Site NameYork (1)
Aboriginal Place Name
Language GroupBallardong Noongar
Present State/TerritoryWA
Colony/State/Territory at the timeWA
Police DistrictYork - Wheatbelt region
Latitude-31.875
Longitude116.769
DateBetween 1 May 1837 and 31 May 1837
Attack TimeDay
VictimsAboriginal People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed7
Victims Killed Notes
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsSoldier(s)
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportFoot, Horse
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedFirearm(s), Musket(s), Cutlass/Cutlasses
NarrativeLouis (or Luis) Giustiniani reported in the (Swan River Guardian, November 16, 1837, p 24) ‘Every Soldier had received a carte blanc from Lieutenant Bunbury and Mr McLeod, to shoot the Natives in all directions, and they have been faithful to their mission; but none of those victims had been previously tried, nor even the least evidence brought against them, before the deadly weapon of the armed European prostrated them to the ground. Barbarities of the middle age have been committed even by boys and Servants, who shot the unarmed woman, the unoffensive child, and the men who kindly showed them the road in the bush; the ears of the corpses have been cut off, and hung up in the kitchen of a gentleman, as a signal of triumph’ (The Swan River Guardian, November 16, 1837, Perth Gazette 29 July 1837, p 944).
SourcesThe Swan River Guardian, November 16, 1837, p 248 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/23543294; The Swan River Guardian November 16, 1837, p 249 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/23543295; The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal July 29, 1837, p 944 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/639896/1010; H.W. Bunbury, 1834-37 in Cameron and Barnes, 2014. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating***