL NO: YY 663.59 T228
Details: YY hbk c.1
Charles William Taussig (1896 - 1948) was an American writer and President of American Molasses Company. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_William_Taussig
Taussig is photographed around 1935 in "The first Virgin Islands Company Board of Directors poses for a picture".
This
book proably published in 1928 claims the European, built forts to
consolidate and improve the quantity of african (negro) slaves shipped
from the west coast of Africa. That the healthy human slave or
indentured labour trade already existed.
AUTHOR: Evatt, H. V. (Herbert Vere), 1894-1965
CALL NO: NL 994.402 E92
Details: hbk
In 1937 Justice Evatt was invited to present the law Lecture. He chose the Rum Rebellion as his subject. The book starts with a reproduction of the well known 1808 cartoon. By all accounts, Johnston was not present at the discovery of Bligh and Bligh may or not have been hiding under a bed. But this is the image of the Rebellion shared to Sydney.
The book was first published in 1938, Reprinted in 1939,1943,1944(twice) and in 1948 before being reset in 1955! Evatt was elected to federal pariament in 1925-1930 and 1940-1960 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._V._Evatt
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| The arrest of Governor Bligh, 1808Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, Safe 4/5 |
TITLE: The house that Jack built / George Farwell.
AUTHOR: Farwell, George, 1911-1976
CALL NO: NL A 822.3 F247
Details: NL pbk
Act 4 seems to be the actual arrest. With Bligh's daughter Mary pleading for him to run to safety from Johnston and his troops who are coming to arrest him.
British Modern Military History Society: The Rum Rebellion, Australia's Only Coup D E'ta
"In the 1820s, in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars and as the Greek War of Independence gained momentum, Ottoman naval control progressively broke down in the Ionian Sea, and piracy became an increasing issue for shipping in the eastern Mediterranean. In addition, to the south-east the Barbary pirates – the infamous corsairs so beloved of 19th-century novelists – were still active along the African coast. The British navy patrolled the waters, providing escorts to their own and allied merchant ships – just as naval escorts accompany convoys through the Gulf of Aden today to protect them from Somali pirates. The colonial press in NSW reported on the numbers of Greek ships that had turned to ‘piracy’, The Australian relaying a particularly infamous incident:
Malta, April 28. — There has been a dreadful case of piracy on the coast of the Morea, committed on a Maltese brig, the Speranza, by a Greek vessel, which was stationed on the coast, in the service (it is stated) of the Greek government, to warn off any ships proceeding to the Turkish fortresses of Coronn and Modon [Koroni and Methoni on the south-west tip of the peninsula]. The whole of the crew of the Maltese brig, 14 in number, were murdered. Seven of the pirates were in custody at Zante, through the activity of Captain Pechell, of his Majesty’s ship Sybille; but as they will be tried before the Piracy Court of this island, we forbear to give further particulars.".."Mr William Macarthur, who has bestowed upon the vineyard on his fathers Estate, at Camden, much constant attention this year, made two hundred and fifty gallons of wine … He has entrusted it to the care of a native of one of the Greek Islands, who was accustomed to cultivate the vine in his own country …" -https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/maltese-connection-unexpected-origins-elizabeth-farms-convict-workers/
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