Billy Blue

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Portrait of Billy Blue (1834)

William "Billy" Blue (* 1767 presumably in Jamaica in the English province of New York , † May 7, 1834 in North Sydney , New South Wales , Australia ) was an African American who was deported to the convict colony of Australia . In Sydney it is counted among the originals of the early English colonial times.

Billy Blue was a convict and settler and the first ferryman and founder of a ferry company in Port Jackson .

Early years

Billy Blue is believed to have worked as a slave in what was then the British colony of New York . According to his information, he should also have participated in the American War of Independence on the side of England .

Around 1796 he worked as a chocolate maker and dock worker in England, Deptford , London . When he was sentenced to seven years in prison on October 4, 1796 for stealing raw sugar in Maidstone , he served the first four years on a prison ship. He was then deported to the Australian convict colony, where he arrived on December 14, 1801 in Port Jackson on Minorca . When he arrived in Australia, he had a little less than two years to serve.

On April 27, 1805, he married Elizabeth Williams, who was born in England and had been deported to Australia as a convict. With her he had three sons and two daughters.

Life at Port Jackson

Billy worked as a ferryman in Port Jackson , but also collected oysters , which he sold as well as other products.

During the so-called Rum Rebellion , which took place in 1808, he signed a list demanding the arrest of Governor William Bligh . 1811 Governor appointed him Lachlan Macquarie for harbor master and port police of Port Jackson .

The Blue's Point Tower , built on Blue's Point , with the Sydney Harbor Bridge behind it .

He was allowed to erect a large building on a hill by the harbor, which soon became known as Billy Blue's Villa . This historic structure probably had to give way to the construction of new buildings in the 1940s or 1950s. In this building he also ran a pub , which he called the Commodore Hotel .

This building was to serve other purposes in the port on the instructions of the colonial government. To compensate for this, Billy Blue was awarded 32.4 hectares of land in 1817 . This land, on the southern headland of the north coast of Port Jackson, was soon named Billy Blue's Point .

Billy Blue opened a ferry service in the port. When Macquarie saw his numerous boats in the harbor, he called him Commodore , then the name The Old Commodore caught on for him.

Billy Blue also participated in smuggling in the port, helped convicts escape and threw stones at a boy who is said to have died as a result. Because of these incidents, he was sentenced to one year imprisonment in October 1818. His conviction also lost his job in the port.

In 1823 the ferry service that he had set up was to be taken away from him. However, Governor Thomas Brisbane stood up for him and he was allowed to operate a ferry service between Parramatta and the port. Around 1833 he had a ferry boat and cultivated vegetables and fruit trees. He offered the harvest of his cultivation at the market in Sydney.

Memorial stone with a bronze plaque of Billy Blue and his family

His wife Elizabeth died in 1824. Billy Blue died in 1834, but there are different information about the age of death in the literature. Billy Blue and his family are commemorated by a memorial stone with a bronze plaque in St Thomas Rest Park , Crows Nest in Sydney, which was placed in 2003.

Appearance and character

Billy Blue always wore clothing that was reminiscent of a naval uniform, and a large hat. Billy Blue was known by the population and the colonial government for his quirky demeanor and his humor. He is said to have always been in a good mood and ready for jokes.

Others

There are several portraits depicting him in the Mitchell Library in Sydney. These include a depiction by Charles Rodius , a lithograph by John Carmichael, and an oil painting by JB East.

memories

Billy Blue is variously counted in the literature as one of the founding fathers of Australia and one of Australia's first entrepreneurs. In Sydney's harbor, the Blues Point reminds of him as well as the Blue Street , Blues Point Road and the high-rise Blues Point Tower in North Sydney. The William Blue College of Design also bears his name. This private college is based in Sydney and has offices in Melbourne , Brisbane and Perth .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Margaret Park: Blue, William (Billy) (1767–1834) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Supplementary Volume. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 2005, ISBN 0-522-85214-9 (English).
  2. ^ William (Billy) Blue , at www.the1788-1820pionieerassiciation.org.au. Retrieved September 29, 2016
  3. ↑ Billy Blue's villa, Blues Point , at www.athomeinnorthsydney.com.au. Retrieved September 29, 2016
  4. ↑ a b The Story of Billy Blue , at www.billyblue.edu.au. Retrieved September 29, 2016
  5. ↑ Hear the story of Billy Blue at the Sydney Festival 2011 , at www.sydney.edu.au. Retrieved September 29, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Blue, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blue, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English convict
DATE OF BIRTH 1767
PLACE OF BIRTH Jamaica , Province of New York
DATE OF DEATH May 7, 1834
Place of death North Sydney , New South Wales , Australia