John Caesar

Biography

It is believed that Caesar was born in Madagascar or the West Indies. He moved to England and was a servant living in the parish of St Paul, Deptford, England, in 1786.

Transportation to Australia

On 17 March 1786, he was tried at Maidstone, Kent for stealing 240 shillings. His sentence was transportation to the penal colony of New South Wales for seven years. He was imprisoned on the Alexander, a convict transport ship which left England in May 1787 as part of the First Fleet. His occupation was listed as servant or labourer.

The Alexander arrived in Botany Bay in January 1788.

According to his biography, "Popularly known as 'Black Caesar', he became known in the colony as a hard worker and a conscientious labourer."

First escape

On 29 April 1789 he was tried for theft, to which he resorted presumably due to the scarcity of food in the newly established colony. He was sentenced to a second term of transportation, this time to life.

Caesar took to the bush a fortnight later, reportedly with some provisions, an iron pot, and a musket stolen from a marine named Abraham Hand. A dearth of game prevented him from sustaining himself however, and he began to steal food on the outskirts of the settlement.

On 26 May he helped himself to a brickmaking gang's rations on Brickfield Hill and was nearly caught. On the night of June the 6th he tried to steal food from Zachariah Clark, the "house of the colony's assistant commissary for stores", and was caught by a convict named William Saltmarsh.

In July 1789, David Collins, the colony's Judge-Advocate, wrote:

This man was always reputed the hardest living convict in the colony; his frame was muscular and well calculated for hard labour; but in his intellects he did not very widely differ from a brute; his appetite was ravenous, for he would in any one day devour the full rations for two days. To gratify this appetite he was compelled to steal from others, and all his thefts were directed to that purpose.

Caesar was described by Collins after his first recapture as a "wretch" who was "so indifferent about meeting death, that he declared while in confinement, that if he should be hanged, he would create a laugh before he was turned off, by playing off some trick upon the executioner". Governor Arthur Phillip however, took advantage of Caesar's potential as a labourer and had him sent to Garden Island, where he would work in fetters and be provided with vegetables. There he showed good behavior and as a result was eventually allowed to work without iron belts.

Second escape

Caesar was allowed to work without chains. On 22 December 1789 he escaped in a stolen canoe, taking a gun. He robbed settlers gardens, and stole from local Aborigines, who speared him on 30 January 1790.

On 31 January 1790 Ceasar handed himself in to camp.

Governor Phillip pardoned him and sent Caesar in the Supply to Norfolk Island in March 1790 to assist Doctor Considen. According to his biography, "By 1 July 1791 he was supporting himself on a lot at Queenborough and was issued with a hog. In January next year he was given one acre (0.4 ha) and ordered to work three days a week."

Caesar became a father, having a daughter with fellow convict Anne Power (d 1796). Mary Ann Power was born on 4 March 1792. Caesar left him on Norfolk Island when he returned to Port Jackson in the Kitty in 1793.

Third escape

Caesar escaped briefly again in July 1794 but soon returned home.

Pemulwuy

Caesar gained some notoriety during his lifetime for his part in wounding the infamous Aboriginal warrior Pemulwuy. He was working with a party at Botany Bay in late 1795 that came under attack by a group of warriors led by Pemulwuy. Caesar wounded him by cracking his skill.

However Caesar was not the first or last man to wound Pemulwuy. During his many skirmishes with British settlers, Pemulwuy is rumored to have been wounded up to seven times, with Caesar being one of the many men to almost end his leadership of the Aboriginal resistance to British Colonisation within the region.

Fourth escape

Caesar escaped from custody in December 1795 and led a gang of absconders in the Port Jackson area. Settlers were warned against supplying him with ammunition.

On 29 January 1796 Governor Hunter offered a reward for his capture of five gallons of spirits.

Death

On 15 February 1796 Caesar was tracked down by John Wimbow and another man at Liberty Plains. Caesar fired at them but Wimbrow managed to wound him. Caesar was taken to the hut of Thomas Rose and died of his wounds.

He was survived by his daughter, Mary Ann Fisher Power.