Draft:Captain Peter Bishop

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Instructions · What links here · Captain Peter Bishop (talk: + · bio) · (log) · Copyvios report · reFill · Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs · (Search: Google, Wikipedia) · Submitted 26 days ago by PalermoQLD (talk: D · +) · Last edited 25 days ago by Bearcat

Captain Peter Bishop (c.1780-1846), born in Bishops Court, Waterford, Ireland, was the second Commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement and first Commandant of the settlement of Brisbane.^[1]

Early Service

Peter joined the 5th Northumberland Regiment on 24th November 1803 at the rank of Ensign before being promoted to Lieutenant on 1st December 1804 and then to Captain on 12th March 1812. He would transfer to the 40th Regiment of Foot and take part in the Peninsular Wars as well as the Battle of Waterloo, for which he would be awarded the Waterloo Medal.

Peter would marry Julia Talbot from Wexford, Ireland, on 7th September 1815.^[1]

Arrival in Sydney

Captain Bishop would accompany the regiment to Sydney in the colony of New South Wales in 1824. ^[2] On the 10th of June that year he would be appointed a juror for a murder trial amongst other officers of the 40th, including one Lieutenant Henry Miller. ^[3]

During his time in Sydney Captain Bishop would act as pay-master for the regiment^[4]. In February 1825, Mary Ann Wise, a wife of a harness-maker was found guilty of stealing 'one thousand pieces of silver coin; to the value of £250' from Bishop's quarters.^[4]

Moreton Bay Penal Settlement

In December of 1824, Bishop would be appointed Commandant of the Moreton Bay penal settlement, however it would take until August 1825 for him to arrive and supersede Lieutenant Henry Miller.^[5] Captain Bishop would arrive around the time the settlement was relocating from Redcliffe to a new site along the Brisbane River.

Both Captain Bishop and Lieutenant Miller (now acting as second in command) would be present for Major Edmund Lockyer's visit to the settlement onboard the Mermaid in September 1825. Both men accompanied Lockyer on an exploration of the Brisbane River and were present for the naming of Redbank and the discovery of either the Bremer River or Lockyer Creek.^[6]

During his command, a group of 13 convicts escaped from Moreton Bay; they would be the first runaways from Brisbane. Four would spend five weeks on the run before being recaptured upon their reaching the Port Macquarie Penal Settlement. Its Commandant, Captain Henry Gillman^[7] would report on the escapees to the Colonial Secretary on the 18th November 1825, noting they had travelled in part via boat. The surviving convicts would share accounts of the 'beautiful country they had passed over' as well as detailing what would be known as the Macleay and Clarence Rivers.^[1]

Another convict, William Smith, would escape in July 1826, spending nine weeks on the run before arriving in Newcastle, where he was sentence to return to Moreton Bay.

Bishop would oversee the initial planning and construction of the Commissariat Stores as well as drawing up plans for the Convict Hospital before being replaced by Captain Patrick Logan in March 1826^[8].

Return to Sydney

Bishop would return to Sydney in April 1826 before being sent to quell the agitation of the local Aboriginal people who had been amassing in the Lake Bathurst area where three stockmen had been murdered after one forcefully tried to take a woman of the group. ^[9]

He would travel some 1287km with a detachment of soldiers in around a month. It would prove difficult to confront the Aboriginals, as upon seeing the approaching troops, they would abscond into the surrounding ranges.

Eventually Bishop would confront one of the chiefs somewhere around Lake George. Communicating through an interpreter, Bishop told the chief that any more attacks on the settlers would not be tolerated and if the order was disobeyed, all of the Aboriginals in the area would be killed.

Upon returning to Sydney, Bishop was commended by Governor (Sir) Ralph Darling and the Sydney Gazette commented on the lack of blood spilt, despite the dangerous task.^[1]^[9]

Five Island's Magistrate

In July 1826, Bishop was appointed 'Magistrate of the Territory' and given the task of forming a new station in the nearby district of Illawarra ^[10]^[11]. The expedition would set off from Sydney on the 15th July. This decision was made due to fears in Sydney that rival colonial powers in the region (chiefly France) might attempt an invasion of the Colony. It was also hoped by local landowners that armed forces in the area would help maintain peace and order as gangs frequented the area.

As fears of invasion subsided, Bishop would return to the rest of the regiment in Van Diemen's Land, leaving the station for Sydney in December 1826.

Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)

At the time of his return to the regiment, Tasmania was struggling with economic stagnation and depression^[12] as well as violence from bushrangers and the local Aboriginal people. Bishop would support the regiment in attempting to maintain law and order in the interior of the colony.

By January of 1828, the regiment was ordered to leave for India as part of the Cardwell and Childers reforms, which saw the withdrawal of British garrisons from the self-governing colonies to help increase troop numbers in other areas of the empire. Governor Darling initially disallowed the movement of the regiment as it was feared their absence would leave the settlers of Van Diemen's Land unprotected. Nonetheless, the regiment would set sail in December 1829^[13].

Retirement

Bishop would not follow his regiment to India. Instead returning to Sydney to serve on a Court Martial in 1828, that same year he would be promoted to Major^[14]. On 12th June 1829 he would retire from the army.^[1]

In recognition of his service in the Battle of Waterloo, he would be made a Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order in 1837.^[1]

Peter Bishop is believed to have died sometime in 1846.^[13]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Radnor, Louis (1964). "Early commandants of Moreton Bay". Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland. 7 (2): 385–398 – via Queensland Past Online.
↑ "Hobart Town Gazette". Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser. Vol. NINTH, no. 403. Tasmania, Australia. 23 January 1824. p. 2. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
↑ "SUPREME COURT OF CRIMINAL JURISDICTION". The Sydney Gazette and new South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXII, no. 1074. New South Wales, Australia. 17 June 1824. p. 2. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
1 2 "CRIMINAL COURT". The Australian. No. 19. New South Wales, Australia. 17 February 1825. p. 3. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
↑ "THE FOUNDERS OF BRISBANE". The Brisbane Courier. No. 20, 363. Queensland, Australia. 28 April 1923. p. 19. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Bishop, Peter - Person - "Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation". www.eoas.info. Swinburne University of Technology, Office of the Chief Scientist. Retrieved 2026-09-05.
↑ McLachlan, Iaen (1988). Place of banishment: Port Macquarie 1818 to 1832. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 978-0-86806-317-1. OCLC 27574580.
↑ Fraser, D. W. (22 October 1964). "SETTLEMENT IN QUEENSLAND in The "Logan" Period" (PDF). Queensland Historical Journal. 21 (12): 437–446. ISSN 1836-5477 – via EBSCOhost.
1 2 "Government Notice". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW:1803-1842). 6 May 1826. p. 1. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
↑ "AUSTRALASIAN POLITICS". The Sydney Gazette And New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXIV, no. 1221. New South Wales, Australia. 5 July 1826. p. 2. Retrieved 6 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Government Order". The Australian. No. 110. New South Wales, Australia. 19 July 1826. p. 1. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Colonial Advocate". Colonial Advocate, and Tasmanian Monthly Review and Register. Vol. 1, no. 4. Tasmania, Australia. 1 June 1828. pp. 44–46. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
1 2 Cranfield, Louis R., "Peter Bishop (?–1846)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2026-09-05
↑ "THE ARMY IN THESE COLONIES". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXVI, no. 1512. New South Wales, Australia. 4 June 1828. p. 2. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

Category:Recipients of the Waterloo Medal Category:Irish emigrants to Australia Category:1860 deaths Category:Moreton Bay penal settlement Category:Pre-Separation Queensland Category:Exploration of Australia Category:History of Brisbane Category:History of Sydney Category:History of Tasmania Category:Magistrates

[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Radnor, Louis (1964). "Early commandants of Moreton Bay". Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland. 7 (2): 385–398 – via Queensland Past Online.

[2] "Hobart Town Gazette". Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser. Vol. NINTH, no. 403. Tasmania, Australia. 23 January 1824. p. 2. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

[3] "SUPREME COURT OF CRIMINAL JURISDICTION". The Sydney Gazette and new South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXII, no. 1074. New South Wales, Australia. 17 June 1824. p. 2. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

[:2-4] 1 2 "CRIMINAL COURT". The Australian. No. 19. New South Wales, Australia. 17 February 1825. p. 3. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

[5] "THE FOUNDERS OF BRISBANE". The Brisbane Courier. No. 20, 363. Queensland, Australia. 28 April 1923. p. 19. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

[6] "Bishop, Peter - Person - "Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation". www.eoas.info. Swinburne University of Technology, Office of the Chief Scientist. Retrieved 2026-09-05.

[7] McLachlan, Iaen (1988). Place of banishment: Port Macquarie 1818 to 1832. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 978-0-86806-317-1. OCLC 27574580.

[8] Fraser, D. W. (22 October 1964). "SETTLEMENT IN QUEENSLAND in The "Logan" Period" (PDF). Queensland Historical Journal. 21 (12): 437–446. ISSN 1836-5477 – via EBSCOhost.

[:1-9] 1 2 "Government Notice". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW:1803-1842). 6 May 1826. p. 1. Retrieved 4 September 2026.

[10] "AUSTRALASIAN POLITICS". The Sydney Gazette And New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXIV, no. 1221. New South Wales, Australia. 5 July 1826. p. 2. Retrieved 6 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

[11] "Government Order". The Australian. No. 110. New South Wales, Australia. 19 July 1826. p. 1. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

[12] "Colonial Advocate". Colonial Advocate, and Tasmanian Monthly Review and Register. Vol. 1, no. 4. Tasmania, Australia. 1 June 1828. pp. 44–46. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

[:3-13] 1 2 Cranfield, Louis R., "Peter Bishop (?–1846)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2026-09-05

[14] "THE ARMY IN THESE COLONIES". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXVI, no. 1512. New South Wales, Australia. 4 June 1828. p. 2. Retrieved 7 September 2026 – via National Library of Australia.

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