- Placename
- Wiagdon
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.189 Longitude149.686 Start Date1824-06-24 End Date1824-06-24
Description
Morriset sent Sgt Baker to NW to Wiagdon ranges but they could not find any Wiradjuri people.
Sources
TLCMap IDtd3b62 SourceGapps, 2021, Gudyara
Created At2024-09-22 13:53:46 Updated At2025-05-29 12:14:11
- Placename
- Coxâs Homestead
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.615 Longitude149.575 Start Date1824-06-25 End Date1824-06-25
Description
Morisset st Lt Lowe to Mr Cox's after Chamberlained sighted Wiradjuri people, but they found none.
Sources
TLCMap IDtd3b63 SourceGapps, 2021, Gudyara p 152
Created At2024-09-22 13:56:09 Updated At2025-05-29 12:14:11
- Placename
- Wellington Valley
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.555 Longitude148.944 Start Date1824-09-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
Morisset sends detachment of 4 privates to Wellington Valley.
Sources
TLCMap IDtd3b64 SourceGapps, Gudyarra, p 152
Created At2024-09-22 13:59:33 Updated At2025-05-29 12:13:34
- Placename
- Campbells River
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.69 Longitude149.628 Start Date1819-06-01 End Date1819-06-30
Description
One of William Lawsonâs 'best breeding maresâ speared.
Sources
TLCMap IDte017f SourceHassall to Macquarie, 16 June 1819, SRNSW, 4/1742, pp. 310â22.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Bathurst region
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41869033 Longitude149.59443569 Start Date1820-03-01 End Date1820-04-30
Description
In April 1820, Charles Throsby wrote to Governor Macquarie from his home, âGlenfieldâ, south of Sydney, requesting urgent military action in the âNew Countryâ. He had received letters that he felt it necessary to send to the governor, which showed âthe people are much alarmed at the nativesâ. He hoped âtheir fears are greater than their real dangerâ and that the few ânatives named as being at the headâ of events were the real issue. Throsby feared there were âa large collection of natives there, particularly those belonging to the western riverâ, who were âheaded by Murrah-Murrah, who will never cease to be troublesome as long as he existsâ. Throsby found that âsome natives had been shotâ and this may have âexasperated themâ. But before he had gone very far, somewhere near present-day Bargo, south of Sydney, Throsby âmet with some of the very men who was accused as ringleadersâ and found âproofs of the total want of foundation for the shameful reports receivedâ and of the âcowardly conduct of the white peopleâ. While it remains unclear what occurred, it seems that âsome nativesâ had been killed and some âwhite peopleâ then spread word the Europeans were under threat from Murrah-Murrah and his warriors.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0180 SourceThrosby to Macquarie, rcâd 30 April 1820, SRNSW, 9/2743, p. 139; Throsby to Macquarie, May 3 1820, SRNSW, 9/2743, p. 143â44. The Lachlan River was known as the âwestern riverâ, but it is unclear who Murrah-Murrah was and from which area. Murundah of the Burra Burra may well have been known to Throsby by this point. It seems he meant the âringleadersâ were Aboriginal people who had travelled east and met him at Bargo.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Bathurst region
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41926344 Longitude149.59426403 Start Date1821-02-01 End Date1821-02-01
Description
In February 1821, Private James King of the 48th Regiment was apparently âslain by the Wiradjuri for reasons unknownâ. King was one of eight privates stationed at Bathurst at the time under Sergeant Pilling.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0181 SourceClem Sergeant, The Colonial Garrison, pp. 42â43
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Menah, Mudgee
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.5405184 Longitude149.53808784 Start Date1822-02-01 End Date1822-02-01
Description
for a time, âthe natives showed a friendly feelingâ towards the Coxes and their 500 head of cattle. But when there was âinterferenceâ with the women, the warriorsâ âhostility was arousedâ. Warriors then âdrove the armed stockmen awayâ, released cattle from the yards and killed numbers of sheep. One of the Coxesâ stockmen galloped his horse to Bathurst to report âthe blacks had murdered his mate, looted the hut and dispersed the cattleâ. arming âhalf a dozen men at Bathurstâ, including Richard Lewis, who was still working for the Coxes after supervising the convicts on Coxâs road in 1815. While the armed party rode off through the Turon hills towards Mudgee, Georgeâs brother Henry sent for military help, requesting â3 soldiers to be allowed to be sent from Bathurst to our station to protect our people and propertyâ. the stockmen at âMenahâ had abandoned the place, and it was being guarded by two Wiradyjuri men. According to George Henry Cox, when his father George and his armed party returned to âMenahâ, âthey found the story exaggerated and the hut in fact guarded by âFridayâ and âAaronââ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0182 SourceG F Cox, âHistory of Mudgeeâ, p. 42-44; William Cox to Goulburn, 7 February 1822, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1798, p. 121; Cox to Brisbane, 7 February 1822, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, p. 135.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Menah, Mudgee
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.54138667 Longitude149.53860283 Start Date1822-01-01 End Date1822-01-01
Description
According to George Henry Cox (told the story by his father and uncle many years later), âone morning at daybreakâ the âmen were surprised by a body of natives, who made a fierce and determined attack on the hutâ. But Cox, Lewis and the other stockmen (six in total including Lewis, excluding Cox) â and possibly the Wiradyjuri men Friday and Aaron â âwere well provided with fire-arms and ammunitionâ. âfor two hours desultory fighting was maintained. Holes made through the slabs gave the men a splendid opportunity of taking good aim and to watch the movements of their crafty foesâ. According to George Henry, during the battle âabout half a dozen blacks were shot, while the defenders (with the exception of poor âFridayâ, who becoming too venturesome, went outside when a spear was thrown, hitting the poor fellow in a vital part) came through the ordeal un-scathedâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0183 SourceCox, âHistory of Mudgeeâ, p. 42. âLewis, Richardâ, BDHSMA, LF840
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Dirty Swamp
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.51437115 Longitude149.7761178 Start Date1822-03-25 End Date1822-03-25
Description
near the Fish River, William Lawson had stock and an outstation at a place called âDirty Swampâ (now Locksley). Lawsonâs âHut Keeperâ at Dirty Swamp was William Mowbray (or Maybrow). Another of Lawsonâs men, âGovernment servantâ Charles Hatt, turned up at Mowbrayâs hut just before sunset on 25 March. Hatt later reported he found Mowbray in the company of four Aboriginal men, one of whom he knew as âGuyettâ. They had âeight spearsâ and âtwo waddysâ but did not appear hostile or threatening to Hatt. Mowbray then apparently left the hut with two of the men in search of some missing cattle. With nothing to prick his suspicions, Hatt left Guyett and the other man at the hut while he also went to see if he could find the cattle. Returning alone ten minutes later, Hatt said he was struck down from behind. He could not say who it was, but that there were no other Wiradyjuri he saw âbut the two Blacks which where left in the Hut by meâ.
Hatt was later taken to Bathurst for treatment, and his injuries included a large incision âan inch in diameterâ on his neck that âappeared to be inflicted by a Sharp Instrumentâ, according to the medical officer, Davies. Mowbray never returned to the hut. His body was found several days later, not far away, âquite naked except for the left wristband of a Red Shirt which remained round his armâ; âhis shoes were lying a few yards from himâ. The following day a âwaddy [wooden club] belonging to the Black nativesâ was also discovered about 400 metres from where Mowbray had lain. The inquest into Mowbrayâs death pronounced a âverdict of willful murderâ against a Wiradyjuri man named âGuyettâ and âthree other Black Nativesâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0184 SourceâInquest held at Bathurstâ, 30 March 1822, SRNSW, NRS 897, Reel 6021, 4/1819, pp. 449â54; âKilled by nativesâ, 10 April 1822, SRNSW, NRS 897, Reel 6065, 4/1798, p. 135; List of convicts employed by William Lawson, May 1823, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6058, 4/1771, pp. 312aâb, 313a; 6062, 4/1782, pp. 51c, 57a. Lawson to Goulburn, 10 April 1822, SRNSW, 6065, 4/1798, pp. 135â38.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.49761976 Longitude149.31557178 Start Date1822-09-01 End Date1822-12-31
Description
Raids across Kings Plains during late 1822, based on later reports from Judge Advocate Wylde to Colonial Secretary Goulburn that there were âincidentsâ reported by Wyldeâs overseer Andrew Dunn to Commandant Lawson that were not acted upon.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0185 SourceDavidson, âThe development of the pastoral industryâ, pp. 82, 89; McKay, âWylde, Sir John (1781â1859)â, ADB; Steven, âPalmer, George Thomas (1784â1854)â, ADB
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Wyldeâs âfurther Stationâ at Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.49931965 Longitude149.30797577 Start Date1823-07-20 End Date1823-07-20
Description
stockman Henry Alsop was armed but alone in a hut when, according to Wyldeâs overseer Andrew Dunn, a group of Wiradyjuri approached. They suddenly attacked Alsop, who was âcut in a most shocking mannerâ. Then, âone of the natives got the loaded Gun, which was dischargedâ. Soon after, âtwo other Stockmen Booth and Butcherâ arrived at the hut and âa general severe affray took place amongst them, during which one of the blacks was shot dead on the spotâ.
According to Dunn, âSome of the blacks, while others were engaged with the Stockmen, plundered the Hut of everythingâ before they left.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0186 SourceâRe: inquest into death of Peter Brayâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 312â13
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Wylde's stations at Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.4974945 Longitude149.31956291 Start Date1823-06-01 End Date1823-07-31
Description
according to Wylde, âour private loss has already proved considerable in cattle killed and Cows in calf overdriven - the toll remains a decrease in numbers of more than 200, which is exposed in the Bush to the wanton Slaughter of the Nativesâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0187 SourceâRe: inquest into death of Peter Brayâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 313â14
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Milla-Murrah (possibly)
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.18188454 Longitude149.63619232 Start Date1823-06-01 End Date1823-06-01
Description
Acting Bathurst Surgeon Stephen Geary Wilks conducted autopsies on seven bodies in attacks in May 1824. He recognised âDavid Brown, a free man Hired servant to Mr Terryâ as he had âbeen for some time under [Wilksâs] care in consequence of severe wounds and ill treatment at the hands of the blacks about twelve months agoâ. Brownâs body âbore marks of similar murderous violenceâ, quite probably targeting him again for crimes against Wiradyjuri people that Brown had committed the year before.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0188 SourceDepositions re bodies of men killed by Aborigines, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1799, pp. 23â25, 27â29; David Brown, Re absence in registers, SRNSW, NRS 937, 6013, 4/3511, p. 587; David Brown, Report re his murder at Bathurst by natives, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1800, p. 137.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Palmer and Wylde's stations Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.49799553 Longitude149.31552887 Start Date1823-07-20 End Date1823-07-31
Description
Wylde noted in late July, âfurther mischief has been done [after previous cattle killed etc.] and more is expected to arise from renewed similar Incursionsâ and âvarious stations were temporarily abandonedâ and stockworkers were sheltering together.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0189 SourceâRe: inquest into death of Peter Brayâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 312â14
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Government Stock Stations
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41955 Longitude149.59404945 Start Date1823-08-21 End Date1823-08-21
Description
Superintendent of Government Stock John Maxwell reported that âthe Blacks have been very troublesomeâ
Sources
TLCMap IDte018a SourceMaxwell to Goulburn, 21 August 1823, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6031, 4/7029A, p. 47
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Government Stock Stations
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.418 Longitude150.595 Start Date1823-09-02 End Date1823-09-02
Description
Maxwell reported a government heifer had been killed by spearing. He noted that a man named âJinglerâ had been identified as the most likely perpetrator and pointed to the finding of cattle bones as proof that, far from this being an isolated incident, the Wiradyjuri had âgot into the practice of eating beefâ
Sources
TLCMap IDte018b SourceMaxwell to Goulburn, 2 September 1823, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6031, 4/7029A, p. 49
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Clear Creek
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.32565164 Longitude149.69764709 Start Date1823-08-29 End Date1823-08-29
Description
On 29 August, âthe body of a man who was found murderedâ at William Leeâs station at Clear Creek, around 10 miles northeast of Bathurst, identified as one of Leeâs workers, âhut keeperâ and âCrown Prisonerâ Peter Bray. The Sydney Gazette newspaper reported he âwas found barbarously murderedâ. According to the testimony provided to coroner Thomas Fitzherbert Hawkins, on 29 August one of William Leeâs shepherds, John Tanner, came to John Cornwallâs hut looking for Peter Bray. Tanner told Cornwall âtheir Hut was robbed and that the Hut man Peter Bray was missingâ. They went to the hut and âsaw it [in] great Confusion and robbed [of] all their Tea, sugar, Meat and Breadâ as well as axes, knives, cooking equipment and âShot and Ballsâ and âone Musketâ. The two men then went from the hut to the nearby creek and âfound the tracks of the Black Nativesâ, before discovering a trail of blood and âthe Body of the Deceased lying in the Creek by the edge of the Waterâ. When William Lee arrived on the scene, he proceeded âto where it appeared [Bray] had received the first blow, where the Hat of the deceased lay cut in two halvesâ. From the signs of struggle on the river bank, Lee believed Bray had been dumped in the nearby creek alive and had tried to crawl out of the water before he died. âEaring, a Black Chief of the Tabalbucco Tribeâ. [Aaron, the Wiradyjuri man who had assisted Lawson, the Coxes, Blackman and others] described 'the tracks of the four Natives known by the names of Jackey, Taylor, Charley and Congo-galâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte018c SourceâRe murder of the hut keeper by natives, 2 September 1823â, SRNSW, NRS 938, 6017, 4/5783, pp. 419â27.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Tabrabucca
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.88564183 Longitude149.80648041 Start Date1823-08-01 End Date1823-08-31
Description
Hawkins wrote to Colonial Secretary Goulburn in early September that he was confident the killing of Peter Bray was âcommitted by four native Blacks well known at Bathurst, one of them belonging to the Tabalbucco Black Tribe who have lately done much mischief among the Government Herds at that placeâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte018d SourceâRe murder of the hut keeper by natives, 2 September 1823â, SRNSW, NRS 938, 6017, 4/5783, pp. 419â27.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.49931965 Longitude149.30419922 Start Date1823-09-01 End Date1823-10-31
Description
Judge Advocate Wyldeâs âfirst stationâ on Kings Plains, called âDjyawongâ, was raided three times in September and October
Sources
TLCMap IDte018e SourceâRe cattle killed by nativesâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 340â42
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.49931965 Longitude149.30797577 Start Date1823-09-20 End Date1823-09-20
Description
On 20 September, Charles Booth, a convict stockworker for George Palmer (although âunder the directionâ of John Wyldeâs overseer, Andrew Dunn), was âout with his cattleâ on Kings Plains, accompanied by âa black Nativeâ called âScrammyâ, when âa number of other natives took and drove his Cattle away from himâ. According to Booth, âearly the next Morning they killed a fat Cow out of the same Herd which they had driven awayâ. Then, âabout 2 miles from the place where they had taken the cattle from himâ, Booth and Scrammy âfound the skin and head only left, the whole of the meat being carried away. On examining the hide there appeared a great number of Spear Holes, with pieces of Broken spears laying aboutâ, as well as âanother Cow killed belonging to the same Herdâ. Soon after, another of Palmerâs stockworkers, Henry Alsop (also Fasbrook), reported to Dunn that âhe was out looking after his Cattle ⌠and saw Natives, and one of them came to him and said his name was âJackyââ and he âhad a spear with him which was bloody at the end and splinteredâ. Alsop then went âa short distanceâ and âfound a young Steer belonging to the Judge Advocate killed, speared, with one shoulder taken offâ. Alsop, in charge of Palmerâs âtwo Hundred and thirty Head of Cattleâ, soon found the stock under his charge had also been scattered, spooked and speared. He could only muster one hundred, which âappeared to be very wild and run away from himâ, and he spent several days tracking them. When he finally drove what cattle he could find home, he found âone Cow speared in the udder since which time, they have been obliged to take a dead Calf from herâ. Another cow was missing, which he had âevery reason to believe the natives have killedâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte018f SourceâRe cattle killed by nativesâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 340â42
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.49731557 Longitude149.32514191 Start Date1823-09-20 End Date1823-09-30
Description
âA few days after thisâ, [20th September] the two stockmen went out again and came upon âa Black native Camp where there was a fireâ, and although they âsaw no nativesâ they found âa quantity of Beef roastingâ. Booth, Alsop and Scrammy then âcame upon the natives, finding in their possession a quantity of beefâ. As Booth was âarmed with a Musket, the natives ran awayâ. Alsop said that âthey saw a number of natives a little distance offâ who ran off and âshouted out âmurra gerund white fellowsââ. Booth set out again to search for the cattle. When he came upon â5 Nativesâ, one of them âin the act of skinning a Steer the property of the Judge Advocateâ, Booth had no hesitation in believing it was his role to sneak up and shoot the men. He âapproached very near to them unperceived, and fired at them, and wounded one that was in the act of chopping open the hinder quartersâ. Booth then saw âtwo of the natives leading him offâ. It is not clear whether Scrammy was with him, but by this time Booth may well have understood what the Wiradyjuri shouted as they left with the wounded man. As Booth later reported it, they once more said, âthey wanted [to] tumble white man downâ. Booth said he did not recognise âany of the nativesâ but had âevery reason to believe âGingler [Jingler]â was âone of themâ. Booth also later reported that âthe Cattle being so driven by the natives, that the cows have slipt and lost ten Calvesâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0190 SourceâRe cattle killed by nativesâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 340â42
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Kings Plains surrounds
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.4960272 Longitude149.31655884 Start Date1823-06-01 End Date1823-07-31
Description
On 8 October, the increasingly bold attitude of Wiradyjuri warriors spurred overseer Andrew Dunn to send Alsop and Booth into Bathurst township to report the September incidents to Commandant Lawson. Dunn sent a warning to Lawson that âthe Judge Advocate and Mr George Palmer will suffer materially by the natives driving the Cattle about so much from a great loss of Calves and most serious injury done on the stockâ. He also reported he had found several sets of bones âin travelling several Miles round in the Bushâ that he considered were from âCattle killed at some former periodâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0191 SourceâRe cattle killed by nativesâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 343â44
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Marsden's station at Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.50032167 Longitude149.3167305 Start Date1823-11-19 End Date1823-11-19
Description
The attack on Samuel Marsdenâs station on 19 November was deadly and vicious. Oversser Andrew Dunn gave âan alarmed accountâ of events. He said âthey came to Mr. Marsdenâs Station and committed the most inhuman Murders of the Bodies of two men, that I ever saw in my life â the sight I saw I will never forgetâ. It seems the two dead men, convict workers William White and Peter Grenman, were mutilated as a gruesome message to those who would find the bodies.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0192 SourceDunne to Palmer, 22 November 1823, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, p. 329. Locla historian Gwenda Stanbridge notes that Grennan was assigned to Marsden and that the killings were on 22 and 24 October âat the Kingâs Plains Government Stationâ. Gwenda Stanbridge, ââPeople of the Three Riversââ, in Blayney Diggings, p. 17
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- White Rock?
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.48185394 Longitude149.6162796 Start Date1823-12-20 End Date1823-12-31
Description
On 22 December 1823, William Lawson reported to Colonial Secretary Frederick Goulburn that 'A man by the name of Miller in fetters, formerly overseer at Longbottom, shot a native and it appears without any cause or provocation, they came immediately to me at Campbell River for protection and demanded justice saying if they did not get satisfaction, they would kill Tom Miller or some of his children. I have told them some days previous if the white man ill-treated them they were to go and complain to Major Morisset who would punish the white man, which they perfectly understood, and they promised at the same time not to kill the white men or the Stock. Miller is committed to take his trial'.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0193 SourceLawson to Goulburn, 22 December 1823, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, pp. 365â68; âThomas Millerâ, BDHSMA, F10
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Bathurst region
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41926344 Longitude149.57954407 Start Date1823-11-01 End Date1823-11-30
Description
Judge Advocate Wylde requested a reward for the capture of âSaturdayâ on 1 December, which indicates Windradyne had been involved in spearing cattle at least from November. It seems he was operating to the east of Bathurst and not at Kings Plains, where Jingler was the leader wanted for the âoffencesâ committed. On 12 December, Goulburn replied to Wyldeâs letter to inform him that his ârecommendation of a reward being offered for the apprehension of the native named Saturdayâ would be enforced. It seems word was sent to Commandant Morisset, and he promptly sent out a party â probably of soldiers, constables and armed convicts â in search of âSaturdayâ. THe Gazette reported in early January that ânumbers of the cattle have been killedâ at Bathurst.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0194 SourceWylde to Goulburn, 1 December 1823, SRNSW, NRS 897, 598, p. 335. Goulburn to Wylde, 12 December 1823, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/3509, 6011, p. 686; Gazette, 8 January 1824, p. 2
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Bathurst region
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41066626 Longitude149.58503723 Start Date1823-12-01 End Date1823-12-31
Description
Perhaps Morisset called on the assistance of Aaron again, but whatever the case he sent a detachment of at least six men to the right place, somewhere to the east of Bathurst and the Bila Wambuul. The detachment was able to approach Windradyne and whoever was with him with some confidence. But when he was told they were being taken prisoner for killing cattle, Windradyne fiercely resisted being restrained. His struggle undoubtedly stunned his captors. According to the Gazette, âthe strength of those men is amazingâ and it âtook six men to secure him, and they had actually to break a musket over his body before he yielded, which he did at length with broken ribsâ. Windradyne was beaten into submission and âfor his exploits, was sentenced to a monthâs imprisonment in ironsâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0195 SourceIt appears Chief Constable James Blackman may have led the detachment, although, recalling events in 1830, William Lawson was not certain Blackman was âthe person who apprehended the Native black âSaturdayââ. Lawson, 14 January 1830, in Selkirk, âThe discovery of Mudgeeâ, p. 25; Rene Lesson, âJourney across the Blue Mountains, 1824â, in Mackaness (ed.), Fourteen Journeys, p. 162; Morisset, 26 December 1823, SRNSW, NRS 897, 598, pp. 373â74.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Wylde's stations at Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.49760187 Longitude149.32857513 Start Date1824-01-01 End Date1824-01-31
Description
In January and February, Judge Advocate Wyldeâs cattle were again attacked and speared, and once more he wrote to the authorities with urgency, calling for decisive military action.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0196 SourceWylde to Goulburn, âRe attack by nativesâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065; 4/1798, pp. 312â14.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Wylde's stations at Kings Plains
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.49760187 Longitude149.32857513 Start Date1824-02-01 End Date1824-02-28
Description
In January and February, Judge Advocate Wyldeâs cattle were again attacked and speared, and once more he wrote to the authorities with urgency, calling for decisive military action.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0197 SourceWylde to Goulburn, âRe attack by nativesâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065; 4/1798, pp. 312â14.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Swallow Creek Govt Station
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41997984 Longitude149.37286377 Start Date1824-03-19 End Date1824-03-19
Description
On the afternoon of Friday 19 March, Patrick Ryan, âCrown Prisoner and Government Stockman stationed at the Swallow Creekâ, was out grazing âthe Government Cattle in his Chargeâ when âa large Body of Blacks to the Best of his Beliefs about one hundred and Fifty in number came and herded his cattle in various directionsâ. Alone and unarmed, Ryan ran and was âpursued by about Twenty of the mob who came up with him, one of which knocked him downâ. He was then held down and stripped of his clothes and released. He took off once again, making for a hut âabout a Mile and a Half distantâ up the Swallow Creek valley, where he âgave the alarm to the other two Stockmenâ who were there, Michael McKeyley and John Anderson. McKeyley then âwent up to the Judge Advocateâs Stationâ at Kings Plains and âimmediately gave the alarm to the Militaryâ stationed there. Anderson remained at the hut, and according to Ryanâs later statement to Magistrate Lawson and Commandant Morisset, âthe Blacks came shortly after about Sixty in number, came to the Hut took possession of the Provisions and eat what they requiredâ. Then in what can only have been preparation to carry off supplies, the Wiradyjuri âtied up the Blankets Bedding and every thing the Hut containedâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0198 SourceWylde to Goulburn, âRe attack by nativesâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065; 4/1798, pp. 312â14.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Swallow Creek Affray
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.42714345 Longitude149.37114716 Start Date1824-03-20 End Date1824-03-20
Description
The military stationed at Wyldeâs âDiyawongâ station were two soldiers, privates John Softly and John âEpslemâ (or Absalom) from the â3rd regiment Buffsâ. It took McKeyley several hours to travel up the Swallow Creek valley to Kings Plains, and he arrived at the station around eight or nine oâclock that night. The soldiers were told by McKeyley that âthe black natives were in and about their Hutâ. âAgreeable to [standing] ordersâ, the two privates immediately mustered the now seasoned quasi-official commander, overseer Dunn, and two of his men, and marched down to Swallow Creek. A paltry detachment of just two soldiers was stiffened by armed convicts and an overseer. They arrived at Swallow Creek on Saturday morning around 2 am, to find âthe Blacks were in possession of the hutâ and the stockmen unharmed, though humiliated â âstripped, and their clothes, Blankets &c. tied up and in possession of the Blacksâ. It seems that by this time many of the sixty warriors had dispersed. In the dead of night, banking on the element of surprise as well as their muskets, the soldiers âthen attackedâ. John Softly entered the hut first. According to Softly and Epslem, âsome of them attempted to escape through the chimney and through the sides of the Hut by pulling away the Barkâ. Other Wiradyjuri men âmade resistanceâ, and one man then âcatched hold of his Musket while Private John Ebslem was enteringâ. Another man âhad a spade in his hand, and made a Blow at him with it which was sloped off [parried] by his Musket, otherwise it would have killed him and the second blow which was sloped off in like manner and broke his Musket in two partsâ. As close-quarters combat broke out in the hut, both soldiers were, as they reported events, âthen obliged to act in our defence as well as we could to secure those most activeâ. There is little further detailed information on their attack, merely that they managed to take three prisoners, and two other Wiradyjuri men âwere killed and the remainder dispersedâ, suggesting they may have fired at those who were fleeing the scene, or that Dunn and the convicts had remained outside and shot at them.
Sources
TLCMap IDte0199 SourceWylde to Goulburn, âRe attack by nativesâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1798, pp. 312â14; Morisset, Ryan, Softly and Absalom, âRe robbery at Swallow Creek Hutâ, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1800, pp. 28â32.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Murdering hut' ('Milla- Murrah'?)
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.18188454 Longitude149.63619232 Start Date1824-05-01 End Date1824-05-31
Description
In 1887 William Henry Suttor Junior noted that âvery frequentlyâ the cause of Wiradyjuri attacks was âtheir ill-treatment by the whitesâ. As Suttor recalled from stories told by his family: âPoisoned dampers had been left purposely exposed in shepherdsâ huts in order to tempt the blacks to steal and eat. They did eat, and died in horrible agony. No wonder reprisals took placeâ. Suttor was clear that the poisoning of people at a place called the âMurdering Hutâ occurred before a series of raids in late May 1824, and that one of these raids was at the âvery place where it was rumored, the poisoned bread had been laid for themâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte019a SourceSuttor, Australian Stories Retold, p. 65; Salisbury and Gresser, Windradyne of the Wiradjuri, pp. 22-3. Salisbury and Gresser noted that âMillah-Murrahâ was nearby âTanawarraâ, a ânative cemeteryâ, and that it was also âthe location of the âMurdering Hutââ, where it seems poison had been laid out for unsuspecting Wiradyjuri. According to Gresser, it was ânearbyâ (not on) âTanawarraâ, the ânative cemeteryâ. Gresser notes that âMullah-murrahâ meant âmany eyesâ. Gresser Papers, BDHSMA, pp. 24â53
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
Details
Latitude-33.41872615 Longitude149.60550785 Start Date1824-05-01 End Date1824-05-31
Description
Suttor wrote that: a foreigner named Antonio had cultivated a patch of land on the Macquarie River, opposite the town of Bathurst. Among other things he grew some potatoes. One day, as a large number of the black tribe of the place came by, Antonio, moved by the spirit of good nature, gave some of his tubers to these people. Next day, they having appreciated the gift, appeared at the potato patch and commenced to help themselves. This was not to Antonioâs liking, who roused the people of the settlement on his behalf. They rushed down and attacked the blacks, some of whom were killed and others maimed.' One of Windradyneâs descendants, Uncle Bill Allen Junior, relates today that this was Windradyneâs family, âshot down in front of himâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte019b SourceSuttor, Australian Stories Retold, pp. 44â5; Uncle Bill Allen Junior, interview with Stephen Gapps, 15 September 2020
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Mill Post
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.184 Longitude149.623 Start Date1824-05-25 End Date1824-05-25
Description
As William Henry Suttor Junior described it, âafter this [the Bathurst Massacre], the blacks commenced general depredationsâ. James Lowe was a âshepherd in the employ of a settler up the countryâ (Richard Lewis). On Tuesday 25 May (Lowe later wrote), he was âvery much surprisedâ on his âreturn home at sunsetâ when he âfound the hut stripped of everything but a hammock and the hut-keeper killed at the millâ. According to Richard Lewis, the owner of the âMill Postâ, Lowe and another convict stockworker raced to inform him that they had made the gruesome discovery of âa man lying dead close by the Millsâ. Tuesday 25 May 1824 was a dark night, with a waning crescent moon. Undoubtedly hastily gathering lanterns, arms and convicts â as well as his neighbour, John Tindale (variously Tindall, Tyndall, Tindle) â Lewis rushed out to the hut âclose by the Millsâ. He found the dead man as Lowe had reported, as well as âthe Hut Robbed of all its contentsâ. On âlooking aroundâ he also saw âthe footsteps of a great number of Blacksâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte019c SourceReverend William Horton, Wesleyan Missionary Papers, 3 June 1823, ML BT 52, V4, p. 1268; Deposition re death of James Buckley, suspected murdered by Aborigines, 29 May 1824, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1799, pp. 47â50.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Warren Gunyah
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.13539503 Longitude149.68082428 Start Date1824-05-25 End Date1824-05-25
Description
The next morning (26th), Lewis âproceeded with Tindale to his station, distant about Four Milesâ. At Tindaleâs âWarren-Gunyahâ they came across an even more gruesome find. There they âsaw the Hut with a quantity of Brush drew around it, and the Hut burnt downâ. When they looked inside the remains of the hut, they âsaw the bodies of two men parts of which had been Burnt awayâ. A more detailed investigation of Tindaleâs property led to the discovery of another dead man. In the daylight, as Lewis later told Commandant Morisset, âon looking around ⌠we found the body of James Buckley one of Mr Tindallâs Servants as Corpse about Fifty yards from the Hutâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte019d SourceDeposition re death of James Buckley, suspected murdered by Aborigines, 29 May 1824, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1799, pp. 47â50; Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 2.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Milla-Murrah
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41894107 Longitude149.60542202 Start Date1824-05-25 End Date1824-05-25
Description
At absentee landlord Samuel Terry's station âMilla-Murrahâ, George Cheshire and William Lee found âtwo shepherds and one hut-keeper killed by the natives'. The Wiradyjuri warriors had âproceeded to break up and destroy every article of convenience about the place; 12 sheep were killed and eaten at their camp ⌠[and] Several other sheep were also killed, and many woundedâ. The Gazette newspaper later reported âthat the natives have in their possession 7 stands of arms, with plenty of ammunitionâ. If 'Milla-Murrah' was the 'Murdering Hut' it may well have been targetted. Salisbury and Gresser, Windradyne of the Wiradjuri, pp. 22-3. Salisbury and Gresser noted that âMillah-Murrahâ was nearby âTanawarraâ, a ânative cemeteryâ, and that it was also âthe location of the âMurdering Hutââ, where it seems poison had been laid out for unsuspecting Wiradyjuri. According to Gresser, it was ânearbyâ (not on) âTanawarraâ, the ânative cemeteryâ. Gresser notes that âMullah-murrahâ meant âmany eyesâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte019e SourceReverend William Horton, Wesleyan Missionary Papers, 3 June 1823, ML BT 52, V4, p. 1268; Gazette, 10 June 1824, p. 2; Depositions re bodies of men killed by Aborigines, 29 May 1824, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1799, pp. 55â58; Gresser Papers, BDHSMA, pp. 24â53; Salisbury and Gresser, Windradyne of the Wiradjuri, pp. 22-3
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Arkell's station
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.67596137 Longitude149.62260962 Start Date1824-05-20 End Date1824-05-31
Description
In the âlatter part of Mayâ, shepherd James Carter at Arkellâs station (âabout 28 miles from Bathurst, and 14 from OâConnell Plainsâ) reported that âthe natives took from him 490 sheepâ. It seems they took some and then drove them off and scattered them, as he reported later that âthe greater part had been retrievedâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte019f SourceâSupreme Courtâ, Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 2
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Hassall's station
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.73447601 Longitude149.73734379 Start Date1824-05-20 End Date1824-05-20
Description
According to William Lane, âa tribeâ (it is unclear if he meant the same group as he had met earlier who he thought had 'hostile intentions') âalso visited James Hassallâs station at the Brisbane Valley, some 15 miles from OâConnell Plainsâ, where âthey plundered the stockmen of all their comforts and provisionsâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a0 SourceâSupreme Courtâ, Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 2
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Hassall's station
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.73447601 Longitude149.7373867 Start Date1824-05-31 End Date1824-05-31
Description
Convict stockworker John Hollingshead was âin the employ of Mrs Hassall, under the superintendence of Mr [William] Laneâ. On 31 May he was âsearching for horsesâ when âhe fell in with a tribe of black natives, about 30 in number, upon the summit of a hillâ. According to Hollingshead, âthey were in ambushâ and that as he was âaware of disturbances that had only recently occurred, he took to flightâ. Obviously, word of the attacks to the north on 25 May had travelled to the south of Bathurst within six days. Then, Hollingshead recounted, the âspears came flying after him in showersâ. He was âtwice wounded ⌠but kept running, as the natives were in close pursuit with the tomahawkâ. Hollingshead ran for his life and âcame home wounded in two places; one spear having passed through the left arm, just below the elbow, and another fractured the thumb boneâ. He made it to âwithin one mile of the farmâ, where he stumbled upon his fellow worker Alexander Grant, who had been out that morning looking for cattle. Grant said he found Hollingshead âin a bleeding state, from the effect of the wounds caused by the spearsâ. Unlike Hollingshead, Grant âwas riding, and attended by several dogsâ, which he believed meant that earlier that day he was âpassed unmolestedâ by a group of Wiradyjuri. Grant had suspected something was amiss, as that morning he had seen a group of Wiradyjuri who ignored him when he called out to them. He even recognised and ânamed one of themâ, but still no word came back from the group and they passed silently by.
The warriors left off their pursuit of Grant and Hollingshead, and the two men managed to return to their hut.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a1 SourceGazette, 10 June 1824, p. 2; âSupreme Courtâ, Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 2
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- 8-mile Swamp.
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.57300901 Longitude149.75077629 Start Date1824-06-01 End Date1824-06-01
Description
After the attack on Hollingshead on 31 May, according to Grant, âconsternation among the men on the estate increasedâ, and the Hassall's overseer William Lane and some men arrived âequipped for an expedition after the nativesâ. Lane ordered Grant to accompany them âas he had so lately seen a partyâ. Some of the other convict stockworkers apparently begged âto be allowed arms, that they might go in pursuit of the natives, else they would all be murderedâ. Of Laneâs scratch force, only four of the party had muskets, and the fifth (Henry Castles) âcould only obtain a swordâ. They went out to where Hollingshead had been pursued (the southeast direction, âclose to the main road leading from OâConnel-plainsâ) and apparently returned that night after a âfruitless ⌠expeditionâ, failing to fall in âwith any of the nativesâ. Grant said that when they were âscouring the woodsâ he became separated from the others, so he went to âascertain the safety of the flocks, and the stock-keepersâ. Then âat a place called the 8-mile swamp, 7 miles from the main road, he espied the same tribe he had seen in the morningâ. Grant called out to âJoe, one of the chiefsâ, who replied âin an abusive and insolent wayâ. He called to another man he obviously recognised, âSimonâ, and in reply was âanswered with a shower of spearsâ. The three womenâs bodies were later found by Henry Trickey, a âcrown servantâ in the employ of merchant and whaling entrepreneur Captain Thomas Raine. Trickey said he lived âon his masterâs estate at the two-mile creek, distant five miles from OâConnel-plains, and eighteen from Bathurstâ, called âRainvilleâ. While he was travelling âbetween Sidmouth Valley and the two-mile creek, a trifling distance from the main road to Bathurstâ, Trickeyâs âattention was arrested by a large quantity of crows, eaglehawks, and other birds of preyâ. He was then âsurprised to find the bodies of three black womenâ, on ground âcalled the Government reserveâ. William Lawson Junior was to write two weeks after the event that the women were killed in sheer frustration at not finding any warriors. He believed Laneâs party âfell in with a horde of their women and despatched them in return for the menâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a2 SourceGazette, 10 June 1824, p. 2, Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 2; Salisbury and Gresser, Windradyne of the Wiradjuri, pp. 25, 48. William Lawson Junior to Nelson Lawson, 14 June 1824, in Beard (ed.), Old Ironbark, p. 37.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Near 8-mile swamp
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.57637004 Longitude149.75481033 Start Date1824-06-01 End Date1824-06-01
Description
Then âat a place called the 8-mile swamp, 7 miles from the main road, Grant saw the same tribe he had seen in the morningâ. Grant called out to âJoe, one of the chiefsâ, who replied âin an abusive and insolent wayâ. He called to another man he obviously recognised, âSimonâ, and in reply was âanswered with a shower of spearsâ. Grant then was âcompelled to retreat in quest of his companions ⌠who were 3 miles awayâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a3 SourceGazette, 10 June 1824, p. 2, Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 2; Salisbury and Gresser, Windradyne of the Wiradjuri, pp. 25, 48. William Lawson Junior to Nelson Lawson, 14 June 1824, in Beard (ed.), Old Ironbark, p. 37.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Near Mudgee
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.61682177 Longitude149.57456589 Start Date1824-06-01 End Date1824-07-31
Description
According to shepherd James Lowe, in early June âa number of people and a party of soldiersâ were already âin pursuit of the nativesâ. The Gazette also reported that âa party went out in quest of the nativesâ, although it was concerned they went âfor the purpose of spreading destruction amongst their ranksâ. The result may well have been what âCandidâ was to note in the Gazette in August â that âin an affair which took place at or near Mudjee five blacks were killedâ, but this remains unclear which event Candid is refering to and whether it was a combat or a massacre. âCandidâ, writing from Parramatta on 29 July, asked whether âparties of the blacks were found and fired upon?â and suggested that reports of âonly five nativesâ being killed must be incorrect. Gazette, 12 August, 1824, p. 2
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a4 SourceâCandidâ, Gazette, 12 August, 1824, p. 2
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Bathurst region
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41725751 Longitude149.58486557 Start Date1824-06-01 End Date1824-06-01
Description
âFidelisâ (probably William Cox) complained in the Gazette that it was unfortunate that âafter the dispersion of those attacked by the mounted settlers from Bathurst, their summary measures were not followed up by the detachment of the militaryâ. This force may not have been sanctioned by Commandant Morisset at Bathurst and may well have been ex-sergeant Tom Miller and his twenty armed men who went out 'and shot any they came across' (though Miller says he was directed to do so).
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a5 SourceâFidelisâ, Gazette, 5 August 1824, p. 4
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Near Mudgee
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.59397374 Longitude149.59928513 Start Date1824-06-21 End Date1824-06-21
Description
Commandant Morisset sent âLieutenant Lowe with a detachment of 12 menâ out with an âOverseer and a Constable this morning (25th June) for Mudgeeâ. The overseer of âMr Coxâs ⌠station at Mudgeeâ, Theophilus Chamberlain, had informed Morisset that there was âa Tribe of Nativesâ near the Coxâs run who âlast Monday overtook him on his road home and would have murdered him had he not fortunately been mounted which enabled him to escape from themâ. He also saw they had âdestroyâd Two Cowsâ. As with Bakerâs earlier march into the Wiagdon Ranges and back, Lieutenant Loweâs detachment failed to find any Wiradyjuri near Mudgee.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a6 SourceMorisset to Goulburn, 25 June 1824, SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1800, pp. 77â80
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Lawson's 'upper station' on Campbell's River
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.72562462 Longitude149.57473755 Start Date1824-07-10 End Date1824-07-20
Description
As the Gazette put it: while holding the Commandancy of the Settlement of Bathurst [Lawson], behaved in the most kind and conciliatory way regarding the mountain tribes, and was supposed, in return, to enjoy their good will, and be without the reach of their ingratitude and treachery; but recent lamentable instances demonstrate the contrary. At Lawsonâs âupper stationâ on âCampbellâs Riverâ, âMr. Lawson ⌠lost four men, who were cut off by the savages; and, very lately, three others have also fallen victims to aboriginal barbarityâ. Some of Lawsonâs men had been killed and their bodies mutilated in a particularly gruesome manner. It may have been that the killing of three women by William Laneâs men had been avenged, perhaps by the âchiefsâ Joe and Simon and their warriors. The Hassallsâ overseer, Thomas Fisher, wrote that unarmed stockworkers took refuge together in their huts and some shepherds had been âdrove quite awayâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a7 SourceGazette, 5 August 1824, p. 2; Australasian Pocket Almanack ⌠1822â1826, p. 134; Fisher to Hassall, 20 July 1824, ML, Hassall Correspondence, vol. 3, pp. 1563â64; William John Dumaresq, âA ride to Bathurst, 1827â, in Mackaness (ed.), Fourteen Journeys, p. 192
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Unclear, possible Lawson's station
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.72334024 Longitude149.57611084 Start Date1824-07-10 End Date1824-07-20
Description
The Gazette noted seven deaths, but Fisher and a later report 5 dead. At Lawsonâs âupper stationâ on âCampbellâs Riverâ, âMr. Lawson ⌠lost four men, who were cut off by the savages; and, very lately, three others have also fallen victims to aboriginal barbarityâ. Fisher wrote to his employer on 20 July that he had âjust returned from the [Bathurst] Plainsâ and was sorry to say that while he was there âMr Lawsonâs overseer and young Mr Lawson came to inform the Commandant that another of their men are found killed by the natives at their Upper Station by Campbellâs Riverâ. He also noted that Lawson and his overseer could not say what âfurther mischiefâ had been done âas none of their Men or Cattle and flocks were to be foundâ. The Gazette noted the âGentleman who had been proverbially kind to them [Lawson]â had âtwo hundred and fifty fine sheepâ killed.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a8 SourceGazette, 5 August 1824, p. 2; Australasian Pocket Almanack ⌠1822â1826, p. 134; Fisher to Hassall, 20 July 1824, ML, Hassall Correspondence, vol. 3, pp. 1563â64; William John Dumaresq, âA ride to Bathurst, 1827â, in Mackaness (ed.), Fourteen Journeys, p. 192
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Guntawang' near Mudgee
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.3730026 Longitude149.45835114 Start Date1824-07-01 End Date1824-07-31
Description
In late July, âCandidâ wrote to the Gazette, concerned to know the true extent of Wiradyjuri people who had been killed over the last two months. In one âinstanceâ, Candid asked, âwas not the resistance of the blacks so obstinate that, notwithstanding the fire of the English, the blacks were the masters of the field?â There are no other details of the engagement that âCandidâ mentions. It seems in July there was a battle or skirmish ending in a Wiradyjuri victory that those involved â or the Bathurst authorities â were reluctant to mention. This may well have been what William Coxâs son, George, was later to describe as an âencounterâ at âGuntawangâ, where he said âno less than seven whites were killed, while the number of blacks slaughtered was never ascertainedâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01a9 SourceâCandid, July 29â, Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 2; Cox, âHistory of Mudgeeâ, p. 44; âThe Bathurst Blacksâ, âHonestusâ, Gazette, 9 August 1824, p. 2, Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 4; âSubscriberâ, Gazette, 5 August 1824, p. 4
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Bathurst region
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.41174095 Longitude149.58555222 Start Date1824-07-01 End Date1824-07-31
Description
In early August the Gazette noted further stock losses 'Further intelligence from the Bathurst country furnishes a most distressing aspect from the continued atrocities of the black natives ⌠Owing to those recent atrocities, the immense stock upon the other side of the mountains, is becoming scattered over the whole country: the shepherds and stock-keepers have necessarily abandoned their charge to the rapacity of the natives'.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01aa SourceGazette, 5 August 1824, p. 2
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Cudgegong River at Dabee
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.87165783 Longitude150.0318718 Start Date1824-07-01 End Date1824-07-31
Description
George Henry Cox described how there were âvery many sad scenesâ when âa war nearly of extermination was declaredâ. He recalled that âan immense number of the natives, men, women and children, were slaughtered at Mudgee and amongst them poor old Aaron our guide. He was shot in the long reach of water at Dabeeâ. At the time, in mid-August, just before martial law was declared, questions were asked about âmore particulars ⌠as to the death of Ering [Aaron] and othersâ. âCandidâ asked the Gazette to confirm if âsixty or seventyâ people, rather than the five reported, had died âin an affair which took place at or near Mudjeeâ and whether âold Erin [Aaron]â was âdead or aliveâ and âif dead, in what way did he die?â There were no replies to those questions in the Gazette. As we have seen, according to George Henry Cox, Aaron was shot in a massacre on the upper Cudgegong River, suggesting that 60-70 people were indeed killed in this massacre.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01ab SourceCox, âHistory of Mudgeeâ, pp. 44, 46. Henry Cox quoted in George Cox, âMudgee in the early daysâ, p. 5. Peter Swain thinks the âlong reach of water at Dabeeâ would be between the current âDabeeâ property and where the river begins to wind as the valley narrows. Peter Swain, interview and sites tour, 28 January 2021. Gazette, 12 August 1824, p. 4, Gazette, 19 August 1824, p. 4.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- NNW of Cudgegong River
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.66828079 Longitude149.57302094 Start Date1824-09-10 End Date1824-09-10
Description
In September 1824, a man known to the colonists around Bathurst as âBlucherâ was leading a large group of Wiradyjuri people away from the cattle and sheep stations that had been established on the Cudgegong River valley near present-day Mudgee. Blucher had around a hundred people in his warband, including women and children and a strong force of over forty warriors. They were herding about forty head of cattle, travelling around a hundred kilometres north-northwest of the Cudgegong River (possibly near todayâs Avisford Nature Reserve), in rugged terrain well away from the open terrain of the river flats. Blucherâs people were soon being tracked by reportedly one of the most ruthless characters in the district â Theophilus Chamberlain, overseer for George and Henry Coxâs cattle and sheep runs in the Mudgee area. On or around 10 September, on the Cudgegong River, about 130 kilometres north of Bathurst, Chamberlain was with two stockmen, somewhere between the Coxesâ âDabee Farmâ (later âRawdonâ, near current-day Rylstone) and the Mudgee area, when they âfell in with a tract [tracks] of cattleâ heading away from the main river.
The âwell armed and mountedâ trio decided to investigate, following the cattle tracks. After travelling around â60 miles to the N. N. W. [north-northwest]â, the stockmen âsaw a very large number of nativesâ who were driving âabout 40 headâ of âhorned cattle before themâ. Blucher attacked at once. He led thirty warriors straight at the men, who turned their horses and fled. To Chamberlainâs surprise, Blucherâs men were so intent on killing them that they kept pace with the three horsemen. As they ran, the warriors were skilfully peppering the three stockmen with a hail of spears and boomerangs. Blucher led his men from the front in the all-out attack against Chamberlain. Chamberlainâs horse was then struck by a boomerang, which âcut a piece out on the ribsâ. At this point, the overseer decided that a counterattack was the best method of survival for himself and his stockmen. Bringing their muskets to bear â rather than fleeing on horseback, unable to shoot and reload â was a smart tactic. Despite being outnumbered ten to one, Chamberlain âturned the horse roundâ, took aim at the boomerang thrower and âshot the man deadâ.
As it was later reported in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (Gazette) newspaper, Chamberlain âagain retreated, loaded, and turned the second time, and shot the headmost native dead. He then retrograded again, loaded, turned, and shot a third man dead, whereupon the natives stoppedâ. Their leader, Blucher, was dead. The rest of the warriors broke off the attack.
The overseer âwith his two men rode on till after darkâ, at which point they rested and âremained all night without any fire, fearful of being discoveredâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01ac SourceGazette, 16 September 1824, p. 2 and 30 September 1824, p. 2
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- NNW of Cudgegong River
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.66221132 Longitude149.57559586 Start Date1824-09-11 End Date1824-09-11
Description
After escaping the attack by Blucher's warriors Chamberlain and his men were returning to Mudgee when they came across an unexpected sight. They found a place âwhere there were a number of nativesâ fires, and an immense quantity of arms laying round them, consisting of spears, boo-merrings, &câ. Strangely, there was ânot a living person to be seenâ. They had stumbled across the camp of the warband they had fought the day before. The Wiradyjuri had left their weaponry at the camp, as they were conducting the ceremonies or sorry business associated with burying their leader and two other warriors â men who may also have had leadership status in the united warband of several combined family groups. Chamberlain recognised an opportunity. The party âimmediately dis-mounted, and heaped the whole of the arms on the firesâ. The mourners would have seen plumes of smoke rising from their camp. The whole warband, âmen, women and childrenâ, then raced back in a âgreat furyâ; Chamberlain and his companions âimmediately mounted their horses and retreatedâ. Again, around forty warriors pursued them, once more keeping pace with their horses. But âthey had few arms with themâ, and when Chamberlain saw âthey had nearly expendedâ their spears and boomerangs, he and his men âdismounted, tied their horses together, and faced about, commencing a fire of musquetry on the nativesâ. According to the Gazette report, they âthen charged them with the bayonet until they were completely routed and dispersedâ. There were âsixteen men dead on the fieldâ at the end of the affray.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01ad SourceGazette, 16 September 1824, p. 2 and 30 September 1824, p. 2
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Mt Macarthur, north of Merriwa
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-31.84956533 Longitude150.29434204 Start Date1824-10-14 End Date1824-10-14
Description
In October 1824 Assistant Surveyor Henry Dangar set off from the Hunter River on an âexpeditionâ to determine its ânature and point of junctionâ with the Goulburn River, and to find a good route over the ranges to the Liverpool Plains. On 14 October, Dangarâs party was preparing to cross the Liverpool Range near what Cunningham had earlier called Mount Macarthur, when they were âattacked by a large body of nativesâ. For three hours, a fight ensued between what Dangar described as âthe Bathurst Blacksâ and his party. Dangarâs men were undoubtedly well-armed and probably took cover while the warriors, wary of musketry from recent experiences, tried to pick them off. They managed to spear one man in the head and âkilled a horseâ before departing with a packhorse laden with provisions. Dangar later wrote that he and his party âwere near being cut off and annihilated by the nativesâ. How Dangar knew that it was âthe Bathurst Blacksâ they had fought with at âMount Macarthurâ, north of Merriwa â well over 200 kilometres from Bathurst â can be attributed to the members of Dangarâs party. Along with another surveyor, John Richards, and âtwo servants Williamson and Allenâ, was an unnamed âblack boyâ. The fact the warriors had attacked Dangarâs party without hesitation suggests it may well have been Windradyneâs warband, on the move away from Morissetâs September campaign. One historian suggests there were 'possibly 150' warriors but provides no source for this.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01ae SourceGazette, 4 November 1824, p. 2; Dunn, The Convict Valley, p. 124. According to Wood they were attacked by âpossibly 150 in numberâ. Wood, Dawn in the Valley, pp. 43â45; Gray, âDangar, Henry (1796â1861)â, ADB.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- the surrounding vicinity' of Bathurst
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.38615961 Longitude149.52907562 Start Date1824-10-01 End Date1824-10-31
Description
In October â basing its report on âinformationâ received from the district â the Gazette suggested that while the âexterminating warâ was going on around Bathurst and âits surrounding vicinityâ, it was a very different story at Wellington. Here, according to the Gazette, âpeace reigns around the smiling and ever verdant valleyâ. The Gazette report continued, âThe information further states that the poor objects [Wiradyjuri] often visit Wellington Valley with gun shot wounds, in order to obtain relief by getting them dressed!â
Sources
TLCMap IDte01af SourceGazette, 14 October 1824, p. 2; âThe Aboriginesâ, Gazette, 29 September 1825, p. 3.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Brymair Valley
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.92455477 Longitude150.15151978 Start Date1824-09-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
The Dabee (and possibly other people, including the Bogee) were together in the Brymair Valley in 1824. One of these âmen of the Dabeesâ was later known as Jimmy Lambert or ââKing Jimmyâ of the Dabee Tribeâ. In 1824, Jimmy was a young âstriplingâ, fourteen years old. At some point around this time, Jimmy was âcamped in the Brima Valleyâ with his Dabee people when two white stockmen in a ânearby hutâ held a young Dabee woman for three days, until âshe escaped and got back to her people in a dreadful conditionâ. The âmen of the Dabeesâ then âcarried out their tribal law â killed the stock-men, burned down the hut and killed and ate most of the sheepâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01b0 SourceâM. Lambertâ told the story of the massacre to the Tribune newspaper as it had been passed down through her family. Her grandfather was the Dabee man Jimmy Lambert, who had âa bullet which he had carried in his leg all his life, a bullet he got when Redcoats fired on the Blacksâ. His wife, Peggy, later called âQueen Peggyâ by Rylstone locals, was living by the Cudgegong River when she died in 1885. Jimmy lived for a time in a hut on a hillside of the Brymair Valley. As âM. Lambertâ wrote: âThat this is a true version of what happened so long ago, I have no doubt; the story was told to my father by his mother who was a step-daughter of King Jimmyâ. âPOEM RECALLS TROOPSâ CRUEL MASSACRE Contributed by M. Lambertâ, Tribune, 26 April 1961, p. 7. Emma Symeâs âGreat Great Grandmotherâs name was Madge Greenâ; she used the name âM. Lambertâ because the Tribune was a socialist newspaper. According to Emma some Bogee people survived by using an âescape routeâ â a pass out of the Brymair Valley and into the Cudgegong Valley. Emma Syme (North-East Wiradjuri Co), pers. comm., 8 November 2020. âQueen Peggy deceasedâ, Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, 26 August 1885, p. 3. Peter Swain and Ray Agnew, interview, 28 January 2021. In an ode to âThe Dying Chiefâ, H. H Lublin wrote that âhe was both esteemed and respected by the settlers in the westâ. âOriginal Poetry. âThe Dying Chiefââ, Leader, 23 February 1895, p. 31. Peter Swain, interview, 7 December 2020. It seems there were three or four massacres in the area: Dabee, âBrimaâ, Bogee and another near Glen Alice. Emma Syme, interview, 28 January 2021; Martin DeLauney, interview, 27 February 2021
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Brymair Valley
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.92455477 Longitude150.14877319 Start Date1824-09-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
After the abduction of the Wiradjuri woman and the retaliatory killing of the two hut keepers, according to Jimmy Lambertâs grand-daughter, âa detachment of âRedcoatsâ were sent to punish the tribeâ. The Dabee were taken by surprise. The men âhastily instructed the women and children to climb into the trees on the flat, while they themselves ran for cover behind the tree trunks on the opposite mountainsideâ. The âsoldiersâ (they were almost certainly not soldiers but an armed party) followed the men and wounded âquite a fewâ, including young Jimmy, as the Dabee warriors skirmished with them from the steep sides of Clandulla. They may have had a prepared position, possibly with a stockpile of weapons, as their attackers found it too difficult to pursue them. The âRedcoatsâ then went âback to the flat and fiendishly shot every woman, girl and piccaninny who had taken shelter in the trees there. Among them was the young lubra who had been the unwilling cause of it allâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01b1 Source âPOEM RECALLS TROOPSâ CRUEL MASSACRE Contributed by M. Lambertâ, Tribune, 26 April 1961, p. 7.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Bogee Swamp
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.95012711 Longitude150.17314911 Start Date1824-09-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
Bogee Creek (Bogee-Nile Creek) runs out from the horseshoe-shaped Brymair Valley. It is unclear if this is the same event as the Brymair Valley massacrez, however the swamp would appear a different location to the women and children at Brymair taking shelter in the trees on the flat.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01b2 SourceAccording to descendants of survivors of massacres at this time, there was a massacre at Bogee Swamp as well. Peter Swain certainly feels âa shiver in [his] bonesâ when he drives past the remaining swamps at Bogee today. . Peter Swain, interview, 7 December 2020; Emma Syme, interview, 28 January 2021; Martin DeLauney, interview, 27 February 2021
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Government Provision Depot' (Cox's River depot, near Glenroy)
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.547 Longitude150.146 Start Date1816-03-01 End Date1816-04-30
Description
Macquarie wrote âInstructions for Serjeant Jeremiah Murphyâ just days after his orders to Wallis, Shaw and Dawe in April 1816. He noted that âA body of Hostile nativesâ had ârecently crossed the Blue or Western Mountains from this side to the New discovered Country, and attacked and Plundered the Government Provision Depot established at Coxâs Riverâ. It is unclear if this report is correct, that the warriors had come across the mountains from the Sydney region to escape the sweeping British campaign around the edge of the Cumberland Plain, or were from the Cox's River area. The raids were serious enough to threaten the isolated depot and other shepherds and workers. Macquarie wrote that the warriors had not only raided the government depot, but also âdriven away from thence the Government Stock-men - as well as the Stock men of Private Individuals who were attending their Masters Herds in that Countryâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte017c SourceNote 15, Macquarie to Bathurst, 18 March 1815, HRA, vol. 9, p. 550; SLNSW, A773, 25 May 1816 pp15-16; Gazette, 1 June 1816; SRNSW, 4/1798, p.35; Orders to Murphy, 22 April 1816. SRNSW, NRS 897, 6065, 4/1798, pp. 35â37. Macquarie to Bathurst, 4 April 1817, HRA, vol. 9, p. 342.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Billywillinga
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.27428728 Longitude149.42985535 Start Date1824-01-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
In his 1887 Australian Stories Retold W H Suttor recounted a massacre at Billywillinga. Here, around 16 miles to the northwest of Bathurst, according to Suttor âa camp of blacks had been establishedâ near a group of stock station buildings. Suttor describes how âa party of soldiers was despatched to deal with those at this campâ. The soldiers began ânegotiationsâ, which were âapparently friendly, but really treacherousâ. As he wrote 'Food was prepared, and was placed on the ground within musket range of the station buildings. The blacks were invited to come in for it. Unsuspectingly they did come, principally women and children. As they gathered up the white menâs presents they were shot down by a brutal volley, without regard to age or sex.'
Suttorâs is the only known historical account. While questions remain as to whether soldiers were involved (and would indeed use these tactics) â and whether Suttor may have re-versioned or even manufactured a story based on other attacks on Aboriginal people that occurred later, elsewhere on the frontier â his narrative certainly fleshes out some of the many claims of âindiscriminateâ killings at this time.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01b4 SourceW H Suttor, Australian Stories Retold, pp. 45â46
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Bells Falls Gorge
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.1226007 Longitude149.71155167 Start Date1824-01-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
In the early 1960s, Bathurst historian Percy Gresser noted a massacre â one that none of the Suttors or any other source had described. According to âlocal traditionsâ, the massacre had occurred at Bells Falls Gorge, near Wattle Flat, north of Bathurst, along the road to Sofala. According to Gresser, âan old resident of Wattle Flat whose father had resided in the district before him, told me years ago that âhundreds of blacksâ had been rounded up and shot at Bellâs Fallsâ. Gresser thought it was quite likely that âsome were shot there, but in the course of time the number would become greatly exaggeratedâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01b5 SourceGresser Papers, BDHSMA, pp. 24â53; Bathurst Times, 20 August 1962, p. 3. This brief snippet of information from Percy Gresser was transformed by Grassby and Hill, who wrote that âtroops drove a party of women and children with a few accompanying warriors into Bellâs Falls Gorge. Trapped, they were systematically shotâ. Grassby and Hill, Six Australian Battlefields, p. 160. Mary Coe described it even more dramatically: âwomen with their children jumped into the gorge or were shot and their bodies fell in. The Redcoats stood at the edge of the cliff and shot at the bodies making sure everyone including the children were all dead. The water ran red with blood of the murdered Wiradjuri peopleâ. Coe, Windradyne, p. 58. Sofala locals in the 1990s said to David Roberts that at Bells Falls Gorge there was a âhuge massacreâ and they [Europeans] ârounded all the blackfellas up at the top of the gorge, and shot at them until they jumped offâ. They had no idea when, or why, but that it involved the gorge. Roberts, âBells Falls massacreâ, p. 615. For an overview of debate over the veracity of the massacre see Neumann, âAmong historiansâ, p. 182; Roberts âThe Bells Falls Massacre and oral traditionâ, in Attwood and Foster (eds), Frontier Conflict, pp. 150â57
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Clear Creek
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.32378698 Longitude149.69713211 Start Date1824-01-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
Percy Gresser believed that an alleged massacre at Clear Creek was yet âanother tradition with a solid basis of fact, but numbers greatly exaggeratedâ. He described how a man who owned âa considerable area of country towards the head of Clear Creek, under the blue range of hills to be seen to the north-east from Bathurst, pointed out to me a locality on his property where âhundreds of blacks had been shotââ
Sources
TLCMap IDte01b6 SourceIt may be the case that the events around the stockman killed at Clear Creek in 1823 became transformed into a massacre. Gresser Papers, BDHSMA, pp. 24â53; Bathurst Times, 20 August 1962, p. 3
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Mount Frome/Burundulla/The Rocky Waterhole
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.61711095 Longitude149.65490341 Start Date1824-01-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
Descendants of Diana âMudgeeâ Collins know that she was recovered as a baby after surviving a massacre near Mount Frome, south of Mudgee. According to Martin deLauney, the Coxesâ overseer Chamberlain instigated the massacre. Chamberlain had been sacked from his employment with the Coxes by 1825 for his âvindictiveness throughout these unfortunate massacresâ, as George Henry Cox later described it.
Sources
TLCMap IDte01b7 SourceMartin deLauney believes the massacre occurred at the âThe Rocky Waterholeâ, near Burundulla. Martin DeLauney, interview, 27 February 2021; Cox, âHistory of Mudgeeâ, pp. 44â46
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Unknown (may be already referred to)
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-32.75494244 Longitude149.78347778 Start Date1824-01-01 End Date1824-12-31
Description
in 1854, missionary Lancelot Threlkeld wrote in the Christian Herald newspaper that he had been told about events at Bathurst in the 1820s by an âinformantâ who was âa Magistrateâ. This may well have been Lieutenant Percy Simpson, who had been commandant at Wellington during 1824. According to Threlkeld, the magistrate told him that at Bathurst âa large number were driven into a swamp, and mounted police rode round and round and shot them off indiscriminately until they were all destroyed!â Then, âwhen one of the police enquired of the Officer if a return should be made of the killed, wounded there were none, all were destroyed, Men Women and Children! The reply was; - that there was no necessity for a returnâ. The âlong reach of waterâ on the Cudgegong at Dabee, the Bogee Swamp or the Brymair Valley all fit the description of a âswampâ. While the Mounted Police were not formally established until 1825, Threlkeld was relating events from thirty years before. It certainly seems to have been a story from 1824, as the âcommanding officerâ, Threlkeld recalled, left for England âshortly afterâ; Commandant Morisset returned to England in early 1825. (It could not have been his successor, Lieutenant John Fennell, who died in Bathurst in 1826.) It is possible that on his voyage back to England the âcommanding officerâ at Bathurst had some extra baggage. According to Threlkeldâs informant, âforty-five heads were collected and boiled down for the sake of the skulls!â The magistrate apparently âsaw the skulls packed for exportation in a case at Bathurst ready for shipment to accompany the commanding Officer on his voyageâ. Threlkeld also described how a âcertain officerâ âon his return from one of these cruel exploits, made his boast that it was fine sport, for it was only to draw his pistols from the holster, and he dropped the blacks down like partridges!â
Sources
TLCMap IDte01b3 SourceThrelkeld in Gunson (ed.), Australian Reminiscences, pp. 19â25, 49, 74; Christian Herald, 5 August 1854, Christian Herald, 14 October 1854, p. 206
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:03 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:03
- Placename
- Bathurst
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.4182963 Longitude149.59450006 Start Date1815-05-11 End Date1815-05-11
Description
Macquarieâs expedition left Bathurst to return to Sydney with one man missing. According to Macquarieâs âfirm friendâ, Major of Brigade Henry Colden Antill, âhe had come with us with the idea of becoming a settler in the new country, and as we suppose, he had remained behind at Bathurstâ. But only on mustering did they find the man was missing. Apparently, the âlast time the poor fellow was seen was with some of the nativesâ and he, âbeing a little in liquor, had insisted on going with them to their camp, where it was supposed from his own imprudence he had fallen a sacrifice, as no trace could be found of him by the parties which had been sent outâ.
So too the Wiradyjuri people to whose camp he had gone âhad not since been seenâ. This âpoor fellowâ may have transgressed Wiradyjuri law and suffered dalgi giban (payback or retribution). This transgression may well have involved a woman â the colonistsâ attitude towards Wiradyjuri women was a constant source of conflict.
Sources
TLCMap IDte017d SourceHenry Antill, 12 May 1815, âJournalâ, in Mackaness (ed.), Fourteen Journeys, p. 96; Fry, Beyond the Barrier, 29â30
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
- Placename
- Campbells River
- Type
- Event
Details
Latitude-33.689 Longitude149.627 Start Date1819-04-01 End Date1819-05-31
Description
On his journey from the Cowpastures to Bathurst, after passing the location of current-day Rockley and heading down the hills towards the Campbell River, Throsby and his party met âa large Tribe of Nativesâ. Cookoogong undoubtedly relayed to Throsby that, as Throsby recorded it, âthe people at Bathurst was very very (cooler) angry with the Blacksâ. They told Throsby and Cookoogong that the colonists âwould set their dogsâ on them, and would shoot at them. They also said that âfour black people have been killed and more woundedâ.
Sources
TLCMap IDte017e SourceThrosby, âJournal of a tour to Bathurstâ, 1819, SRNSW, 9/2743; Throsby to Meehan, 21 April 1820, SRNSW, 9/2743, pp. 86â88, 136; Smith, Aborigines of the Goulburn District, p. 5; Hassall to Macquarie, 16 June 1819, SRNSW, 4/1742, pp. 310â22; âNovemberâ, Annual Register, 1819, p. 88; Government and General Order, 31 May 1819, HRA, vol. 10, p. 182; Macquarie to Bathurst, 19 July 1819, HRA, vol. 10, p. 179; Parsons, âThrosby, Charles 1777â1828â, ADB.
Created At2025-05-29 12:16:02 Updated At2025-05-29 12:16:02
