Site NameConiston (2)
This massacre is part of a group of massacres
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name
Language Group, Nation or PeopleWarlpiri, Anmatyere, Kaytetye
Present State/TerritoryNT
Colony/State/Territory at the timeNT
Police DistrictBarrow Creek
Latitude-21.741
Longitude133.669
DateBetween 4 Sep 1928 and 13 Sep 1928
Attack TimeDay
VictimsAboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed30
Victims Killed NotesSome estimates say more than 60.
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsManager(s), Stockmen/Drover(s), Police, Pastoralist(s)
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed NotesWilliam John (Nugget) Morton, co-owner of Broadmeadows Station, reported that he was attacked by 15 Warlpiri on 28 August.
TransportHorse, Camel
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedFirearm(s), Tomahawk(s)
NarrativeThere is little information about the second Coniston massacre expedition, which occurred over 9 days from 4 September to 13 September, 1928.
According to Kimber, 'The prospectors Young and Carter, who had met Fred Brooks a few days before his murder, had reported the news of threatening Warlpiri to Sergeant Noblett, who had reported it to Cawood. Michael Terry had told of seeing Walmulla warriors in war-paint; shootings at marauders (without effect) by Randal Stafford and Jack Saxby on the 31st August; and passed on a further appeal from Randal Stafford for urgent assistance in dealing with those who were causing the depredations' (Kimber, 2003-2004, Part 10).
Almost immediately after delivering the prisoners Padygar and Arkirkra to Alice Springs, Mounted Constable Murray was sent out again, to attend to complaints of cattle theft at Pine Hill, and 'For the period between 4 and 13 September, the list noted only that Murray had "left Alice Springs to investigate alleged cattle killings at 'Pine Hill' and 'Coniston Stn'", that he "returned with two prisoners" and that he had travelled 395 miles. That is, an average of some 44 miles per day' (Bradley, 2019, p 94).
Historian Dick Kimber, who knew the area well and had interviewed numerous people in the area, reasoned that this expedition included police trackers Paddy and Major, one or two Pine Hill station volunteers, Randal Stafford, Jack Saxby, Alex Wilson and Billy Briscoe (Kimber, 2003-2004, Part 10).
Based on oral accounts, Kimber estimates 7 encounters in which killings are likely to have occurred: 'Oral histories, which can only be approximations in time, indicate that, as might be expected, the patrol travelled north along the Hanson River from Pine Hill, having three encounters; from Coniston travelled north along the Lander River country where two more encounters took place; then followed down the Lander and had two more encounters in the general Coniston area.' He estimates the minimum death toll to have been 12: 'On the basis of two deaths every other encounter, which is the lowest number of deaths at all other encounters, 12 more men are likely to have been shot. Many more are, in fact, likely to have died, but there is absolutely no written account from 1928 to indicate that any at all were shot.'
The Alice Springs Police Station Day Journal recorded that from this expedition there were two prisoners, Ned and Barney (Bradley, 2019, p93) though they were not later tried for Fred Brooks's murder (Kimber, 2003-2004, Part 10), as were Padygar and Arkirkra.
SourcesWoodward, 1973, p 82; Read & Read, 1991, pp 33-37; Bell, 1993, pp 67-68; Toohey 1979; Edmond, 2013, p 104; Morrison www.australianfrontierconflicts.com.au; Schubert, NT News, August 25, 2018, pp 24-25 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-24/nt-police-apologise-for-state-sanctioned-coniston-massacre/10162850; Wilson & O'Brien, 2003, pp 59-78; Bowman, 2015 https://www.clc.org.au/every-hill-got-a-story/; Bradley, 2019, pp93-94, pp123-131; Kimber 2003-04, part 10 https://alicespringsnews.com.au/2018/08/15/the-coniston-massacre-remembered/; Making Peace with The Past https://digitalntl.nt.gov.au/10070/660392/0/4 Northern Standard 3 March, 1933 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48058883 Robinson, 1945 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-410786254; (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating**