| Castle Hill Rebellion | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A painting depicting the rebellion. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United Irishmen | British Army | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Phillip Cunningham William Johnston |
George Johnston | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~400 | 57 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 15 dead, 9 executed 66 detained |
None | ||||||
The Castle Hill Rebellion of 4 March 1804, also called the Second Battle of Vinegar Hill, 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 ten days, during which time many dozens, up to a reported 120 people, were killed in paddocks 40 km (25 mi) west of Sydney, in the area later known as Rouse Hill and Kellyville. On the 4 March 1804 the convicts of the Colony of New South Wales (most originating from Ireland), led by Phillip Cunningham (a veteran of the Irish rebellion in 1798, the first Battle of Vinegar Hill 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 New Ireland, appointing Phillip Cunningham as the first sovereign of Australia on 6 March 1804.
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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 685 convicts at Castle Hill planned to meet with nearly 1,100 convicts from the Hawkesbury River area, rally at Constitution Hill, and march on Parramatta and then Sydney (Port Jackson) itself.
On the evening of 4 March 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 including rum and spirits, the consumption of which contributed to their undoing.
When news of the uprising spread there was great panic with particularly hated officials such as Samuel Marsden fleeing the area by boat, escorting Elizabeth Macarther and her children. In Sydney Major George Johnston raised the garrison at Annandale and a New South Wales Corps contingent of twenty-nine soldiers marched under arms at quick-time through the night arriving about four hours later at Parramatta while the Governor declared martial law. Fifty armed members of the Parramatta Loyal Association Corps [1] were also called out and the combined force set out to attack the rebels. Many of the free settlers also took up arms as a militia under protection of the Mansfield doctrine of posse comitatus. Many old scores were then settled.
Meanwhile, the rebels at Constitution Hill were having difficulties co-ordinating their force as many men were still missing (drunk?) and the anticipated reinforcements from the other convict farms had not appeared - the convicts at the Hawkesbury had not seen the signal fire lit at Castle Hill. When news reached Cunningham of the Major Johnston's movements, he decided to withdraw to the Hawkesbury Road to meet up with rebels there.
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 8pm, 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 some say 200--yet over 600 were at the farm at this time--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 New Ireland's expansion and was hence elected King of the Australian Empire (unanimously voted in by the convicts).
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 empire's 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 by 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. Major Johnston 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 Australian Empire had plans to meet up with nearly 1,100 convicts from the area around Green Hills and the Hawkesbury River settlement. 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 the Hawkesbury River.
Having trouble catching up to the convicts of the New Ireland, Major Johnston sent Catholic priest Father James Dixon, 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 Cunningham. 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 to 20 minutes before the convicts fled. During the short battle fifteen rebels had fallen but after the battle several prisoners were killed by the soldiers and many by the militia, Major Johnston preventing more killings by threatening his troops with his pistol. Several convicts were captured and many died. The Captured were either executed or punished by being tied to a whipping frame, the Triangle, and being lashed with up 500 strokes with a Cat-o-nine. Rev. Marsden often attended these inhumane displays of authority often commending the flagellators, especially two who applied the lash one with his left arm, the other using his right - until bone showed through torn flesh and muscle. The remaining members of the Empire disbanded and were allowed to return to their initial places of employment. Phillip Cunningham was executed without trial by Laycock.
Following the end of the rebellion troops continued to round up the malcontents and although no 'official' record was kept of injury of death of any of the military, they took four days to return from Green Hills (Windsor) to Parramatta. The military at Parramatta intended to hang one in ten of the convicts as punishment for their rebellion and on hearing of this Governor Gidley King raced to Parramatta to quell the discontent and convene a proper tribunal to try the accused:
| 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. |
| First Name | Surname |
| John | Burke |
| Bryan | McCormack |
| First Name | Surname |
| John | Griffin |
| Neil | Smith |
| Bryan | Burne |
| Connor | Dwyer |
| First Name | Surname |
| David | Morrison |
| Cornelius | Lyons |
| Owen | McDermot |
| First Name | Surname | Other information |
| John | Cavenah | |
| Francis | Neeson | |
| ? | Tierney | Convict |
| Robert | Cooper | Assisted rebels. |
| Dennis | Ryan | Assisted rebels. |
| Bryan | Spaldon | Emancipist. 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. |
| 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 battle site is believed to be near the present-day Rouse Hill Regional Town Centre (a sprawling shopping mall). 'The Government Farm at Castle Hill' was added in March 1986 to the Australian Registry of the National Estate (Place ID: 2964), a special place of international and Australian significance intended to occupy over 60 hectares. Residential development, including dubious land dealings, has significantly diminished the area of the prison town. Less than 0.2 km² (19 hectares) has remained undeveloped and conserved, as Castle Hill Heritage Park (2004). There is a sculpture near the battle site at Castlebrook Cemetery commemorating the sacrifice. However, there is some debate as to where the battle actually occurred.[3]
The bicentenary of the rebellion was commemorated in 2004, with a variety of events.[4]
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.
The re-enactment in 2004 was significant in that exact numbers were recruited to form the rebels, the militia and the Red Coats (military). The event was held in close proximity to the original site on a similar landscape. It was this event that has caused many historical accountings to be reviewed in light of this full-scale exercise which was two years in planning. It was only possible with the support of Blacktown and Hawkesbury Councils, as Baulkham Hills Council declined to be involved, yet took responsibility for events at the Government Farm site in Castle Hill.
The reenactment was covered by the ABC.