William Blue (c. 1767 – 7 May 1834) was an Australian convict who, after completing his sentence, became a boatman providing one of the first services to take people across Sydney Harbour. He was also made a water bailiff and watched boat traffic on

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman ...

from a special tower. Although Billy Blue's place and date of birth are uncertain, convict records suggest he was born in

Jamaica, New York Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Spring ...

, around 1740 or 1767. Other people reading his records believe him to have been from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

, West Indies. In 1817,

Governor Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie se ...

granted Billy Blue at what is now

Blues Point Blues Point is a harbourside locality of North Sydney, Australia. Named after local mariner Billy Blue in the 19th century, Blues Point is at the very southern tip of the McMahons Point peninsula and has views of Sydney Harbour. The locality, ...

, which was named after him.

Early life

Physically imposing, he was described as a "strapping Jamaican Negro 'a very Hercules in proportion' with a bright eye and a jocular wit". Blue said he had served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

in America and Europe before arriving in Australia, and that he had served during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

. On 4 October 1796, Blue was convicted, at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

, in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, of stealing raw sugar and sentenced to seven years' transportation. After serving over four years in a factory, he was transported to

Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refe ...

, Australia, in the

convict ship A convict ship was any ship engaged on a voyage to carry convicted felons under sentence of penal transportation from their place of conviction to their place of exile. Description A convict ship, as used to convey convicts to the British colo ...

. Blue arrived in Sydney in 1801 and served out the remaining two years of his sentence. In 1804, records show him living in The Rocks, then a very tough part of the city. There he met Elizabeth Williams, a 30-year-old convict from Hampshire, England, who had arrived in June 1804. On 27 April 1805, they were married at the old St. Philip's Anglican church in Sydney, where five of their six children were later christened.

Career

Blue later became a boatman, ferrying passengers across Sydney Harbour. In 1807, Blue was the only person licensed to ply a ferry across the harbour. He was also made a water bailiff and watched boat traffic on

from a special tower.

named him "The Old Commodore" and he ran his ferry dressed in a blue naval officers coat and top hat. His ferry service grew to a fleet of 11 vessels, and in 1817, Governor Macquarie granted Billy Blue at what is now

. It was said that Blue's law infringements were frequent, but due to his colourful personality, they were looked upon with a "benevolent air" by the authorities. He died in 1834 at his North Sydney home.

Legacy

Billy Blue's name has been preserved in place names such as

on Sydney Harbour, Blue Street and Blues Point Road in North Sydney, as well as commercial names like the Billy Blue College of Design and

Blues Point Tower Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...

. His nickname 'The Old Commodore' is used in the name of the Commodore Hotel in Blues Point Road.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue, Billy Australian people of African-American descent Year of birth unknown Convicts transported to Australia 1834 deaths

Early life

Career

Legacy

See also

References

External links