| Site Name | Durack River, East Kimberley |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Yiiji, Ngarinyin |
| Present State/Territory | WA |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | WA |
| Police District | East Kimberley |
| Latitude | -15.823 |
| Longitude | 127.392 |
| Date | Between 1 May 1899 and 13 Jun 1899 |
| Attack Time | Day |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | |
| Victims Killed | 9 |
| Victims Killed Notes | 9-50 |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Police, Aboriginal Assistant(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Revolver(s), Winchester(s) |
| Narrative | Colonial Secretary records document that 'on 1 November 1898 a Chinese gardener on the King River south of Wyndham by the name of Ah Sing was killed by a group of Aboriginal people [Yiiji/ Ngarinyin] led by a man called Nalmurchie' (SROWA, Cons. 527, File 2773/1898). A month later it was reported that the wanted men were camped on the Durack River. A patrol lead by PCs Farley and Mills went to arrest them but did little more than allegedly fire shots in the air to frighten them. The following May (after the Kimberley wet season when police could travel again) they attempted to arrest Nalmurchie again. They camped near Goose Hill but only managed to arrest 27 men who had no involvement in the crime. Neville Green (1995, p 95) suggests that many had been killed here but no record was made. On 13 June 1899 Farley (with five Native Assistants) and PC Evans again attempted to arrest Nalmurche though it is clear Farley (illegally) sent his assistants to arrest or shoot Nalmurchie. Farley recorded (though he was clearly not there) that the Assistants raided a camp of 100 people and though they fired shots made no arrests. Corporal Buckland (later implicated in the 1926 Forrest River Massacre) wrote another report (that he telegraphed to the Commissioner of Police) placing Farley and Evans in charge of the police party. Here the police were positioned as victims of an attack and fired in self defense. A later police report stated that Nalmurchie and 'fifty natives attacked police party and threw spears at the party shot nine natives in the encounter…' The Wyndham Police Letterbook entry states: 'Sergt Evans to Sub Inspect Brophy, 26-6-1899: "Consts Farley and O'Brien were attacked on the Durack River by about 50 natives at daylight, were completely surrounded and throwing spears – shot nine"' (SROWA, AN 5/1, Cons. 430, File 2873/1899; SROWA, Wyndham Police Station Letterbook, Acc 741-12, 1899-1901). |
| Sources | CSO, 'Clerk of Court, Wyndham – Murder of Ah Sing by Blacks – Reporting Supposed', SROWA, Cons. 527, File 2773/1898; WAPD, 'Police Constable Farley (305) and Others Report of the Murder of Aboriginal Assistant, Dicky, Speared by Hostile Natives at Durack River While Trying to Apprehend Murderers of Ah Sing', East Kimberley District, Wyndham Station, July 1899, SROWA, AN 5/1, Cons. 430, File 2873/1899; SROWA, Wyndham Police Station Letterbook, Acc 741-12, 1899-1901; Owen 2016, p 371; Green 1995, pp 94-95 (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
