Site NameLeopold Ranges - West Kimberley
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name
Language Group, Nation or PeopleBunuba, Nyikina
Present State/TerritoryWA
Colony/State/Territory at the timeWA
Police DistrictFitzroy Crossing - West Kimberley
Latitude-17.5
Longitude124.75
DateBetween 1 Jun 1892 and 31 Aug 1892
Attack TimeDay
VictimsAboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed7
Victims Killed Notes
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsPolice
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportHorse
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedRevolver(s), Winchester(s)
NarrativeOn 8 June 1892 Kerralin, Meralmaddie, Merrigal, Yemin, Jinkymarra and a man named Packer, an ex–station hand from Lillamaloora Station, speared Robert Henry, Robert Allen and Thomas Henry with Robert Allen and Thomas Henry killed. A police party led by PC Armitage took over a month to find Packer and shoot him. They then shot another seven Aboriginal men and arrested one more. PC Armitage, who had previously been arrested in late 1889 for unlawful killing, pointedly stated 'the natives were camped in a very rough place and it was a matter of impossibility to effect the arrest of them alive' (Owen, 2016, pp 231-233).
Sources''Two men murdered and third wounded by natives on the Leopold Ranges - Police Corporal Holmes, Derby, [Thomas Henry; Robert Allen; William Amitage; Robert (?) Goodridge; Thomas Yates; Robert Henry; 'Barrier Station;' Ernest Black]', SROWA, AN 24, Cons. 527, File 939/1892; Owen, 2016, p 296-297; Western Mail, June 18, 1892, p42 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33075265. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating***