| Site Name | Cullin la Ringo |
| Aboriginal Place Name | |
| Language Group | Gayiri |
| Present State/Territory | QLD |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | QLD |
| Police District | Taroom |
| Latitude | -23.841 |
| Longitude | 147.832 |
| Date | 17 Oct 1861 |
| Attack Time | Day |
| Victims | Colonisers |
| Victim Descriptions | Settler(s), Shepherd(s), Servant(s) |
| Victims Killed | 19 |
| Victims Killed Notes | Killed: M11 F3 C5 |
| Attackers | Aboriginal People |
| Attacker Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | Killed: M F; Probable: M F; Possible: M F; Wounded: M F |
| Transport | Foot |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Waddies/Nulla-nulla(s), Spear(s) |
| Narrative | Following the abduction of two Aboriginal boys by three white men, 19 members of the Wills family and their servants, including women and children, were massacred mid-afternoon on 17 October 1861 by a large group of Gayiri warriors (SMH, 12 Dec 1861, p 5). Until the afternoon of the massacre, the Wills party, which had arrived in the area only a few days before, had enjoyed good relations with the Gayiri people. Another view of the massacre, suggests that it was in reprisal for the killing of Gayiri people a week or so earlier by a detachment of native police at a neighbouring pastoral station where Jesse Gregson was the manager. At least two reprisal massacres took place. |
| Sources | The Courier 5 November, 1861 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4602000; The Courier 11 November, 1861 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4602097; Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser 2 November, 1861 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51554732; SMH December 10, 1861 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/13060056, and 11 December, 1861 - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/1484054, and 12 December, 1861 -http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1484062;
Carment, 1980, pp 49-55; Reid 1980-1, pp 62-82; Perrin 1998, pp 84-104.
See also, the Star (Ballarat), 20 November 1861, 'Supplement' 1861 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66343578; The Courier (Brisbane), 20 December 1861, p 3http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4602862, and 16 January 1862http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4603348; Rockhampton Bulletin and Central Queensland Advertiser, 4 January 1862, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51554990; Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 - 1908) 28 Jan 1862, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125597363; Sydney Mail, 14 December, 1861 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166694945. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
