Charles Sievwright
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Charles Wightman Sievwright (31 March 1800 – 10 September 1855) was a British army officer before being appointed Assistant
Protector of Aborigines The Australian colonies in the nineteenth century created offices involved in managing the affairs of Indigenous people in their jurisdictions. The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role beca ...
in part of the
Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...
of the
colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...
, now
Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...
.


Early life

Charles Wightman Sievwright, born on 31 March 1800 in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, was the third-born of seven children of Edinburgh lawyer Andrew Sievwright and his wife Ann, née Robertson. Andrew Sievwright's extensive business interests included slave ownership. At the age of fifteen, Charles entered a Scottish
infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
regiment. He served for 20 years in the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
, mainly in the
Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...
, without any involvement in war. In 1837 he returned to London from a stint in
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, sold his commission, and was subsequently appointed as one of four assistants in the
Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...
of New South Wales to the new
Chief Protector of Aborigines The Australian colonies in the nineteenth century created offices involved in managing the affairs of Indigenous people in their jurisdictions. The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role beca ...
,
George Augustus Robinson George Augustus Robinson (22 March 1791 – 18 October 1866) was an English born builder and self-trained preacher who was employed by the British colonial authorities to conciliate the Indigenous Australians of Van Diemen's Land and the Po ...
. His salary was £250 per year.


Protector of Aborigines

After arriving in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in November 1838, Sievwright lived briefly with his wife, Christina, and their seven children in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. The whole family then moved to live among
Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
in the
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
area. This was on the edge of the area assigned to him, known as the Western District, covering about . British and Irish settlers had begun arriving in the District about three years earlier, but at the time thousands of Aboriginal people still far outnumbered the Europeans. As Protector of Aborigines, Sievwright was commissioned by the British government to represent the Aboriginal people, and to protect them "from cruelty, oppression and injustice" and "from encroachments upon their property". In February 1841, Sievwright and his family moved further into his district to set up a new camp at Lake Keilambete, near present-day Terang. A year later, he moved to Mt Rouse, near present-day
Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Weald, Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, Kent, River Eden, within the Seveno ...
, again urging the Aboriginal people of the district to join him. Sievwright's difficulties were considerable, not speaking any Aboriginal languages, and with most of the Aboriginal people in the colony coming into contact with Europeans for the first time. Nevertheless, at each of his camps he launched limited agricultural training programs in return for food, when traditional food supplies became scarcer as more European settlers arrived with sheep and cattle. At the same time, he launched a series of investigations into the killing of Aboriginal people. His efforts to seek prosecutions of Europeans involved in killings made him extremely unpopular among the white settlers. One
squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...
recorded in his private journal that by February 1840, Sievwright had already become "the most unpopular man that ever breathed". Around the same time, the '' Port Phillip Gazette'' reported that Sievwright was "in very bad odour" with the squatters of the Western District. "These gentlemen, it appears, cut him upon all occasions, and will not suffer him to enter their houses." In August 1842, Sievwright was told that he had been suspended without pay because of charges against his moral character, dating back to 1839. Port Phillip's Superintendent
Charles La Trobe Charles Joseph La Trobe (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Aust ...
told NSW Governor
George Gipps Sir George Gipps (23 December 1790 – 28 February 1847) was the Governor of New South Wales, Governor of the British Colony of New South Wales for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship oversaw a tumultuous period where the rights ...
in Sydney that even if the charges against Sievwright were false, they had been "from the outset fatal to him and his recent career". Chief Protector Robinson had already backed a plan to sack Sievwright months earlier. Even before Sievwright learned of his suspension at Mt Rouse, it had been reported in Melbourne by the ''Port Phillip Gazette''. At the same time, the ''Gazette'' referred to a threat by the colonial government to refuse squatting licences in part of the Western District where Sievwright had reported the recent murders of three Aboriginal women and a child. "There is still some doubt if the whole affair has not been exaggerated," it said. After it became apparent that Sievwright's suspension was based at least in part on a letter written by his own wife in 1839, both she and their eldest daughter, Frances, wrote to La Trobe defending him. However, Sievwright remained suspended, and the family slipped into poverty. "Mr Sievwright's situation precluded him from making friends among the white population", a man called Frederic Nesbitt wrote to La Trobe. "Therefore they are now suffering the penalty of having done their duty to the Aborigines." Geelong Police Magistrate Nicholas Fenwick confirmed the family's plight, telling the Superintendent: "Nobody here it appears will give them anything on credit now that Mr Sievwright has been suspended, and how they manage to get their daily bread, nobody can tell, and their children are in rags". In 1840, Sievwright repudiated Robinson's claim that "the Aboriginal natives are addicted to
cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
". He described the process by which they dispose of their elderly dead by burning the corpses, but in the case of the bodies of their enemies, they preserve some small parts of the bodies as trophies of victory, and extract the fat to grease their weapons. In London, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Edward Smith-Stanley, endorsed Gipps' recommendation that Sievwright be dismissed. "I should wish if possible to avoid pursuing this matter further, as it is not of a character fit for public investigation," he told the Governor. La Trobe and Gipps continued to reject Sievwright's demands for a full inquiry into the allegations that had led to his dismissal. They agreed only to two inquiries into subsequent claims raised in 1844 that he had misappropriated government stores. Sievwright told La Trobe he regretted to state that Chief Protector Robinson was his "openly declared enemy", and was withholding documentary evidence that would show the claims had no basis. To further try to clear his name, Sievwright wrote a lengthy letter to the ''
Geelong Advertiser The ''Geelong Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper circulating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas. First published on 21 November 1840, the ''Geelong Advertiser'' is the oldest newspaper title in Victo ...
'', the voice of the Western District squatters. Over two days in February 1845, it devoted four
broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...
pages to Sievwright's letter. It incorporated correspondence relating to the Protectorate, his views on what he viewed as its maladministration by Robinson, and the failure of La Trobe to grant his demand for a full inquiry into his dismissal. "We cannot see a man crushed, as Mr Sievwright has been, without crying 'shame'. We confess that until these disclosures were made, we always entertained a strong prejudice against Mr Sievwright, and did not scruple to express it, and we are therefore glad of the opportunity to make reparation", the ''Advertiser'' commented. In May 1845, Sievwright sailed from Melbourne to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, leaving his family in Melbourne, to put his case for an inquiry direct to the British government. He was still trying unsuccessfully at least as late as 1849.


Personal life

On 3 April 1822 in
Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
, Scotland, he married Christina Watt. The couple had seven children: Frances 'Fanny' Anna (1823); Marcus (c. 1826); Charles (c. 1828); Frederica Christina (1830); Melita Ysobel (1830); Ada Georgina (1834); and Adolphus Falkland (1835). He became deaf and blind before dying in London in September 1855. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Brompton Cemetery. Christina had died in Melbourne in 1854.


Family

Frances Sievwright went to
Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...
to work as a governess to Lady Pedder, wife of its first Chief Justice, Sir John Pedder. In Hobart, Fanny met and married London-born Anglican clergyman Arthur Davenport, who became the last government chaplain on
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...
while it was still a convict settlement, and later Archdeacon of Holy Trinity Church in
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
. Frances' twin sisters, Frederica and Melita, would also marry in Hobart – Frederica to bank manager, George Matson, and Melita to Henry Hill, later Superintendent of Police in
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...
. Their youngest sister, Ada, married a solicitor, Stephen Clissold, before returning to England. Marcus Sievwright would become a solicitor and live the rest of his life in Melbourne. Charles Sievwright junior worked as a station manager for two Western District squatters, Charles and Peter Manifold, before he died in 1851 after falling from a horse near Mt Leura, His brother, Adolphus, also died young. He was Superintendent of Mails in Melbourne when he died in 1868 of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, aged just 33.


Criminal investigations by Sievwright

*Crown prisoners John Davis and Abraham Brackbrook, assigned to work on William Boucher Bowerman's
sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
near the Julian Range deep in the Western District, were investigated by Sievwright for shooting dead two Aboriginal men early in 1839. The bodies were moved and burned. NSW Attorney-General John Hubert Plunkett declined to prosecute the men for murder. Instead, at their trial in Melbourne in August, Davis and Brackbrook faced two counts: burning the bodies with a view to defeating the ends of justice; and indecently burning the bodies "contrary to civilised usage". A jury found both defendants not guilty on both counts as
self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in tim ...
was considered to have taken place. *In September 1839, Sievwright charged Crown prisoners William Edwards and John Cooke with illegally keeping Aboriginal women in their hut. They were convicted in the Geelong Court, and sentenced to receive a punishment of 50 lashes each. *Towards the end of 1839, Sievwright investigated the
Murdering Gully massacre Murdering Gully, formerly known as ''Puuroyup'' to the Djargurd Wurrung people, is the site of an 1839 massacre of 35–40 people of the Tarnbeere Gundidj clan of the Djargurd Wurrung in the Camperdown district of Victoria, Australia. It is ...
of 35 - 40
Djargurd Wurrung The Djargurd Wurrong (also spelt Djargurd Wurrung) are Aboriginal Australian people of the Western district of the State of Victoria, and traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and Lake Corangamite. Language The Djargu ...
Aboriginal people, taking statements from surviving witnesses. Sievright complained to the Chief Protector that he had not been given transport help to make the month-long trip to the scene sooner, allowing the chief suspect, overseer Frederick Taylor, to abscond. "Had the means been at my disposal of making the investigation...at the time the report was first made to me, there is little doubt but that the individual, who has now escaped, would ere this have had to answer for his fiendish and inhuman conduct," he wrote. Taylor left Victoria for several years after the event, and was never prosecuted. *In March 1840, Sievwright investigated the Fighting Hills massacre on a new frontier run on a tributary of the Wannon River recently taken up by English brothers - George, James, John, Pringle and William Whyte. They and their shepherds freely admitted between 30 and 80 Aborigines had been killed. In a subsequent clash involving the Whytes, also investigated by Sievwright, an unknown number of Aboriginal people died. However, Port Phillip's Crown Prosecutor, James Croke, declined to prosecute. He ruled that in both cases, the Aborigines appeared to have been the aggressors, making the conviction of the Whytes "very uncertain". As well, Sievwright should not have recorded their statements under oath. Such statements could not be used in evidence against them. *Also in March 1840, Sievwright investigated a report of the killing of five Aboriginal people at the Tahara station of the Irish brothers, George, Samuel and Trevor Winter. The killings were said to be retaliation for attacking shepherds and carrying off some sheep. The Reverend Joseph Orton later noted in his journal:
"The alleged cause of the attack was the aggressions of the natives, in stealing sheep. The attack of the Europeans was equally atrocious and unjustifiable, the result of which was that according to the depositions at least five natives were killed. This occurrence was on a station of Winter’s who appears to have taken active part in the performance."
*In April 1840, Sievwright investigated two incidents involving servants of the Henty brothers. In one incident, a shepherd named Blood was accused of shooting an Aboriginal man in both legs, one of which was now in "a state of mortification". Sievwright issued a warrant for Blood's arrest, but he had absconded. In the other incident on the station of Francis Henty, three Aboriginal men had been shot dead. Again, all three suspects had absconded.; Sievwright to Robinson, 14 April 1840 and enclosed statements, VPRS 21, Public Record Office of Victoria * Sandford George Bolden of Layton, "indicted for feloniously firing a pistol loaded with ball at an Aboriginal native". * Richard Hill, charged as one of the principals in the murder of three Aboriginal women (one pregnant) and one male child at Muston's Creek on the 23 Feb, 1842 on Thomas Osbrey and Sidney Smith's leased ‘Caramut’ run. Two men, a woman and a child were wounded. It became known as the Lubra Creek massacre.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sievwright, Charles 19th-century Australian public servants 1800 births 1855 deaths 19th-century British Army personnel