Blacks Camp facts for kids

The Blacks Camp is a special historical site in Wellington, Australia. It was once an important living area for Aboriginal Australian people after Europeans arrived. Today, it's a mix of homes, farms, and empty land. It's also known as Black's Camp or The Spring Flats. This site is so important that it was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 2011.

History of Blacks Camp

First Peoples of Wellington

Before European settlers arrived, the Wellington area was home to the Wiradjuri people. The Wiradjuri are known as the people of "three rivers": the Wambool (now Macquarie River), the Kalare (now Lachlan River), and the Murrumbidjeri (Murrumbidgee River). Their lands stretched from the Great Dividing Range and included these rivers.

We know the Wiradjuri lived here for a long time because of things they left behind. These include rock shelters, carved trees, scarred trees (where bark was removed for tools or canoes), old campsites, grinding grooves (for preparing food), and special ceremonial grounds.

European Settlement and Its Impact

European settlement in Wellington began in 1823 with a farm run by convicts. By 1839, most of the land along the Macquarie River was taken by settlers. As more Europeans moved in, the Wiradjuri people were pushed off their traditional lands.

Many Wiradjuri people then moved to different missions and camps around Wellington. These included places like Wellington Valley Mission, Apsley Mission, and Blacks Camp.

The Story of Blacks Camp

Blacks Camp was an Aboriginal camp located by the Macquarie River. It seems to have been connected to a private mission called Blake's Fall Mission. This mission was started by Reverend William Watson and his wife Ann in the 1830s. They came to Wellington to share Christianity with the Wiradjuri people.

Rev. Watson had a policy of taking Aboriginal children away from their families. This caused many disagreements with other missionaries. Around 1839, he was dismissed. Watson and his wife then left the main mission. They took a small group of Wiradjuri people with them and started their own private mission, called Apsley Mission.

About eight years later, Rev. Watson and his community of about thirty Wiradjuri people moved to a new spot along the Macquarie River. This new place was also called Apsley Mission or Blake's Fall Mission.

Blacks Camp was right next to this mission, covering about 21 acres (8.5 hectares). It was about 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) north of the mission. We don't know exactly when Blacks Camp started, but Wiradjuri people likely camped there while the mission was running. Some Wiradjuri elders say that people from outside Wellington also came to the camp. This included women and children who survived a difficult time in the Rylstone area.

Blacks Camp continued to be used by Aboriginal people even after the mission land was sold around 1866 and turned into a dairy farm.

Life at Blacks Camp

We can learn about the people living at Blacks Camp in the early 1900s. In 1908, Aboriginal families living there asked for a school. At that time, about ninety people lived in fourteen households at the camp. Sixty of these were children, with forty of them aged between four and fifteen.

A few years later, around 1910, a health inspector visited the camp. He reported that Blacks Camp had eighteen huts, where about eighty people lived. He noted that in one three-room hut, as many as thirteen people lived and slept. Other huts were also very crowded. The inspector also mentioned that many people at the camp had health issues, and some had died from lung problems.

In 1910, most residents of Blacks Camp were moved to the new Nanima Reserve. However, some people stayed at the camp until about the 1940s. Today, there are no buildings left standing at the site. But you can still find building materials and items left behind by the people who lived there.

Wiradjuri elders also say that Blacks Camp contains burial sites. There are no headstones, but it's believed there are fourteen grave sites. These graves belong to many Wiradjuri families from Wellington and nearby areas. Besides the graves, the site also has two traditional Aboriginal sites: a scarred tree and a shell midden (a pile of shells left from meals).

Condition of the Site Today

As of 2009, a small part of Blacks Camp (about 25-30%) has been used for farming. The site has also been affected by river floods over time.

There are no original structures from the Aboriginal camp left above ground. However, building materials and other items from past residents are still scattered across the site.

Changes to the Site

During the 1960s or 1970s, a house for a research station caretaker was built on the site. Some storage sheds and water tanks have also been added. The southern part of the site has been used for growing crops. There are also a few electricity poles on the land.

The land is officially listed as a reserve. The Wiradjuri people have made claims for this land under native title laws, which means they are seeking recognition of their traditional rights to the land. These claims are still being discussed.

Why Blacks Camp is Important

Blacks Camp is a very important historical site. It is the earliest remembered Aboriginal camp in the Wellington area. It is part of a series of Aboriginal settlements where Wiradjuri people lived separately from the European townspeople after settlement.

This site can teach us a lot through archaeological finds. It can give us information about how Aboriginal people lived in Wellington in the 1800s and early 1900s. We can learn about their numbers, living conditions, how their communities were organized, and their cultural practices.

Blacks Camp is very meaningful to the Aboriginal community. It helps tell the story of what happened to the Wiradjuri people after non-Aboriginal settlers arrived and they lost their traditional lands. The site is also important to the local Aboriginal community because it is a burial ground. The scarred tree and shell midden also make it a significant traditional Aboriginal site.

Blacks Camp was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 2011 because it meets several important criteria:

• It shows how history unfolded in New South Wales.

Blacks Camp is the oldest remembered Aboriginal camp in the Wellington area. It shows how Wiradjuri people were displaced and lived separately after European settlement.

• It has a strong link to important people or groups in New South Wales history.

Blacks Camp was a home for Wiradjuri people who had been moved from their traditional lands. Members of the Wellington Aboriginal community lived here from at least the early 1800s to the 1940s. It was also a safe place for Wiradjuri people from other areas, including those who survived difficult events in the Rylstone area.

• It is very important to a specific community or cultural group for social, cultural, or spiritual reasons.

Blacks Camp is significant to the Aboriginal community. It tells part of the story of the Wiradjuri people after European settlers arrived and they lost their traditional lands. It is also important to the local Aboriginal community as a burial ground and for its traditional Aboriginal sites (a scarred tree and a shell midden).

• It can provide information that helps us understand the history of New South Wales.

Through archaeological discoveries, the site can offer insights into the lives of Aboriginal people in Wellington during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This includes details about their population, living conditions, social structures, and cultural practices.

• It shows the main features of a type of cultural or natural place in New South Wales.

The story of Blacks Camp, as a place where Aboriginal people lived after European settlement, shows the economic and social challenges many Aboriginal people faced during that time.