The Secret River - Library Information - Reading - Research Guides at Aquinas College

Introduction

Convict William Thornhill, exiled from the stinking slums of early 19th century London, discovers that the penal colony offers something that he never dared to hope for before: a place of his own. A stretch of land on the Hawkesbury River is Thornhill's for the taking. As he and his family seek to establish themselves in this unfamiliar territory, they find that they are not the only ones to lay a claim to the land. The Hawkesbury is already home to a family of Dharug people, who are reluctant to leave on account of these intruders. As Thornhill's attachment to the place and the dream deepens, he is driven to make a terrible decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Barani: First Contact
Author: Anita Heiss
In 1770 Captain James Cook met few Aboriginal people on the Eastern Australian shoreline. Because they did not grow crops and because he assumed there were no inland fishable rivers, he concluded that Australia’s interior was empty. Sir Joseph Banks thought the Aboriginal people would run away and abandon their rights to land. They were both wrong, as the Gadigal and other local Aboriginal people later proved by ambushing the convicts who were often sent to work into the bush.
State Library NSW: Eora 1770-1850
This is a story of the Eora, created through a close and innovative interrogation of the European records of early colonisation. Compiled from letters, maps, prints, books and drawings, we can piece together a surprisingly rich account of Aboriginal lives and families after contact. Running contrary to the notion that colonisation completely displaced Aboriginal people, this account gives testimony to a continuing Indigenous presence in Sydney.
The Dictionary of Sydney: Hawkesbury River