Truth-Telling at Risdon Cove
Who was the Mysterious Edward White?
On a day in March 1830, an old, dishevelled man shuffled into Government House in Hobart. He said his name was Edward White and he had come to give evidence before the Aborigines Committee of Inquiry. He claimed he had been an eye-witness to a terrible massacre, a massacre of Aboriginal people that had occurred 26 years earlier at Risdon Cove – the site of the first British settlement in Van Diemen’s Land. His words would change the course of Tasmanian history for, not only did they affect the way we think of Risdon Cove today, but they have also played a big part in our story of colonisation and the fate of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people. He appeared seemingly out of obscurity, gave his testimony, and then disappeared. But who was this mysterious Edward White and, more importantly, was his testimony true?
In ground-breaking new research, Truth-Telling at Risdon Cove answers these very questions. By applying new, advanced researching techniques in the archives of Sydney, Hobart, Britain and Ireland, authors Scott Seymour, George Brown and Roger Karge finally solve the mystery of Edward White and his testimony – and in the process expose how essentially all academic historians today and for the past 200 years have been wrong about Edward White, very wrong.
Professional historians, other academics, students, amateur history enthusiasts, convict genealogists and anyone interested in our colonial and Aboriginal history will find this detective story fascinating, educational and inspirational.
“To claim that Edward White was not a witness to the massacre is ridiculous … None of the 19th century historians … query White’s testimony. If White was a fake, he would have been exposed long ago.”
- Emeritus Professor Lyndall Ryan of the University of Newcastle
“Observing White at the hearing, rather than reconstructing a tale 200 years later, the committee saw White as a credible witness … This (new) book seeks to reconstruct a convenient version of events, 200 years later. Credibility is the key issue here.”
- Michael Mansell, Aboriginal activist and Chairman of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania
★★★★★
"Truth-Telling at Risdon Cove is a beautiful production, to match the extraordinarily detailed and convincing research and arguments it presents so well and clearly. One of the great strengths of the book is to remind us of the importance of truth and accuracy in history. I welcome this very readable and stimulating book which takes history and presents it in a way that allows general readers and students in classrooms to explore a fair, balanced and accurate presentation of the evidence, and reach their own conclusions."
- Robert Lewis
Former history teacher and pioneer of the development of evidence-based inquiry units in history classrooms. He has written over 300 classroom educational resources, mainly Australian History. He was awarded a New South Wales Premier’s Young People’s History Prize in 2008, and was recognised with the Outstanding Contribution to the Teaching and Learning of History Award from the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria in 2013. Author of The Story of Australia, in association with the National Museum of Australia.
A review of Truth-Telling at Risdon Cove by the Tasmanian Historical Research Association (THRA) is here
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