Site Name | East of Ben Lomond |
Aboriginal Place Name | |
Language Group | Ben Lomond |
Present State/Territory | TAS |
Colony/State/Territory at the time | VDL |
Police District | Oatlands |
Latitude | -41.848 |
Longitude | 147.738 |
Date | 1 Sep 1829 |
Attack Time | Dawn |
Victims | Aboriginal People |
Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
Victims Killed | 17 |
Victims Killed Notes | Killed: M 17 unspecified; 2 deaths were executions, F; Probable: M F; Possible: M F; Wounded: M F; |
Attackers | Colonists |
Attacker Descriptions | Settler(s), Shepherd(s), Convict(s) |
Attackers Killed | 0 |
Attackers Killed Notes | Killed: M F; Wounded: M F |
Transport | Foot |
Motive | Opportunity |
Weapons Used | Firearm(s), Musket(s), Shotgun(s), Bayonet(s), Blade(s) |
Narrative | On 1 September 1829 John Batman, the leader of a government roving party, made a dawn attack on an Aboriginal camp, numbering 60 or 70 men, women and children. In his report of the incident to Thomas Anstey the police magistrate at Oatlands, Batman estimated that 15 Aborigines died of wounds, and that he executed two other wounded prisoners. The incident was reported in the Colonial Times(September 18, 1829, p 3). Depositions were made by two of Batman’s stockkeepers at the Launceston Police Office on 25 September. This incident does not appear to be a reprisal killing. |
Sources | Campbell 1987, p 31-2; CT, September 18, 1829 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/666596; TAHO CS0 1/330. (Sources PDF) |
Corroboration Rating | *** |