Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Barrett, Thomas

Convicted thief and forger who was involved in the mutiny on the Mercury in 1784 and arrived in Sydney in the First Fleet. The Charlotte medal, Australian earliest colonial art, is believed to have been engraved by him while on board the Charlotte. He was the first man hanged in Sydney after stealing food in February 1788.

Milestone
Born
London, England
1758
Arrived Sydney
Charlotte
26 Jan 1788
Died
27 Feb 1788
Name
Commemorated by
Occupation
Position
1787 - 1788
1788

Sydney’s Oldest Unsolved Murders

CC BY-SA 2.0
,
2019

With colonisation came numerous acts of violence inflicted upon the First Nations people, including murder. It was several years, however, before murders were committed in Sydney by the colonists upon each other. Identifying Australia’s oldest case of unsolved murder in this context is not necessarily a straightforward task.