Site NameVictoria River (2)
Aboriginal Place Nameunclear
Language GroupAllura or Ngarinyman
Present State/TerritoryNT
Colony/State/Territory at the timeSA
Police DistrictTimber Creek
Latitude-16.358
Longitude131.104
DateBetween 1 Jun 1900 and 30 Jun 1900
Attack Time
VictimsAboriginal People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed40
Victims Killed Notes
AttackersColonists
Attacker Descriptions
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
Transport
Motive
Weapons Used
NarrativeAn undated index card from the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London reads: '20.1601; 1028.1 - skull and femora, male. 20.1062; 1028.2 – skull and femora, male. Natives of the NW Territory of Australia, near the Victoria river, shot early in 1900 in a punitive expedition, in which forty natives male and female were killed. They live sometimes on the coast, sometimes inland; white traders make no irregular unions with their women, so the race remains pure. (For other details of tribe see letters).' 'Pres by Dr Arthur J Gedge 1920' [but the cranium says 1921]. '(Accompanying these remains are glass & stone arrowheads made by them, and sharp oval stones used for an operation on many of the males).' Dr Arthur Gedge does not appear to have been in Australia. The British Medical Journal of 16 September 1927 (p 475) records that he died in London on 16 August 1927.
SourcesRoyal College of Surgeons Archive, MS number RCS-MUS/7/8 (undated); British Medical Journal, 10 September 1927, p 475: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2524749/pdf/brmedj08291-0039b.pdf; Canberra Times, 21 November 1988, p 1: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110615322 (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating*