George John Arnold Mackenzie Cameron was born around 1826 in Dingwell, Scotland as the third of seven children raised by his widowed mother. She petitioned the War Office on 19 February 1844 to allow her eighteen-year-old son, George, to join his late father’s regiment, the 55th (Westmoreland). George’s father had died in South Africa in 1827. The War Office initially appointed Cameron as an ensign on 23 February 1844 (without purchase) to serve in the 55th Regiment’s Depot Company which remained at Chatham in the UK tasked with recruiting, training recruits and maintaining regimental accounts. He exchanged into the 11th (North Devonshire) Regiment on 26 September 1844 until the ship Sir Robert Peel was ready to sail for Hobart Town on 23 December 1846, along with 47 soldiers of the 11th Regiment. His first posting was to Norfolk Island from April 1847 to October 1848 before shipping to Moreton Bay, where he arrived in the Tamar on 7 November 1848. His departure from Moreton Bay in July 1850 was under an ignominious cloud after an affray against Aborigines took place late in the night of 29 November 1849. This incident, which took place in Brisbane, affected Cameron’s personal and career ambitions and should be examined in some detail.

A local brick-maker named Henry Humby, living in the vicinity of Victoria Park, heard rumours from an Aboriginal lad named Wamgul of an exaggerated tale of an impending Aboriginal uprising. Humby rushed into Brisbane Town to inform a constable of this threat, but finding only an elderly night watchman named MacAlistair, he relayed to him Wamgul’s account of a mass Indigenous uprising threatening the lives of every white inhabitant. MacAlistair passed this story onto Constable John Conroy (given as Thomas in the newspaper accounts), who in turn passed it on to the Chief Constable William Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick, who was at that hour of the night bed-ridden with rheumatism, told Conroy to take another constable and investigate the matter further.

Instead of doing this, Constable Conroy thought this was a matter best handled by the military and rushed down to the bank of the Brisbane River where Ensign Cameron was fishing. While Conroy should have consulted Cameron first, he instead initially stopped at the military barracks and raised the alarm with Sergeant Michael Clarke who immediately roused the troops, thus presenting Cameron with a fait accompli. Sergeant Michael Clarke sounded the alarm by having the drummer beat “to arms” and Cameron’s servant, Private James Tredennick, was dispatched to alert Cameron who was fishing on the banks of the Brisbane River at that time. As Cameron had not been made a magistrate, unlike all his military predecessors to this posting, he sought out the nearest justice of the peace, Dr Keith Ballow, and requested his attendance and direction in what could have been a serious conflict. Ballow, however, refused to go with Cameron and merely gave him a verbal direction to take whatever steps he thought necessary to restore peace. As Cameron had no knowledge of a magistrate’s authority, he mistakenly felt he was powerless under law to act without their direction. Yet in this he was mistaken and the ongoing confusion between martial law and civil administration cost valuable time.

Cameron believed Ballow “did not know how to act” in such a crisis, marched off his small force of thirty soldiers to Victoria Park where a corroboree was then in progress. Not knowing the size of the forces arraigned against him and still believing Conroy’s exaggerated account, Cameron divided his force into two divisions and gave the order to fix bayonets and load with ball cartridge. While Cameron commanded the right division, Sergeant Michael Clarke commanded the left. It was Cameron’s plan for him to approach this camp from converging directions and order those involved to disperse. Cameron walked toward the camp alone so as to appear less threatening, yet as he drew nearer a volley of musket shots thundered out from Clarke’s force to his rear left, followed by a shot from his own right division.

As a result of this unprovoked attack, the corroboree dispersed into the surrounding bush leaving three wounded Aborigines, although only one agreed to submit himself for medical treatment, and this was Wamgul himself. Feeling much chagrined, Cameron marched his force back to barracks to await the ensuing investigation. Cameron was censured for not keeping a tighter control over his force, although it was conceded that his inexperience and lack of magisterial powers mitigated against a harsher penalty for Cameron. However, the person most singled out for blame was Chief Constable William Fitzpatrick, who became the scape-goat for a multitude of errors committed that night. Considering Wamgul’s mischievousness, Ballow’s indecision, Cameron’s inexperience and Conroy’s panic, it seemed strange that Fitzpatrick should be singled out as the central cause of this collision.

After leaving Brisbane in July 1850, Cameron was next posted to Cockatoo Island from October 1850 to June 1851. While at this posting, Cameron transferred from the 11th Regiment into the 7th Fusiliers on 7 April 1851 and then, from the 7th into the 10th (Royal Lincolnshire) Regiment on 5 May 1851, after which he retired from the Army on 13 February 1852. He then married Mary Stobo at the Scots Church, Sydney on 8 May 1852. Cameron’s interest in the army was not entirely over, however, as he and his new wife moved to Brisbane and he was elected 1st Lieutenant in the newly raised Queensland Volunteer Rifle Brigade.

On 29 July 1858 Cameron married Maria Feeney at Ipswich. Maria was daughter to Martin Feeney who was late of the 99th Regiment and later became Governor of the Brisbane Gaol. Soon after their marriage the Camerons bought a property on the corner of Edward and Charlotte Streets where they established the Prince of Wales hotel. In March 1865 they boarded the aptly named Fiery Star for London, but the ship caught fire east of New Zealand. They attempted to board one of the overcrowded lifeboats but were never seen again. Upon learning of their demise back in Brisbane, it was found that while Maria had died intestate, George’s will revealed a glaring oversight in that he had neglected to inform anyone that he was still married to Mary Jane Caroline Stobo (aka Mary Jane Gillett) which resulted in litigation and not a little scandal.

Note: This biography is based on research by Rod Pratt, former Visiting Fellow with the Harry Gentle Resource Centre. Additional research was conducted by Dr Lee Butterworth.

Citation

Rod Pratt and Lee Butterworth, ‘George John Arnold Mackenzie Cameron (ca. 1826 – 1865)’, Harry Gentle Resource Centre, Griffith University, 2022, https://harrygentle.griffith.edu.au/life-stories/george-john-arnold-mackenzie-cameron/.