| Site Name | Darkie Point, Ebor |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Baanbay |
| Present State/Territory | NSW |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | NSW |
| Police District | Armidale |
| Latitude | -30.44 |
| Longitude | 152.418 |
| Date | Between 23 Aug 1852 and 30 Sep 1852 |
| Attack Time | |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 6 |
| Victims Killed Notes | men, women and children |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Mounted Police |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Musket(s), Bayonet(s) |
| Narrative | The murder of 5 members of the Meldrum family in the Bald Hills area was reported in August 1852:
'On the 23rd instant, information was given to the Armidale
police that a most dreadfull massacre had been committed the day before, at the Bald Hills' station,
(Mr. Allen's) in this district, near the Clarence line
of road. The unfortunate sufferers were Mary
Mason, and her two children, of the respective
ages of 3 and 18 months, and John Meldrum ...
On the information being received,
the chief constable proceeded to the scene, but
could not succeed in capturing any of the scoundrels;
in fact, the police force in this district is so miserably deficient in numbers, that life is not safe even
in the vicinity of the town from these savages. We
trust that the Inspector-General of Police will see
the necessity of immediately supplying the deficiency: otherwise it is likely that the people will
either leave their various employments in the bush,
or take the law into their own hands'
(The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, 18 Sep 1852, p 3).
According to an article published in 1932, Major Parke led a group of colonists who shot a 'great number' of Aboriginal people in reprisal for the killing of the Meldrum family. The date given as '1856' in this article is most likely a misprint, as the murders occurred in 1852. 'In 1856 aboriginals attacked Meldrum's home and killed all the inmates with the exception of a baby who had been thrown against a wall and left there stunned. A man named Imray (or Emery), who had been out on the run shepherding sheep, on his return to the homestead found the bodies of the murdered people and also discovered the baby which had re covered and was lying beside a cat. The blacks who were responsible for the tragedy were tracked over the rough country and were discovered on a creek on the Macleay. A great number of them were shot by Major Parke and other residents of the district who had joined in the chase' (Dungog Chronicle: Durham and Gloucester Advertiser, 7 Jun 1932, p 4). Indigenous historian Callum Clayton-Dixon summarised the sequence of events thus: 'Following the killing of several colonists in the Bald Hills area in August 1852, a group of Aboriginal people were chased to the edge of a sheer bluff south of Ebor and were either shot or pushed over the edge, probably both. Constable Michael Clogher and Major Edward Parke were two of the main perpetrators' (Clayton-Dixon 2019, p.138). |
| Sources | Clayton-Dixon 2019; The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, 18 Sep 1852, p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/101732642; Dungog Chronicle: Durham and Gloucester Advertiser, 7 Jun 1932, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/141145816 (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | * |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
