| Site Name | Woodlands |
| Aboriginal Place Name | |
| Language Group | Knenknenwurrung |
| Present State/Territory | VIC |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | PPD |
| Police District | Portland |
| Latitude | -37.149 |
| Longitude | 143.098 |
| Date | Between 1 Jun 1841 and 25 Jul 1841 |
| Attack Time | Day |
| Victims | Aboriginal People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 7 |
| Victims Killed Notes | Killed: M F; Probable: M F; Possible: M 6 to 7 F; Wounded: M F |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Settler(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | Killed:M F;Wounded:M F |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Firearm(s) |
| Narrative | John Francis, manager of WJT Clarke’s run at Woodlands, 'is said to have shot six or seven Aborigines there in June or July 1841; Clarke later wrote that the Aborigines had been “defiant” and had killed numbers of his sheep, “destroying them wantonly and slaughtering them for their support”'. But as historian AGL Shaw points out, 'Francis was a man who often had trouble with Aborigines, and as he was later killed by a white shepherd, it is possible he was hot-tempered and ''defiant" himself.' (Shaw, 1996, p 130) WJT Clarke later said “a number of blacks, I am sorry to say, were shot”. (Shaw, 1996, p 134) Critchett lists the names of seven Aborigines who were shot by Francis. |
| Sources | Shaw, 1996, pp 130 and 134; Critchett, 1990, p 248. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | ** |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
