Today is the anniversary of the death of Wangal man Woollarawarre Bennelong. He died on January 3, 1813 and was the most significant Aboriginal man in early Sydney and also, in retrospect, the most misrepresented and underestimated.

He was captured in Nov 1789 on the orders of Arthur Phillip, first NSW governor. Phillip, had sent Lt William Bradley with a party of marines to Manly Cove where they abducted two men - Colebee & Bennelong. They were tied up and held prisoner and under guard at Government House.

Colebee soon escaped, but Bennelong formed an unlikely friendship with Phillip and soon became a valued informant and go-between. In Dec 1792, Bennelong and his young kinsman Yemmerrawanne sailed with Phillip to England. Bennelong was aged around 29.

During his stay, Bennelong lived at a number of addresses, toured key sites like St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London, visited museums, attended theatre performances, enjoyed urban spas, & even took in a session of the trial of Warren Hastings at the Houses of Parliament.

While in Mayfair, Yemmerrawanne and Bennelong gave a recital of a native song accompanied by clapsticks. One of their audience, Edward Jones (a welsh composer) wrote down and published the words and music in 1811, it is the oldest known published music from this continent.

He returned in 1795. He was an amazing person. Learned to speak English, adapted to British customs, acted as a go-between, a diplomat and had sailed across the globe to England. He also learned to write and either wrote or dictated this letter on 29 Aug 1796.

The letter is celebrated as the first use of English by an Aboriginal author. He is however remembered in our history ‘as a flawed character: a drunk, scorned by both European and Aboriginal society.

In our textbooks, he became the stereotype of the defeated ‘native’, a victim, scarred by dispossession and cultural loss, who could not adapt to European ‘civilisation’. He was buried in the orchard of the brewer James Squire.

There are no statues of Bennelong in this country.