n Aboriginal hunting and fishing grounds, later stealing possessions from the Aboriginal people and claiming land freely, creating huge resentment among the Aboriginals. The settling of land happened on a large scale, as the British convicts had come from a society where land ownership was dominated by gentry, thus rushed to take estates where they were available in Australia, as they associated land ownership with belonging to an upper social class. Reprisal attacks thus began on European settlers venturing into the bush to cut rushes. (12). Faced with mounting pressure to quash this indigenous resistance, Governor Phillip set about instead to capture a few Aboriginal men in order to better understand their culture, and end the violence. From this directive came the story of Bennelong, now one of the most famous names in Australian history. Born in about 1764, Bennelong was about 24 when the First Fleet arrived to create the first convict colony in Sydney Cove in January 1788, and lived to see the significant damage done to his people in the early phases of colonial presence. In mid-1789, a wave of smallpox swept the indigenous population, killing, Bennelong estimated, about 50% of them, including his first wife, and Arabanoo, the first Aboriginal man that Phillip had taken prisoner. Phillip once again wanted to learn more about the Aboriginal people, their life and language, so ordered First Lieutenant Bradley of HMS Sirius to capture ‘a Man or two’, which he did so on 25th November 1789, by luring Bennelong and another man, Colebee, from a gathering on the beach with a gift of two large fish. Bradley later wrote “They eagerly took the fish, they were dancing together when the Signal was given by me, and the two poor devils were seiz’d & handed into the boat in an instant…They were bound with ropes and taken by boat to Sydney Cove…It was by far the most unpleasant service I was ever ordered to Execute”. Bradley’s account indicates a level of respect for the Aboriginal people from the beginning of the Australian colony, contrary to the inhumane treatment that they were so often subjected to, and shows him questioning his superior’s actions; actions which caused cultural tension. Bennelong quickly learned simple English and adopted European manners. He became a valuable informant, willingly providing information about Eora clans and their language and customs. It was Bennelong who told Governor Phillip the names and locations of the Sydney clans and the Aboriginal name of Parramatta, which Phillip had at first called Rose Hill, but later renamed. As with every well-known historical figure, Bennelong’s story is surrounded by misunderstanding, and myths have emerged that he ‘collaborated’ with the British, was ‘taken to London to meet the king’ and was ‘despised by his own people’, all of which have been disproved. As there was little discussion of Aboriginal history in Australia until relatively recently, many revisionist interpretations emerged of Bennelong’s story, a good deal of which misrepresent the truth in order to present the British governance in a negative light, although it was doubtless much at fault. Bennelong was certainly no collaborator, and had been active in resisting the British colonists before agreeing to peacefully join the Sydney settlement in October 1790. Bennelong’s relationship with the British improved significantly over the years (despite Phillip being badly injured with a spear when he wen