This book is David Collins' account of the English colony in New South Wales for the period January 1788 to September 1796. David Collins was the first Judge Advocate and Secretary of the Colony. According to the book's Preface, the transactions recorded by Collins were penned as they occurred.Volume II of this book is available at DOC1818.

David Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales: With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, etc. of the Native Inhabitants of that Country. To which are Added, Some Particulars of New Zealand (T.Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, vol 1, 1798)

Settlement near the Hawkesbury River increased to over 400 people by 1795, leading to cycles of raids and violence. Acting Governor Paterson ordered a military detachment which resulted in the first recorded massacre of Aboriginal people by the military in 1795. Governor Hunter responded to the violence by ordering settlers...

Hawkesbury River

The King’s instructions to Governor Phillip were to ‘live in amity and kindness’ with ‘the natives’. However, from 1788 – 1790, the Governor sent several armed parties to abduct Aboriginal people to exchange language and to ‘reconcile’ them to the colonisers, and on punitive expeditions.

Initial confrontation and resistance 

As the colonial legal system developed in the early years of the New South Wales colony, its application to Aboriginal people was inconsistent. There were different approaches to the question of whether Aboriginal people could be tried under the law or were protected by the law.

Document

David Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales: With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, etc. of the Native Inhabitants of that Country. To which are Added, Some Particulars of New Zealand (T.Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, vol 1, 1798)

Hawkesbury River

Initial confrontation and resistance

Frontier wars and the legal system