Windradyne (?-1829) was an Australian Aboriginal leader and warrior. He was a key figure in the Bathurst War, a frontier conflict between Aboriginal groups and British settlers in the early 1820’s. The conflict occurred in what is now southeastern Australia. Windradyne was called Saturday by the settlers, who knew him as the chief of the local Aboriginal people. 
Windradyne is thought to have been born about 1800. He lived near the Wambuul River, later also called the Macquarie River, in what is now the state of New South Wales. Windradyne was a member of the Wiradjuri people. The Wiradjuri country (land) included the settlement of Bathurst. Lachlan Macquarie, the governor of the British colony of New South Wales, founded Bathurst in 1815. The Wiradjuri people were on peaceful terms with early settlers in the area.
Conflict between the settlers and the Wiradjuri people began in 1822, after Thomas Brisbane was appointed governor of New South Wales. The population of Bathurst significantly increased under Brisbane’s leadership. Many of the new settlers established large sheep stations (ranches) on the land, disrupting the Wiradjuri hunting grounds. Local Aboriginal leaders decided to use guerrilla tactics to drive out the settlers. Guerrilla warfare makes use of bands of fighters to stage ambushes, raids, and other small-scale attacks. Wiradjuri warriors carried out raids on sheep stations in 1822 and 1823. Several of these early raids were believed to have been led by Windradyne, who became a well-known figure to the settlers.
In December 1823, British soldiers captured Windradyne. He was sentenced to a month in prison. After Windradyne’s release, several members of his family were killed by a local farmer. Following this massacre, Windradyne led a series of attacks on nearby stations, killing settlers and burning property. The settlers murdered many Aboriginal people, including women and children, in revenge. In August 1824, after months of violence, Brisbane placed Bathurst under martial law (emergency military rule). His government also offered a large reward for the capture of Windradyne.
In the months after Brisbane’s order, British soldiers killed many Wiradjuri people. The colonial government refused to end its military campaign until Windradyne surrendered. The conflict ended in December 1824, after Windradyne and many other Wiradjuri people attended a feast hosted by Brisbane in Parramatta, near Sydney. At the feast, Windradyne surrendered and was pardoned for his actions against the settlers. Following Windradyne’s surrender, his fame grew with the settlers, and they praised him in their newspapers.
Windradyne died on March 21, 1829, after a fight with another Aboriginal group. He received a traditional Aboriginal burial on a settlement just north of Bathurst. A memorial was erected at his grave in 1954. In 2006, the Australian state of New South Wales established Windradyne’s grave as a protected heritage site.
