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NameBays War and Resistance
Description

Events in this conflict will be added as Australian Wars and Resistance research continues.

TypeOther
Content Warning
ContributorDr Bill Pascoe
Entries18
Allow ANPS? No
Added to System2025-08-09 14:53:33
Updated in System2025-11-18 22:27:54
Subject
Creator
Publisher
Contact
Citation
DOI
Source URL
Linkback
Date From
Date To
Image
Latitude From
Longitude From
Latitude To
Longitude To
Language
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Date Created (externally)

Ningi Ningi Ambush Native Police

Placename
Pine River
Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.177499467943534
Longitude
152.7908241436263
Start Date
1858-04-15
End Date
1858-04-15
State
QLD

Description

300 'Ningi Ningi' Aboriginal people (possibly Buyibara or Yugarabul) ambushed a Native Police patrol under the command of Lt. Williams at the headwaters of the Pine River, north west of Brisbane and killed an officer. The Native Police retaliated, killing at least five before the warriors could retreat. The Native Police destroyed the warriors camp and 40 rosewood spears.

Sources

TLCMap ID
te6d63
Linkback
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3717048/543482
Source

Wickham to Col Sec, April 21, 1858, 1/no.58/1492, QSA, Col.Sec: Letters received re Moreton Bay 1858, A2/39; <i>MBC</i>, April 24, 1858 - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/543482; Connors 2015: 83; Queensland. Parliament. Legislative Assembly. Select Committee on Native Police Force and the Condition of the Aborigines Generally. (1861). Report from the Select Committee on the Native Police Force and the Condition of the Aborigines Generally together with the proceedings of the Committee and minutes of evidence Retrieved November 18, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52862431

Created At
2025-11-18 22:18:15
Updated At
2025-11-18 22:27:54

North Stradbroke Island, Moreton Bay

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.399
Longitude
153.455
Start Date
1832-12-22
End Date
1832-12-31

Description

Reprisal for an Aboriginal attack on a ship. Carried out by Captain Clunie, 17th Regiment and a detachment of soldiers.

Extended Data

Source_ID
628
LanguageGroup
Noonucal
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Brisbane
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Military
CorroborationRating
**
AboriginalPlaceName
Nunukul
War
Bays
Stage
Early
Region
East
Period
Early

Sources

TLCMap ID
te158e
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=628
Source
Clunie, 12 Jan 1833, QSA CSL micro 8; Evans, 1999, p 65.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Grantham, Moreton Bay Pastoral District

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.549
Longitude
152.183
Start Date
1841-10-01
End Date
1841-10-01

Description

On 1 October 1841 at Grantham on the Darling Downs, a man called Rogers reported a 'standup' battle in which '...two whites were speared and several Aborigines���severely wounded' (Evans, 2007, p 53). Another report by an ex-convict, Brown, however, said the Yugara camp 'was stormed before dawn' by the horsemen and that the firing continued for about half an hour but the number of Yugara [Yuggera] killed is unknown (Evans, 2007, p 53). This 'battle' was in response to the Yugara killing of shepherds at Mocatta's and Somerville's stations and attacks on James Balfour's station at Colinton. The attack was carried out by James 'Cocky' Rogers, superintendent of George Mocatta's station, George Somerville from Tent Hill and their servants, heavily armed with muskets and on horseback (Evans, 2007, p 53).

Extended Data

Source_ID
584
LanguageGroup
Yugara or Giabal
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Brisbane
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
***
War
Bays
Stage
Moreton Bay and Darlling Downs
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te158f
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=584
Source
Evans, 2007, p 53; A. Hodgson, Report on Aboriginal Outrage, October 27, 1841, SRNSW Col. Sec. 41/9744, CSL micro 12; Moreton Bay Book of Trials, January 13, 1842, OML.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Kilcoy Station

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-26.884
Longitude
152.584
Start Date
1842-02-01
End Date
1842-02-01

Description

On 1 February 1842, flour laced with strychnine was given to a large group of Aboriginal people at Kilcoy station by two shepherds, resulting in the deaths of at least sixty of them. The shepherds were employed by Evan MacKenzie, lessee of Kilcoy station (SMH, December 5, 1842, p 2). According to Lauer, two escaped convicts, Bracewell and Davis, who had been living with Aboriginal people before being captured, reported that about 14 or 15 tribes had met at Booroon in the 'Great Bunya Scrub' to discuss a response to the poisoning and had formed a council of war resolving on vengeance. (Lauer, 1977, p 47)

Extended Data

Source_ID
586
LanguageGroup
Giggarbarah, Woongunbarah and other groups in transit
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Brisbane
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
60
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Shepherd(s)
CorroborationRating
***
War
Bays
Stage
Moreton Bay and Darlling Downs
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1590
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=586
Source
Lang, 1847, p 279; Marr, 2023, pp 121-126; Qld Parlt Legislative Assembly, 1861(a), p 19 - Select Ctee in to the Native Police; Queenslander, May 21, 1892, p 987, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19824074; SMH, December 5, 1842 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12426931, Lauer, 1977 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:1dac35b
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Yandilla station, Darling Downs Pastoral District

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.854
Longitude
151.386
Start Date
1842-10-01
End Date
1842-12-31

Description

According to historian Maurice French, in late 1842, squatter Sydenham Russell, and stockmen Ralph Gore and Domville Taylor 'surprised a large group of natives coolly rounding up a mob of cattle in broad daylight between Yandilla and Tummaville.' (French, 1989, pp 102-103) According to historian HS Russell, 'The blacks had been more aggressive of late than ever. They were harrying and killing cattle wherever cattle were. The shepherds were in a terrible state of "funk," and no wonder. My brother had caught them, when crossing the plain between Yandilla and Tummavil in company with Ralph Gore and Taylor, coolly rounding a mob up in the open, and preparing to kill. A "set-to" was the consequence. The blacks numbered about three hundred, and kept admirable order and showed unusual courage. Upon the firing of a shot, the "ducking" of heads and rush on their assailants were instantaneous, well arranged, and executed. Syd.'s horse was fidgetty; so he jumped off and let him loose. The "brummagem" double barrelled gun which he had���mine, however���burst in his hands without doing damage; and it must have been quite half-an-hour before the mob, which showed a steady line throughout, had retreated, step by step, to the timber which skirted the western edge of the plain, and only then turned tail.' (Russell, 1888, p 328).

Extended Data

Source_ID
589
LanguageGroup
Bigambul?
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Drayton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Bays
Stage
Moreton Bay and Darlling Downs
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1591
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=589
Source
French, 1989, pp 102-103; Russell, 1888, p 328 and 348 https://www.textqueensland.com.au/item/book/b86c5755be236c74a8fc29e7ae220cb6.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Armstrong's Crossing, Blackfellows Creek, Lockyer Valley

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.725
Longitude
152.222
Start Date
1843-01-01
End Date
1843-12-31

Description

'In the 1840s when the teamsters used to go through from Moreton Bay to Toowoomba, the blacks were very troublesome along the route, and English soldiers (from the 99th Regiment) were stationed near Helidon for the protection of travellers. Once when a party Aboriginals was giving trouble, the soldiers attacked them and drove them across to the creek at Tent Hill, and beside a big water-hole near Armstrong's Crossing shot them all and left them lying there' (Queensland Times 26/11/1927, p 13). 'The Crossing was at Blackfellows Creek and Blackfellows Gully so named because of the great quantity of bones found there' (Gardner, 1854, vol 2, p 124).

Extended Data

Source_ID
949
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Moreton Bay
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Soldier(s)
CorroborationRating
**
War
Bays
Stage
Moreton Bay and Darlling Downs
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1592
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=949
Source
Gardner, 1854, vol 2, p 124; Queensland Times, 26 November 1927, p 13 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/117271639.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Mt Haldon, Darling Downs Pastoral District

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.843
Longitude
152.262
Start Date
1843-07-30
End Date
1843-07-30

Description

Christopher Rolleston, CCL Darling Downs and party cornered Aboriginal people in daylight in the Range scrub, three days after Yugara people killed Richard White, a shepherd on Sibley and King's Haldon run and drove off 1874 sheep (French, 1989, p 104). Rolleston estimated that twelve Yugara people were killed (Rolleston to Col Sec, August 15, October 12, 1843, CCL Correspondence 1843, SRNSW, 4/2601).

Extended Data

Source_ID
590
LanguageGroup
Yugara
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Drayton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
12
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Crowns Land Commissioner, Government Official(s), Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
***
War
Bays
Stage
Moreton Bay and Darlling Downs
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1593
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=590
Source
French, 1989, p 104; Rolleston to Col Sec, August 15, October 12, 1843, CCL Correspondence 1843, SRNSW, 4/2601
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Rosewood Scrub

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.557
Longitude
152.584
Start Date
1843-09-01
End Date
1843-10-31

Description

Soldiers, settlers and stockmen chased a large group of Aboriginal people led by Multuggerah into the Rosewood Scrub, following the 'Battle of One Tree Hill'. Carried out by Crown Lands Commissioners Christopher Rolleston and Stephen Simpson, with a vigilante group of settlers, and Lt Johnstone and 10 soldiers from the 99th Regiment (Copland et al, 2006, pp 25-26). Copland estimates that 12 Yugarah people were killed (Copland et al, p 26).

Extended Data

Source_ID
592
LanguageGroup
Yugara or Garumngar
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Brisbane
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
12
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Government Official(s), Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s), Soldier(s)
CorroborationRating
***
War
Bays
Stage
Moreton Bay and Darlling Downs
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1594
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=592
Source
SMH October 12, 1843, p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1520833; Copland et al, 2006, pp 25-26.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Darkey Flat, Southern Darling Downs

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-28.097
Longitude
151.798
Start Date
1845-01-01
End Date
1845-12-31

Description

This attack, by owners and station hands at Talgai Station on the Southern Darling Downs, was carried out to prevent the station from becoming the collecting point for other Aboriginal clans. The account given by French (1989, p 99) relates that 'two uninitiated Aboriginal youths from southern New South Wales, in the employ of a local squatter, had raped several women of the McIntyre (Bigambul?) tribe. When the tribal warriors gathered to punish the transgressors, the reprobates informed the settlers at Talgai Station that the McIntyre tribe was planning a raid on the station. The whites promptly carried out a pre-emptive attack, killing several Aborigines: thereafter the McIntyre tribe had good cause for resisting the white invasion.'

Extended Data

Source_ID
595
LanguageGroup
Geynyan?
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Warialda
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
**
War
Bays
Stage
Moreton Bay and Darlling Downs
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1595
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=595
Source
Hall, 1925, pp 103-104; French, 1989, p 99.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Moreton Island

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.36
Longitude
153.426
Start Date
1831-07-01
End Date
1831-07-01

Description

At dawn, on the edge of the freshwater lagoon close to Moreton island's southern extremity, Captain Clunie, with a detachment of the 17th Regiment, surrounded a Ngugi camp and killed up to twenty people. George Watkins recorded: 'nearly all were shot down. My informant, a young boy at the time, escaped with a few others by hiding in a clump of bushes' (Watkins, 1892, p 43).

Extended Data

Source_ID
573
LanguageGroup
Guwar
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Brisbane
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Foot Soldier(s)
CorroborationRating
**
AboriginalPlaceName
Ngugi
War
Bays
Stage
Early
Region
East
Period
Early

Sources

TLCMap ID
te158d
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=573
Source
Evans, 1999, p 65; Watkins, 1892, p 43.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

'The Cedars' Burnett River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-24.974
Longitude
152.181
Start Date
1849-06-01
End Date
1849-07-31

Description

On 4 June 1849, following the Aboriginal killing of the Pegg brothers, employed as shepherds on Gregory Blaxland's Gin Gin station, Blaxland and his nephew William Forster organised a punitive party of over 50 station hands and squatters including the Thompson Brothers of Walla Station They travelled downstream and located a large Aboriginal camp in dense scrub, in an area that has since become known as 'The Cedars'. Clem Lack reported: 'The white man attacked at piccaninny dawn. More than 100 myalls were asleep, gorged with roast mutton, in groups around the ashes of burnt out fires, half a mile away from the waters of the Burnett. The affray was one of the bloodiest in Queensland frontier history, although no white man was killed. Many of the Aboriginals escaped by plunging into the Burnett and swimming to the other side. Some were picked off by marksmen and sank beneath the surface. More than half a century later, ploughmen at The Cedars���brought to light grim relics. Skulls, bones, some tomahawks, boomerangs, and other weapons...' (Lack, 1967).

Extended Data

Source_ID
611
LanguageGroup
Taribelang
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Maryborough
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
60
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Bays
Stage
Wide Bay
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1597
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=611
Source
Coffey, 2006; Lack, 1967, np.; Laurie, 1959
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

K'Gari / Fraser Island

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-25.599
Longitude
153.09
Start Date
1851-12-24
End Date
1852-01-03

Description

According to Lauer (1977), after almost a decade of conflict between colonists and Aboriginal people in the 'Wide Bay' region, Aboriginal people had established K'Gari (Fraser Island) as a base of operations:
'Following these engagements, the Aborigines withdrew to Fraser Island, which, according to the whites, they seemed to be using as a convenient natural fortress, for the avoidance of European reprisal raids. At a meeting of the three Native Police officers with Magistrate Bidwell and local squatter, Edward B. Uhr, in mid-February 1851, it was maintained that on previous occasions the natives had retired to the island "after committing murders" and that this place was tactically regarded by them "as a stronghold from which they can issue at any time to commit fresh crimes."' (Lauer, 1977, p 52)
Between 24 December 1851 and 3 January 1852 a punitive expedition led by Commandant Frederick Walker, Lt Marshall and Sgt Major Dolan, and 24 troopers along with the captain and crew of the schooner 'Margaret and Mary', who were all armed and sworn in as special constables, was carried out on Fraser Island to 'break up' Aboriginal clans that had sought sanctuary on the island. According to Lauer, Walkers report cautious in it's details, unbelievable in parts and did not account for many days, even though 'This campaign of 1851-2 - the largest Native Police manoeuvre in the Northern Districts to that date - seems to mark another turning point in frontier relations.' (Lauer, 1977, p54) Walker did report that 'on the 24th, his troopers fired on retreating boats of natives, and "several balls struck", as well as how, on the night of the 27th, the Fraser Islanders "made frequent attempts to surprise the Native Police camp", again suffering casualties in doing so.' (Lauer, 1977, p54)
According to colonists at the time Aboriginal people were 'driven into the sea, and kept there as long as daylight and life lasted' (Lauer, 1977).
Some comparable details, such as the deputisation of colonists, the killings on the beach and victims driven into the water, suggest this may be the same, or related to a massacre written from oral history by Vic Collins. According to Vic Collins a massacre took place just to the south of K'Gari on the mainland at Teewah Beach, north of Noosa: 'The convicts were given their freedom provided they donned a red uniform (Red Coats) to keep the blacks in order. Stationed at Maryborough word came of a tribe of blacks stealing sheep from Mannumbar Station (on their way bay from Bunya Mts) Noosa blacks were blamed. The Red Coats track them to Teewah Beach. They were ordered to ride out on the beach and shoot the men (single shot muzzle loaders) then use swords on the remainder which they did. But children took to the water, so the officer in charge ordered the red coats to ride their horeses into the surf and trample the children till they drowned.' (Collins, 2000)

Extended Data

Source_ID
615
LanguageGroup
[Butchulla] or a collection of clans that had sought refuge on the island
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Maryborough
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
50
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Native Police
CorroborationRating
***
AboriginalPlaceName
K'Gari
War
Bays
Stage
Wide Bay
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1598
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=615
Source
Lauer, 1977 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:1dac35b; SMH, January 22, 1852 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1509723; Collins, 2000.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Maryborough, Burnett PD

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-25.537
Longitude
152.725
Start Date
1854-11-01
End Date
1854-11-01

Description

Local historian J Lennon (cited in Bottoms, 2013, p 86) wrote, 'Late in November 1854���Aborigines ate flour laced with strychnine, among provisions stolen from the store of Henry Palmer. "There was a great whaling [sic] heard in the camp at Granville where they were sent every night," an old settler recorded, "and in the morning several of them were found dead, poisoned."'

Extended Data

Source_ID
619
LanguageGroup
Gubbi Gubbi? or Butchulla?
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Maryborough
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Bays
Stage
Wide Bay
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1599
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=619
Source
Bottoms 2013, p 86.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Hardie's Station, Dugandan Scrub

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-28.037
Longitude
152.67
Start Date
1861-01-01
End Date
1861-01-31

Description

Lt Frederick Wheeler responded to a letter from settler John Hardie asking for assistance to 'disperse' Aboriginal people in the Dugandan Scrub. Wheeler led a detachment of native police and attacked a Yuggera camp and killed nearly all of them (Bottoms, 2013, pp 23-24).

Extended Data

Source_ID
678
LanguageGroup
Yuggera
Colony
QLD
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Brisbane
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
40
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Native Police
CorroborationRating
***
War
Bays
Stage
Late
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te159a
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=678
Source
QP V&P LA 1861(b); Bottoms, 2013, pp 23-24; Rosser, 1990, p 59.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Manumbar Station, Burnett River region

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-26.367
Longitude
152.361
Start Date
1861-01-01
End Date
1861-12-31

Description

According to historian Timothy Bottoms, RR Morisset and a detachment of native police shot 'more than 8' Aboriginal people near Manumbar Station, 50 km south east of Murgon (Bottoms, 2013, pp 6, 51).
The shootings at Manumbar were reported as part of the Select Committee on the Native Police Force, 1861. On 6 July, 1861 E.M.V. Morisset, Esq., Commandant of the Native Police was called in and examined about several incidents, including the following details about the massacre:
'It appears from the evidence of Mr. Mortimer and another, that the detachment in charge of Lieutenant Morisset was sent up on the remonstrance of Mr Parkinson and some others, and that they killed a number of blacks, and left them lying dead about his run - we have heard of at least eight found dead in that way. Do you think this a justifiable act under the circumstances? Yes, I think so; perhaps I may be allowed to explain. I received a report from Mr. Morisset (Vide appendix B) which is now in the Colonial Secretary's office; he was on his way to head-quarters with a number of horses, and when he got to this district on his way up to Wide Bay, he was informed by several squatters that the blacks were very troublesome killing cattle, and that they threatened to attack the horses. He reported this to Mr. Murray, when he got to Wide Bay, and Lieutenant Murray sent him back with a detachment of his own men. When Mr. Morisset got back, he found the blacks in large numbers at the Bunya Bunya, and, I think, he first dispersed them there, and then met them again somewhere else - at least, the blacks found he was following them, and went in towards the station of the Messrs. Mortimer, and got close to it, when the Police came up with them. I believe they thought the Police were coming to shoot them, and made the first attack, the report that has been sent in to the Colonial Secretary has not explained that as fully as I have done, as I collected more particulars from my brother afterwards, having examined him when he came in to head-quarters' (QP V&P LA 1861(b), p 144).
The report of the incident is included in Appendix B. 'Officer's Report, &c., In Reference To An Attack On The Blacks At Manumbar', as follows:
'Rockhampton, 10th April, 1861.
Sir I have the honor to inform you that I arrived here yesterday, with (32) thirty-two horses, the same having been purchased by me for the use of the Native Police. On my way up from Brisbane I found it necessary to rest the horses for some time at "Wide Bay, and in consequence of the numerous complaints sent in by the squatters, of the frequent and daring outrages of the blacks at the Bunya Bunya, I received instructions from Lieutenant Murray to patrol the district with a detachment of men. I found the blacks collected in several places in very large numbers, and also that they had been killing cattle at nearly all the stations in that district; and on two or three occasions I found it necessary to fire upon them before they would disperse. At Messrs. Frazer and Parkinson's, and also at Mr. Lawless' cattle station, they were spearing cattle even while I was on the station. I have the honor to enclose brands and descriptions of horses purchased by me.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) E. V. MORISSET,
Second Lieutenant Native Mounted Police.' (QP V&P LA 1861(b), p 152)

Extended Data

Source_ID
680
LanguageGroup
Waka Waka
Colony
QLD
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Maryborough
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
8
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Native Police
CorroborationRating
**
War
Bays
Stage
Late
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te159b
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=680
Source
QP V&P LA 1861(b) https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-53959485/view?partId=nla.obj-53976025#page/n165/mode/1up; Bottoms, 2013, pp 6, 51.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Murdering Creek, Lake Weyba, Sunshine Coast

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-26.458
Longitude
153.08
Start Date
1862-02-01
End Date
1862-04-30

Description

Walter Taplock Chippindall, Manager of Yandina Station, Richard Jones, sen. stockman John Farquarson and four other men ambushed and killed about 25 Gubbi Gubbi men fishing in canoes at Murdering Creek, Lake Weyba, during the bunya season (Gibbons, 2014, pp 142-7; 282).

Extended Data

Source_ID
658
LanguageGroup
Gubbi Gubbi
Colony
QLD
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Moreton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
25
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Manager(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
**
War
Bays
Stage
Late
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te159c
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=658
Source
Gibbons, 2014, pp 142-147; 282. https://www.academia.edu/12361316/Deconstructing_colonial_myths_the_massacre_at_Murdering_Creek
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Caboolture River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.086
Longitude
152.955
Start Date
1862-08-01
End Date
1862-08-31

Description

According to The Courier, the Native Police under Lieutenant Wheeler massacred seven Aboriginal people, including Harry Pring, who had done nothing to provoke this action. Lieutenant Wheeler did not deny this but claimed that he had been instructed to 'disperse' Aboriginal people where ever they gathered. 'The result of our investigations has been the establishment of the truth of all that we previously asserted, and the confirmation of the impression that the attack upon the blacks was most wanton and unprovoked. It appears that, upon the occasion of the massacre, the blacks were holding a corroboree, and that, while they were so engaged, the Native Police surprised their camp, fired upon them, and killed seven men and one gin, besides wounding others, one of whom, an old gin, has not yet recovered. Most of the bodies have been removed by the blacks themselves, but two were still lying at the scene of the slaughter when one of our informants last visited the spot. One of the men shot was well known about town by the soubriquet of Harry Pring, and was not altogether an immaculate being, but we are not aware that his murderers were justified in shooting him down in cold blood, together with seven of his companions. We cannot gather that the blacks had lately been troublesome in the locality where the massacre occurred; our informants state positively that they had been very peaceably and quietly disposed of late, and had done nothing to justify the attack made by the Native Police. Lieutenant Wheeler, the officer in charge of the detachment, we are told defends his conduct on the ground that his instructions compel him to disperse the blacks wherever they may have congregated, but we have yet to learn that those instructions warrant such an act as that to which we refer.' (Courier, October 4, 1862, p 2).

Extended Data

Source_ID
659
LanguageGroup
Buyibara
Colony
QLD
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Moreton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
7
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Native Police
CorroborationRating
*
War
Bays
Stage
Late
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te159d
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=659
Source
Courier October 4, 1862, p 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4608375/47987
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42

Whiteside Station, Pine River, Moreton Bay Pastoral District

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-27.265
Longitude
152.931
Start Date
1847-04-10
End Date
1847-04-20

Description

On 13 April 1847, p 3, The Australian published the following: 'A few days ago, a servant of Captain Griffin, [at the Pine River], named Brown, went to the Police Magistrate and stated that, when Captain Griffin's men left the station for the lambing season, they mixed together a quantity of arsenic and flour, and then left it in the hut, expecting the blacks would visit and make use of the mixture. On their return, they found that the mixture had been eaten. Brown mentioned the name of a fellow servant (Brady) then in Brisbane, who said he knew more of the matter than himself, although he rather thought he would be an unwilling witness. Brady was brought up, but denied at first all knowledge of the matter. However, on being sworn, he recollected himself, and confirmed Brown's statement, naming two other servants who were also aware of the fact - namely, the hutkeeper who had been wounded [earlier by a 'black fellow'], and another named Coppin, the latter of whom he said had mixed the arsenic with the flour. On learning what had occurred, Captain Griffin, who was then in Brisbane, started for his station. The Police Magistrate also dispatched a constable to bring in the other two men. Captain Griffin was, however, the first to reach the station, and was on his way back to Brisbane before the constable arrived at the Pine River. When the constable at length reached the men, they were of course prepared to accompany. They had not absconded, but came down at once. They denied that any mixture had been deliberately made of the flour and arsenic by any one, but admitted that a quantity of flour only had been left in the hut, and that the blacks themselves had mixed it in a dish in which there were some remains of arsenic that had used in the preparation for the sheep. The evidence of these persons has been sent to the Attorney-General, [in Sydney] who will probably institute some further inquiries on the subject. ' '[N.B.-To have left flour on the floor, and arsenic in the identical vessel in which flour is always thrown before it can be made into damper, was only another way of "doing the trick". ED. AUST.]'

Extended Data

Source_ID
600
LanguageGroup
Buyibara or Yugarabul
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
QLD
PoliceDistrict
Brisbane
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
50
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Servant(s)
CorroborationRating
***
War
Bays
Stage
Moreton Bay and Darlling Downs
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te1596
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=600
Source
MBC Apr 24, 1847, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3716282; The Australian Apr 13, 1847, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37126953; Connors, 2015, pp 126-127.
Created At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
Updated At
2025-08-09 14:53:42
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