Basic Statistics

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Layer Id 2754 Name Coorong, Adelaide and Yorke War and Resistance
Description

A summary of this war and resistance will be available in future.

Notes:

  • Sealers and whalers who kidnapped women established violent relations.
  • Explorers at the Coorong looking for the mouth of the Murray-Darling system and others passing through were killed, probably due to the hostile relations established by sealers and whalers.
  • With Adelaide established by free settlers rather than convicts, there was violence and resistance, but it's severity relative to other parts of Australia may have been ameliorated by the efforts of Mullawirraburka and Kadlitpinna, with Wyatt and other colonists to quell violence and retaliation.
  • When the 'Maria' was ship wrecked at the Coorong, many were killed in a rare massacre of colonists by Aboriginal people. This lead to Government ordered reprisals and killing of Aboriginal people.
  • Violence and resistance expanded from Adelaide into the Yorke Peninsula and to the north.
  • This was followed by conflicts at Port Lincoln (Eyre Peninsula) to the west; on overland routes between Adelaide and the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers and Port Phillip (Victoria), and further north in the Flinders Ranges. Also, the Northern Territory was governed from Adelaide when there was extensive violence there later.

Data has been generously provided by:

Robert Foster, Skye Krichauff and Amanda Nettelbeck, The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 2024, http://ua.edu.au/south-australian-frontier

Subject Keywords history, Indigenous, Aboriginal, Australia, Colonial violence, South Australia
Type Event Linkback https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/4755c59ae93447a9b0acf9b2b0b265f6
Warning

Colonial violence. Links to historical sources may contain racist attitudes and language.

Creator Robert Foster, Skye Krichauff and Amanda Nettelbeck
Publisher Australian Wars and Resistance Contact australianwars@gmail.com
Source Url https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/4755c59ae93447a9b0acf9b2b0b265f6 Rights

With permission.

Language EN Created At 2026-03-15 14:03:58
Updated At 2026-04-02 11:24:04 Ghap Url https://tlcmap.org/layers/2754
Statistic Value Unit
Total Places
116 -
Area
51426.85595477 km2
Convex Hull
POLYGON((139.39866169993 -35.8666594001666,137.56034390592154 -35.72524358568086,137.035785100104 -34.93952268976,138.076392855983 -32.6550050508894,138.801855251872 -32.6906374038939,138.971594149035 -33.142349856779,139.39866169993 -35.8666594001666)) -
Density
0.0022556307953576 places/km2
Centroid
POINT(138.3367944782012 -34.27625174147039) -
Bounding Box
POLYGON((137.035785100104 -35.8666594001666,137.035785100104 -32.6550050508894,139.39866169993 -32.6550050508894,139.39866169993 -35.8666594001666,137.035785100104 -35.8666594001666)) -
Most Central Place
Aboriginal people attack Robinson’s station and kill sixteen sheep, 16 December 1841 -
Most Distant Place from center
Killing of George McGrath, 2 June 1842 -
Distribution
  • Average Distance from Centroid: 104.00453854872
  • Average Distance from Centroid / Area of Convex Hull: 0.0020223779310988
kilometers
Start Date
1812 -
End Date
1861-03-11 -
Duration
49.19 years
Median Date
1845-03-27 -
Average Date
1845-07-08 -