| Site Name | King River, above Oxley Plains (Wangaratta) |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | |
| Present State/Territory | VIC |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | PPD |
| Police District | Murray |
| Latitude | -36.52 |
| Longitude | 146.391 |
| Date | Between 1 Dec 1841 and 28 Feb 1842 |
| Attack Time | Day |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 150 |
| Victims Killed Notes | Men, women and children. |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Hutkeeper(s), Settler(s), Shepherd(s), Stockmen/Drover(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | Killed M: |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Firearm(s), Horse(s) |
| Narrative | Among the earliest colonists in the region, George Faithfull established a run at Oxley Plains, neighbouring his brother, whose overlanding men had been massacred in the Faithfull massacre in 1838. In a letter to Lieutenant Governor La Trobe on 8 September 1853 George Faithful wrote that, 'The country was left to us for some years in consequence of the hostility of the blacks,
which became so unbearable that I could not keep shepherds,
although well armed, without employing a horseman, in addition
to myself, to keep continually perambulating the woods lest the
natives might cut them off' (Bride, 1889, p 151).
George Faithfull went on to describe a massacre that lasted for many hours: 'At last, it so happened that I was the means of putting an end to this warfare. Riding with two of my stockmen one day quietly along the banks of the river, we passed between the anabranch of the river itself by a narrow neck of land, and, after proceeding about half a mile, we were all at once met by some hundreds of painted warriors with the most dreadful yells I had ever heard. Had they sprung from the regions below we could have hardly been more taken by surprise. Our horses bounded and neighed with fear - old brutes, which in other respects required an immense deal of persuasion in the way of spurs to make them go along. Our first impulse was to retreat, but we found the narrow way blocked up by natives two and three deep, and we were at once saluted with a shower of spears. My horse bounded and fell into an immense hole. A spear just then passed over the pummel of my saddle. This was the signal for a general onset. The natives rushed on us like furies, with shouts and savage yells; it was no time for delay. I ordered my men to take deliberate aim, and to fire only with certainty of destruction to the individual aimed at. Unfortunately, the first shot from one of my men's carbines did not take effect; in a moment we were surrounded on all sides by the savages boldly coming up to us. It was my time now to endeavour to repel them. I fired my double barrel right and left, and two of the most forward fell; this stopped the impetuosity of their career. I had time to reload, and the war thus begun continued from about ten o'clock in the morning until four in the afternoon. We were slow to fire, which prolonged the battle, and 60 rounds were fired, and I trust and believe that many of the bravest of the savage warriors bit the dust' (Bride, 1898, p 152). According to James Howard, aged 83 in 1883, he was a shepherd on George Faithfull's run at Oxley Plains in 1841 when the 'blacks played sad havoc with Faithfull's cattle and sheep, whereupon the stockmen, shepherds, and hut keepers turned out, mounted and armed, to the number of about 18, fell upon the blacks in camp on the bank of the King above Oxley, and massacred them. About 200 were killed on the spot, and others were pursued miles up the river, until all, with one or two exceptions, were exterminated' (Argus, September 13, 1883, p 9). Howard was at first reluctant to name who was involved, but then confirmed that it was Faithful and said that there were about 200 killed in the initial encounter, and 300 in total, including the pursuit upriver (Argus, September 13, 1883, p 9). The figure of 300 may be an exaggeration, but given this was a sustained massacre which Faithful claimed brought an end to a sustained resistance in this populous area, the death toll was most likely very high. |
| Sources | Bride, 1889; Sayers, 1969, p 220-221; Argus, September 13, 1883, p 9 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11828136 (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | ** |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
