Naomi Parry Duncan - Writing the Life of Musquito

History Week 2026 Event

Naomi Parry Duncan has uncovered the dramatic and tragic story of one of the best-known First Nations resistance warriors of the early colonies. Astonishingly, she also discovers her own convict ancestors are entangled in his story. Musquito was just a boy when a convoy of eleven British ships assembled in the waters of Port Jackson in January 1788. Seventeen years later, he was a warrior fighting for Country west of Sydney, hunted by white colonists. Exiled to Van Diemen's Land he joined with local Aboriginal people as they began the resistance that ignited the colonists' Black War. Wrongly accused of being the ringleader, he was executed in 1825. 

Musquito is one of the best-known First Nations resistance fighters of the early colonies but even while he was alive, his story was shrouded in misinformation and myth. Naomi Parry Duncan has uncovered the real story of this remarkable man. Searching the archives for the smallest fragments of evidence, she realised the lives of convicts in her family tree intersected with Musquito in disturbing ways.

Naomi Parry Duncan specialises in First Nations history and family history. She grew up in Tasmania and is president of the History Council of NSW, and an adjunct researcher at the University of Tasmania and Western Sydney University. She is co-author of New South Wales and the Great War, and winner of the 2022 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship.

History Week 2026 - Keeping Stories

Australians are renowned for spinning a good yarn but how do stories keep history alive and what do they tell us about ourselves?

We are living in a rapidly changing world, of global conflict and heightened security concerns, at the same time we are facing a crisis in university education and the domestic pressure to develop our cities and towns to create more housing. How do we keep the stories that matter to our communities? History Council members are invited to engage with this theme during this year’s History Week from 5 – 13 September, to explore the theme of Keeping Stories – from truth telling to tall tales and beyond. For what is history if not the story of us?

Book through Humanitix or pay at the door. Eftpos and cash are accepted.

Hall Entry: $10 Waged; $5.00 Unwaged,
Afternoon tea from 3.30pm ($3 coffee/tea, $3 cake)