Pemulwuy's Physical Appearance
Pemulwuy had two distinctive features. One eye had a blemish or fleck and one of his feet were clubbed. The term clubbed or clubfoot refers to a birth defect where the foot is presented at an unusual angle. However, in Pemulwuy’s case it was not hereditary. Colebee, another significant indigenous man claimed that the injury was deliberately inflicted by a club which indicated Pemulwuy’s importance as a carradhy or a “clever man” – a man believed to have supernatural ability.
This engraving by Samuel John Neele of James Grant’s image of ‘Pimbloy’ is believed to be the only known depiction of Pemulwuy. It was published in Grant’s The narrative of a voyage of discovery, performed in His Majesty's vessel the Lady Nelson, of sixty tons burthen, with sliding keels, in the years 1800, 1801 and 1802, to New South Wales, 1803. State Library of New South Wales Q80/18.