Aboriginal boy, Wallace taken from Newcastle and placed in Parramatta Native Institution

An Aboriginal boy named Wallace is taken from Newcastle by Captain James Wallis and is placed in the Parramatta Native Institution under the care of Elizabeth Shelley. He is eight years of age. The number of children at the Native Institution now swells to nineteen pupils. Wallace is named after Captain Wallis of the 46th Regiment who had commanded the grenadiers against Aboriginal people (Gundungurra) in 1816. Following his “zealous exertions” in the punitive expedition, he is appointed by Governor Macquarie to relieve Lieutenant Thompson as Commandant at Newcastle. Wallis is promoted to Major as a reward for carrying out reprisals and the Appin Massacre. The Wallis Plains and Wallis Creek are named after Wallis near Newcastle. (Brook and Kohen, “The Parramatta Native Institution and the Black Town” p77)