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NameNorthern Rivers War and Resistance
Description

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

TypeOther
Content Warning
ContributorDr Bill Pascoe
Entries20
Allow ANPS? No
Added to System2025-08-11 14:37:48
Updated in System2025-08-11 14:38:03
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Date Created (externally)

Baker's Creek, Upper Ganghat

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-31.903
Longitude
152.127
Start Date
1834-01-01
End Date
1834-12-31

Description

According to the Wingham Chronicle, April 25, 1922, p2 following Binghi warriors stealing cattle from the Australian Agricultural Company's 'heifer station at Baker's Creek, 12 miles north east of Gloucester,' (near Mount Ganghat) in 1834, the beleaguered employees 'in the hut were driven to dire straits, and as a last resource mixed arsenic in dampers and placed them where the natives had easy access to them. The result was deadly to the natives. The black warriors lay down and died all around.' (Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 25 Apr 1922 p 2)
In 1889 a corresponden to the Daily Telegraph, 'J.W.C' wrote, 'White women were scarce in those days, and these men took as help-mates a couple of black gins from a tribe belonging to the head quarters they started from. The aborigines or native blacks were very troublesome in those days, especially in the vicinity of Cape Hawke, not far from the Manning River entrance, and being aware that a supply of rations had been recently brought to Gangat and that there were only two men in charge, they decided to stick the station up and help themselves, One or two of the Cape Hawke blacks were in the habit of visiting the station occasionally on their marauding excursions, and unwittingly, apparently, made the gins acquainted with their designs, probably in the hope of satisfying them of their safety in the event of success. The gins were honest enough to apprise their mates of the threatened danger, and suitable precautions were adopted. Slits were cut in the slab walls so that guns could be protruded to cover the approach of their assailants. Everything useful and portable was brought into the humpy and doors and windows barricaded. On the morning of the attack two blacks came to the hut as usual and were at once ordered to leave and keep away or they would be fired upon. The day wore on and towards the afternoon a mob of blacks numbering from 50 to 60 came down to the station, fully armed for hostilities with spears, boomerangs and nulla-nullas, and demanded grub. These also were cautioned to keep off under penalty of being fired upon, and seeing the muzzles of two guns sticking out of a slit in a slab in front of them, they retired a few yards off, made their fires and camped for the night. Their intention evidently was to attack the station as soon as it was dark, and probably set the hut on fire and murder the men. Taylor and M'Grath were in a serious fix. Miles from any help, their horses in the bush unavailable for flight, they felt that with the approach of night their doom was sealed, and to make matters worse, on examination they found that they had only a couple of charges of powder. Taylor fortunately had a good supply of arsenical soap, so the men went to work and made up a lot of Johnny cakes, well mixing tho dough up with the soap; and in the evening they opened the door of tho hut and pitched out the cakes and drew the attention of the blacks to the grub supplied for their gratification. There was a regular scramble for the cakes, while the door was closed and the inmates awaited the result. The effects of the arsenic soon told upon the blacks, many of whom rushed to the water and drank to repletion to allay tho burning inside. Some of the most gluttonous dropped dead, and such a scare was produced upon the tribe that they bolted, being perfectly satisfied that the grub they had so daringly demanded was not exactly the kind of grub they desired. This, I believe, was the first act of poisoning the native cannibals in the colony, and I don't believe there are many of the present generation who will blame Taylor and McGrath for their action in self-defence. The men next morning left for head-quarters, and the cattle were scattered in every direction, causing a heavy loss to the company. Many took to the scrubs about Bundobah and Boolaydeelah, and the destruction of the bulls years after afforded many a day's sport to crack pistol-shots from horseback' (The Daily Telegraph, 13 Jul, 1889, p 9).

Extended Data

Source_ID
639
LanguageGroup
Binghi
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Gloucester
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Worimi
Region
East
Period
Early

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c0
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=639
Source
Wingham Chronicle, April 25, 1922, p. 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166220492; Newcastle Morning Herald, July 25, 1964; Fitzpatrick, 1925, p 29; The Daily Telegraph, 13 Jul, 1889 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/236015071
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Cobark River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-31.931
Longitude
151.651
Start Date
1835-01-01
End Date
1838-12-31

Description

According to an article published in 1922 Aboriginal people killed 5 shepherds and then, 'After this outrage the natives divided - one body seeking shelter south west towards the source of the Gloucester River, and the other going north west towards the Upper Arundel.' A group of colonists pursued the first group and massacred people at McKenzie Cliffs. The second group was also pursued, 'At a small plain a mile west of the present Cobakh Station the Port Stephens men came into conflict with the remaining body of natives, but the fugitives broke and fled northwards to a little flat on the Bowman River. Here the final tragedy occurred; a stand was made by the blacks, but in vain. Years afterwards their unburied skeletons could be seen' (The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer, 25 April, 1922 p 2).
A correspondent calling themself 'Wirrapit' wrote that after the massacre of the 'Rawdon Vale' tribe at McKenzie Cliff, 'advantage was taken of the presence of the Williams River settlers to further punish the tribes inhabiting the Upper Bowman and what is now Glen Ward, as they had become very daring and troublesome. A party of whites rode up the Cobark River and fought a pitched battle with the tribe that had arrived from Mount Moonee, and killed over 50 of them, losing seven or eight of their own men.' A larger party then went on to Bowman River where 'over 100 it is said --- being killed and also twelve white were killed and badly wounded' (The Scone Advocate, 7 May 1935, p 4). This article notes that 'as time went on most exaggerated reports began to filter in and reach the authorities in Newcastle and Sydney'. A massacre involving the deaths of this many colonists would most likely have been widely reported at the time, and no other records have been found. The numbers of colonists and Aboriginal people killed have most likely been exaggerated.
The massacres at Mt McKenzie, Cobark River and Bowman River occurred around the same time but available reports are long after the incidents so it is difficult to determine their year.

Extended Data

Source_ID
1122
LanguageGroup
Binghi
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
1
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Worimi
Region
East
Period
Early

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c1
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=1122
Source
The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer, 25 April, 1922 p 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/166220492; The Scone Advocate, 7 May 1935, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/158993470
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Bowman River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-31.922
Longitude
151.767
Start Date
1835-01-01
End Date
1838-12-31

Description

After killing 5 shepherds, colonists pursued Aboriginal people in two groups and massacred them at Cobark River and Mt McKenzie. After Cobark River they went on to massacre people at Bowman River. These massacres were reported in 1922.
'After this outrage the natives divided - one body seeking shelter south west towards the source of the Gloucester River, and the other going north west towards the Upper Arundel.' A group of colonists pursued the first group and massacred people at McKenzie Cliffs. The second group was also pursued, 'At a small plain a mile west of the present Cobakh Station the Port Stephens men came into conflict with the remaining body of natives, but the fugitives broke and fled northwards to a little flat on the Bowman River. Here the final tragedy occurred; a stand was made by the blacks, but in vain. Years afterwards their unburied skeletons could be seen' (The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer, 25 April, 1922 p 2).
A correspondent calling themself 'Wirrapit' wrote that after the massacre of the 'Rawdon Vale' tribe at McKenzie Cliff, 'advantage was taken of the presence of the Williams River settlers to further punish the tribes inhabiting the Upper Bowman and what is now Glen Ward, as they had become very daring and troublesome.' After a massacre at Cobark river 'a larger party rode over to the Bowman River through McKenzie's Gap (Neilson's selection), and meeting with a large number of blacks fought another pitched battle, where Mr. J. Grant's homestead now stands, many blacks --- over 100 it is said --- being killed and also twelve white were killed and badly wounded' (The Scone Advocate, 7 May 1935, p 4).
This article notes that 'as time went on most exaggerated reports began to filter in and reach the authorities in Newcastle and Sydney.' A massacre involving the deaths of this many colonists would most likely have been widely reported at the time, and no other records have been found. The numbers of colonists and Aboriginal people killed have most likely been exaggerated.
The massacres at Mt McKenzie, Cobark River and Bowman River occurred around the same time but available reports are long after the incidents so it is difficult to determine their year.

Extended Data

Source_ID
1123
LanguageGroup
Binghi
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
1
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Worimi
Region
East
Period
Early

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c2
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=1123
Source

The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer, 25 April, 1922 p 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/166220492; The Scone Advocate, 7 May 1935, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/158993470

Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Mt McKenzie, Barrington Tops

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-32.141
Longitude
151.721
Start Date
1835-01-01
End Date
1835-12-31

Description

Binghi people were shot dead and leapt or were thrown over a cliff in retaliation for them killing five convict shepherds at Robert Ramsay Mackenzie's property at Wattenbakh on the western bank of the Barrington River, two miles from Rawdon Vale, at the time known as 'Kiripit'. Survivors fled and were caught and killed on a flat at Bowman River (Wingham Chronicle, April 25, 1922, p 2).
A later article from 1935 claimed 6 shepherds were killed in the lead up to this massacre, and decribed the massacre at McKenzie's Cliffs as follows: 'The settlers from the Williams River side came across to the head of the Gloucester, driving the blacks before them, while the settlers on this side drove all the blacks up the river and at last cornered them on the small flat above McKenzie's cliffs where they shot men, women and children without mercy or consideration. Those who escaped the bullet were killed by falling over the cliffs and being smashed on the rocks below. Thus was the whole tribe of blacks, with one or two exceptions, who inhabited this part of the district exterminated' (The Gloucester Advocate, 22 Mar 1935, p 1).
According to Geoffrey Blomfield, 'The massacre has a strong oral tradition' (Blomfield 1981, p 121-2).
The location marked here is purposefully not the location of the massacre. Please note that 'The Aboriginal community has requested that the actual site is not promoted and visitation is discouraged' (NSW Parks and Wildlife Service. Barrington Tops National Park, Mount Royal National Park and Barrington Tops State Conservation Area: Plan of Management. Parramatta, NSW: Environment and Heritage: Department of Planning and Environment, 2022, p 22).

Extended Data

Source_ID
640
LanguageGroup
Binghi
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Gloucester
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Shepherd(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Worimi
Region
East
Period
Early

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c3
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=640
Source
Blomfield, 1981, p 121-2; Wingham Chronicle, April 25, 1922, p 2; Newcastle Morning Herald, July 25, 1964; The Gloucester Advocate, 22 Mar 1935 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/159633029; NSW Parks and Wildlife Service. Barrington Tops National Park, Mount Royal National Park and Barrington Tops State Conservation Area: Plan of Management. Parramatta, NSW: Environment and Heritage: Department of Planning and Environment, 2022 https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/Parks-plans-of-management/barrington-tops-mount-royal-national-parks-barrington-tops-sca-plan-of-management-220192.pdf
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Kunderang Brook Upper Macleay River Valley

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-30.948
Longitude
152.188
Start Date
1840-05-20
End Date
1840-05-31

Description

On 10 June 1840 the Sydney Herald reported that Mr Freer, 'traveling from New England down the bed of the Macleay River with a large flock of sheep, and having one afternoon at a crossing place missed three hundred and seventy of them, he returned to search, accompanied by a stockman and a mounted black. The latter soon discovered that the stock had been driven in the direction of the mountains by' Aboriginal warriors. 'after following the tracks for about eight miles, they came to a precipitous rock, where they turned down a creek, on the sides of which they discovered from two to three hundred' Aboriginal people 'busily engaged in roasting not kangaroos but mutton. The instant they perceived Mr. Freer and his party they took to their spears and boomerangs, retiring to the ranges, but on discovering the weakness of their pursuers, endeavoured to surround them, threatening them and abusing them in tolerable English while daring them to come on. The party being badly armed, Mr Freer prudently retreated, and traveling all night and reached next day a station of a Mr Steele's JP [evidently Towel Creek] where he was furnished with the assistance of three horsemen.' Upon returning to the place he last saw the Aboriginal people, here 'he found the remains of about sixty sheep and three stockyards most ingeniously constructed.' Following their trail, 'Mr Freer and party proceeded about twelve miles up Kundering [Coonderang Creek] Brook,' where they found the Aboriginal people 'had again turned across the Mountains.' Continuing the trail, the party ultimately found the Aboriginal people 'in the act of preparing mutton; on being fired upon they speedily decamped, and the pursuing party were rewarded for their praiseworthy conduct by the satisfaction they felt on recovering two hundred and twenty sheep alive.' (SH, June 10, 1840 p 5) It is stated that the owners of the sheep were Messrs. Betts and Panton, who were at the time occupiers of Long Flat station on the Macleay River. Henderson, 1851, Vol. 2, p 5 states that 'two to three dozen men were slaughtered'.

Extended Data

Source_ID
581
LanguageGroup
Dhanggati
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Port Macquarie
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
24
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
***
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Macleay and Nambucca
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c4
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=581
Source
SH June 10, 1840 - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1523969; Henderson 1851, Vol. 2, p, 5; Frost 1992, p 34.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Red Rock, NSW

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-29.981
Longitude
153.234
Start Date
1841-01-01
End Date
1841-12-31

Description

On July 19, 1841, the Sydney Herald reported that Crown Lands Commissioner Oakes and a party of border police had pursued and slaughtered a number of Gumbaynggirr people after attacking and robbing a hut at the newly established Glenreagh [Glenugie] Station north west of present day Coffs Harbour. In 1886, Grafton historian Thomas Bawden, said that in 1841 the Gumbaynggirr had 'overpowered a negro while [he] was in charge of a hut' (C&RE&NEA, July 10, 1886, p 3). In reprisal, Crown Lands Commissioner Henry Oakes led a party of mounted border police from Port Macquarie to find the offenders. They 'overtook the blacks at Corindi, where they paid full retribution for their deed.'(C&RE&NEA, July, 10, 1886, p3) 'The massacre began when mounted police entered the camp at Blackadder Creek and started shooting. They then pursued the survivors to the Corindi River where they continued shooting. Some people were then driven off the headland' at present day Red Rock. It is not known the number of Gumbaynggirr people killed. However the number must have been more than six because according to Somerville & Perkins 2010, 24-32, Gumbaynggirr people today recall the massacre from accounts told to them by their grandparents.

Extended Data

Source_ID
1004
LanguageGroup
Gumbaynggirr
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Grafton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
10
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Border Police, Government Official(s)
CorroborationRating
**
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Clarence and Richmond
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c5
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=1004
Source
Sydney Herald, July 19, 1841, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12870072; 'The Bawden Lectures' in the Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton), July 10, 1886, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62098600; Somerville & Perkins 2010, p 24-31.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Tyndale, Clarence River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-29.567
Longitude
153.145
Start Date
1841-01-01
End Date
1841-12-31

Description

According to McSwain and Switzer 2006, p.17, Bundjalung people 'Older Yaegl members keep a story of massacre of a clan group on the South Arm near Tyndale.'

Extended Data

Source_ID
1043
LanguageGroup
Bundjalung
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Port Macquarie
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Clarence and Richmond
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c6
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=1043
Source
McSwain and Switzer 2006, p.17
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Pagan's Flat, Tabulam

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-28.947
Longitude
152.551
Start Date
1841-01-01
End Date
1841-12-31

Description

According to Eve Kean, the author of the history of Kyogle, in 1841, P.C.Pagan, leaseholder of East Tabulam station was speared and killed by a Bundjalung warrior for having fired his gun into the Bundjalung camp for their having stolen a blanket. 'In reprisal, a posse of armed stockmen and border police, massacred the entire camp.' (Keane 1957, p.12). The camp was located on the Clarence River, at what is now Pagan's Flat.

Extended Data

Source_ID
1089
LanguageGroup
Bundjalung
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Kempsey
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Border Police, Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Clarence and Richmond
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c7
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=1089
Source
Keane (1957), p.12.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Black Camp Creek (Spring Gully Creek), Williams River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-32.447
Longitude
151.681
Start Date
1841-01-01
End Date
1841-12-31

Description

In 1841, two stockmen employed by settler Timothy Nowlan of 'Walleroba' station on the Williams River, were killed by Worimi warriors. In reprisal, a detachment of mounted police proceeded to pursue the culprits. They came up with a group of Worimi at Black Camp Creek and in the encounter killed all but one of the group and according to local historian RL Ford (1995, p 128), Mundiva (Mundiba) was the sole survivor. According to Clarke and Irwin, the biographers of the Gorton brothers who lived nearby, Nolan was also speared (Clarke and Irwin 1977, p.15). Irwin said that her uncle EDF Gorton was shown the massacre site by his father and grandfather, that the reprisal massacre took place in the evening and that as a lad, the grandfather 'chopped musket balls from the trees, in which it is said that the fearful Aborigines had attempted to find a refuge' (Clarke and Irwin 1977, p.16).

Extended Data

Source_ID
643
LanguageGroup
Worimi
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Raymond Terrace
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Mounted Police
CorroborationRating
**
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Worimi
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c8
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=643
Source
Ford 1995, p 128; Clarke and Irwin 1975, pp15-16.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Orara River, near Seelands

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-29.631
Longitude
152.812
Start Date
1841-04-01
End Date
1841-04-30

Description

According to historian David Kent, in April 1841, in reprisal for alleged stock theft from Ramornie station on the Clarence River by Bundjalung warriors, CLC Oakes of Clarence PD swore in stockmen as special constables to surround a Bundjalung camp at night and at daybreak charged and killed indiscriminately Bundjalung men, women and children (Kent, 2006, p 36-41). According to Kent a man named Lynch was later charged with the stock theft.

Extended Data

Source_ID
585
LanguageGroup
Bundjalung
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Grafton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Government Official(s), Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Clarence and Richmond
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16c9
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=585
Source
Kent, 2006, pp 36-41.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Bellinger River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-30.413
Longitude
152.914
Start Date
1841-06-01
End Date
1841-06-10

Description

When Major Oakes, Crown Lands Commissioner for the Clarence McLeay Pastoral District, and a party of mounted field police were returning from the Clarence River to Head Quarters at Kempsey in June 1841, they reported that they were attacked by a large group of Aboriginal people (Bundjalung) and, in self-defence, they killed and wounded 20 of them. A Government Inquiry was proposed (Sydney Herald, 19 July, 1841, p 2), but if it was held, there is no extant report.

Extended Data

Source_ID
950
LanguageGroup
Gumbaynggirr
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Kempsey
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Border Police, Crowns Land Commissioner
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Macleay and Nambucca
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16ca
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=950
Source
Sydney Herald, July 19, 1841, 2. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12870072
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Gordon Brook Station, Clarence River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-29.44
Longitude
152.634
Start Date
1842-09-01
End Date
1842-09-30

Description

In early November1842, a group of Bundjulung people stole a flock of sheep at an outstation of Gordon Brook Station on the Clarence River, owned by Messrs Sandeman and Company. In reprisal the overseer led some stockmen to the Bundjulung camp and killed 20 of them. The massacre was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, 12 November 1842, p.2. On 14 December 1842, Gordon Sandeman published a letter in the Sydney Morning Herald, p.3, denying the massacre and his overseer's involvement. This appears to be the code of silence being imposed in the aftermath of a frontier massacre.

Extended Data

Source_ID
1044
LanguageGroup
Bundjalung
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Clarence
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
20
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Border Police, Settler(s), Overseer(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Clarence and Richmond
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16cb
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=1044
Source
Sydney Morning Herald, 23 November 1842, p.2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12411438; 14 December 1842, p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12417951.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Goanna Headland, Evans Head

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-29.113
Longitude
153.445
Start Date
1843-01-01
End Date
1843-12-31

Description

Rory Medcalf interviewed people in the Bundjuling community at Box Ridge and drew on the reminiscences of J T Olive of Woodburn whose father had been 'a squatter on the lower Richmond in the 1840s and took part in the Evans Head massacre' (Medcalf, 1993, p 5) to give a detailed account of a massacre at Goanna Headland.
According to Medcalf's narrative based on these sources, after Bundjuling people killed five white men at Pelican Creek in 1843, a group of 11 stockmen attacked a Bundjalung camp at Evans River and drove the Aboriginal people towards Goanna Headland where two schooners were sheltering from the southerly gale. The sailors on board joined in the shooting: 'Once within striking distance of the blacks a volley was poured into their ranks. Then the men aboard the schooners rushed for their guns and also opened fire on the tribe, who were mown down, the survivors fleeing in the distance. Altogether 100 darkies were killed on that headland, and for years afterwards the skulls could be picked up on the spot' (Olive in Medcalf, 1993, p 6).
Elder Mrs Mary Cowlan of Box Ridge said, 'Then the white men, they came along and shoot people ... I don't know the reasons ... they (the whites) didn't know blackfeller rules ... they had no pity, they killed women, men, children, babies' (Cowlan in Medcalf, 1993, p 6). Elder Janet Gomes, said, 'Whitefellers started firing shots. There was no way out ... they (the Aborigines) were chased across the river from the Bundjalung Reserve' (Gomes in Medcalf, 1993, p 6).
Summarising the Bundjuling narratives, which are similar in many details to the colonist version, Medcalf wrote, 'It says the killings started at the riverbank campsite, and that the Aborigines were chased east to the headland, where at least one boatload of armed sailors was waiting. The tribal group was all but annihilated, it says. They were the Birihn clans ... According to Douglas Cook, an Aboriginal elder from the Cabbage Tree Island community, who died in 1987, only two Birihn children survived the massacre' (Medcalf, 1993, p 6).

Extended Data

Source_ID
632
LanguageGroup
Bundjalung, Birihn
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Grafton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
100
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s), Sailor(s)
CorroborationRating
**
AboriginalPlaceName
Dirawong
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Clarence and Richmond
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16cc
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=632
Source
Medcalf 1993, p 5-7.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Sheep Station Bluff Upper McLeay River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-30.822
Longitude
152.288
Start Date
1843-01-12
End Date
1843-12-31

Description

According to Geoffrey Blomfield (1981, pp 40-41), 'Two young colonial men were left at Sheep Station Creek to hold a small mob of quiet cattle' while the station boss and other stockmen went after the wild cattle. The boys 'fell asleep' and when 'they awoke they found that some Aboriginal men had speared a vealer and were dragging it off.' They informed the boss when he returned, and he quickly set off in pursuit (presumably with the other stockmen) and 'quite quickly came up with them on the cliff edge. It is said that they forced them over the cliff to their deaths'. Next day one of the two young men left to hold the 'quiet' cattle 'became troubled that some of the Aboriginal people may have been left injured by the fall from the cliff and dying a lingering death in the sun. He rode out to the site of the massacre. He found an infant crawling about and took it to Pee Dee station, the McMaugh home.' 'Later the child was taken to live with the Thompson Family at Towel Creek station' (Blomfield, 1981, pp 40-41).

Extended Data

Source_ID
591
LanguageGroup
Dhanggati
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Port Macquarie
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Aboriginal
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Macleay and Nambucca
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16cd
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=591
Source
Blomfield 1981, p 40-41.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Upper Macleay River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-30.844
Longitude
152.674
Start Date
1845-01-01
End Date
1845-12-31

Description

Geoffrey Blomfield (1981, p 37) cites a paragraph from Mrs H A McMaugh's, 'Early Settlement of the Upper Macleay' (p 6). 'In 1845, Kunderan station was the property of Captain Goblin and he had two shepherds and their wives there, and they were found dead, murdered by the blacks but it was quite a week after the bodies were found and about eight hundred sheep also missing, the matter was reported to the [Crown Lands] Commissioner [Robert] Massie at Kempsey and he in company with John McMaugh and several men from the station tracked the sheep to where the blacks had driven them. They found a large number of them camped under a cliff they immediately showed fight and a battle ensued but the whitemen were well armed and a great number of blacks were killed but the only casualty on the other side was a horse, the men took cover behind the trees and fired at the murderers, a few of the sheep were found but the blacks were so numerous that they killed and ate twenty a night.' Blomfield also heard two separate accounts of the massacre from Aboriginal men, Victor Shepherd and Laurie O'Keefe (Blomfield 1981, p.38).

Extended Data

Source_ID
597
LanguageGroup
Dhanggati
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Port Macquarie
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Crowns Land Commissioner, Government Official(s), Settler(s), Stockmen/Drover(s)
CorroborationRating
**
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Macleay and Nambucca
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16ce
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=597
Source
McMaugh, nd: 6; Blomfield, 1981, p 36-8.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Dourallie Creek, Upper Macleay River Valley

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-30.978
Longitude
152.21
Start Date
1846-10-01
End Date
1846-10-10

Description

On October 20, 1846, p2, the 'Sydney Morning Herald' reported: 'Accounts have been received of a great number of cattle having been speared by the blacks, at the head of the McLeay river, and at the Manning. The greatest sufferers are Messrs P. and H. Mackay in the McLeay.' Geoffrey Blomfield (1981, p 46-7), reports 'a punitive expedition led by two graziers opened fire on [Aboriginal] people swimming in [a] waterhole at the junction of [the Macleay river and Durallie Creek]. Some tried to escape by scrambling up the opposite cliff face but were "brought back with lead"'. Blomfield considers that ' [a]bout 60 men, women and children were swimming in the creek where they were all shot.' Details of the massacre were given to Blomfield by Aboriginal Elder Victor Shepherd (Blomfield, 1981, pp 46-7). For sixty people to have been shot, the punitive expedition would have to have comprised at least six well-armed horsemen.

Extended Data

Source_ID
598
LanguageGroup
Dhanggati
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Port Macquarie
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
60
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Macleay and Nambucca
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16cf
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=598
Source
SMH October 20, 1846, p 2 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12901989; Blomfield 1981, pp 46-7.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Kangaroo Creek, Clarence Pastoral District

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-29.932
Longitude
152.868
Start Date
1847-11-29
End Date
1847-11-29

Description

In December 1847, Crown Lands Commissioner, Oliver Fry, based at Grafton, was told by a stockman and at least one Aboriginal man that on 29 November 1847, squatter Thomas Coutts had poisoned 23 Aboriginal people by offering them damper laced with arsenic at his station at Kangaroo Creek. In January 1848 Fry set off for Kangaroo Creek Station to investigate. He found human remains at the Aboriginal camp on the station but they were too decomposed for analysis. He ordered the arrest of Coutts, charged him with murder and sent him to Sydney on the ship Phoenix under armed guard. In the Sydney magistrate's court he was bailed for 1,000 pounds to appear in the Supreme Court in May 1848. In May however, he was discharged for lack of evidence. The stockman who reported the crime was under arrest for another crime and the Aboriginal witnesses were prevented by law from presenting evidence in court (MMHRGA, February 2, 1848, p 3). However, the Attorney General, J.H. Plunkett, was 'in no moral doubt' that Coutts had poisoned the Aboriginal people and caused their deaths (Lydon, 1996, pp 159-60).

Extended Data

Source_ID
603
LanguageGroup
Gumbaynggnir
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Grafton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
23
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s)
CorroborationRating
***
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Clarence and Richmond
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16d0
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=603
Source
HRA I, xxvi, p 392, 396 https://opal.latrobe.edu.au/articles/book/Historical_records_of_Australia_Series_I_Governors_despatches_to_and_from_England_Volume_XXVI_October_1847-December_1848_edited_by_Frederick_Watson_/22300309; Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, February 2, 1848, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article713447; Lydon 1996, p 151-175.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Angel's Beach, East Ballina, Richmond PD

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-28.859
Longitude
153.586
Start Date
1853-12-31
End Date
1854-01-31

Description

This massacre was carried out by native police in 1854 as reprisal for the alleged killing of two white men north of the Tweed River. There was no evidence that the Bundjalung at Angel's beach were involved in the alleged killing of the white men. Ainsworth estimates that 30 Bundjalung were killed (Ainsworth 1987, p45-6). A Memorial to the massacre was erected at Angel's Beach in 2001.

Extended Data

Source_ID
629
LanguageGroup
Bundjalung
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Lismore
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
30
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Native Police
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Clarence and Richmond
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16d1
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=629
Source
Ainsworth 1987, p 45-6.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Towel Creek, Clarence Pastoral District

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-30.816
Longitude
152.356
Start Date
1856-01-01
End Date
1856-12-31

Description

'Two settlers had been scouting' Aborigines for days 'and finally located them in the upper reaches of Towel Creek. According to Stanley Murray, elder tribesman who repeated the story to Victor Shepherd about 1930, the two settlers sat up till well past midnight making lead slugs for muzzle-loading rifles.' 'The settlers had an Aboriginal servant working for them called Jimmy Taylor, who had acquired a sufficient knowledge of English to become aware of what was going to happen.' That night he went to the camp to warn his tribesmen and 'they immediately moved camp upstream and took shelter in a rain forest, some climbing to the tops of trees and laying down in the thick matted vines covering the tree tops, while others continued on towards the tableland. It would appear that Jack Scott's mother tried to hide in some bushes so fell an easy victim to the hunters. Unfortunately for those hiding in the vines, one man coughed. This at once betrayed their hiding place with disastrous results. It is doubtful if there is any record of how many lost their lives at Towel Creek. The place of the massacre is shown as being about a third of the way up to Jimmy Taylor's gully which is marked on the Comara map.' (Murray cited in Bloomfield, 1981, pp. 45-6)

Extended Data

Source_ID
620
LanguageGroup
Dhanggati
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Grafton
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Macleay and Nambucca
Region
East
Period
South

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16d2
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=620
Source
Blomfield 1981, p 45-6.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03

Fernmount, Bellinger River

Type
Event
3D Viewer Google Maps Trove Search

Details

Latitude
-30.47
Longitude
152.956
Start Date
1895-06-07
End Date
1895-06-07

Description

According to the National Advocate (Bathurst), 'the trial of John Frederick Kelly on a charge of having at Fernmount, [on the Bellinger River, north coast NSW] on June 7, [1895] slain Tommy Doyle by giving him poison, was concluded on Friday afternoon. The Jury, after a short retirement, found the accused not guilty and he was discharged. Tommy Doyle was one of the half-dozen aborigines who died from drinking poison supplied to them for rum.' (National Advocate, August 5, 1895, p 3) This is one of the first cases of poisoning Aboriginal people in NSW with poisoned alcohol.

Extended Data

Source_ID
951
LanguageGroup
Gumbaynggirr
Colony
NSW
StateOrTerritory
NSW
PoliceDistrict
Kempsey
Victims
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead
6
VictimDescription
Aboriginal
Attackers
Colonists
AttackersDead
0
AttackerDescription
Settler(s)
CorroborationRating
*
War
Northern Rivers
Stage
Isolated
Region
East
Period
Outlier

Sources

TLCMap ID
te16d3
Linkback
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=951
Source
National Advocate, (Bathurst), August 5, 1895, p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/156693795.
Created At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
Updated At
2025-08-11 14:38:03
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