Site Name | Break O'Day Plains |
Aboriginal Place Name | |
Language Group | Ben Lomond |
Present State/Territory | TAS |
Colony/State/Territory at the time | VDL |
Police District | Campbell Town |
Latitude | -42.348 |
Longitude | 147.7 |
Date | Between 1 Jan 1829 and 31 Jan 1829 |
Attack Time | Night |
Victims | Aboriginal People |
Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
Victims Killed | 10 |
Victims Killed Notes | Killed: M 10 unspecified, F; Probable: M F; Possible: M F; Wounded: M F |
Attackers | Colonists |
Attacker Descriptions | Field Police, Settler(s), Stockkeeper(s), Soldier(s) |
Attackers Killed | 0 |
Attackers Killed Notes | Killed: M F; Wounded: M F |
Transport | Foot |
Motive | Reprisal |
Weapons Used | Firearm(s), Musket(s), Bayonet(s), Blade(s) |
Narrative | After 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). |
Sources | LA 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 | * |