Site NameMalanda, Far North Queensland
Aboriginal Place Name
Language Group
Present State/TerritoryQLD
Colony/State/Territory at the timeQLD
Police DistrictKennedy
Latitude-17.21
Longitude145.36
DateBetween 1 Jan 1890 and 31 Mar 1890
Attack TimeDawn
VictimsAboriginal People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed6
Victims Killed Notes
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsAboriginal Tracker(s)
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportFoot
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedSnider(s), Revolver(s)
NarrativeFollowing the Aboriginal killing of a miner, Frank Paske, at Waraimba Creek, near Peeramen, Fred G Brown, George Clark, George Goodson, Willie Joss, Aleck Neilsen, an unnamed police sergeant and two black trackers, set out to avenge his death. They came across 'a dozen or so' tracks of an Aboriginal group making camp near present day Malanda, and at dawn the following morning, they attacked the camp, shooting six of them (Townsville Daily Bulletin, February 2, 1933, p 10). Fred Brown captured a little boy aged five or six years of age who was orphaned in the massacre. A few weeks later he gave the little boy to Scottish taxidermists, Robert and Elizabeth Grant, who were collecting specimens for the Australian Museum in Sydney. They named the boy Douglas Grant. He grew up with the Grant family in Sydney, fought for Australia in World War I and died without issue in Sydney on 4 December 1951 (Ramsland 2019, pp 46-49).
SourcesTownsville Daily Bulletin, February 2, 1933, p 10 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61375496; Ramsland, 2019, pp 46-49. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating**