Pemulwuy[a] (/pɛməlwɔɪ/ PEM-əl-woy;[2] c. 1750 – c. 2 June 1802) was a Bidjigal warrior of the Dharug,[3][page needed] an Aboriginal Australian people from New South Wales.
[7]His contemporary Colebee said that Pemulwuy's left foot was distinctive as it had been damaged by a club, perhaps to mark him as a carradhy (cleverman or healer).
According to Watkin Tench: About one o’clock, the sergeant was awakened by a rustling noise in the bushes near him, and supposing it to proceed from a kangaroo, called to his comrades, who instantly jumped up.
As this naturally created alarm, McIntyre said, "don’t be afraid, I know them", and immediately laying down his gun, stepped forward, and spoke to them in their own language.
[12] An irate Governor Phillip ordered Lieutenant Tench to gather his company of marines and lead an expedition against the Bidjigal in retaliation for Pemulwuy's attack on McIntyre.
Tench swiftly suggested an alternative and less bloodthirsty plan, that six Bidjigal be captured and brought to Sydney Cove but that none be killed out of hand.
The expedition was the largest military operation since the founding of the colony, comprising Tench, Lieutenants William Dawes and John Poulden, and 46 marines.
[15] In December 1795, Pemulwuy and his warriors attacked a work party at Botany Bay which included John "Black" Caesar, one of the earliest settlers of African descent and a well-known bushranger.
[16][17][18][19][20] In early 1797, large groups of Aboriginal warriors led by Pemulwuy made a series of raids on the Northern Farms, a region just to the north-east of Parramatta now known as the suburbs of Oatlands and Carlingford.
The other Northern Farms settlers then decided to organise and arm themselves into a large band to track down and punish Pemulwuy and his Aboriginal raiders.
One hour later, according to David Collins, "a large body of natives, headed by Pe-mul-wy, a riotous and troublesome savage" approached Parramatta.
When they attempted to seize Pemulwuy, he threw a spear at a soldier prompting the government troops and settlers to open fire.
[15] According to Dharug man Uncle Richard Green, "with simple spears, rocks, boomerangs, stones, he [Pemulwuy] defeated the British army that they sent here.
[7] Governor Philip Gidley King issued an order on 22 November 1801 to bring Pemulwuy in dead or alive, with an associated reward.
[25] Either on or just before 2 June 1802, Pemulwuy was shot and killed by explorer and sailor Henry Hacking, the first mate of the Royal Navy ship Lady Nelson.
The Governor issued orders with immediate effect to not "molest or ill-treat any native", and to re-admit them to the areas of Parramatta and Prospect from which they had been forcibly excluded.
[27] It was sent to England to Sir Joseph Banks accompanied by a letter from Governor King, who wrote: "Although a terrible pest to the colony, he was a brave and independent character.
The circumstances relating to Pemulwuy's death and the fate of his remains were described by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003 as "Australia's oldest murder mystery".
In 1987 Weldons published Pemulwuy: The Rainbow Warrior by Eric Willmot, a best-selling novel providing a fictionalised account using early colonial documents as source.
In 2015, the National Museum of Australia installed a plaque honouring his role in Australian history as part of the Defining Moments[37] project.