Site NameWarrigal Creek, Gippsland
This massacre is part of a group of massacres
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name
Language Group, Nation or PeopleBrataualung
Present State/TerritoryVIC
Colony/State/Territory at the timePPD
Police DistrictGippsland
Latitude-38.465
Longitude147.011
DateBetween 1 Jul 1843 and 31 Jul 1843
Attack TimeDay
VictimsAboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed25
Victims Killed Notes
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsSettler(s)
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportHorse
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedFirearm(s), Double-barrelled Purdey(s)
NarrativeIn early July 1843, Donald Macalister, the nephew of squatter Lachlan Macalister, was killed by Aboriginal people, near Port Albert in Gippsland. According to GA Robinson, who first heard of Macalister's killing from Crown Lands Commissioner Charles Tyers on 19 May 1844,' Mr McAllister was murdered about six months ago by the natives; he was alone it seems and on horseback and supposed riding serenely along and E.H. the black took him by surprise or he must have been parleing with them a the time it happened. He had a brace of pistols in his holster, [when] his body was found, he was on his way to the Port [Albert] with cattle in short way on ahead' (Robinson 19 May 1844, in Clark 1998d, p.56).
After being visited by Thomas McAllister and Mr McMillan at Foster's, Robinson remarked in his journal on 1 June, 1844, 'Reginald McAllister was the gentleman killed by natives; they are supposed to have killed him with sticks; there was no spear wounds no person saw it done or saw natives; hence there is no direct proof' (Clark, 1998d, p 73). Robinson listed several other colonists killed. According to Gippsland historian Peter D Gardner, Macalister's death was at least the fifth killing of a colonist in Gippsland within 12 months (Gardner 2001, p.53). McMillan had been the first European to the region in 1839, and the earliest runs were established soon after, such that these murders were in direct response to the first few years of colonial incursion.
A visitor to Gippsland wrote in 1843 'I had been informed that ill-blood existed between the blacks and settlers, and that four or five shepherds and stock-men had been murdered; that it was unsafe to travel alone and unarmed in Gipps' Land' (The Courier, 23 Jun, 1843, p 4).
In 1845 William Thomas, the Assistant Protector of Aborigines recorded in his journal that 'He said he [Hatcher] and another man had come unarmed from Gippsland. I asked him if he was not afraid of meeting the Blacks, his reply was, Blks Sir no fear of them now they would run away as soon as they see a white man but there are not many left, he said he had a Brother who had been in Gippsland from the first his name was Bunton & kept a Public house in Gippsland by the Dirty Water Holes & a cattle station joining to Mr. McAllister who was killed, that after Mr. McAllisters murder great slaughter of the blacks took place and that on his brothers station a cart load of Blks bones might be gath.rd up' (Thomas, cited in Caldow, 2020 & cited in Gardner, 1994, p 51).
Macalister's death prompted a massacre of Aboriginal people, most likely at multiple sites around Warrigal Creek. Bell, in 1874, wrote as if the massacre was well known in the colony:
'The historic pen of Victorian settlement would paint with truth the horrors of many a scene of Gipps Land life; and it was in 1843 (the year the will was dated) that the aggressions of the blacks were so frequent. Shepherds worked in pairs, armed, as if in an enemy's country, to resist them ; and it was 1843 that ended by wholesale destruction, the massacres at Warrigal Creek and the Bundalaguah Swamp, where only one aboriginal was left to tell the story of how they died and the history of his race' (The Age, 8 Aug, 1874, p 7).
Dunderdale, writing in the late 1800s, provides the following description of events:
'At this time the blacks had quite recovered from the fright occasioned by the discharge of the nine-pounder gun, and were again often seen from the huts at the Old Port. Donald Macalister was sent by his uncle, Lachlan Macalister, of Nuntin, to make arrangements for shipping some cattle and sheep. The day before their arrival Donald saw some blacks at a distance in the scrub, and without any provocation fired at them with an old Tower musket, charged with shot. The next day the drovers and shepherds arrived with the stock, and drove them over Glengarry's bridge to a place between the Tarra and Albert rivers, called the Coal Hole, afterwards occupied by Parson Bean. there was no yard there, and the animals would require watching at night; so Donald decided to send them back to Glengarry's yards. Then he and the drovers and shepherds would have a pleasant time; there would be songs and whisky, the piper would play, and the men and maids would dance. The arrangement suited everybody. The drovers started back with the cattle, Donald helped the shepherds to gather the sheep, and put them on the way, and then he rode after the cattle. The track led him past a grove of dense ti-tree, on the land now known as the Brewery Paddock, and about a hundred yards ahead a single blackfellow came out of the grove, and began capering about and waving a waddy. Donald pulled up his horse and looked at the black. He had a pair of pistols in the holsters of his saddle, but he did not draw them: there was no danger from a blackfellow a hundred yards off. But there was another behind him and much nearer, who came silently out of the ti-tree and thrust a spear through Donald's neck. The horse galloped away towards Glengarry's bridge.
'When the drovers saw the riderless horse, they supposed that Macalister had been accidentally thrown, and they sent Friday to look for him. He found him dead. The blacks had done their work quickly. They had stripped Donald of everything but his trousers and boots, had mutilated him in their usual fashion, and had disappeared. A messenger was sent to old Macalister, and the young man was buried on the bank of the river near McClure's grave. The new cemetery now contained three graves, the second being that of Tinker Ned, who shot himself accidentally when pulling out his gun from beneath a tarpaulin.
'Lachlan Macalister had had a long experience in dealing with blackfellows and bushrangers; he had been a captain in the army, and an officer of the border police. The murder of his nephew gave him both a professional and a family interest in chastising the criminals, and he soon organised a party to look for them. It was, of course, impossible to identify any blackfellow concerned in the outrage, and therefore atonement must be made by the tribe. The blacks were found encamped near a waterhole at Gammon Creek, and those who were shot were thrown into it, to the number, it was said, of about sixty, men, women, and children; but this was probably an exaggeration. At any rate, the black who capered about to attract young Macalister's attention escaped, and he often afterwards described and imitated the part he took in what he evidently considered a glorious act of revenge. The gun used by old Macalister was a double-barrelled Purdy, a beautiful and reliable weapon, which in its time had done great execution' (Dunderdale, 2020). McMillan showed Robinson his gun on 5 June 1844. It had 'seven barralls (sic): all go off at once' (Clark 1998d, p.94).
A more detailed account of the events was published in The Gap magazine's 1925 edition in an article titled 'Experiences with Gippsland Blacks'. The article on the Warrigal Creek massacre was submitted under the pen name 'Gippslander, Bairnsdale'. Gippslander wrote:
'When Angus McMillan first settled in Gippsland in 1839, the blacks were very numerous, hostile, and treacherous. They speared the stock and attacked the homesteads, and, in some instances, speared some of the hut-keepers. The white settlers retaliated, and there were numerous raids on the blacks, and numbers of them were killed, mostly around McLennan's Straits, Roseneath, and the western shores of Lake Wellington. Getting well into the forties, settlement was taking place south from Sale and north from Port Albert. The blacks were becoming more civilised, and many of them used to congregate about the stations. Shipping was coming from Van Diemen's Land, and elsewhere, bringing in a number of undesirables - "ticket-of-leave" men, or "Vandemonians," as they were called in those days. These men [Vandemonians] were employed by the settlers as hutkeepers, and some of them used to treat the blacks badly, playing all sorts of practical jokes upon them, which in many instances amounted to cruelty. Most of the outrages committed by the blacks at that time were the outcome of some injury, either real or fancied, committed by those men on the natives. The murder of Roland Macalister was in revenge for the throwing of hot ashes on the feet of the natives by Macalister's hut-keeper. Macalister at that time was stationed some distance out from Port Albert and had one of these "ticket-of-leave" men as hut-keeper. The former used to visit Port Albert, returning after dark, and the blacks were aware of this. The hut-keeper, during Macalister's absence, was in the habit of letting the blacks inside the hut. On this particular night, when he wanted them to go out, they refused, so he took some hot ashes, which he threw over their bare feet. In revenge they made up their minds to kill Macalister. Three of them waited for him as he returned, putting three spears through him and killing him at once. Taking most of his clothes and his kidney fat, they made for Warrigal Creek. Macalister's horse, taking fright, galloped off along the road towards Sale, and, next day, was found between Woodside and Sale by Mr. McMillan, who was traveling down the road with cattle. The blacks must have had some way of communicating with the others, for the morning after the murder not a black was to be seen on any of the stations; all had made for Warrigal Creek. The settlers were so enraged at this murder that they determined to give the blacks a lesson, and formed what they called the Highland Brigade. Every man who could find a gun and a horse took chase after the blacks. The Brigade, coming up to the blacks, camped around the waterhole at Warrigal Creek, rounded them, and fired into them, killing a great number. Some escaped in the scrub, others jumped into the waterhole, and, as fast as they put their heads up for breath, they were shot, until the water was red with blood. It was estimated that between one hundred and one hundred and fifty were killed during the progress of the Brigade. I knew two blacks who, though wounded, came out of that hole alive. One was a boy at that time, about 12 or 14 years old. He was hit in the eye by a slug, captured by the whites, and made to lead the Brigade on from one camp to another. He was afterwards adopted by one of the party and was called "Bing Eye." The other was a little older; he made his escape up the creek by swimming and diving. He was shot through the foot, and was so injured that he was called "Club Foot." After this slaughter the blacks kept to the coast, and did not come near the stations for a number of years. The spearing of cattle, however, still went on, and there were still many blacks being killed, principally by the Black Police' (Gippslander, Bairnsdale, 1925).
Dunderdale names Macalister's uncle 'Lachlan Macalister' as having lead the massacre while, Gippslander names 'McMillan'. All accounts indicate that many colonists in the area were involved.
In another reminiscence in the same magazine titled 'My Early Life', Mrs H. Greenwood wrote, 'I remember the blacks killing Mr Macalister, and the subsequent slaughter of the blacks at Warrigal Creek.' Mrs Greenwood says she was born in 1853, some time after the massacre, so she must have meant that she remembered hearing of it, presumably from her father who she said had moved to Gippsland around 1840 (The Gap, 1925, p 11). Historian Peter Gardner notes that the massacre remained widely recognised in the folk history of Gippsland (Gardner, 1983, pp 53-62).
Caldow provides a detailed list of sources for the Warrigal Creek massacre, but is dismissive of the Gippslander's version, relied on heavily by Gardner, largely because it is published in a magazine for children (Caldow, 2020). Gardner has replied to Caldow in detail (Gardner, 2022). The intended readership of The Gap is schoolchildren, with a focus on factual education rather than fiction. The story of the Warrigal Creek massacre appears along with other non-fiction articles on diverse topics ranging from ANZAC Day and the use of gas in World War One to beekeeping and the sugar beet industry. These topics are not cast into doubt for being in an educational magazine. As a Gippsland publication, the magazine includes a section providing members of the community an opportunity to contribute their knowledge and reminiscences towards a history of the region. The Gippslander article also mentions other attested violence in Gippsland at 'McLennan's Straits, Roseneath, and the western shores of Lake Wellington', and historical events such as the influx of Vandemonians and the murder of Macalister. Caldow acknowledges that, 'First, using the information Gardner misinterpreted, rejected or missed in Thomas, Dunderdale and Bell, we must accept the possibility or even the probability that an atrocity took place somewhere' and suggests 'Establishing the factual basis of this will require in-depth research to uncover any written evidence before Bell's account from 1874, as well as archaeological evidence at locations such as Bruthen Creek and Bundalaguah Swamp' (Caldow, 2020).
The creeks mentioned in various tellings of the massacre are all relatively close together. This is consistent with Gippslander's statement that the colonists had progressed from one camp to another. This could be seen as a single massacre at multiple sites, referred to by the name of any one of the creeks in the area, or as a group of massacres that were part of a single expedition. Caldow (2020) and Gardner (2022) concur that the station where 'might be gath.rd up' referred to in Thomas's journal is Hatcher's brother in law Buntine's run at Bruthen Creek.
The earliest accounts then give the locations as Bruthen Creek, Warrigal Creek and Gammon Creek. Gardner lists several sites that are mentioned in local folk history and where archaeological evidence has been found. First, Warrigal Creek at a long U shaped waterhole which matches Gippslander's description (Gardner, 1983, p 53). Next, Warrigal Creek mouth, where a large quantity of Aboriginal bones of men, women and children were found with similar skull fractures. This led local historian the Rev. George Cox to conclude that it was not the result of a tribal massacre, but may be a result of the massacres following Macalister's murder (Gardner, 1983, p 53-54). Then Red Hill, where skeletons were found in an upright position, which Gardner regards as inconsistent with traditional Kurnai funereal practice. However, Gardner discounts this site as it is unrealistic that people could have been surrounded and not escaped (Gardner, 1983, p 55). Then Gammon Creek: as well as being named as the location by Dunderdale, there is a strong local tradition that a massacre occurred here (Gardner, 1983, p 56). Finally, Freshwater Creek: an Aboriginal survivor named Darby had told Chas Lucas who told the Rev. Cox this was the location (Gardner, 1983, p 57).
The most likely sites at which people were killed, based on a combination of historical records, archaeology and local oral history is then: Warrigal Creek, Warrigal Creek Mouth, Gammon Creek, Freshwater Creek and Bruthen Creek.
Gardner further notes the rapid decline in numbers of people of the Brataualung Clan of Kurnai Nations: 'Beginning with the pre-white estimates of population at 300-500 the total of these people, within 30 years of the initial white occupation numbered 17. By 1880 there were only two surviving members' (Gardner, 1983, p 58). The determined manner in which these reprisal massacres were carried out and the sudden extreme decline in population indicate that unusually large numbers of people were killed in the Warrigal Creek massacres.
SourcesDunderdale, 1973, p.225; Pepper and de Aurugo, 1985, p.24; Cannon, 1990, p.171; Shaw,1996, p.133; Clark, 1998d, p.70, p. 99, p.110; Gardner, 2001, pp 53-61; Bartrop, 2004, pp 199-205 ; The Age, 8 Aug 1874, p 7 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/201532298; Gardner, 1994, p 45; The Courier, 23 Jun, 1843, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2952539; Dunderdale, 2020 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16349/pg16349-images.html; Caldow, 2020; Gardner, 2022, https://petergardner.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Warrigal-Creek-Massacre-a-reply-to-Wayne-Caldow.pdf; (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating***