Frontier conflict

This image of frontier conflict appears in an album originally compiled and owned by Miss Eliza Younghusband, daughter of South Australian merchant, pastoralist and politician William Younghusband.

Module Convicts, conflict and confrontation

Year 5 Humanities

The album is now held by the National Library of Australia. Among its contents are two original drawings from the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition of 1860–61. Both were created by William Hodgkinson, a literary editor for The Age, who joined the expedition at Swan Hill in September 1860.

William Hodgkinson’s drawings

Hodgkinson was part of the expedition’s supply party, led by experienced bushman William Wright. One of his drawings, a dramatic watercolour titled Bulla (1861), shows a moment of intense confrontation. In the scene, armed members of the expedition stand behind an improvised stockade, firing rifles at a large group of advancing Aboriginal people carrying clubs and spears. Unlike many colonial depictions of conflict, Bulla presents both groups as equally determined and engaged.

Hodgkinson’s second work in the album, Koorliattoo, is a pencil sketch showing the sparse camp where weaker members of the expedition were left behind. The landscape appears harsh and empty, reflecting the difficult conditions faced by the party.

A personal gift

Hodgkinson survived the expedition and later returned to Adelaide. He presented the drawings to Miss Younghusband, along with a love poem. Her album also includes watercolours, poems, prose, newspaper cuttings and keepsakes, offering a unique glimpse into mid-19th century life in Adelaide, South Australia.

A water colour painting of men firing rifles from a tent at a tribe of First Australians on an outback plain.

William Oswald Hodgkinson, Bulla, Queensland, 1861, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-147606769

Learning activities

These activities support students to explore the context of frontier conflict in Australia through historical interpretation and imaginative writing.

Activity 1: Interpreting the painting 'Bulla'

Provide students with background information about the painting Bulla and its historical context.

Show the image and use these questions to prompt class discussion:

What is happening in this image?
Which groups can you see?
What do you think caused this conflict?
What knowledge does each group have that the other doesn’t?
What might the individuals in the image be feeling?
Where was the artist during these events?
How does the image make you feel?

Activity 2: Creative response from a character’s perspective

Ask students to choose a person depicted in the painting and adopt their point of view. They can write:

a diary or journal entry
a letter
or a poem
Encourage students to reflect on the emotions and thoughts of their chosen character and the broader context of the conflict.

Activity 3: Writing an alternate history newspaper article

Introduce the concept of a 'what if' scenario, as outlined in the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 5.

Ask students to write a fictional 1861 newspaper article based on the following alternate history:

Burke and Wills are joined by Indigenous guides.
The expedition successfully reaches the Gulf of Carpentaria and returns to Melbourne.
The success is due to knowledge of bush foods and fresh water shared by the Indigenous companions.

The article should celebrate the journey’s success and acknowledge the contribution of Indigenous knowledge and culture.

Suggested related resources:
You could extend this activity by connecting it to other Treasures Gallery materials on: