Description
Sources are contradictory and confused about what happened on the Henty's Merino Downs run in 1838, but available information and context suggest it is more likely than not that a massacre known as 'Murdering Flat' occurred in response to the murder of a shepherd on the Henty's property.
The Henty family moved to the Portland Bay area after struggling to establish themselves at Swan River and King George Sound, and then in Van Diemen's Land. At Portland Bay in 1834 they were among the first Europeans (Labilliere, 1878) and in 1837 took up a large run further inland at Merino Downs (Hamilton Spectator, 29 November 1884 p2). Perhaps aware of the concerns of the reformist government in England when James Henty wrote to Governor Arthur in 1834 he included a memorial from Thomas Henty to Chief Secretary of State for the Colonies, which said, 'Four of his sons having had considerable experience in the management and treatment of the Natives at Swan River and King George's Sound; at which latter place they are better managed and under better control than in most others. A son of your Memorialist was living within three miles of the settlement at King George's Sound between one and five years, in the midst of whole tribes of aborigines totally unprotected and such was the good feeling kept up between them, that no instance of misconduct occurred among them; they were taught to labour for, and earn the food with which they were occasionally supplied' (Labilliere, 1878, ch1).
According to Francis (Frank) Henty, when they first moved to Merino Downs they established friendly relations with Aboriginal people: 'On first settling at Merino Downs you will naturally suppose that conflict would take place with the natives, but, fortunately for myself, I had personally less trouble than anyone. After the first few weeks they became friendly, and began to assemble at intervals, increasing their number until they reached several hundreds, having, apparently, collected all their, tribes around from the greatest distance they could manage, but how far a distance I was not likely to know' (Hamilton Spectator, 29 November 1884 p2).
Relations soon deteriorated: 'When out stations were formed they soon became familiar with the ways and loneliness of the shepherds, commenced thieving, and attacked the hut, where one shepherd, whose name was Heath, was cruelly murdered. Shortly afterwards another man was attacked in his hut near Merino. He, however, was prepared, and when the native entered the hut and laid hold of the gun with his left hand in the act of striking with the "lee angle" in the other, he got the contents of the gun through his chest...' (Hamilton Spectator, 29 November 1884 p2).
Frank Henty's statement that 'I am thankful to be able to say, gentlemen, that I was so fortunate as never to cause blood shed or injury to the natives in my life' (Hamilton Spectator, 29 November 1884 p2) implies that colonists in the area at the time were typically involved in killing or injuring Aboriginal people, and it was unusual that he had not personally killed or injured anyone.
In February 1839 Dr D.C. Collier wrote two letters to the Colonial Secretary about his experiences in Portland Bay suggesting a police force be sent there to catch runaway convicts and to protect Aboriginal people from whalers and the 'immense quantity of spiritous liquors being sold by Messrs Henty, the result of which is extremely calamitous. Hostilities commence and the pass word is "One must take the law in our own hands as the Government will give us no protection"' (HRV v.IIb, p628). In the second he reported, '...the late most awful and atrocious massacre committed upon the aboriginal native at Australia Felix by sheep and cattle herdsmen in the employ of Messrs Henty who have established themselves as whalers at Portland Bay and carrying on sheep grazing at Australia Felix... Owing to the many base acts committed by these stockmen towards the wives and daughters of these unhappy people... [Aboriginal people] murdered a hut-keeper who was guilty of the above mentioned infamy and also during his stay having shot a great number without motive, without reason, and without any cause, but that of being unable to take away their females... Upon the report of the murder of the hut-keeper being made to a Mr Edward Henty, he proceeds to Australia Felix, taking with him two armed men and all the powder and balls that could be found at their stores at the Bay. Upon their arrival Mr Henty issued his edict, armed, equipped, and ammunitioned to I believe the number of 14 men. They proceeded to take, as stated by them, their revenge and fell in the evening with a hut full. Upon their hearing the noise of some footsteps the Aborigines came out and an alarm was given the whole, and as they came out they were shot, and those stockmen that had no firearms were found with a pole at the end of which a one-half of a sheep shears was placed, and some of the unfortunate mothers, with infants in their arms, crying for mercy, were perforated through' (HRV v.IIb, p629).
In response to his letter Governor Gipps sent Captain Fyans with Mounted Police and a surveyor to investigate the allegation. Fyans and his group had a difficult journey and were watched and escaped spearing by Aboriginal people on the way to Portland (Fyans, 1986, p 225). In a letter to Colonial Secretary Thomson from Portland Fyans wrote, '... towards Port Fairy, the natives are numerous, and to all appearance in great agitation at our appearance, which to me fully proves of bad acts being committed on them' (Fyans, 1986, p 228).
In describing his investigation in his memoirs, Fyans wrote, 'The only Europeans in the country, Mr Henty and Mr Winter, these gentlemen had a difference regarding boundary lines, though not a living soul was to oppose their voracious wishes in taking and holding whatever they wished.' After two days at Merino Downs he added, 'Spending two days on this part of our mission, we left our friends, wishing them prosperity. Here again I was indebted to Mr Henty, who kindly provided us, restoring our commissariat' (p 229).
Collier's reputation was discredited by residents at Portland and by Fyans: 'Asking for the character and description of the Doctor, receiving the very worst possible, on the oath of many, I suspected that he was a downright imposter' (Fyans, 1986, p 229). Governor Gipps had also been suspicious of Collier's identity (HRV, vIIb, p 631).
While favouring the Henty's reputation over Collier's, who had gone to Van Diemen's Land at the time, and was not interviewed, Fyans does not state whether the massacre did or did not occur or whether the Hentys or their employees were involved.
Edward Henty made a sworn deposition on 11 June 1839 writing that, 'From my first arrival in 1834 to October 1838, we were on most friendly terms with the natives, with the exception of a disturbance in June 1838 at one of our out-stations. One native was shot by Joseph Bonsor, after receiving a severe blow with a waddy on the right temple... About the middle of October, my brother Mr John Henty sent in from the station, about 55 miles from this, stating that William Heath, shepherd, had been barbarously murdered by seven natives. I proceeded out with two men, armed.' At the scene they found the deceased shepherd. 'On the following day I proceeded with a party of five. We were armed. About 10 miles we came up with a number of women and four men... They informed us that the natives who committed the murder were about six miles ahead of us. We went on but did not find them. We returned home, since which time, I believe, it has never given any of my family the slightest consideration, and at the present time we are on the best of terms with the different tribes in this place.' Edward Henty further said his employees were free men from Van Diemen's Land, and that spirits were not provided to them and that he had little trouble with them (HRV vIIB, pp 631-632).
Trevor and Samuel Winter, on the Henty's neighbouring run, said in their sworn depositions that Charles Corrigan had shot a 15 or 16 year old Aboriginal boy in November. In October one of the Winter's men had been speared and '... a disturbance had taken place with the natives... The natives informed Mr Henty's people that two of their tribe had been killed. I made inquiry into the affair and could come to no conclusion... The reason of the natives calling at my place and the disturbance originated in a quarrel with Mr Henty's men. I have never heard of my natives being burnt, or that any considerable number have been killed' (HRV vIIb, p 635). He added that in other incidents overlanders led by Captain Hart had armed themselves to drive Aboriginal people out of the river and that William Jefry had been speared (HRV vIIb, p 635). The spearing of Jefry occurred in October during a stock raid involving 300 to 400 Aboriginal people: 'During my master's absence in October, from 300 to 400 natives came on the sheep... I went on the hill with Elliott and Corrigan to keep the natives off. They flung spears at us. I was speared through the shoulder and back' (HRV vIIb, p 637).
Based on the reputation of Collier, and these reports, Cannon says that 'Unless perjury on a grand scale took place, it appears that Dr Collier's allegations were grossly exaggerated versions of other incidents' (HRV vIIb, p 627). While Collier uses sensationalised language, it is reasonable to think that 'perjury on a grand scale' would occur in these circumstances. The region was almost exclusively populated by whalers who were notorious for abducting women and whalers were involved in the Convincing Ground massacre in 1833; by former convicts and runaway convicts who had a culture of not informing to police, and; by squatters in open defiance of the government who were desperate to succeed. Many of these people had come from Van Diemen's Land immediately following the 'Black War' and conflict had already broken out to the east on the overland from Sydney to Melbourne. Colonists in this area were typically complicit in violence against Aboriginal people. The Myall Creek massacres and executions had recently taken place so colonists expected to hang if they confessed to massacring Aboriginal people. The one killing of an Aboriginal person that Edward Henty admitted to was committed by Joseph Bonsor, who had already died in an unrelated accident (HRV vIIb, p 632). In this situation, an isolated complicit outlaw community stonewalling and dodging a visiting police investigator is to be expected and it would be strange if perjury on a grand scale did not occur (HRV vIIb p 632). Fyans wrote, '...in fact every fellow appears the master, and no doubt numerous bad and improper acts have been committed and hid from us. I have spoken to many of the men about here, almost without receiving a civil reply' (HRV vI, p253).
Most people in Australia at that time had dubious backgrounds, particularly in the unsanctioned frontier settlement at Portland, so it is highly unlikely a massacre could be reported by anyone other than someone with a dubious reputation. Collier was not interviewed and had no opportunity to defend his reputation or allegations. Whatever his background, in this social milieu, Dr Collier would not have made accusations lightly for fear of reprisal, and it is not surprising that he fled to Van Diemen's Land.
Fyans's account must also be read with caution. After a long and arduous journey, Fyans was treated with great hospitality by the wealthy Henty family and his party's supplies generously replenished, "There was nothing to be procured in the place, this worthy gentleman [Mr Henty] affording us every needful requisite' (Fyans, 1986, p 227). Fyans and the Henty family went on to become successful and respected members of colonial society. The Henty family was particularly wealthy and powerful by the time Fyans wrote his memoirs. On a separate occasion Fyans praised colonists, who had killed four Aboriginal people during a sheep raid at the Leigh River: 'I saw some four natives that had been shot dead. I investigated the affray, and gave much credit to the men for their good conduct' (Bride, 1898, p 115).
Fyans read Henty's journals and did not find any evidence in them that the Hentys were involved in a massacre: 'I have taken some depositions here and I have also read over carefully Mr Henty's Journal of all acts committed since 1934 to the present time' (p 255 HRV Ia). Edward Henty's journal notes nothing suggesting the massacre in October 1838 (Peel, 2013). At first glance it appears that in October 1838 Edward Henty might have been occupied with farm business every day except Sundays. However, Edward Henty later stated in his deposition in 1838 that he and a group of armed men had ridden out after William Heath had been killed. The journal makes no reference to the killing of William Heath. Edward Henty's deposition also mentions that Joseph Bonsor had shot an Aboriginal person in June 1838, and later shot himself by accident but the only mention of Bonsor in Edward's journal of 1838 is a list of supplies he was equipped with and that he took down a cooperage. Winter's deposition mentions killings related to Captain Hart's overlanding expedition to Adelaide but again, the only mention of Captain Hart in the journal relates to his arrival, departure and inventories. That Fyans read the Henty's journals and found nothing to incriminate them tells us nothing as the journals are concerned with routine farm business and arrivals and departures, and exclude noteworthy and violent incidents, even the deaths of their own shepherds that they detail elsewhere.
Although favouring Henty, Bassett acknowledges that although many of Fyans's reports of his expedition remain, Fyans's full report, which was to be made when he returned to Geelong, 'has not been found' (Bassett p 447). Bassett also suggests that 'the fact that official appointments were given not long after to both Edward and Stephen Henty is conclusive proof that Governor Gipps - no friend to squatters - was fully satisfied that Collier's sensational charges, so far as the Hentys were concerned, were false' (Bassett, p 447). Aside from the Myall Creek massacre no colonist was ever convicted of a massacre. Another possibility is that Gipps was artfully navigating the conflicting demands of the British Government in London and the realities of the frontier, including the threats of powerful squatters and the wealth they generated. The phrase 'so far as the Hentys were concerned' allows for a massacre having occurred on their property or by their staff, without their direct involvement in the killing.
That at least one of the Henty family was in favour of exterminating Aboriginal people in the region is revealed in Robinson's journals, several years after the event. In his journal entry of 20 May 1841 Robinson wrote that he encountered Mr Henty and Police Magistrate Blair, some time after the murder of Morton and that, 'They were under great excitement - thought the natives of this tribe should be exterminated... He, Blair, said he knew what he would do if he was governor. He would send down soldiers and if they did not deliver up the murderer he would shoot the whole tribe. I said it would not perhaps be so easy. Mr Henty said there would be no difficulty on the Glenelg as they had only the river to fly too [sic] and they could soon ferrit [sic] them out from among the rocks' (Clark, 1998b, p 222). That Henty not only agreed but had practical advice on how extermination could be carried out suggests that one of the Hentys could have been involved, or at least condoned, the earlier massacre at Murdering Flat.
A writer calling themself 'Vagabond', in a brief history of the region in 1885, wrote that, 'The handful of settlers then had to take the law into their own hands, and exacted summary retribution, which served as a warning for the future. "The Fighting Waterholes" was the name first given to the battle scene, but to the present generation it is known as "Murdering Flat." The blacks have all gone now...' (The Argus, 25 April 1885, p 4)
'Vagabond' conflated Murdering Flat with another massacre, Fighting Waterholes. This contributes to confusion in later accounts, though at the time, it was corrected by Francis Henty: 'The conflict alluded to, of which I necessarily heard soon after its occurrence, was, as "The Vagabond" rightly says, at the "Fighting Waterholes;" but these are at least eight or ten miles from the junction of Bryant's Creek with the Wannon, being situated to the north or north west of the Koonongwootoong station, taken up by and at that time in the occupation of the Messrs. White Brothers' and adds that 'The plain mentioned derived its name of the "Murdering Flat" from the fact that one of the first shepherds I had with me was cruelly murdered there, doubtless by the natives, though his death was not avenged in the manner described; neither am I aware that any conflict ever took place on the flat, which lies on the south side of the Wannon, at its junction with Bryant's Creek. I would reiterate what I have already stated in public - that I never fired a shot at, or injured an aboriginal, in my life' (The Argus, 16 May 1885).
Francis is again specific in stating only that he himself had never killed anyone. Aside from the Convincing Ground massacre 5 years earlier, the massacre at Murdering Flat would be the first inland massacre in a period of fighting commonly known as the 'Eumeralla Wars', one of the most intense concentrations of massacres in Australia. The events at Murdering Flat were followed by a dramatic escalation in violence, including the attack of a war party of hundreds of Aboriginal warriors at the Winters' property. There were five massacres in the immediate vicinity of Merino Downs in 1840, including 'Fighting Waterholes'.
Statements suggesting that the Hentys were uniquely on peaceful terms with Aboriginal people are contradicted, sometimes in their own words. In 1842 Fyans listed 19 pastoralists who had lost stock in raids, among them the Hentys. As well as the killing of their shepherd, S.G. Henty recalled, contradicting his brother Edward, that there was hostile resistance from their first arrival at Merino Downs to the extent they had difficulty retaining staff: '1837. It was not until the 3rd of August in this year that we succeeded in driving our first flock on to the Merino Downs Station a day that will be memorable in the recollection of the family of the writer as the natal day of his first-born son, Richmond. The remainder of our stock was sent up as fast as possible, with which we occupied the stations known as Muntham, Connell's run, and Sandford. At this time we had very great difficulty in retaining the services of any men, owing to the hostile disposition of the natives, to which many of our men's lives were sacrificed' (Bride, 1898, p263). While Francis Henty may not have been involved in the violence it is unreasonable to think that Aboriginal people singled out the Henty property for diplomatic immunity or that, having failed elsewhere and with no other recourse, that, under duress, the Hentys or their employees took no action to preserve their run, particularly when shepherds and flocks were attacked or killed.
In 1964 or 1965 local historian, E.R. Trangmar published a short talk he says was based on 10 books, 5 diaries and interviews with local residents descended from pioneers. Unfortunately, he didn't indicate which source he obtained specific details from. In it he distinguishes 5 massacres in the immediate area and provides clarifying information to avoid confusion between two incidents referred to as 'Murdering Flat' (Trangmar, 1964, p 5). According to Trangmar, 'Murdering Flat' was previously 'Clover Flat' and a cannon was used in the massacre (this is the 'Murdering Flat' discussed here). He doesn't name Henty or give a date. The other 'Murdering Flat' was a poisoning between Sandford Bridge at the junction of the Glenelg and Wannon Rivers. This second 'Murdering Flat' is about 10km west of Clover Flat (see Connell's Ford). These are both distinct from 'Fighting Waterholes', comprised of two massacres (see 'Fighting Hills' and 'Fighting Waterholes'), which 'Vagabond' had conflated with 'Murdering Flat'. Another was a poisoning at Wootong Vale. In Trangmar's account of Murdering Flat he wrote, 'While the blacks were holding a corroboree and feasting on some freshly killed stock they were fired upon by the settlers, using an old cannon loaded with bolts, nails, gravel and stones with telling effec.' (Trangmar, 1964, p 5)
Although Trangmar carefully distinguishes these massacres, it's not clear if the claim a cannon was used results from confusion. Colliers said that Edward Henty brought 'two armed men and all the powder and balls that could be found at their stores at the Bay' (HRV vIIb, p629) and it seems strange he would not have mentioned a cannon. However, it is possible a small, portable, cannon was readily available as Edward Henty was involved with whaling and many ships of the time were equipped with small cannon or 'swivel guns'. Edward Henty admitted that when he heard of the murder of two shepherds, he 'proceeded out with two men, armed' (HRV vIIB, pp 631-632). Historian Critchett wrote that the Hentys' neighbours, the Winters and the Wedges, both had swivel guns at their properties (Critchett, 1992). The Wedges took up a run at land previously occupied by the Hentys (Bride, 1898, p 162). It is reasonable to think the Hentys as whalers and farmers, had a swivel gun at their property, just as their neighbours did. Like Edward Henty, Chas Wedge wrote that 'Up to this time [1839] we had but little trouble with the aborigines' and added that, 'but they now began to attack our shepherds, whom they drove from their flocks'. He also mentions the overlanding to Adelaide such as the expedition mentioned in Winter's deposition during Fyan's investigation in 1839 (Bride, 1898, p 162). This suggests that amidst the escalating violence of late 1838 and 1839 a major event, beyond 'payback' killing of individuals, most likely the Murdering Flat massacre, triggered a large-scale resistance, involving war parties of hundreds of warriors raiding and killing colonists and thousands of livestock and the numerous massacres of the Eumeralla Wars.
