Site NameScantlands Plains
Aboriginal Place Name
Language GroupOyster Bay
Present State/TerritoryTAS
Colony/State/Territory at the timeVDL
Police District
Latitude-42.278
Longitude147.45
DateBetween 1 Nov 1815 and 30 Nov 1815
Attack TimeNight
VictimsAboriginal People
Victim Descriptions
Victims Killed17
Victims Killed NotesKilled: M 17 - 22 unspecified, F; Probable: M F; Possible: M F; Wounded: M F
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsFoot Soldier(s)
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportFoot
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedMusket(s), Sword(s), Bayonet(s), Blade(s)
NarrativeOn November 8, 1815, Colonial Chaplain Robert Knopwood recorded in his diary that Oyster Bay warriors had killed 930 sheep at Scantlands Plains. In 1830 settler James Hobbs in testimony to the Aborigines Committee, recalled that 300 sheep were killed and that the next day a detachment of the 48th Regiment shot 22 Oyster Bay people in reprisal. Nineteenth century historian John West, said that 'seventeen were slain' (West, cited in Shaw, 1971, p 265).
SourcesNicholls, 1977, p 216; BPP 1831, p 50; West in Shaw, 1971, p 265. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating***