25/08/2026
The Breastplates of the Bathurst War
https://bid.smallsauctions.com/lots/view/5-2M3BBM/australia-early-king-plate-presented-to-jacky-jones-king-of-bathurst-plain-circa-1822
https://bid.smallsauctions.com/lots/view/5-2M3BBO/australia-early-breastplate-presented-by-george-innes-to-capn-pipers-constable-circa-1823
In our Sale we included two Aboriginal Breastplates which capture the dual historical perspectives of the spread of colonisation and the sustained resistance by the native Aboriginal peoples at a time of clashing cultures. To paraphrase a well-known saying, history is written by the winners, but it is important to acknowledge history from all perspectives whether good or bad. These breastplates, although considered by some as denigrating to Aborigines, also provide evidence of the brutal history that forged the beginnings of a multicultural Australia. They are the icons that capture of Australia’s full story in black and white.
Early King Plate presented to Jacky Jones - King of Bathurst Plain, circa 1822
Following the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813, reports of the vast grasslands on the western plains led to a visit in 1814 by George Evans, the Deputy Surveyor of Lands of the Colony of New South Wales. Evans was suitably impressed and thought that the lands were so vital to the expansion of the Colony that he coined the name the ‘Bathurst Plains’ for the region after Lord Bathurst, the British Secretary for War, and the Colonies. Settlement was highly restricted to begin with and by 1820 the township of Bathurst still had only a permanent population of 114 who coexisted peacefully with the native Wiradjuri people.
However, in November 1821 the numbers of settlers and livestock increased dramatically when the newly installed Governor, Sir Thomas Brisbane, granted temporary grazing rights to settlers by way of 200 ‘tickets of occupation’ that covered 100,000 acres of Wiradjuri land which quickly began to be sectioned and fenced off to hold livestock. These temporary land rights were given to well-connected individuals, such as George Innes and Captain John Piper, whose holdings of 2,000 acres each were later converted to full land grants in 1823. Soon the traditional way of life and customs of the Wiradjuri people were under threat, and from 1822 the Aborigines began a war of resistance against property outstations, including one owned by the explorer William Lawson, whose worker, William Mowbray, was killed in an attack.
Acting on the advice of Lawson, Governor Brisbane issued King Plates to the heads of the five tribes of the Bathurst region in an effort to stem the attacks, but this proved unsuccessful. Skirmishes continued until late 1824 when the introduction of Martial Law led to an “exterminating war” on Aborigines (Sydney Gazette) which eventually forced the Aborigines to broker peace bringing an end to the ‘Bathurst War.’ Three of the Brisbane plates relating to the Bathurst War have been identified in private collections: Thommy Weavers, King of Curvy, Kangaroo Swamp; King Wagor-Day, Black Rock, Bathurst & Jacob, King of Bathurst. Evidence would suggest that this plate could be another that was issued by Governor Brisbane.
With its regal design acknowledging the ‘King of Bathurst Plains’ the official name adopted for the region it is perhaps the most important. Like the other three plates that have been sighted, it is sand-cast with a crescent moon shape. But unlike the others, it bears the imprimatur of a Ducal Crown set between two sprigs of leaves mirroring the military gorgets worn by officers in the British regiments between 1760 and 1830, which feature at their centre the Royal Crown of George III. The significance of the Ducal Crown is significant because it is subservient to the Royal Crown and was used on other early King Plates to show that the recipient was a servant of the King of England.
It’s this formalised style used on this plate presented to ‘Jackey Jones King of Bathurst Plains', which confirms that it was a government-issued plate, as distinct from those served out later by private landholders. And, of course, if it is a Brisbane plate issued during the ‘Bathurst War’, it ranks of great historical importance.
Early Breastplate presented by George Innes to Cap'n Pipers Constable, circa 1823
The second plate in our Sale is certainly linked to the Bathurst War. George Innes, whose name appears on this plate, was the younger brother of Major Archibald Clunes Innes, who in 1825 was appointed the aide -de-camp to the Lieutenant Governor of NSW. Young Innes obviously had important connections through his brother because in 1821 he was favoured by Governor Brisbane with a ‘ticket of occupancy’ for 2000 acres at Bathurst on which to graze livestock. He established the ' Yarrows Homestead' on the holding when it was converted to a full land grant in 1823.
Captain John Piper, a well-connected Sydney landholder, whose name also appears on the plate, established a permanent homestead, ‘Alloway’ on his 2,000 acres when his temporary right to graze livestock on vacant Crown Land was also converted to a full land grant in 1823. Piper had arrived in the Colony in 1792 as an ensign in the N.S.W. Corps. He had narrowly avoided a court-martial in 1801 when he acted as a second for his friend John Macarthur in a duel with Major Patterson, his commanding officer, but he had redeemed himself through years of government service to be appointed a magistrate by Governor Macquarie in 1819. By 1825, he had risen to the position of chairman of directors at the Bank of New South Wales.
Through savvy land grants and acquisitions, he has accumulated 190 acres at Eliza Point which he renamed Point Piper, as well as other valuable land holdings including 475 acres at Vaucluse, 1130 acres at Woollahra and Rose Bay, 295 acres at Petersham, 700 acres at Neutral Bay, 80 acres at Botany Bay, 300 acres in Van Diemen's Land, an acre of prime city land in George Street, Sydney as well as the aforementioned 2,000 acres at Bathurst. Piper's fortunes experienced a swift decline from the mid 1820’s, first with his resignation from the Bank of New South Wales in 1827 after Governor Darling ordered an inquiry into the bank’s practice of favoured loans. Simultaneously he was suspended from his post as the Colony’s Naval Officer responsible for collecting customs duties, excise on spirits and harbour dues due to gross maladministration. These dual setbacks grossly affected his income and precipitated the sell-off of most of his major Sydney landholdings to clear personal and Government debt, and by 1828, he had retired to one of his last remaining properties at Bathurst.
1823 was the central year in the Bathurst Frontier War between indigenous Australians and the British settlers. The native uprising had been simmering since 1822 when the first bloody skirmishes broke out between the settlers and the Wiradjuri people whose way of life and customs were under threat from the encroachment of grazing properties on traditional Aboriginal lands. Up until the early 1830’s it remained the right of the Governor to bestow the title of King on a chosen native with whom authorities could liaise, and so Captain Piper when adding his name to the Innes plate created a new title of ‘Constable’ relying on his role as a magistrate. To add gravitas, he followed the official government format by placing the Piper family crest between two sprigs of leaves.
The bestowing of this plate to an unknown aborigine would date to around 1823 to 1824, and like Governor Brisbane’s Kings, ‘Cap’n Piper's Constable’ would have been tasked with helping to subdue the warring Wiradjuri tribes. This is acknowledged in a letter written to Major J. T. Morisset, the Commandant at Bathurst after the lifting Martial Law in December 1824, where Governor Brisbane authorised a £50 reward to be shared between the aboriginal police aides, such as ‘Cap’n Piper’s Constable, who helped in the tracking of the Wiradjuri people.
These two plates represent an inextricable link between Australian Colonial History and that of the native Aboriginal peoples.
