Pinjarra massacre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pinjarra massacre |
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Pinjarra Massacre Site memorial
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| Location | Pinjarra, Western Australia |
| Coordinates | 32°37′48″S 115°52′16″E / 32.63000°S 115.87111°E |
| Date | 28 October 1834 8:35 am – 10:05 am (UTC+08:00) |
| Target | Bindjareb Noongar people |
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Attack type
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Well-conceived ambush leading to a massacre lasting at least one hour. |
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| Deaths | Captain Theophilus Tighe Ellis, and an estimate of 15–30 Bindjareb men, women and children were also killed. It is unknown if any injured Bindjareb people died as a result of injuries. |
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Non-fatal injuries
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Corporal Patrick Heffron, and an unknown number of injured Bindjareb people. |
| Victims | 15–80 Bindjareb people. Captain Ellis. |
| Assailants | British colonists |
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Number of participants
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25 assailants and 60–80 victims |
| Defenders | 70–80 Bindjareb people including Calyute |
| Motive |
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The Pinjarra massacre, also known as the Battle of Pinjarra, was a violent event that happened on 28 October 1834. It took place in Pinjarra, Western Australia. During this event, a group of Bindjareb Noongar people were attacked by 25 soldiers, police, and settlers. This group was led by Governor James Stirling.
About 60 to 80 Bindjareb people were at their camp when the attack happened. On the side of the attackers, Captain Theophilus Tighe Ellis died, and Corporal Patrick Heffron was hurt. On the Bindjareb side, many men, women, and children were killed. The exact number is not known, but estimates range from 15 to 30 people. It's also not known how many Bindjareb people were injured or later died from their injuries.
The Pinjarra Massacre happened because of growing tension between the new settlers and the Noongar people. The settlers were taking land for farming, which the Noongar people used for hunting and gathering. After the attack, Governor Stirling threatened to harm a large part of the Noongar population in the area. He said the Bindjareb had threatened to "destroy all the whites." Some Bindjareb people continued to resist, while others sought peace.
The attack had a big impact on the Bindjareb people. It made them weaker, and other Aboriginal groups took advantage of this. However, some younger Bindjareb people, like Monang (Calyute's son) and Denmar, chose to work with the newcomers. They even became the first Aboriginal policemen in Pinjarra in 1838. Today, the Bindjareb people continue to be the guardians of their culture in the area.
Contents
Why the Attack Happened
Before the massacre, there had been many attacks by Aboriginal people on settlers. For example, in 1832, Private George Budge was killed near Thomas Peel's garden. In 1834, Hugh Nesbitt, a servant of Thomas Peel, was killed, and Edward Barron was injured. The Bindjareb also took food from a flour mill that supplied settlers and Noongars.
When Governor Stirling was away, Lieutenant Governor Frederick Irwin was in charge. Some people believe Irwin's strict approach made the situation worse. He wanted to control the Aboriginal groups and make them obey. This attitude caused problems with the settlers too.
Stirling returned in September after a long trip. Settlers in Pinjarra asked for protection from the Bindjareb Noongars, who were led by Calyute. Stirling then put together a group of police, bushmen, and former soldiers. Their job was to protect settlers, keep mail carriers safe, and confront the Bindjareb people along the Murray River. A small army post had even been removed from Dandalup because of fears of attacks.
The Bindjareb tribe was known by other local Aboriginal tribes for being aggressive. They attacked other Aboriginal people and settlers. It's possible they attacked settlers to show their power among other tribes. They also might have been reacting to the changes caused by the British settlers arriving and the deaths of many Wadjuk people from Perth.
Stirling and others worried that the Bindjareb and Weeip's Wadjuk people might form an alliance. To prevent this, Stirling decided to attack the Aboriginal people to the south. The attack at Pinjarra was meant to:
- Punish the Bindjareb for their earlier attacks.
- Set up a new army post on the road to the south.
- Help Thomas Peel get more settlers to his lands in Mandurah.
Before this, Surveyor General John Septimus Roe and farmer Thomas Peel had tried to improve safety and make peace, but they failed. Stirling wanted a "decisive action" to stop the attacks "once and for all."
Getting Ready for the Attack
Governor Stirling wanted to start the expedition on 17 October, but it was delayed by a week. This was because a Murray man seen in Perth was thought to be a spy for Calyute.
On the morning of Saturday, 25 October, Stirling and Roe left Perth. They traveled south to the Preston Ferry. There, they waited for surveyor George Smyth and Corporal Julius Delmidge, who brought supplies by boat. They loaded supplies onto spare horses and headed to Hamilton Hill, avoiding Fremantle.
At Hamilton Hill, they were joined by Captain Ellis, five mounted police, Superintendent Richard Meares and his son, Seymour. They then rode south to Thomas Peel's home, where Peel and two others joined them. On the morning of 27 October, ten soldiers from the 21st Regiment arrived. The group was given ammunition and several weeks' worth of supplies. The soldiers were meant to stay in Pinjarra to set up the planned army post.
Leaving Peel's farm, they crossed the Serpentine River. They then went to the Murray delta, where they found tracks of a large group of Aboriginal men, women, and children heading towards Pinjarra. In the late afternoon, they camped at Jinjanuk, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the mouth of the Murray River. They planned to attack early the next morning when the Aboriginal group would be least ready.
The Attack
The attacking group woke up two hours before sunrise on 28 October and ate breakfast in the dark. By 8:00 am, they were back at the Murray River, which was 30 meters (98 feet) wide. They continued north and crossed the Oakley brook around 8:35 am.
Peel went along the western bank of the river and came back to report a settlement of about 20 bark beehive-shaped mia-mias (shelters) in a bend of the river. The weather changed, and it started to rain heavily. Ellis, Charles Norcott, and three police officers attacked from the south.
The Aboriginal men quickly grabbed their spears and woomeras (spear-throwers). The women and children ran towards the river, where Stirling, Meares, Peel, and 12 others were hiding. Ellis soon got into a fight with the Noongars. Norcott saw a man named Noonaar, who was known for causing trouble, and shot him with his double-barrelled shotgun. This was the first death.
Five or more Aboriginal people were killed in this first clash. The rest then turned and ran towards the river, hoping to cross and escape into the hills. Daisy M. Bates, writing in 1926, said Noonaar was throwing a spear at Norcott when he was shot. She also wrote that eight women and some children were saved and released after the fighting. Some men even pretended to be women to survive.
Stirling heard the shots and acted quickly. Roe was sent with four others to stop the group from escaping south and to guard the pack horses at the river crossing. The governor and 14 others then formed a line and ambushed the Noongar people who had crossed the river. Ellis had fallen from his horse, but Norcott kept pushing the group into the river. There, they were caught in heavy gunfire from both sides.
The riverbanks were steep and offered little cover. Men, women, and children tried to hide behind logs or bushes. Many went into the water, holding their breath. Some tried to float downstream, but the water was too shallow. They were also shot. Roe's journal says, "Very few wounded were suffered to escape." Soldiers fired at those caught in the ambush. When all were killed, the group got back on their horses to chase others who had run north into the bush. By 10:05 am, the attack was over. Because two British people were seriously hurt, Stirling immediately returned to Mandurah.
People Affected
On the settlers' side, Corporal Patrick Heffron was shot in the arm but recovered. Captain Theophilus Tighe Ellis suffered a head injury and died on 11 November, after being in a coma for two weeks. A folk song called The Jackets of Green was later published to honor Ellis.
On the Aboriginal side, the number of deaths is not clear. About 60 to 70 Aboriginal men, women, and children in the camp were shot at for an hour. For another half-hour, the survivors were hunted through the bush. No male prisoners were taken alive, and all wounded were immediately shot. At the end, eight women and a few children were taken captive.
In his report, Stirling claimed 15 Aboriginal men were killed. Roe estimated 15 to 20 dead. However, these numbers might not have included women and children. Captain Daniel, who later surveyed the site, suggested that many more were killed than officially reported, as he found several mass graves. Advocate-General George Fletcher Moore, who investigated the event, estimated that between 25 and 30 people were left dead on the field and in the river.
The colony's Aboriginal interpreter, Francis Armstrong, was given a woomera by a survivor. A drawing on the woomera showed a river, horses, humans, and graves. Armstrong and Peel later tried to count the dead by talking to Aboriginal people Ninda and Colling, who were there. They got 11 names, but it was hard because Noongar culture does not allow speaking of the dead. Among the dead were Unia, Calyute's youngest son, and Gummol. Two of Calyute's wives were among the wounded.
After the fighting, Stirling gave the Noongar people a very strong warning. He said that if the Bindjareb tried to get revenge, "no one would be allowed to remain alive on this side of the Mountains" (the Darling Scarp).
What Happened After
The massacre seemed to make the settlers even more afraid. They continued to believe that Aboriginal people would unite to drive them out. This fear lasted until the 1850s, when another massacre of Aboriginal people happened at Whiteman Park near Guildford. Mounted police continued to patrol the area regularly, and the police force at Mandurah stayed, but there were no more major troubles. Thomas Peel still wanted to "wipe out" the rest of the Bindjareb, calling them "a nest of hornets," but no further revenge attacks happened.
The killing of so many Bindjareb people caused a big change in the balance of power between different Aboriginal groups. The Swan and Canning Wadjuk and York Balardong groups tried to benefit from the Bindjareb's weakened state. Stirling also gained personally, as he was able to take ownership of Bindjareb lands in the Harvey district without problems.
Five months after the massacre, the Murray group sent a message to the governor asking for an end to the fighting. Maigo, from the Wadjuk group, acted as a messenger. The Bindjareb promised to support the governor's actions. A joint corroboree (a traditional Aboriginal gathering) and the sharing of 50 loaves of bread sealed the peace. Calyute survived the massacre, but he and Peel continued to dislike each other.
Back to Pinjarra Day
Since 1991, the Bindjareb people remember the massacre every year on 28 October. This event is called Back to Pinjarra Day. Theo Kearing and his wife Roseanne Kearing, who are Bindjareb Noongar people, were very important in starting this memorial. They worked for many years to have the event recognized as a massacre. The commemoration takes place at a memorial site in Pinjarra.
See also
- Australian frontier wars
- List of massacres in Australia
