The Owen Cavanough Family Historical Society

Newsletter

December 2016

HMS SIRIUS

FLAGSHIP OF CAPTAIN ARTHUR PHILLIP ‘S, FIRST FLEET, PROBABLY OF ABOUT 512 TONNES, HER BEST SPEED IN A FAVOURABLE BREEZE WAS AROUND 10 KNOTS. [NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA] Welcome to the Christmas issue of our newsletter. This will be Sandra’s last edition. From next year Darren Riley will be bringing a new dimension to our pages as he takes up the challenge of keeping his late father-law, Peter Pitts’, legacy alive. We welcome Darren’s youth and enthusiasm and wish him well in this new endeavour. Pat Holdorf remains our convenor and the holder of the official master Cavanough family tree. A back-up tree is held by myself and Alan in case of disaster with Pat’s computer such as viral attack or ransom ware. After what is now generations of research and information given by family it would be a shame to ever lose it all.

Pat Holdorf (convenor) Patholdorf @bigpond.com

85 James Street, Punchbowl 2196

Sandra Woods (publicity officer) [email protected]

39 The Broadwaters, Tascott 2250

Alan Woods (secretary) as above

Ray Cavanough (treasurer) [email protected]

Darren Riley (newsletters) [email protected]

At this time of year thoughts turn to loved ones. Featured below are some Cavanough family members who will be sadly missed this season.

BRODIE TASMAN CAVANOUGH

Date of 23 July 2011 Passing: Blue Mountains Funeral Venue: Funerals Funeral Springwood Location: Presbyterian

Funeral Date: 27 July 2011

Br

Favourite Sport: Soccer Favourite Team: Penrith Panthers and Gold Coast Titans Favourite Book: Zac Power & Captain Underpants Favourite Movie: Shrek, Ben 10, Tangled, Favourite Music Genre: Pop Favourite Artist: Anything to sing along to especially in the car

Other Interests: Springwood 1st Scouts, Bike riding, Homework, Being a Masterchef, Writing letters, Drawing, Trampoline, Golf, Snuggles

NARELLE ANN CAVANOUGH Born on 13 April 1953 Passed away on 19 May 2013 Aged 60 years

The family of Phillip and Lucinda Cavanough (nee Kaina) have had a very tough couple of years raising their young family as Lucinda battled cancer. A Go-Fund-Me page has been set up on the internet and is seeking contributions. Please note this is not an initiative of the Cavanough Family History group. Do NOT send money to us. We wish this young family strength to continue the fight. Phil and Lucy live in Jelcobine, Western Australia. GO FUND ME: SUPPORT FOR THE CAVANOUGH FAMILY $8,100 of $50k goal Raised by 59 people in 9 months

Lucy was diagnosed with melanoma in December 2013. Phil flies in and out of Western Australia as a training supervisor. They have four young children: Henry (7), Jaymie (9), Ashley (10) and Chad (15). In July 2015 Lucy received the sad news that her cancer was terminal. A February 2016 CAT scan found lesions in Lucy’s brain and spine. Despite a courageous fight time has run out. Lucinda passed away on 15 May 2016. If you would like to help Phil and his family go to the Go-Fund-Me page to donate: www.gofundme.com An e-tribute to Lucinda can be entered on the home page of K M Smith Funerals. Phil is the son of Frederick William Cavanough & Adelaide Rebecca Dixon on the family line of James Cavanough & Esther Huxley.

IN THE NEWS Horse trainer Brett Cavanough is making the move from Albury to Scone with his horses. On land adjacent to Scone racecourse Brett is having 20 new boxes constructed for his horses. In the meantime his team will base themselves in Toowoomba.

SCOTT ALLAN CAVANOUGH & CAROLYN JOAN (NEE ROTHE)

Scott has 21 years of Foreign Exchange experience having dealt Spot, Forwards, Options and Dual Currency Investments. He began his career in February 1986 where he worked as a spot USD/JPY broker for Tullet and Tokyo and his clients included Citibank, Bankers Trust, Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo, Sumitomo Bank, Societe Generale and HSBC. He witnessed the move of the USD/JPY from 200.00 to 78.00 and back to 160.00 over an 11 year period and saw FX turnover of up to USD 500M a day. Scott took time off from his career to open his own business which was to become one of the most successful Day Spas on the North Shore in Sydney. A return to the Financial Markets saw him take on a role as Business Development Manager for the Commonwealth Bank before moving into a role as a Spot and Forward dealer. He then assumed a Structured Solutions role to help clients manage the risks with their FX exposure. To relax Scott likes to attempt the odd swim in July from Dover to Cap Gris Nez. Designer Carolyn Cavanough of Desire Beauty and her husband, financial market specialist, Scott, have navigated her penchant for contemporary New York loft style – "matte textures, minimalism, layered tonal greys, the excitement of the future" – with his love of mid-century style with its polished stainless steel and "comfort of the past". In their new Lindfield cottage they've reached a happy compromise. "As Scott spends much time in the garden, we agreed that he could design the exterior areas including the outdoor kitchen. It is fitted with traditional cooking appliances; a teppanyaki plate is a concession to me!" Carolyn laughs adding that inside she has been left to her own devices."The interiors have a distinct New York sensibility with concrete kitchen benchtops and oversize sliding doors. However, as a concession to Scott, I have incorporated some subtle details including lights by iconic mid-century designers such as Verner Panton and Louis Poulson plus a Barcelona chair and sofa. "The Barcelona is a classic made popular in the 1930's that's perfect for a contemporary home. It has the enduring detail that Scott appreciates" she says. The bedroom melds his and her styles: a delicate chandelier sparkles with Swarovski pink and blue crystals lending a 1950s ambience and the floor is whitewashed giving a more gentle feel than the downstairs matt grey flooring. The bedding is in tonal greys, a palette that is continued in the ensuite. Explore a timeline of historic Aboriginal events from 1770 to 1899.

The original inhabitants of the Hawkesbury district were the Darug tribe of Aboriginals, also spelt as Dharug or Daruk. The river, which they called Derrubbin was a focal point as a source of food, i.e. fish, eels, water birds, & mussels and transport, in their bark canoes. Yams, a staple food, grew along the banks of the river. On the sandstone platforms they engraved images of animals and mythological figures and in the rock shelters they displayed their ochre and charcoal art. The Hawkesbury was also a source of stones for axes and pebbles for making barbs, points and scrapers. To the north west were the Darkinung from Wilberforce and Wiseman's Ferry on the Hawkesbury River to Singleton. The Hawkesbury district was the frontier of conflict from 1794 until around 1830. Problems arose between the aborigines and the settlers, as the local tribes found their access to the river and their food supply blocked by farms. After a number of skirmishes between the local Darug aboriginal tribe and the settlers, the NSW Corp was sent to investigate. A detachment of the military remained permanently in the district for over half a century. In 1802 Governor King interviewed several natives from the Hawkesbury, and they stated that they did not like to be driven from the few places that were left on the banks of the river, where they alone could procure food. The first incident of Europeans being tried for murdering Aboriginals took place in 1799 following the deaths of two Aboriginals in the Hawkesbury district. Five men appeared in Court on trial and following four days of evidence and deliberation the prisoners were found guilty. A despatch from England in 1802 relayed the news that the five men charged with murder, were acquitted.

In 1889 an Aboriginal Reserve was established on 150 acres at Sackville, and a number of Aborigines lived on the reserve. Andrew Barber, the last Aborigine associated with the Reserve, died in 1943. The site was made a public reserve and a memorial was erected in memory of the Hawkesbury tribes. Many local Aborigines married into Hawkesbury families and today their descendants are proud of the link with their Aboriginal heritage.

1770 29 April: Captain James Cook claims possession of the whole east coast of Australia for the British Crown. Many history classes and books start teaching Australian history from this point on. 1788 25 January: Captain Phillip raises the Union Jack at Sydney Cove to start a penal colony. Aboriginal resistance flares within a few days of arrival of the tall ships. Owen Cavanough and Margaret Darnell (Dowling) see their first glimpse of Sydney. 29 May: The first conflict between the First Fleet arrivals and Aboriginal people takes place near Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. Two convicts are killed. December: Arabanoo is the first Aboriginal person captured by Europeans. Captain Phillip estimates an Aboriginal population of 1,500 people living in the Sydney Region. The total Aboriginal population is believed to be between 750,000 and 1 million. 22 December Margaret Dowling gives birth to son Charles Green at Sydney Cove.

1789 1 February baby Charles Green is baptised in St Phillip’s, Sydney. April: A smallpox epidemic decimates the Eora Aboriginal people of Port Jackson, Botany Bay and Broken Bay. November: Governor Phillip captures two Aboriginal men - Bennelong and Colebee. Colebee escapes but Bennelong is kept at Government House for five months. 1790 September: Pemulwuy spears Phillip’s gamekeeper, John McEntire, and Phillip orders the first punitive expedition. The Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars between Aboriginal people and white invaders start in NSW. Led by Pemulwuy and his son Tedbury, Aboriginal people raid stations or assault sheep and cattle because the growing number of colonists occupied more and more land. Many times they used firesticks to set the bush on fire, destroy buildings, and burn crops. The guerrillia-like wars continue until 1816.

Aboriginal obelisk near the Hawkesbury River commemorating Aboriginal people who occupied this area. 1791 Orphan boy Bon-del is the first Aboriginal person to go to sea on a British ship, sailing aboard the brig Supply, bound for Norfolk Island. 5 November Owen & Margaret are wed on Norfolk Island. 1792 Bennelong and a boy named Yemmerrawanie are taken to England by Phillip. They perform the first Aboriginal song to be heard in Europe. Bennelong meets George III. Yemmarrawanie dies in England. 28 May Owen & Margaret’s first son, Owen, is born on Norfolk Island. 1793 Gnung-a Gnung-a Murremurgan (also known as Collins) crosses the Pacific to Nootka Sound (Vancouver), the Californian coast and Hawaii. 1794 2 May Owen & Margaret’s son, Owen, dies on Norfolk Island. 28 September Grace Cavanough is born on Norfolk Island. 1795 Bennelong returns to Australia. The Richmond Hill Battle is considered to be the first recorded battle between Aboriginal people defending their country against the British. Aboriginal man Tom Rowley sails to Calcutta, Madras and New Ireland. He returns in 1796 to Australia. 1796 After being shot seriously twice, and surviving both times, Pemulwuy is considered unable to be killed by bullets. 1797 4 January Owen & Margaret’s daughter, Elizabeth, is born at Bardnerang Creek on the Pitt Town Bottoms. 1799 Beginning of a six-year period of resistance to white settlement by Aboriginal people in the Hawkesbury and Parramatta areas. Known as the ‘Black Wars’. 19 June Owen & Margaret’s second son, also named Owen, born at Bardnarang Creek on the Pitt Town Bottoms. 1801 April: Governor King orders Aboriginal people gathering around Parramatta, Georges River and Prospect Hill “to be driven back from the settler’s habitation by firing at them”. 1802 7 March Owen & Margaret’s son Richard born at Caddai Creek in the Hawkesbury. April 8: French Captain Nicholas Baudin and the English navigator Matthew Flinders meet at the South Australian border near Victor Harbor. Baudin had orders to study Aboriginal people for the new science of anthropology just founded in Paris. Many such drawings are now in a collection in Le Havre, France. Pemulwuy is shot by two settlers. Tedbury continues the resistance. Bungaree (Bungary) is the first Aboriginal person to circumnavigate Australia as a member of Matthew Flinders’ historic journey of exploration (1802-03). Bungaree is one of the very few Aboriginal people whose exploits have been documented in newspapers, journals and books of early colonial Sydney. Bungaree died in 1830 and was buried at Rose Bay, NSW. Left: Bungaree

Below: Pemulwuy

1803 Tasmania is occupied by white people. The Black Wars of Tasmania last until 1830 and claim the lives of 600 Aboriginal people and more than 200 white settlers. 1804 3 May: William Moree, a lieutenant of the New South Wales Rum Corps, orders to open fire at Risdon Cove, Tasmania, on a group of about 300 Aboriginal people who are probably hunting kangaroos. Between 30 and 60 Aboriginal people are killed. The Lieutenant tries to cover-up the incident, claiming only 3 had been shot. Hostilities increase - the slaughter of Aboriginal people in Australia has begun. Settlers are authorised to shoot unarmed Aboriginal people. Most of the Cumberland Plain west of Sydney is occupied by colonists. The Eora people are being dispossessed of their land. 18 July James Cavanough is born at Lower Portland Head. 1807 5 July George Cavanough, Owen & Margaret’s youngest child is born at Lower Portland. 1810 Aboriginal people begin to be moved onto mission stations where they can be taught European beliefs and used as cheap labour. Settlers try to control growth of the Aboriginal population with a policy of absorption. 1813 Bennelong dies. May: Colonists, assisted by Aboriginal people, cross the Blue Mountains and create new hostilities as they pass through Aboriginal lands. The path the colonists take is in fact a long-established Aboriginal route that had been in constant use for thousands of years. 30 August Grace Cavanough and Ralph Turnbull are married in St Matthew’s C/E in Windsor. 1814 Governor Macquarie opens a school for Aboriginal children at Parramatta called the ‘Native Institution’ to “civilise, educate and foster habits of industry and decency in the Aborigines”. The local Aboriginal people (Koori) remove their children from the school after they realise that its aim is to distance the children from their families and communities. The school closes in 1820. 1815 Governor Macquarie founds the Native Institute as a school for Aboriginal children of both sexes. Remnants of the Broken Bay Aboriginal people are established on a reserve at George’s Head. 1816 Attacks on farms by Aboriginal people on the edge of Sydney. Macquarie sends a punitive party to arrest ‘offenders’. They attack a camp near Appin at night and 14 Aboriginal people are killed including Carnabyagal. 4 May: Macquarie announces a set of regulations controlling the movement of Aboriginal people. No Aboriginal person is to appear armed within a mile of any settlement and no more than six Aboriginal people are allowed to ‘lurk or loiter near farms. Passports or certificates are issued to Aboriginal people “who conduct themselves in a suitable manner”, to show they are officially accepted by Europeans. 1817 31 July Elizabeth Cavanough weds Henry Hetherington in St Phillips, Sydney.

Aboriginal group Hunter River 1818

1822 There are a number of large scale killings as conflict over dispossession of land and erosion of hunting rights continues. Windradyne leads Wiradjuri resistance that will last for two years along the Murray River. 1824 August: Martial law is proclaimed in the Bathurst area when seven Europeans are killed by Aboriginal people led by Aboriginal man Windradyne, and conflict with them is seen as a serious threat. Soldiers, mounted police, settlers and stockmen frequently attack Aboriginal people. As many as 100 are killed in a massacre at Bathurst. Martial law stops in December. This conflict became known as the “Bathurst War”. In Tasmania, Governor Arthur also proclaims martial law, in effect, a declaration of war. Soldiers have the right to arrest or shoot any Aboriginal person found in the settled district. 17 November Owen Cavanough Jnr and Celia Collins marry. 1827 September 17 Richard Cavanough and Ann Cross marry in St John’s, Wilberforce. 1828 Grace Turnbull nee Cavanough dies on 1 February at Sackville Reach. 1829 A colony is set up in Perth, on the south-west coast of Australia. 1830 October: Governor Arthur tries unsuccessfully to drive all the remaining Aboriginal people in eastern Australia on to the Tasman Peninsula. 2,200 men form a ‘Black Line’. It cost 5,000 pounds (equivalent to about AUD 1.2 million in 2008) and only two Aboriginal people are caught - an old man and a young boy. Aboriginal people in Tasmania are forcibly removed and settled on Flinders Island. The living conditions lead to many deaths. Later the community is moved to Cape Barren Island. Port Phillip District Wars rage in Victoria (then administered by New South Wales) from 1830 to 1850. The Indigenous Koorie population resists the large influx of immigrants and settlers who bring large herds of sheep and cattle into the state. 24 November: Bungaree dies. He came from the Broken Bay area and was a go-between in colonial Sydney where he was known because he liked to dress in military and naval uniforms given to him. 1831 Yagan leads Nyoongar resistance in Western Australia for three years. 14 June James Cavanough and Esther Huxley marry at Lower Portland. 1833 Yagan is killed. His head is cut off and pickled. It is then sent to England as a museum curiosity. 1834 24 September Margaret Cavanough dies at Sackville Reach. October: Governor Stirling leads a party of men to a site near present day Pinjarra, on the Swan River and attacks 80 Aboriginal people. One of Stirling’s men dies and many Aboriginal people are killed. Official reports put their number at 14 but Aboriginal accounts suggest a whole clan was wiped out in the attack. This became known as the ‘Battle of Pinjarra’. It was an attempt to punish Aboriginal people south of Perth, after conflict with settlers caused the death of a settler in April. 1835 October: John Batman attempts to make a ‘treaty’ with Aboriginal people for Port Phillip Bay, near present day Melbourne by ‘buying’ 243,000 hectares with 20 pairs of blankets, 30 tomahawks, various other articles and a yearly tribute. Governor Bourke does not recognise the ‘treaty’ and the purchase is voided. This is the only time colonists attempt to sign a treaty for land with Aboriginal owners. The Dunghutti people of north coast NSW are now confined to 40 hectares of land on the Bellwood Reserve, near present day Kempsey. They previously owned 250,000 hectares. 1836 June: The colony of South Australia is founded. A “Protector” of Aboriginal people is appointed but the Kaurna people, near Adelaide, are unable to maintain life as a group because of the expanding settlement and loss of their land. 19 February: King William IV recognises the continued rights to land for Aboriginal people in South Australia’s founding document, the Letters Patent. It was the first ever recognition of Aboriginal rights granted in Australia’s colonial history. But the promise of legal entitlement to the land was never kept. 5 July George Cavanough and Jane Gosper wed in St Matthew’s C/E, Windsor. 1837 A British Select Committee examines the treatment of Indigenous people in all British colonies. Australian colonies are particularly criticised. The committee affirms the ‘plain and sacred right’ of Aboriginal peoples to land and recommends that ‘Protectors of Aborigines’ be appointed. The policy of protection for Aboriginal people marks the beginning of involvement of the Catholic Church in missionary work and the establishment of schools for Aboriginal children. A massacre of Aboriginal people occurs at Gravesend, New South Wales with more than 200 killed. 1838 January: Major Nunn’s campaign. Mounted police, mostly European volunteers, set out in response to conflict on the Liverpool Plains, north central NSW. At Vinegar Hill, a site on ‘Slaughterhouse Creek’, 60 - 70 Aboriginal people are reported killed. The only European casualty is a corporal, speared in the leg. 10 June: The ‘Myall Creek Massacre’ occurs. 12 heavily armed colonists rounded up and brutally kill 28 Aboriginal people from a group of 40 or 50 people gathered at Henry Dangar’s Station, at Myall Creek near Inverell (NSW). The massacre was believed to be a payback for the killing of several hut keepers and two shepherds. But most of those killed were women and children and good relations existed between the Aboriginal people and European occupants of the station. Seven stockmen are eventually hanged for murder. This outrages the colonial press and parts of the public who cannot understand why anyone should hang for murdering Aboriginal people. Reports of poisoning of Aboriginal people on ‘Tarrone’ near Port Fairy, West Melbourne and ‘Kilcoy’ north-west Moreton Bay. Flour is poisoned and left in shepherds’ huts on ‘Kilcoy’ in the expectation that Aboriginal people now dispossessed of hunting grounds would take it. 1840 An entire community of Aboriginal people perishes in a massacre at Long Lagoon, a newly settled station in inland Queensland. 1841 27 August: 30 Aboriginal people massacred at Rufus River in New South Wales, close to the boundaries with Victoria and South Australia. 27 November Owen Cavanough Snr drowns in Wheeney Creek in the Hawkesbury.

FRIENDSHIP: A plaque representing the first meeting between the local Darug people and Gov Phillip was installed at Friendship Bridge, Pitt Town Bottoms in 2001.

HAWKESBURY aboriginal tribal leaders who welcomed Governor Arthur Phillip when he arrived on their land over two centuries ago have been recognised with a Hawkesbury Australia Day Posthumous Commemorative Plaque Award. The traditional custodians of the Hawkesbury land, Aboriginal tribal leaders who were known to their people as Caradgee or wise men and doctors of their tribe, called the Darug people, are said to have welcomed Governor Phillip to their land in friendship on 14 April 1791 at Bardenarang Creek -- known at the time as Bardo Narang (meaning ‘little water’) at Pitt Town Bottoms. The tribal leaders’ names were Gombeeree and his son Yellowmundi -- the latter of which is the namesake of the suburb of Yarramundi. Governor Arthur Phillip had previously explored what he named the Hawkesbury River, from Broken Bay to Richmond Hill at the confluence of the Grose River in July 1789, one year after settlement by the English in January 1788. He decided to try and find Richmond Hill by travelling overland in 1791 from Parramatta. It was reported in the diary of Captain Watkin Tench that Governor Phillip, along with two Sydney Aborigines Colebee and Boladeree, who acted as guides, led a party of men to the Hawkesbury via Baulkham Hills, through Maraylya and Cattai, to Pitt Town Bottoms and then to the Hawkesbury River. When they reached the river they saw aborigines coming along in canoes. Governor Phillip thought that they were going to be attacked and sent the two guides to go and parlay with them. They came ashore, and the leader of the group, Combeeree, presented Governor Phillip with two spears and two stone axes as a sign of friendship. They were not aggressive nor did they show signs of fear. The two groups dined together that night, happily exchanging stories.

RESEARCH HINTS Coronial records, police gazettes and army records can provide us with many clues in our search for backgrounds to our stories. Below is a selection of found items:

Coronial record for William Cavanough, jockey, who died as a result of injuries received whilst riding “Lady Alpha” in a race.

Henry Schofield Cavanough inquest October 1877

John Alexander Cavanough Volunteer Land Order Selection 1870

Robert Joseph Cavanough

Frederick Samuel Cavanough

A WORLD WAR I CHRISTMAS FEAST

Edward Roland (Tom) Sowden, who fought in the Middle East, was wounded, and repatriated to Sutton Veny in Wiltshire, where an Australian base depot, rest house and hospital were located during and shortly after the war. Tom spent Christmas 1918 at Sutton Veny and enjoyed what looks like a good Christmas by the standards of the time. Christmas dinner consisted of roast chicken and pickled pork with giblet sauce, baked and mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts, followed by Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, then fruits, nuts, confectionery and English ale. On the back of the menu Tom has written a note: 'To Mary (his married sister) with best wishes from Tom as a momento (sic) of the Xmas dinner we had.' Tom finally made it home to Windsor, but died of war wounds in 1927.

Wherever you are in Australia or the world at large your committee wishes you a very

Best regards Sandra