The historical analysis of Benjamin Boyd's role in blackbirding in the Pacific was undertaken by Dr Mark Dunn, commissioned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.

Jonathan Gaul, president of Boydtown Shipyard, operator of Boydtown History Centre, believes the analysis undertaken by Dr Dunn did not fully represent the history of Boyd's connection to the region and his recruitment of Pacific Islanders.

"The minister has made this decision based on defective advice," Mr Gaul said.

In particular, he drew attention to an entry about Boyd in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, which states, "... rumours that many had been brought to the colony against their will; these charges were investigated by the attorney-general in Sydney and in December 1847 Charles FitzRoy reported to the Colonial Office that they had been found unsubstantiated."

A similar sentiment was expressed by Bob Lawrence, author of a Ben Boyd biography.

"Why did Dr Dunn not mention this fact in his report?" Mr Lawrence asked of ACM as well as in a letter sent to Minister Kean's office.

"If Boyd was not guilty after an inquiry in 1847, how come he is guilty in 2021 when the only enquiry is regurgitated gossip and posturing in the court of public opinion?

"I assure you I find the practice of blackbirding abhorrent - as I do the overriding of the principle of innocent until proven guilty."

Author and historian John Blay has longstanding connections with the area and has physically explored much of the landscape, spending years charting its shared history.

He said Mr Gaul's criticisms quoting the ADB were, "too brief a statement of what happened and ambiguous".

"The Australian Encyclopaedia adds a rider to that quote, 'but some suspicion remained'," Mr Blay said.

"Boyd contracted somebody to bring the South Sea Islanders, he didn't actually seize them himself, but how could they consent when they had no language to understand why they were taken. He treated them like slaves, sending them to the Monaro to look after sheep in freezing weather.

"They were used to the tropics, without adequate clothing they were freezing, dying - it was inhuman."

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Mr Blay said the Islanders rebelled, as many Aboriginal people did, and walked to Sydney from the Monaro in protest of their mistreatment, and were mostly repatriated.

According to Mr Blay, relationships between the original inhabitants and white settlers began cooperatively, but changed over time.

"The Aboriginal people believed they were sharing the land until they started to be locked out. By then their food had been eaten, their fish had been netted, their game was gone."

In 1842 Budginbro guided Boyd and his whaling operations manager, marine painter Oswald Brierly up to the Monaro, as depicted in Brierly's extensive journal entries.

"Budginbro was happy to go with them, but that was as an equal," Mr Blay said.

Mr Blay also referred to the erosion of the relationship between Boyd and Brierly, who had arrived together in the region on Boyd's yacht, the Wanderer.

"They had been best friends, but Brierly came to hate Boyd and called him a despicable man."

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The close relationship Brierly had with Aboriginal people is well documented and seemed to be respectful.

"Brierly lived in front of present-day Edrom, had all Aboriginal crew and hunted whales, his crew were respected, they worked well together," Mr Blay said.

It is agreed upon by all sources that Boyd was based mostly in Sydney and spent little time at the settlement, but Blay's research indicated Boyd was ultimately responsible for the way things were run on the ground.

"He was the man who directed things, he disregarded Aboriginal people and their interests once he decided they were of no use to him, he was happy for them to be treated as vermin," Mr Blay said.

"He was outraged that convict transportation had just been abolished and a lot of the other landholders had been assigned convicts who would work for nothing.

"Boyd had delusions of grandeur, he saw himself setting up a new Roman empire, he was a disrespectful man and had an acute sense of superiority."

Information relating to Boyd's recruitment of Pacific Islanders has been collated at Ben Boyd History Centre, and states that after the arrival of the first of three shipments of "cheap labour" in 1847, a number of deaths occurred and "Boyd refused to admit that the trial shipment was a failure and sent for more Islanders".

A number of deaths were reported and "the most constant criticism was the unsuitable placement of men from the tropics into the depths of winter".

When two further ships returned six months later, "the law covering the Master and Servant Act had been changed to exclude its application to Pacific Islanders, thus all the indentures of Boyd's workers were no longer valid".

This resulted in a situation where "arrivals were left under no authority and no-one's responsibility".

Brierly had said from the outset that the "Pacific Islanders venture" wasn't a good idea.

Mr Blay said the journals left behind by Brierly gave incredible insight into the history of that era, and the writings allowed a greater respect to be given to local cultural heritage.

"I think the name should be changed, Boyd had nothing to do with the area of the park, Boyd did nothing to promote or acknowledge Aboriginal people," Mr Blay said.

"It would be nice to co-name as many places as possible. Particularly if the future of Eden is going to be tourism. People are always immensely interested in Aboriginal history - I think we should cling to and revive as much of that as possible.

"Different families have different stories and we should respect all of those. It's great to have people with connection telling their own stories," Mr Blay said.

Mr Gaul said with the matter of a new name being explored at the moment, now was the time for proper consideration to be given to the compromise of a dual name.

"We don't want to have division in the community, but we do want to have an agreement," Mr Gaul said.

Local historian Angela George said there were some positive things Boyd did but they were "very self-serving".

"He doesn't deserve to have that level of recognition and appreciation," Ms George said.

"He was the quintessential salesman and his spruiking helped put the area on the map.

"Based on his involvement with the Islanders, his creative accounting activities and accumulation of land, I don't think he was a nice person at all.

"It's not about rewriting history, it's about appreciating some history should be scrutinised more closely, and you have to take the bad with the good."

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