Badasses of History: Pemulwuy ‘The Clever Man’

By Thomas Diefenbach

Lets start a new series, and where better to look than the history of our great world and some of the truly great people that have graced its surface, so lets kick of our Badasses’ of History, With Pemulwuy.

Pemulwuy was an aboriginal warrior born around 1750 in the region that is now called Botany Bay in Australia. He was born into one of the ‘woods tribes’ of the Bidjigal clan and is described as having blemish in his left eye and a clubbed foot which his people believed made him a ‘clever man’. When the first British settlers came it is believed that he lived amongst them peacefully for 12 to 18 months, before convict and gamemaster John McIntyre supposedly committed a murder amongst other ‘truly bloody’ acts that his colleagues refused to record, awoke the fury that Pemulwuy would become. It was in early December 1790 that McIntyre lead a hunting party into Botany bay, Pemulwuy’s home, and it was during this trip that Pemulwuy killed him with a spear to his left side. This act launched Pemulwuy’s 12 year guerrilla war against the colonists where time upon time he embarrassed and drove back the more heavily armed British invaders.

One account of the pure badassery of Pemulwuy was by a British settler who wrote he had

“Lodged in him, in shot, slugs, and bullets about eight to ten ounces of lead”

and despite this, Pemulwuy still managed to down 30 of his enemies, THIRTY!

After initial hostilities, Governor Philip King of New South Wales, Pemulwuy’s arch nemesis, decided to try a more diplomatic approach, stating that Pemulwuy’s people were “Lucky to be selected to become part of the British Empire” and threatening that the warrior may be “Wiped out” Pemulway responded simply with “Or you will be, Captain”

By this point, both Pemulwuy and Governor Philip had realised there was no way to achieve peaceful diplomacy, and Philip sent out one hunting party after another to hunt down Pemulwuy, but each party that left returned either carrying their saddles… or not at all. During this time Pemulwuy would ramp up his attacks in a series of raids against settlers, setting crops and homes ablaze, these were all valuable resources to settlers, and many historians have argued that these were calculated attacks by Pemulwuy and his warriors.

In 1794 Pemulwuy met his first defeat in battle when he came up against a Convict/Bushranger of African descent known as John ‘Black’ Ceasar. A man of immense stature who managed to crack the skull of Pemulwuy in battle, however though seriously wounded, Pemulway escaped to fight on in his war.

His next loss came in 1797, when he led a small army of 100 Bidjigal men in a pitched battle against the English garrison forces in Parramatta, here the Bidjigal suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat, leaving Pemulwuy, felled by several bullets laying a pool of his own blood.

Amazingly, this would not be the end of Pemulwuy, in a display of admiration he was taken to a hospital by soldiers where he lay at deaths doorstep for many days.. for several weeks the warrior lay there, recovering, until one night, his legs still bound by Iron, the warrior escaped into the darkness of the night, legend of the Bidjigal say he did this by transforming himself into a bird.

This recovery, amongst the many other miraculous feats of survival accomplished by Pemulwuy gave him a reputation from aboriginals and colonists alike, many beginning to believe he was invincible, immune to the weapons of the British invaders and for 5 more years he would continue to wage his war… though injury had clearly taken its toll, the attacks were became sporadic and ineffective.

In November of 1801 Governor King finally outlawed Pemulwuy and issued a reward of 20 gallons of spirits or a free pardon for his capture, dead or alive, and the prospect of this reward incited the people to test Pemulwuy’s mortality, and in 1802 the legend of Pemulwuy came to an end, when he was shot, killed and decapitated by hunters.

The head of Pemulwuy was preserved in alcohol and sent to England as a gift for Joseph Banks, the man who established Botany Bay. Along with the head of Pemulwuy Governor King sent a letter stating that

“Although a terrible pest to the colony, he was a brave and independent character…”

Even in the face of their 12 year rivalry and the ongoing battles between Pemulwuy and Governor King, there is an account of Pemulwuy attending several meeting at the new Governor, John Hunter, during one it is noted that he

“spoke with one gentleman of the party; enquiring of him whether the governor was angry, and seemed please at being told he was not”

It seems despite everything, the two men held at the very least a begrudging respect for each other.

To this day the legend of Pemulwuy is remembered through song and story, the legend of one of the great Aboriginal freedom fighters who fought for his home against overwhelming odds.