Henry Hacking

Henry Hacking (1750 – 21 July 1831) was an Australian seaman and early explorer in New South Wales. He was responsible for shooting and killing the Aboriginal resistance fighter Pemulwuy in 1802. Biography Hacking was quartermaster of , the flagship of the First Fleet that established the first European colony in New South Wales, Australia in 1788. He probably returned to England after the loss of the Sirius in 1790, as he returned to Sydney in the Royal Admiral in 1792. In March 1799 Henry Hacking was ordered by Governor John Hunter to investigate claims of British sailors being trapped by Aboriginal Australians at the mouth of the Hunter River to the north of the colony. Hacking encountered a group of Awabakal people on the south side of the river, who informed him that the sailors had left earlier on foot, endeavouring to walk back to Sydney. Hacking did not believe them, and became agitated, shooting dead three Awabakal men. The sailors later arrived in Sydney, having walked the distance to return. Hacking led many hunting expeditions to supplement meat rations for Australia's first settlers. He was among the party that found the lost government cattle at Cowpastures in 1795. He was sentenced to be transported to Norfolk Island in October 1799 for perjury, but received a pardon.