John Caesar
| John Caesar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1763 or 1764 Madagascar or the West Indies |
| Died | 15 February 1796 (aged 31-33) Strathfield, New South Wales |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound |
| Other names | Black Caesar |
| Occupation | Servant |
| Criminal penalty | Transportation - 7 years Transportation - life |
| Conviction(s) | Theft (1786) Theft (1789) |
John Caesar (1764 – 15 February 1796), nicknamed "Black Caesar", was the first Australian bushranger and one of the first people of African descent to arrive in Australia.
It is believed that Caesar was born in Madagascar or the West Indies. 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 in May 1787 and was part of the First Fleet, which arrived in Botany Bay in January 1788.
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 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.
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