| Site Name | Cullin la Ringo |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | 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 | Colonists |
| Victim Descriptions | Settler(s), Shepherd(s), Servant(s) |
| Victims Killed | 19 |
| Victims Killed Notes | |
| Attackers | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Attacker Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| 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. Against advice from other colonists Wills did not arm workers on the homestead. One 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. |
| 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/article/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; Star (Ballarat), 20 November 1861, 'Supplement' 1861 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66343578; The Courier (Brisbane), 20 December 1861, p 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4602862, and 16 January 1862 http://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 | *** |
