The Castle Hill Rebellion – Battle of Vinegar Hill – 5 March 1804

On the night of Sunday 4 March 1804, a hut was set on fire at the Government Farm at Castle Hill. It was the signal for a few hundred convicts, most of them Irishmen sent out here after the 1798 rebellion back home, to rise up, grab whatever weapons they could find and march on Parramatta and Sydney. By the next morning they'd been chased all the way out towards the Hawkesbury, and at a spot near today's Rouse Hill a small force of soldiers and armed settlers under Major George Johnston broke them in a few minutes. Their leaders had been grabbed while talking under a flag of truce. Loyalists called it "Australia's Vinegar Hill", after the battle in Ireland where the 1798 rising was crushed. It was the first major convict uprising in Australia to be put down under martial law, and it's one of the very few times Europeans have fought a pitched battle against each other on Australian soil.

The only picture made at the time: 'Convict uprising at Castle Hill, 1804', by an unknown artist. It shows Major Johnston and Trooper Anlezark holding pistols on the rebel leaders while the soldiers fire. Unknown artist, 1804, National Library of Australia, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I grew up hearing about the Rum Rebellion, but this one, four years earlier, doesn't get anywhere near the same attention. So here's the whole story: where it came from, how the night went, what happened at the hill, the hangings and floggings afterwards, and where you can go today to see where it all happened.

Where It Started – Ireland, 1798

As Anne-Maree Whitaker tells it in the Dictionary of Sydney, the Castle Hill rising grew straight out of the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland. That rebellion has been called one of the most concentrated outbreaks of violence in Irish history, and the death toll on all sides has been put at around 30,000. It ended at the Battle of Vinegar Hill, outside Enniscorthy in County Wexford, though the military and legal mopping up went on until 1801. Afterwards, 400 or more of those involved were transported to New South Wales.

The original Vinegar Hill: George Cruikshank's picture of the rebels at Vinegar Hill, outside Enniscorthy in County Wexford, 1798. George Cruikshank, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Remember that name, Vinegar Hill, because it comes back to Sydney.

'Defeat at Vinegar Hill', Cruikshank's plate for William Maxwell's 1845 history of the Irish rebellion. George Cruikshank, 1845, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

When the Minerva and Friendship arrived from Ireland in 1800, Sydney Town was a 12-year-old settlement of about 2,500 people, 43 per cent of them convicts. Parramatta and Toongabbie together had a bit under 1,500 people, more than two thirds of them convicts. The Hawkesbury was mostly free settlers, and the soldiers were mostly in Sydney, with only small garrisons anywhere else (Dictionary of Sydney).

The Plots of 1800

The Irish could see how thinly guarded the place was, and they didn't stop being rebels just because they'd been shipped to the other side of the world. They wanted to escape, get home and help with the next rising they expected in Ireland. The Dictionary of Sydney lists the trouble through 1800. In February a seditious gathering was broken up in Sydney, and in May another plot was reported. In September and October more conspiracies were investigated, and the men suspected were flogged or sent to Norfolk Island. In December a plot on Norfolk Island was stopped by hanging two of its leaders.

Wikipedia, drawing on Whitaker's book Unfinished Revolution, gives the outline of the September 1800 plan. The rebels would meet at Parramatta and take it, then take the Sydney barracks before daylight, and then live off the settlers' farms until they heard from France, where they meant to send a ship.

More ships kept coming from Ireland: the Anne in 1801, then the Atlas I, Atlas II and Hercules in 1802. Every one brought more veterans of 1798 and more news of trouble in the Irish countryside.

The Government Farm at Castle Hill

Castle Hill was the colony's Third Government Farm. According to its State Heritage Register history (reproduced on Wikipedia), work started there in 1801, on soil described as the "best and most productive kind". The surveyors' field book of 1801–02 mentions bridges, a watering place and a long hut 100 feet by 20. When the French explorer François Péron came through in October 1802, he called Castle Hill an "infant town" of "a dozen houses" with cultivated land and "several handsome farms". On 30 June 1803 Governor King reported that he was building a two-storey stone barracks there, 100 feet by 24, and it was still going up that August.

View of the Castle Hill Government Farm, about 1806, an unsigned watercolour attributed to John Lewin. Attributed to John Lewin, Mitchell Library PXD 379-1 f.8, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The heritage listing makes a pointed observation. King's policy of putting Irish political prisoners together in one remote place could have looked naive to London, and it says "almost certainly was". It suggests that possible embarrassment is one reason so few official records explain why the uprising happened.

There'd been warning signs. Wikipedia, citing Helen Mackay, says that a year earlier 12 convicts had escaped from Castle Hill and gone looking for friends and sympathisers around the district. When they were caught, every one of them had the same story: they were walking to China over the Blue Mountains. Lynette Ramsay Silver's book explains that many Irish convicts really did believe China lay just past the mountains. Either way, the authorities learned later that the trip had told the rebels where their friends were.

News From Dublin

On Sunday 22 January 1804 the whaler Ferret arrived in Sydney, five months out of London, carrying newspapers up to 22 August 1803. They had the first reports of Robert Emmet's rising in Dublin (Dictionary of Sydney).

Robert Emmet, whose failed Dublin rising of July 1803 was the news that set Castle Hill alight. This is a later print. Thomas Kelly, 1874, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Emmet's rising had failed, but it fired up the Irish at Castle Hill. Two of them, Philip Cunningham and William Johnston, began planning a rising of their own. In the Dictionary of Sydney the second man's surname is spelt Johnson.

Philip Cunningham

The Dictionary of Sydney describes Cunningham as a stonemason and publican back in Ireland who had tried to reorganise the United Irish network, was transported for sedition and "remained a rebel til his death". He'd been a United Irish captain and recruiting officer, and at Castle Hill he was overseer of the government stonemasons. Wikipedia adds that he was a veteran of 1798 and had taken part in the mutiny on the convict transport Anne. Lynette Silver says he'd been involved in two earlier rebellions, so he knew how much depended on keeping things secret.

The green harp flag of Ireland, the old symbol of Irish nationalism. Raymond1922A, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Plan

According to Wikipedia, the plan was for more than 685 Castle Hill convicts to join nearly 1,100 from the Hawkesbury River district. They would rally at Constitution Hill and march on Parramatta and then Sydney. Helen Mackay says the aim was to set up Irish rule in the colony and get ships for anyone who wanted to go home and help restart the failed rising of 1803.

The Dictionary of Sydney has Cunningham's own version, from his speech on the night. Sydney and Parramatta were ready to be taken. After scouring the settlements for arms, he'd lead them to the Hawkesbury, where they'd form a combined force of 1,100 men. That army would come back to Castle Hill on Tuesday morning for breakfast and then take Parramatta. They'd plant a Tree of Liberty at Government House and then go on to Sydney, where ships would be waiting. He finished with the cry, "Now, my boys, Liberty or Death!"

The Night of 4 March 1804

The rising began exactly six weeks after the colony first heard about Emmet. The Dictionary of Sydney says the sun set at 6.28 pm and the rebels moved at seven o'clock, as it got dark. One of the leaders' houses at Castle Hill was set on fire as the signal. Wikipedia, following Silver, puts it at 8 o'clock and names the man as John Cavenah, who set fire to his own hut. Nobody saw the fire at Green Hills, today's Windsor, which was a bad start.

The Dictionary of Sydney says the 200 convicts at Castle Hill were guarded only by a few convict constables, and most of them joined in. The rebels raided every house in Castle Hill for weapons. Wikipedia says about 200 to 300 of them broke into the Government Farm buildings and took firearms, ammunition and other weapons. Then they went from farm to farm, picking up guns, food and rum and spirits, and bringing in recruits, some of them willing and some not. Silver says that at one stage the rebels held about a third of all the weapons in the colony.

Things Go Wrong

Secrecy didn't hold. Wikipedia lists two defectors, an Irish convict overseer named Sloane and Lewis Bulger. Captain Edward Abbott, the commandant at Parramatta, was warned while the rising was happening, started his defences and sent word to the governor in Sydney. Cunningham's courier, John Griffen, had second thoughts about passing his orders on to Brian Furey and was arrested. So the call-outs to Windsor, Parramatta and Sydney never went out, and the rising stayed in the country west of Parramatta. A party of about 70 under Samuel Humes got lost in the night.

Meanwhile the main body gathered on Constitution Hill at Toongabbie. The Dictionary of Sydney explains why that spot made sense. Its crest, three and a half kilometres north-west of Parramatta, gave a view over the whole country. The rebels could see anyone coming with torches from Sydney or Parramatta, their own fires could be seen from miles off, and the hill commanded the road to the Hawkesbury. According to the My Place education site cited on Wikipedia, while they were on Constitution Hill Cunningham was elected "King of the Australian Empire" and his men named the area "New Ireland".

Panic in the Colony

The colony had about 5,000 people, and the news caused real panic. Wikipedia, drawing on Silver, says Samuel Marsden got away by boat with Elizabeth Macarthur and her children, because an informer had warned that the rebels would attack the Macarthurs' farm to draw the troops out of Parramatta.

The Government Strikes Back

The Dictionary of Sydney gives the timetable. Word reached Parramatta soon after 9 pm. In Sydney the alarm went at 11.30 pm with cannon fire and drums. At midnight a trooper woke Major George Johnston of the New South Wales Corps at his home at Annandale and told him the governor was on the way. King soon rode up himself, saying 500 to 600 "Croppies" were in arms. At 1.30 am a company of 55 soldiers reached Annandale, and Johnston led them to Parramatta.

Governor Philip Gidley King, about 1798. Unknown artist, State Library of New South Wales ML 546, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia says 140 men from HMS Calcutta and the Sydney Loyal Association militia took over guard duty in Sydney. The detachment that marched through the night included Lieutenant William Davies and Quartermaster Sergeant Thomas Laycock.

Philip Gidley and Anna Josepha King with their children Elizabeth, Anna Maria and Phillip Parker, painted by Robert Dighton in 1799, the year before King became governor. Robert Dighton, 1799, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Martial Law

King got to Parramatta at four in the morning. Johnston reached the barracks "at the dawn of the day", not long after five (Dictionary of Sydney). By then King had declared martial law. According to Wikipedia it covered everything from Castle Hill to the Hawkesbury and Nepean. Locals could detain anyone without a proper pass, a curfew was set, and an amnesty gave the rebels 24 hours to surrender. Johnston was given his orders in writing and was allowed to fire on anyone who disobeyed him.

Old Government House, Parramatta. King rode out here through the night of 4 March 1804 to take charge. BriMiDra, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The armed Parramatta Loyal Association took over defending the town. The troops split up. Lieutenant Davies took half north towards Castle Hill, and Johnston took the rest west towards the rebel camp at Toongabbie. There he was told that 400 rebels were on top of Constitution Hill. He sent a small advance guard round to the flank, then he and Quartermaster Laycock led the remaining 20 soldiers and nearly 40 armed volunteers up the hill. It was empty. The rebels had pulled back towards the Hawkesbury (Dictionary of Sydney).

George Johnston as a lieutenant colonel in 1810. Six years earlier, as a major, he led the troops at Rouse Hill. Robert Dighton, 1810, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Battle of Vinegar Hill – 5 March 1804

The troops had already marched all night, and now they had a chase on their hands on a day that was "intensely hot". Johnston and Trooper Thomas Anlezark of the Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse rode ahead while the rest followed on foot. After about 16 kilometres, Johnston heard the rebels were less than two kilometres in front. It was about 10.30 on the morning of Monday 5 March (Dictionary of Sydney).

Under a Flag of Truce

Johnston sent a mounted trooper to call on the rebels to give up and take the governor's amnesty. That got nowhere, so he brought up the Catholic priest Father James Dixon, who had himself been transported after the 1798 rising, to talk to them (Wikipedia, after Silver). The Dictionary of Sydney says the rebels, an estimated 250 of them, called on Johnston to come among them. He answered that he was within pistol shot, so he was no threat, and their leaders should come out to him. Eventually Cunningham and Johnson stepped forward. When Johnston said he wanted to avoid bloodshed, their answer was "Death or Liberty, and a ship to take us home".

The rebels formed a line on what the Dictionary of Sydney calls the "second hill this side of the last Halfway Pond". Johnston, apparently unarmed, called the two leaders out again and asked them to surrender, with Father Dixon adding his own plea. He got the same answer.

Then Laycock and the main party came into view. While the rebels were distracted, Johnston pulled a pistol he'd hidden in his sash, put it to the head of one of the leaders and told him he'd "blow his soul to hell". Anlezark did the same to the other. Johnston backed off with his two prisoners and ordered his men to open fire and charge.

The Rout

Wikipedia, following Silver, says Laycock directed more than fifteen minutes of musket fire at the rebel line, then charged and cut Cunningham down with his cutlass. Without their leaders, the rebels fired back a little, then broke and ran. The Dictionary of Sydney gives the count: nine rebels were killed at the Last Pond in the first stage, with many wounded and seven taken prisoner. Soon after, three more were killed and another 19 captured. There's no report of any soldier or volunteer killed or hurt. The rebels were chased in every direction until an "excessive dark" night came down.

According to Silver, Johnston had to threaten his own men with his pistol to stop the killing. Shots were reported in the district for up to a fortnight afterwards as old scores were settled. On Wednesday 7 March King announced that anyone who surrendered before 10 March would be treated leniently. Many who'd lost their way came in, and Humes's party of about 70 was caught back at Castle Hill by the Parramatta Loyal Association.

The Reckoning

The Dictionary of Sydney sums it up: nine rebels were executed and about 30 sent to the chain gang at the Coal River (Newcastle), and many were flogged or put in irons. Silver's book, as Wikipedia reports it, gives the names and places of the hangings:

• Philip Cunningham, hanged at Windsor
• William Johnston, John Neale and George Harrington, hanged at Castle Hill
• Samuel Humes, Charles Hill and Jonathan Place, hanged at Parramatta
• John Brannan and Timothy Hogan, hanged at Sydney

Cunningham was still alive but badly wounded. He was court-martialled under martial law and hanged at the Commissariat Store at Windsor, the building he'd boasted he would burn down. Johnston and Humes were hung in chains afterwards, which is to say gibbeted, their bodies left on show as a warning.

Wikipedia, following Silver, says the officers had started a military court at the Whipping Green in Parramatta, now Prince Alfred Square, with the idea of hanging a token number of prisoners. King stopped it quickly because he was worried about what it would lead to. Two men, John Burke and Bryan McCormack, were reprieved and held at the governor's pleasure. Seven were flogged with 200 or 500 lashes and sent to the Coal River chain gang: John Griffin, Neil Smith, Bryan Burne, Connor Dwyer, David Morrison, Cornelius Lyons and Owen McDermot. Another 23, including Cavenah, went to the Newcastle coal mines, and 34 more were put in irons until they could be "disposed of". Of the remaining 150 or so, some were put on good behaviour with Norfolk Island as the penalty if they slipped up. Most were pardoned and sent back to work, on the grounds that they'd been forced into it.

The ADB entry on King says he divided the ringleaders between the different settlements, including Newcastle, which he re-established in 1804 largely to hold them. Martial law was lifted on 10 March 1804. The plotting didn't stop, though. Silver describes military call-out drills continuing for the next three years, and King, convinced that the real instigators had stayed out of sight, sent some suspects to Norfolk Island just in case.

Rewards

The ADB says Johnston was given 2,000 acres at Cabramatta as King's thanks for his part in putting down the rising. Four years later, as the Dictionary of Sydney puts it, he took part in the Rum Rebellion against Governor Bligh and made himself lieutenant-governor. The Dictionary of Sydney describes Thomas Laycock as the quartermaster of the New South Wales Corps and a landowner who helped put down the rising.

Where Was the Battle?

The Rouse family and others at Rouse Hill House, about 1859 to 1865. The battle site is thought to lie east of the Rouse Hill estate. Major Thomas Wingate, State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

For a long time nobody could say for sure where the fight happened. The Dictionary of Sydney says the question stayed contentious until local historian Kevin Moore did the research, and a Commission of Inquiry confirmed his findings in 1982. That inquiry, under Commissioner Charles O'Connell, looked at land near Windsor Road at the Second Ponds Creek. Wikipedia says the site is believed to lie east of the Rouse Hill estate, and that Richard Rouse, a firm establishment man, was probably given his land grant there to stop it becoming a rallying place for the Irish. It also says some debate continues about the exact spot.

Remembering 1804

The Memorial at Castlebrook

The site in Castlebrook Memorial Park on Windsor Road, Rouse Hill, is marked by a memorial designed by Vladimir Sitta and Ivan Polak. It was unveiled in 1988 (Dictionary of Sydney), and Monument Australia, cited by Wikipedia, says it was dedicated that March. Blacktown City Council, whose area takes in the site, still calls it the Battle of Vinegar Hill (as cited on Wikipedia).

Castle Hill Heritage Park

Castle Hill Heritage Park, the old Third Government Farm, on the State Heritage Register since December 2000. Collywolly, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Government Farm site is now Castle Hill Heritage Park, off Gilbert Road near Old Northern Road. It was added to the State Heritage Register on 22 December 2000 (listing no. 1448) under names including the Third Government Farm, the Castle Hill Settlement Site and the Castle Hill Convict Farm. The Hills Shire Council owns it. Back in March 1986, "The Government Farm at Castle Hill", about 60 hectares, had been put on the old Register of the National Estate.

Rolling ground at Castle Hill Heritage Park, where the convicts once cleared and farmed. Collywolly, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The farm had a long life after the rebellion. In 1811 Macquarie had the barracks turned into an asylum. Commissioner Bigge recommended it be closed, and in 1826 the inmates were moved to the Liverpool Courthouse. The building was then turned into a church. Around 1886 the old asylum was pulled down, and its stone was reportedly used to build the rectory of St Paul's Anglican Church, Castle Hill. The glebe land was sold off to orchardists from 1895, and there was even a dog racing track on the western edge (heritage listing, via Wikipedia).

Inside Castle Hill Heritage Park. Most of the trees here grew back after the farm era. Collywolly, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A path through the heritage park, which covers about 20 hectares. Collywolly, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Housing has eaten away most of the old prison town. Less than 20 hectares was left undeveloped and kept as the park. For the bicentenary it got a makeover costing more than $3.4 million, and the Governor of New South Wales, Professor Marie Bashir, opened it in March 2004. There are no historic buildings left. The site of the barracks and kitchen was excavated in 2006, and their sandstone footings survive. Chicken sheds built in the 1960s had already destroyed the northern two-thirds of the barracks remains.

Castle Hill Heritage Park, reopened after a $3.4 million makeover in the bicentenary year of 2004. Collywolly, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Another view of the park, near where the barracks once stood. Collywolly, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Castle Hill Heritage Park. The sandstone footings of the barracks and kitchen were dug up in 2006. Collywolly, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Castle Hill Heritage Park today, owned by The Hills Shire Council. Collywolly, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The 2004 Bicentenary and on Screen

The 200th anniversary in 2004 was marked with a range of events, and Blacktown City Council put out an official program. In the re-enactment, Wikipedia says, the exact numbers were recruited for the rebels, the militia and the soldiers. It was held near the original site on similar country and was filmed by the ABC. The story had already been on television. The 1978 series Against the Wind dramatised the lead-up and the defeat over two episodes, and there was also a radio play, Castle Hill.

Timeline

• 1798 – Rebellion in Ireland ends in defeat at Vinegar Hill, County Wexford.
• 1800 – Minerva and Friendship bring 1798 exiles. Plots are uncovered in February, May, September and October, and one on Norfolk Island in December.
• 1801 – Work starts on the Third Government Farm at Castle Hill. The Anne arrives.
• 1802 – Atlas I, Atlas II and Hercules arrive. Péron visits Castle Hill in October.
• 30 June 1803 – King reports a two-storey stone barracks under construction at Castle Hill.
• July 1803 – Robert Emmet's rising in Dublin.
• 22 January 1804 – The Ferret brings the news of Emmet to Sydney.
• 4 March 1804, about 7–8 pm – A hut is set alight at Castle Hill and the rising begins.
• 4 March, after 9 pm – Word reaches Parramatta. At 11.30 pm the alarm sounds in Sydney.
• 5 March, about 4 am – King reaches Parramatta and declares martial law.
• 5 March, about 5 am – Johnston reaches Parramatta and sets out after the rebels.
• 5 March, about 10.30 am – The fight at "Vinegar Hill" near Rouse Hill.
• 7 March 1804 – King offers leniency to those who surrender before 10 March.
• 10 March 1804 – Martial law is lifted.
• March 1804 – Nine rebels are hanged at Windsor, Castle Hill, Parramatta and Sydney. Others are flogged and sent to Coal River.
• 1811 – The Castle Hill barracks becomes an asylum. It closes in 1826.
• c.1886 – The old building is demolished.
• 1982 – A Commission of Inquiry confirms Kevin Moore's location of the battle site.
• March 1986 – The Government Farm site goes on the Register of the National Estate.
• 1988 – The memorial is unveiled at Castlebrook Memorial Park, Rouse Hill.
• 22 December 2000 – Castle Hill Heritage Park goes on the State Heritage Register.
• March 2004 – The bicentenary, with a re-enactment and the reopening of Castle Hill Heritage Park by Marie Bashir.
• 2006 – The barracks site is excavated.

Where the Sources Disagree

• How many rebels? The Dictionary of Sydney says there were 200 convicts at Castle Hill and puts the force at the battle at an estimated 250. Wikipedia, citing Silver, gives 233, the number in the government-controlled newspaper of the day. Chris Coulthard-Clark gives 230 to 260. The heritage listing says about 300, and Wikipedia also says 200 to 300 broke into the farm buildings. On the night, King was told 500 to 600 were in arms, and Johnston was told 400 were on Constitution Hill. The planners had hoped for 685 from Castle Hill and about 1,100 from the Hawkesbury.
• How many soldiers? The Dictionary of Sydney has 20 troops and nearly 40 armed volunteers going up Constitution Hill with Johnston and Laycock. The ADB says Johnston had 26 soldiers and the rebels were ten times their number. Wikipedia's summary gives 30 regulars and 67 militia.
• The death toll. The Dictionary of Sydney counts nine killed at the Last Pond and three more soon after, 12 in all. Official reports, as given by Silver and repeated by the heritage listing, say at least 15 fell. An unknown number more were killed in the chase, and some accounts say about 30 were killed or wounded near Parramatta's western gate earlier on (Mackay).
• Sent to the Coal River. The Dictionary of Sydney says some 30. Silver lists 7 flogged and sent to the chain gang plus 23 sent to the mines, and 34 more were held in irons. The heritage listing says fifty, and nine flogged.
• The signal fire. The Dictionary of Sydney says seven o'clock and the house of "one of the leaders". Wikipedia, after Silver, says 8 o'clock and names John Cavenah, who burnt his own hut.
• "Death or Liberty". The Dictionary of Sydney has Cunningham ending his Castle Hill speech with "Liberty or Death!" and the reply at the hill as "Death or Liberty, and a ship to take us home". Wikipedia says the "ship to take us home" part was recorded only once, some time later, by Suttor, and was perhaps added by some of the men.
• The name. The Dictionary of Sydney calls the second leader William Johnson, and Wikipedia calls him William Johnston. That's not to be confused with Major George Johnston.
• The site. The Dictionary of Sydney treats the Castlebrook site as settled by the 1982 inquiry. Wikipedia says there's still some debate about where the battle was actually fought.
• Why it happened. The heritage listing says the popular view was a bid for freedom from cruel punishment and short rations, but argues it was more likely an organised political revolt by Irishmen who never accepted English authority. Mackay sees the aim as Irish rule in the colony and ships home to help a new Irish rising.

My Earlier Posts

• Arrest of Governor Bligh – The Rum Rebellion – 26 January 1808
• The Rum Rebellion – 26th January 1808 – Governor William Bligh Is Overthrown
• Elizabeth Farm – Alice Street – Parramatta
• Parklands – Castle Hill – NSW

Sources

• Anne-Maree Whitaker, "Castle Hill convict rebellion 1804", Dictionary of Sydney, 2009, with its linked entries on Philip Cunningham, Thomas Laycock, James Dixon, the Loyal Associations, Castlebrook Memorial Park and Rouse Hill – https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/castle_hill_convict_rebellion_1804
• "Castle Hill convict rebellion", Wikipedia, citing Lynette Ramsay Silver, The Battle of Vinegar Hill (1989), Chris Coulthard-Clark, Where Australians Fought (1998), Helen Mackay (2016), Clem Sargent (1998) and Anne-Maree Whitaker, Unfinished Revolution (1994) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Hill_convict_rebellion
• "Third Government Farm", Wikipedia, based on the NSW State Heritage Register listing no. 1448 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Government_Farm
• "Johnston, George (1764–1823)", Australian Dictionary of Biography – https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/johnston-george-2277
• "King, Philip Gidley (1758–1808)", Australian Dictionary of Biography – https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/king-philip-gidley-2309
• Images from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture, including the 1804 watercolour held by the National Library of Australia and the c.1806 Castle Hill view in the Mitchell Library.