John O'Connell Bligh

John O'Connell Bligh

John O'Connell Bligh (3 March 1834 – 12 October 1880) was a Native Police officer in the British colonies of New South Wales and Queensland. He achieved the rank of Commandant of this colonial paramilitary force from 1861 to 1864. Bligh is probably best known for an incident in Maryborough, where he conducted a number of summary executions of Aboriginal Australians along the main street and into the adjoining Mary River. After retiring from the Native Police, Bligh became a police magistrate in the towns of Gayndah and Gympie.

Early life

John O'Connell Bligh was born in 1834 in Buckinghamshire, England. His parents, Richard and Elizabeth Bligh, were 3rd cousins. As Elizabeth was the third child of Vice Admiral William Bligh of the mutiny on the Bounty fame, John was therefore a grandchild of this well known former Governor of New South Wales.[1] Bligh emigrated to Australia probably around 1850 and lived with his brother Richard John Bligh who had been Commissioner for Crown Lands and head of the Border Police at Warialda since 1847.[2] John was appointed Registrar of the Small Debts Court at Warialda in 1852.[3]

Lieutenant in Native Police

Bligh was appointed by the New South Wales Government to the position of sub-Lieutenant in the Native Police on 7 April 1853.[4] He was nineteen years old. Bligh seems to have been posted to the Wide Bay region on a regular basis early on in his career. He captured a runaway convict named John Fahey (a.k.a. Gilberry) who had been living with the local Kabi Kabi for around eleven years.[5] In order to arrest Gilberry, Bligh and his troopers handcuffed all the "station blacks" at Barambah pastoral station around a large gum tree to prevent him from receiving any information that the Native Police were nearby.[6] Fahey was sent to Cockatoo Island prison but was soon assigned to be an interpreter on the exploratory journey of A.C. Gregory.[7]

In 1854 and 1855, Bligh was in command of the 8th Division of the Native Police based at the Yabba barracks in the Conondale Range and at Maryborough. The funding of the Native Police at this stage was uncertain and Bligh had trouble with equipment supplies and the mutinous conduct of some of his Aboriginal troopers. Corporal Donald threatened to hit and handcuff Bligh. Donald mysteriously died ten days later of "dysentery".[8] In October 1855, Bligh was sent to the Clarence River area to take charge of the section there as a 2nd Lieutenant. In June 1857, Bligh was appointed to 1st Lieutenant of the Native Police by Commandant Edric Norfolk Vaux Morisset. Bligh was stationed mostly in the Wide Bay-Burnett region or on missions involving the recruitment of troopers for the force around the Clarence River districts. In 1859, he was involved in dispersing Aboriginals attending the Bunya festival in the Conondale Range. The Aboriginals who weren't killed, fled to nearby Manumbar where the proprietor noticed that "the fear of Bligh acts like a hangman's whip" over them.[9] Bligh was also in charge of a mission to the Auburn River near the Dawson River that resulted in the shooting of several Aboriginals.

Maryborough incident

In early 1860, Bligh and his troopers, then stationed at Coopers Plain barracks just to the south-west of Maryborough, chased a number of Aboriginals into the town. In broad daylight and in front of the citizens of Maryborough, these Aboriginals were shot down. Several were killed and an unknown number were wounded. At one stage, Bligh requisitioned a boat in order to shoot two Aboriginals who had fled into the Mary River.[10] The vast majority of people in Maryborough at the time supported his actions to the point where a meeting was held in the courthouse to collect money for a gift of appreciation to give to Bligh. At a ceremony later organised by the high profile Maryborough people, Bligh was given a ceremonial sword as a reward for his actions.[11]

Commandant of the Native Police

After the retirement of E.N.V. Morisset, John O'Connell Bligh was appointed Commandant of the Native Police in July 1861.[12] His first major duty as Commandant involved organising the severe reprisals for the Cullin-la-ringo massacre where, in October of 1861, Aboriginals around the Nogoa River killed nineteen settlers. Bligh travelled to the area and personally oversaw the operations. The method he employed was the standard of the Native Police at the time and involved indiscriminate shooting raids on any Aboriginal group that could be found.[13]

Bligh was the commanding officer of the force as the British expanded their invasion of the Northern parts of Eastern Australia into areas such as Bowen, Peak Downs and Mackay. The Native Police under Bligh were instrumental in enforcing colonial rule over the Aboriginals in these areas. For much of the time Bligh administered the force from the barracks at Murrays Lagoon near Rockhampton. It was here in late 1863 that he received a kick to the face from a horse that caused severe facial and head injuries.[14]

Police Magistrate

The reorganisation of the Queensland Police force in early 1864 saw the position of Commandant of the Native Police abolished and the force came under the direct auspices of the new Queensland Police Commissioner, David Thompson Seymour. Bligh was retired from the force and took up a police magistrate position at Gayndah.[15] While in this position, Bligh was involved in a controversy that led to his temporary suspension. A local vagrant by the name of Tim Shea who presented ill to the police station was arrested and sentenced by Bligh to six months jail. Mr Shea died while being transported on an open dray to Maryborough, with multiple bruisings and his tongue bitten through later being observed on his body. Bligh was to be transferred to Clermont for his actions but his powerful family connections in Brisbane prevented this.[16] He later transferred to the gold mining towns of Gympie and Kilkivan.[17]

Death and legacy

Bligh remained as a police magistrate in Gympie until his death in 1880 at the relatively young age of 46. He married and had several children. As a result of the kick to the face from the horse in Rockhampton, Bligh lost the sight in one eye and had chronic insomnia issues.[18] He became addicted to chloral hydrate and died of an overdose at his home in Gympie.[19] Bligh Street in Gympie is likely to have been named after him and given both Gympie and the site of the Yabba Native Police barracks are nearby, the Bligh Street in Kilkivan is also very likely to have been named in his honour.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Farrell, Chad. "John O'Connell Bligh". WikiTree. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  2. ↑ Stubbins, Ted. "Warialda's Richard Bligh bridge: the history". Warialda Standard. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  3. ↑ "Index page". New South Wales Government Gazette (INDEX 18520101-18521231). New South Wales, Australia. 31 December 1852. p. iii. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "NATIVE POLICE". New South Wales Government Gazette (38). New South Wales, Australia. 8 April 1853. p. 655. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE". The Moreton Bay Courier. IX, (445). Queensland, Australia. 23 December 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "MARYBOROUGH'S EARLIEST DAYS". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay And Burnett Advertiser (10, 733). Queensland, Australia. 5 June 1907. p. 3. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "THE Moreton Bay Courier". The Moreton Bay Courier. X, (477). Queensland, Australia. 4 August 1855. p. 2. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ Skinner, L.E. (1975). Police of the Pastoral Frontier. St Lucia: UQP. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "THE NATIVE POLICE". The Courier (Brisbane). XV, (1039). Queensland, Australia. 4 June 1861. p. 2. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ Cryle, Denis (1989). The Press in Colonial Queensland. St Lucia: UQP.
  11. ↑ "MARYBOROUGH". The Moreton Bay Courier. XIV, (830). Queensland, Australia. 21 February 1860. p. 4. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "WEEKLY EPITOME". The Courier (Brisbane). XVI, (1077). Queensland, Australia. 20 July 1861. p. 2. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ "THE NATIVE POLICE AND THE BLACKS". The Maitland Mercury And Hunter River General Advertiser. XIX, (2141). New South Wales, Australia. 8 February 1862. p. 6 (Supplement to the Maitland Mercury). Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "ROCKHAMPTON". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay And Burnett Advertiser. III, (155). Queensland, Australia. 5 November 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "No title". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay And Burnett Advertiser. IV, (165). Queensland, Australia. 14 January 1864. p. 2. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ "THE TIM SHEA TRAGEDY". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay And Burnett Advertiser. VII, (454). Queensland, Australia. 2 March 1867. p. 3. Retrieved 28 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ↑ "Gympie Mining Report". The Brisbane Courier. XXXIII, (3, 477). Queensland, Australia. 10 July 1878. p. 5. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ "The Brisbane Courier". The Brisbane Courier. XXXV, (4, 233). Queensland, Australia. 14 December 1880. p. 2. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ↑ "LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS". Gympie Times And Mary River Mining Gazette. XII, (1346). Queensland, Australia. 15 December 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ↑ "Under the Peak". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay And Burnett Advertiser (4, 187). Queensland, Australia. 25 December 1886. p. 7. Retrieved 21 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
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