This is a work of fiction, but it was inspired by recorded events.
Briefly, they are these: on board the First Fleet that brought convicts to Australia in 1788 was a young lieutenant of marines, William Dawes. Although nominally a soldier, he was a considerable scholar in astronomy, mathematics and languages. The record he left of the language of the indigenous people of the Sydney area is by far the most extensive we have. It contains not only word lists and speculations about the grammatical structure of the language, but conversations between him and the indigenous people, particularly a young girl, Patyegarang. Between the lines of these exchanges is what seems to be a relationship of mutual respect and affection.
In December 1790, one of the governor’s gamekeepers was mortally wounded by a spear. Dawes was one of a party of soldiers sent out to punish the tribe from which the attacker was said to come. Their orders were to capture six indigenous men and bring them back to the settlement, but if that were not possible they were to kill six, cut off their heads, and bring them back in bags provided for the purpose.
Dawes at first refused to take part, but was persuaded. On his return he announced that he regretted his decision, and if ordered to do anything similar again he would refuse. The governor would have court-martialled him for insubordination if the mechanism for court-martial had been available to him.
Earlier, Dawes had expressed a desire to settle in New South Wales, but was sent back to Britain when his tour of duty ended. He never returned to Australia, but worked for the rest of his life in the movement for the abolition of slavery, in London, Africa and the West Indies. He spent his last years in Antigua where, after Abolition, he established schools for former slaves. He died there in 1836.
I made extensive use of historical sources in this novel, and in particular Dawes’ language notebooks. All the Cadigal words and conversations in this book are quoted verbatim from those notebooks with the kind permission of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, (reference MS 41645) and after consultation with a representative of the Cadigal people. I’ve also made use of direct quotations from A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay and A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, by Watkin Tench. I acknowledge these and many other sources with gratitude.
Although I made use of historical sources, I departed from them in various ways. This is a novel; it should not be mistaken for history.
I’d also like to express my deepest thanks to the many generous readers who contributed their knowledge and insight to this book. All errors are my own.
My greatest debt is to Patyegarang and the Cadigal people, who were willing to share their language, and to William Dawes, who wrote some of it down. Without them The Lieutenant could not have been imagined.