Site NameRound Swamp, Turon River
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name
Language Group, Nation or PeopleWiradjuri
Present State/TerritoryNSW
Colony/State/Territory at the timeNSW
Police DistrictBathurst
Latitude-33.078
Longitude149.939
DateBetween 18 Sep 1824 and 30 Sep 1824
Attack Time
VictimsAboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed45
Victims Killed Notes
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsFoot Soldier(s)
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportFoot
MotiveOpportunity
Weapons UsedMusket(s), Pistol(s), Sword(s)
NarrativeIn his Reminiscences 1825-1826 LE Threlkeld, a missionary, wrote that, 'There were many European stock-holders who had suffered severely from the depredations of the Aborigines, and consequently were infuriated against the Blacks. One of the largest holders of sheep in the Colony, maintained at a public meeting at Bathurst, that the best thing that could be done, would be to shoot all the Blacks and manure the ground with their carcases, which was all the good they were fit for! It was recommended likewise that the Women and Children should especially be shot as the most certain method of getting rid of the race. Shortly after this declaration, martial law was proclaimed, and sad was the havoc made upon the tribes at Bathurst. A large number were driven into a swamp, and mounted police rode round and round and shot them off indiscriminately until they were all destroyed! When one of the police enquired of the Officer if a return should be made of the killed, wounded there were none, all were destroyed, Men Women and Children! the reply was; - that there was no necessity for a return. But forty-five heads were collected and boiled down for the sake of the skulls! My informant, a Magistrate, saw the skulls packed for exportation in a case at Bathurst ready for shipment to accompany the commanding Officer on his voyage shortly afterwards taken to England' (Threlkeld in Gunson, 1974, pp 48-9).
The 'mounted police' mentioned by Threlkeld were not formed until after 1824 but Threlkeld would have assumed these to be the forces involved through his familiarity with their activities in the Hunter Valley (Connor, 2002 pp 62-69).
The incident described most likely occurred during Commander Morisset's expeditions in Wiradjuri country around Bathurst in September 1824. This expedition included divisions led by magistrates Mr Lawson, Mr Ranken, and Mr Walker (Gapps, 2021, p 172). The magistrate mentioned by Threlkeld is probably one of these, though Stephen Gapps suggests it could have been Lieutenant Percy Simpson, commandant at Wellington in 1824 (Gapps, 2021, p 188). Gapps also notes that Commandant Morisset returned to England in 1825 (Gapps, 2021, p 189) and so was most likely the 'commanding Officer' mentioned.
According to military historian John Connor (Connor 2002, p59-61), following the declaration of martial law in the Bathurst District in August 1824, about forty soldiers from the 40th Regiment led by the Commandant at Bathurst, Major Morisset, three magistrates and three mounted settlers and some Aboriginal guides set off for the region north of Bathurst. Morisset made no report of the entire Bathurst operation (Connor, 2002, p59). Gapps also notes that, 'It is likely that Morrisset made a verbal report to Governor Brisbane when he went to Sydney after the campaign - or a written report has not survived' (Gapps, 2021, p 174).
According to Gapps, 'With extra soldiers having now arrived from Sydney, making eighty-five men under his command, Morisset had enough military strength to send out a strong punitive expedition.' This force was divided into three divisions and departed on or about the 18th of September, 'in a great sweep of the terrain up to 160 kilometres around Bathurst' (Gapps, 2021, p 172). This was reported in the Sydney Gazette: 'The Commandant, with four Magistrates, about forty soldiers, and six mounted settlers, left Bathurst for Mudgee a few days after; and as the overseer and several of the mounted settlers know that part of the country well, there is every reason to hope that they will come up with the natives and put an end to this sanguinary and desultory warfare' (The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30 Sep 1824, p 2).
One of the members of the expedition, Magistrate Ranken, wrote in a letter that they had not encountered their enemy on this expedition, but that 'Morriset goes off to Bathurst tomorrow with Lawson, the rest of us scour the country between this and Wallerawang, where Morisset and Lawson will join us, and I shall immediately start for home' (Ranken in Gapps, 2021, p 176). Gapps notes that 'While the last few days of Morisset's campaign are not reported anywhere and have been seen as a "killing spree" by some, there is no historical evidence to support this beyond Lowe's indirect reference. It seems more likely that much of the "war of extermination" was carried out by others' (Gapps, 2021, p 177).
Given that this relatively large force had been amassed and set out specifically to engage the enemy, that there was a popular expectation that this would end the war, that official reports were either not made or went missing, and that there is no record of what happened in the final phase of the expeditions, and Threlkeld's description tend to match this expedition, it is most likely that the massacre described by Threlkeld happened during the last phase of Morrissett's expedition.
Furthermore, there is no reason Wiradjuri people and their allies would have ceased their successful resistance unless there had been a catastrophic event to cause it. Only a month after reporting that Morisset's expedition had set out, the Sydney Gazette reported Wiradjuri people coming to Bathurst to make peace. 'A respectable settler from Bathurst only very lately, informs us, that the day prior to his setting out for the capital, two tribes of the natives, comprising about 60 in number, came in to Bathurst on the usual peaceable footing. Saturday [Windradyne], who has rendered himself so notorious in the aboriginal annals, still thinks it prudent to keep out of reach, and has not even been heard of' (The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 28 Oct 1824, p 2). In late December 140 Wiradjuri people, including Windradyne travelled to Parramatta for an annual feast held for Aboriginal people (Gapps, 2021, p 197). The Sydney Gazette reported that, 'Between one and two o'clock, a reinforcement of the Bathurst tribe arrived, which was supposed to have increased the number to near upon 400 - by far the greatest number ever known to have assembled on any similar occasion.' and that 'Saturday [Windradyne] wore a straw hat, on which was affixed a label, with the word "PEACE" inserted, besides a little branch representing the olive' (The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30 Dec 1824, p 2). Windradyne had not come willingly, 'He had been prevailed upon to come by one of the constables, we believe, of the district, and was accompanied over the Mountains by two or three gentlemen, who experienced some difficulty occasionally in getting him forward.' and, in spite of the hat, maintained his dignity, 'There is a grandeur of expression in his face — a dignity and grace in his manner, which civilised majesty could not exceed' (The Australian, 30 Dec 1824, p 3).
It was Morisset's unrecorded in person report that convinced the governor that the peace was real enough to end martial law (Gapps, 2021, p 196). This suggests Morisset had information that could not be made public but was of a decisive nature and which he was privy to. Killing was carried out by colonists in this war as well as by government forces (Uncle Bill Allen in Gapps, 2021, p 181). John Connor suggests that the sudden surrender after an otherwise effective resistance could be explained by a massacre a week before Morisset arrived in the area, in which an 'overseer at Mudgee, and two stockmen killed sixteen Wiradjuri, probably all at men, including a leader known by the settlers as "Blucher"' (Connor, 2002, p 61). This would have had a major impact, however, Wiradjuri forces were divided into seperate operational groups and Blucher's group were not the only one. Windradyne, a wiley, proud and tenacious leader, was still at large. The earlier massacre at Mudgee accounts for why Morisset's force could not engage Wiradjuri forces in the north - they would have evaded them elsewhere by then. Descriptions of killings in various specific locations surviving in Wiradjuri oral history (Gapps, 2021, p 189) suggest that more incidents occured than were recorded in writing by colonists. Although attacks beyond the law could be brutal and devastating, it is most likely not sporadic skirmishes and attacks from colonists against Wiradjuri people that brought an end to the war. Although Morisset often complained of a lack of horses because foot soldiers could easily be evaded, the divisions included 'a mounted reconnaissance arm, and a cavalry element' (Gapps, 2021, p175). It is more likely that the war was ended by a combination of attacks from colonists with a decisive attack made by the combined military and militia force that set out on a methodical campaign with the specific purpose of engaging their enemy and ending the war that ended the war.
Locating this massacre is difficult with the scant information available. Threlkeld indicates only that it occurred in a swamp. There are many places in Wiradjuri country that could be the swamp. Gapps notes that the locations of killings recorded in Wiradjuri oral history 'on the Cudgegong at Dabee, the Bogee Swamp, or the Brymair Valley all fit the description of a "swamp"' (Gapps, 2021, p 189). One of these stories involves 'redcoats' (Descendent of Jimmy Lambert in Gapps, 2021, p 185). These are in valleys far to the east. These regions would be an ideal area for a resistance force, with a 10km region including wetlands surrounded by a horseshoe of steep ranges, and adjoining the impregnable Wollemi region. It took Ranken 10 days to reach the Hunter Valley after separating from Morisset and meet him again at Mudgee. It is unlikely that Ranken's division would have been able to make it this far east through more rugged country on the way to Wallerawang.
A traveller in 1832 reported that King's Plains were 'swampy' and that in 1824, settlers and soldiers had been called together 'under the direction of the then Commandant, Colonel Morisset', and a 'slaughter' had occurred (The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 19 Jan 1832, p 3). However, it's not clear whether the reference is to Colonel Morisset's command at that time generally or a specific expedition. When Ranken and Morisset left Mudgee, Morisset went south towards Bathurst and Ranken went south east to rendezvous at Wallerawang. It is possible if riding hard but unlikely that Morisset's force would have ridden south to Bathurst then west to King's Plains, before riding east to Wallerawang for the rendezvous with Ranken.
Having failed to engage the enemy in the north, it's likely Morisset took the most direct route back to Bathurst, which is similar to the main road between Mudgee and Bathurst today, following the Cudgegong River before heading to Bathurst (Baker & Mitchell, 1843). He may have encountered Wiradjuri near the Turon River on the way [note: this massacre site was previously marked at Turon River]. Morisset and Ranken's forces probably separated at the Cudgegong River where it turns east, with Morisset taking valleys to the south west and Ranken heading through valleys to the south east.
William Lawson, who had preceded Morisset as commandant at Bathurst had written that he was 'afraid we shall never exterminate them, they having such an extensive mountainous country for them to flee from their pursuers' (Lawson in Gapps, 2021, p 151). Swamps near mountains would be ideal for Aboriginal warriors evading colonial forces, being a cornucopia of food, requiring local knowledge to navigate around wetter parts, and offering a retreat into mountains. Directly on the route through the valley between the Cudgegong River and Wallerawang is a large area named 'Round Swamp', feeding into the Turon River, within 4 kilometres of mountain ranges on either side, with the Capertee Ranges on the eastern side being especially rugged. W.H. Suttor describes two massacres that are different in their details to Threlkeld's description, but also mentions more generally that, 'Under this condition of things [martial law] the blacks were shot down without any respect. Getting the worst of it, most of them [Aboriginal people] made into the deep dells of the Capertee country, and, although some escaped, many were killed there' (Suttor, 1887, p45). Given that Wiradjuri warriors had not been detected by 3 groups sweeping the north as far as the Hunter Valley, it's reasonable to think they had evaded detection in the ranges and valleys further east. Given that Morisset dispatched Ranken in that direction it is likely this was also Morisset's surmise. Ranken's disappointment at not encountering enemies suggests that if he did encounter them he would have attacked with full force. While there are various possibilities, it seems most likely that the large massacre Threlkeld speaks of occurred near Round Swamp between the Cudgegong River and Wallerawang.
SourcesGunson, 1974; Connor, 2002; The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30 Sep 1824, p2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2183259; The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 28 Oct 1824 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2183320; Baker & Mitchell, 1843 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2236343516; Suttor, 1887 https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-656531177; The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 30 Dec 1824, p 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2183548; The Australian, 30 Dec 1824, p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37071644/4248457; The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 19 Jan 1832 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2204528 (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating*