Australian History: Castlehill Rebellion
Many of the convicts at the time were Irish, who resented the English government that had sent them to New South Wales. They hated the hard work they were forced to do, the brutal floggings they suffered and the way their overseers treated them. The convicts broke out at eight o’clock on Sunday 4th March 1804. Two hundred of them gathered together, set fire to to buildings and searched for weapons. They took whatever they could find, including swords, rifles, bayonets and pitchforks. They marched to Parramatta and then onto Sydney. There they would tae over ships in the harbour and escaoe from the colony. By morning the word had spread to the leaders and the government troops caught up with the convicts at Vinegar Hill. A battle ensued and the convicts turned and gled. About fifteen were shot dead and many others captured, wounded and the instigators got flogged mercilessly.