Site NameBreak O'Day Plains
Aboriginal Place Name
Language GroupBen Lomond
Present State/TerritoryTAS
Colony/State/Territory at the timeVDL
Police DistrictCampbell Town
Latitude-42.348
Longitude147.7
DateBetween 1 Jan 1829 and 31 Jan 1829
Attack TimeNight
VictimsAboriginal People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed10
Victims Killed NotesKilled: M 10 unspecified, F; Probable: M F; Possible: M F; Wounded: M F
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsField Police, Settler(s), Stockkeeper(s), Soldier(s)
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed NotesKilled: M F; Wounded: M F
TransportFoot
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedFirearm(s), Musket(s), Bayonet(s), Blade(s)
NarrativeAfter a series of attacks in December 1828 by Oyster Bay warriors on various farms in the Oyster Bay District, that included the killing of James Shirton, a servant of settler Mr Hawkins and an attack by twelve warriors on John Allen's farm at Great Swanport on 14 December 1828, and visually recorded in a sketch (ML, SLNSW), 6 military parties, set out on patrol on the east coast, 2 each from the 40th, 57th and 63rd regiments and supported by constables and guides. In mid-January 1829, ten Ben Lomond people were shot and killed and two taken by a patrol of the 40th regiment at Break O'Day Plains south of the Break O'Day River (Launceston Advertiser, February 9, 1829, p 2).
SourcesLA February 9, 1829 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/8721080; 'The Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land endeavouring to kill Mr John Allen in the District of of Great Swanport on the 14th December 1828', ML, SLNSW. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating*