Myall Creek massacre of Aboriginal Australians

Background. In the 1830s, white settlers were expanding into the northern area of the colony of New South Wales (New England), near the Gwydir River, the traditional lands of the Kamilaroi people. As elsewhere in the colony, Aboriginal people at times resisted the expanding invasion of their land by spearing sheep and cattle for food and sometimes attacking stockmen's huts and killing white men. This conflictual frontier context preceded the killings at Myall Creek station.

The Massacre. On 10 June 1838, eight colonists killed at least 28 unarmed Aboriginal people at Myall Creek. Testimony indicated children were beheaded. The bodies were dismembered and burnt two days later. Manager William Hobbs counted up to twenty-eight victims, though exact numbers were difficult due to the state of the remains.

Trial and Execution. The case was heard before Chief Justice James Dowling starting 15 November 1838. After an initial acquittal, seven of twelve accused were found guilty in a second trial. They were executed at Darlinghurst Gaol on 18 December 1838. The verdicts sparked extreme controversy in settler society.

Aftermath and Legacy. The Myall Creek massacre and the subsequent trial and hanging of some of the offenders had a profound effect on the "outside" settlers and their dealings with indigenous people throughout all sections of the colonial Australian frontiers. In 1861, there was almost unanimous agreement that the prosecution and hanging in 1838 had been a "judicial murder of white men in Sydney", as government spokesman Robert Ramsay Mackenzie phrased it in the Legislative Assembly on 25 July, with opposition spokesman Arthur Macalister agreeing and equally using the term. A memorial walkway with granite boulders and plaques commemorates the site, which was included on the Australian National Heritage List on 7 June 2008.