| Site Name | Red Rock, NSW |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Gumbaynggirr |
| Present State/Territory | NSW |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | NSW |
| Police District | Grafton |
| Latitude | -29.981 |
| Longitude | 153.234 |
| Date | Between 1 Jan 1841 and 31 Dec 1841 |
| Attack Time | Day |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 10 |
| Victims Killed Notes | Men, women and children. |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Border Police, Government Official(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Firearm(s), Pistol(s) |
| Narrative | 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. |
| Sources | 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. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | ** |
