Jan and Wouter are remembered, not for their crimes, but because they were the first white men to have lived on the continent of Australia.
Sightings
The first specific report of an Aboriginal with European characteristics in Western Australia was in May 1836 (seven years after European settlement in the region). George Moore encountered ‘a young woman of a very pleasing countenance and something of European features and long, wavy, almost flaxen-coloured hair.’ Perth Gazette, 1836.
In 1839, Lieutenant George Grey wrote: ‘We passed two native villages, the huts of which they were composed differed from those in the southern districts, in being built, and very nicely plastered over the outside with clay, and clods of turf… they were evidently intended for fixed places of residence.’ This suggests that the Nanda people of the Western coastal regions might have absorbed some Dutch building techniques. The area where Grey saw the villages was close to ‘warran grounds’ – warran being the edible root favoured by the Nanda people – and close to the mouth of the Hutt River where it is thought likely that Jan and Wouter were marooned. For the purposes of this book, I have assumed that the warran grounds were established when Jan and Wouter were marooned, but it is possible that the yams were introduced by early Dutch settlers.
In 1848, the explorer Augustus Charles Gregory reported: ‘I explored the country where the mutineers had landed and found a tribe whose character differed considerably from the average Aborigine. Their colour was neither black nor copper, but that peculiar colour that prevails with a mixture of European blood.’
Daisy May Bates, an Irish Australian journalist (1859-1951) and lifelong student of Australian Aboriginal culture and society, recognised European features in Aboriginals of the Western Australian coastal tribes: ‘I also found traces of types distinctly Dutch. When Pelsaert marooned two white criminals on the mainland of Australia these Dutchmen had probably been allowed to live with the natives, and it may be that they are their progeny… there was no mistaking the flat heavy Dutch face, curly fair hair, and heavy, stocky build.’ The Passing of the Aborigines, (Panther, London, 1966).
Lastly, ‘The first white men to settle did so reluctantly as they were the two sailors of the Batavia marooned for their part in the mutiny of 1629, which could account for the natives with fair hair and blue eyes reported by our pioneers.’ The Shire of Northampton, Western Australia, A.C. Henville (Geraldton Newspaper Ltd, 1968).
At the time of going to press, initial DNA tests have confirmed that some Aboriginals from Western Australia carry Western European blood. Further tests should allow researchers to pinpoint the date when that genetic link came about and whether it predated British settlement.
Bibliography
Batavia’s Graveyard, Mike Dash (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2002).
The Accomplice, Kathryn Heyman (Headline Book Publishing, 2003).
And Their Ghosts May be Heard, Rupert Gerritsen (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2002).
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Mike Lefroy of the Western Australian Maritime Museum for invaluable information and advice.
Rosemary Hayes
lives and works in Cambridgeshire. She has written numerous books for children including historical and contemporary fiction and fantasy. Rosemary lived in Australia for six years, and her first children’s novel Race Against Time, set in Australia, was runner-up for the Kathleen Fidler Award. Rosemary’s first Frances Lincoln book, Mixing It, about the relationship between a Muslim girl and a non-Muslim boy against a background of terrorism, was shortlisted for the South Lanarkshire Book Award. Her next book, Payback, was based on the actual experiences of a young Muslim woman who was brave enough to defy her family and reject the husband chosen for her.
More books by Rosemary Hayes
MIXING IT
Fatimah is a devout Muslim. Steve is a regular guy who’s never given much thought to faith. Both happen to be in the same street the day a terrorist bomb explodes. Steve is badly injured and when the emergency services arrive, Fatimah has bandaged his shattered leg and is cradling his head in her lap, willing him to stay alive. But the Press is there too, and their picture makes the front page of every newspaper. ‘Love across the divide,’ scream the headlines. Then the anonymous ‘phone calls start. Can Steve and Fatimah rise above the hatred and learn to understand each other? But while they are breaking down barriers, the terrorists have another target in mind…
Praise for Mixing It:
“A tense thriller set against a background of terrorism.” Cambridge Evening News
“A topical and well-researched book.” Bookfest
“Full of insight into the plight of young Muslims, trapped, as they see it, between their love of life in secular Britain and their loyalty to a faith developed long ago in distant lands.” Church Times
PAYBACK
Halima has her whole life to look forward to. Brought up in a Pakistan village and now settled in London with her family, her horizons are widening all the time. She is starting university in London and she has met a Muslim boy she really likes.
And then she discovers her father’s plan – to marry her to the son of a distant relation in Pakistan who once did him a favour. Halima is to be the repayment of a debt, and it’s payback time.
Praise for Payback:
“Addresses the challenging subject of forced marriages in the Muslim community.” Eastern Daily Press
“A powerful, moving read.” The Irish Examiner
“Gives a welcome and often gripping airing to this topical issue, examining concepts of family honour, religion, love and the place of women in society in an accessible way.” Books for Keeps
“This is contemporary novel-writing at its most relevant.” The Independent
“A strong storyline and lots of gripping description.” Erin Forrest, Craigmount High School, Teen Titles
The Blue-Eyed Aborigine Page 14