Minamurra River Massacre 1818

Aboriginal massacres: Appin massacre 1816 | Canabygal - Dharawal Chief | Governor Macquarie's War 1816 | Minamurra River 1818 |

Contents

1. Killing fields
2. Minamurra River 1818
3. Evidence
4. References

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Abstract: The author investigates the evidence for the massacre of Australian Aboriginal people at Minamurra River, New South Wales, on 1 October 1818.

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Bundle, a Native came and told me that the Natives (Men and Women) at the river were all killed (Joseph Wild, n.d.) 

1. Killing fields

The massacre of Australian Aboriginal people by Europeans - mostly British - was relative common during the first half-century of settlement following the invasion of January 1788 and the arrival of the First Fleet to set up a penal colony. This was a military endeavour and the brutality of the British establishment at the time was well-known, especially the mistreatment of Indigenous populations by their military forces. Captain James Cook was the victim of retaliatory action, having engaged in his own massacre of New Zealand Maori prior to his arrival in Australia in April 1770. Governor Lachlan Macquarie officially sanctioned the Appin massacre of 1816 and opened the floodgates to actions by the military and free settlers against the local Indigenous population. As the latter often retaliated, the retribution by the authorities and free settlers - many ex-convicts - was usually disproportionate, especially when gun came up against spears. Massacres could involve family or tribal groups, or part of an on-going program over many months. Many were never reported, though enough were to reveal the extent of the problem - though they were not necessarily seen as a problem at the time as few of the perpetrators were ever brought before the courts and brought to justice. British justice largely bypassed the Australian Aboriginal people during the first century of settlement.

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2. Minamurra River 1818

In the Wikipedia List of massacres of Indigenous Australians, a Minamurra River massacre on 1 October 1818 is noted. In the entry for that event the following summary is presented:

On 1 October 1818, approximately six Wodiwodi people were killed in a clash with nine settlers from the Colony of New South Wales along the Minamurra River in the Illawarra, New South Wales.The settlers claimed to have been attempting to recover two muskets which had been lent to some of the Aboriginal people which escalated into an armed clash. Local Dapto property owner, William Frederick Weston, his site overseer, Cornelius O'Brien, along with seven unknown convicts and labourers approached an Aboriginal campsite in the early hours of the morning, armed with muskets, swords and knives attached to long sticks. An armed clash resulted.

The source is given as an article by journalist Rebecca Fist published in the Kiama Independent / Illawarra Mercury newspapers on 6 July 2017 - the bicentennial anniversary of the event (Fist 2017). A second summary is given at the Colonial frontier massacres in Australia website, as follows:

Lt Weston, owner of a property at Dapto, Cornelius O'Brien, overseer of William Browne's property at Yallah and seven labourers and convict workers, attacked an Aboriginal campsite and fired muskets at them (Elder 2003, pp25-6).

'Bundle, a Native came and told me that the Natives (Men and Women) at the river were all killed.' (Wild n.d.)

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2. Evidence?

It is noted in the Wikipedia entry for the massacre that a "better source is needed" as the source given is not primary, but secondary. However, in the Colonial frontier massacres in Australia website, two sources are given:

1. Depositions to the Sydney Bench, October 24, 1818, Court Reports (?).
2. Report by Joseph Wild, District Constable at Illawarra n.d., Court Reports (?).

However, in the Sources document for the website, the source for both of these references is merely given as Court Reports. The present writer is unaware of what this specifically refers to, and is therefore not able to view or check the sources at this point in time. It is likely to assume that they are to be found in the Archives Office of New South Wales, or the State Library of New South Wales.

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References

Beginning of settlement in Wingecarribee - Oxley - Throsby - Wild, The Mail, 5 October 1937.

Depositions to the Sydney Bench, October 24, 1818, (?)Archives Office of New South Wales.

Elder, Bruce, [Minamurra River massacre] in Blood on the Wattle: Massacres and maltreatment of Aboriginal Australian since 1788, 3rd edition, April 2003, pp.25-6.

Fist, Rebecca, "Aboriginal massacre close to home", Kiama Independent / Illawarra Mercury, 6 July 2017.

-----, Kiama Council formally acknowledges 1818 Minamurra massacre, Kiama Independent / Illawarra Mercury, 1 October 2018.

List of massacres of Indigenous Australians, Wikipedia, accessed 12 October 2025.

Mapping the massacres of Australia's colonial frontier, University News, The University of Newcastle, Australia, 5 July 2017.

Minamurra River massacre, Wikipedia, accessed 12 October 2025.

Report by Joseph Wild, District Constable at Illawarra n.d., (?)Archives Office of New South Wales.

Ryan, Lyndall, Minamurra River, South Coast, Colonial frontier massacres in Australia, 1788-1830 [database], University of Newcastle, accessed 12 October 2025.

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Last updated: 12 October 2025

Michael Organ, Australia