Minamurra River Massacre 1818

Contents

Killing fields
Minnamurra River 1818
Evidence?
Elder's account 1988 / 2003
Weston / OBrien case
Timeline
Persons named
Conclusions
References

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Abstract: The author investigated the evidence for the "massacre" of six or seven Australian Aboriginal people ("Natives") at Minnamurra River, New South Wales, on 1 October 1818 (actually 27 September), as identified by Bundle, an Aboriginal informant who had worked with the authorities at the time of the Appin massacre in 1816. It was supposedly carried out by a posse, or vigilante mob, of nine "White Men" led by Lt. William Francis Weston and Cornelius O'Brien. No concrete conclusion can be drawn as to whether a massacre actually occurred on the day, as the subsequent Sydney Bench of Magistrates investigation only heard first-hand evidence from members of the posse and other White Men resident in the area at the time. Their decision therefore came down in favour of no-case to answer on the posse's part. However, Governor Macquarie was less accepting and on 1 November called for the arrest of the convict named McAlese who admitted to shooting a Native. There was a posse; Natives were pursued; and shots were fired. Whether a "massacre" took place remains unclear, and is perhaps unlikely in this instance. The story of the "Minnamurra River massacre" therefore persists in present day Indigenous and non-Indigenous lore, with contemporary records failing to clarify the details with any precision.

[NB: Within this text there is reference to White Men and Natives, as these are the terms used throughout the contemporary accounts from 1818 in reference to the largely British settlers and convicts, and to the local Indigenous / Aboriginal / First Nations people.]

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The next day [28 September 1818] Bundle a Native came and told me that the Natives (Men and Women) at the river were all killed. He said a Black Woman had told him so. (Joseph Wild deposition, Sydney Bench of Magistrates, 24 October 1818.)

1. Killing fields

The massacre of Australian Aboriginal people by Europeans - mostly British - occurred during the first half-century of settlement following the invasion of January 1788 as the First Fleet began the process of setting up a penal colony. This military endeavour brought to the Indigenous population the brutality of the British establishment and its own abused populous in the form of convict men and women. When the Aboriginal people fought back with spears and clubs, they were met with muskets and swords and a disproportionate number of men, women and children killed or maimed. Captain James Cook was the victim of Pacific Islander retaliatory action, having, for example, 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 under his command, supported by free settlers and compliant Aboriginal people, in a war of terror against the local Indigenous population around Sydney and the penal colony. Single killings and whole tribe massacres could involve families or regional groups, and be one-off or part of an on-going program over many months ad years, through to the early twentieth century. Women, children and old people were not excluded, with thousands of innocents suffering dispossession from their traditional lands, exclusion from sustainable food resources, and banning of traditional lore, custom, ceremony and beliefs, alongside language and story telling. Many killings and massacres were never reported, of course, because the British preached justice for all, whether Black or White, without ever putting it into practice. Luckily enough of the killings were recorded to reveal the extent of the problem and for it finally to reach the non-Indigenous public alongside the celebrations of the Bicentennial year of 1988, when authors such as Henry Reynolds revealed the extent of the Australian genocidal experience in books such as The Other Side of the Frontier (Reynolds 1981). They were not necessarily seen as a problem at the time by the invaders, 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, as the Indigenous population was viewed as on a path to natural extinction, while the non-Indigenous populous stood by inactive, Pontius Pilate-like washing their hands of any responsibility and feigning or forcing ignorance of the reality. The killing fields spread across the continent as the free settlers and military regiments expanded out from Botany Bay and Port Jackson. The Illawarra and South Coast of New South Wales was not exempt from the barbarity, the mistreatment, the kidnappings and rapes, and the killings. The following article attempts to clarify the extent to which the incident at the Minnamurra River on 27 September 1818 resulted in harm to the local Native population.

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2. Minamurra River 1818

Minnamurra River

A number of recent (post 1988) reports on the massacres of six or seven Aboriginal people at the Minnamurra River near present day Kiama are known. In the undated Wikipedia List of massacres of Indigenous Australians, there is an item on the so-called Minnamurra River massacre said to have taken place on 1 October 1818 and in the present day memorialized as such. 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 [and] 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.

This summary account is correct in part only. For example, the "attack" took place around 5pm and not "in the early hours of the morning." The Appin massacre of 1816 took place at that time. Cornelius O'Brien was not Weston's overseer, but overseer of a property at nearby Yallah. The event took place on 27 September, not 1 October. Finally, it is unclear whether an "armed clash" occurred, or whether it was purely an attempted attack on a group of people by an armed, vigilante posse. In fact, it suggests that two of the Aboriginal people returned fire in the clash. There is no evidence for this. If there was, it would be the first instance the present writer is aware of where there was a gun fight between White Men and the Indigenous population and Aboriginal people used guns to defend themselves. The problem here is that the source of the above is an article by journalist Rebecca Fist published in the Kiama Independent / Illawarra Mercury newspapers on 6 July 2017, and not based on first-hand, primary source accounts (Fist 2017). In their absence, and in moving away from such sources, the accuracy of the account suffers, and the story enters the realm of mythology rather than true history. This is not to blame the journalist, but rather the compilers of the information used for the story. As the following analysis will show, the picture presented by the sources available was did not enable, in the view of the present writer, the production of a definitive account of what happened.

A second, brief summary account, with reference to sources, is provided 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.)

Within this abbreviated reference three sources are provided - one by the author Bruce Elder in his 1988 / 2003 book Blood on the Wattle; another being an undated and unattributed contemporary report by Constable Joseph Wild; and the third the reference to the Sydney Bench of Magistrates sitting during October 1818. All are elaborated upon in the section below, despite the often imprecise citing of the material therein.

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3. Evidence?

It is noted in the Wikipedia entry for the "Minnamurra River massacre" that a "better source is needed" as the source given is not primary, but secondary. However, from both the Colonial frontier massacres in Australia website and the Elder book, two contemporary sources can be identified:

Depositions to the Sydney Bench, October 24, 1818.
Report by Joseph Wild, District Constable at Illawarra n.d.

A problem arises in confirming these items as the original source is not given. In the Sources document for the Colonial frontier massacres website, the source for both of these references is merely referred to as Court Reports. The present writer was unaware of what this specifically referred to, and was therefore not able to view or check the sources at the commencement of the present research process. It was assumed they would be found in the collections of the Archives Office of New South Wales, or the State Library of New South Wales. Within the Elder book no precise, primary sources were given, apart from what was mentioned within the text, supposedly taken (unattributed) from published sources mentioned in the Further Reading section at the back of the book. There were no footnotes or listing of archival sources.

A fourth recently published report repeats much of the above. It was included in an article from the Black Diamond District Heritage Centre & Museum, Bulli, concerning in part the activities of an early settler in the northern Illawarra,Cornelius O'Brien. The relevant section read as follows:

It has been revealed in 2017 that Cornelius O’Brien had been a central figure in the infamous 1818 Minnamurra Massacre – 1, 2, 3. The 1818 Minnamurra Massacre is listed in the Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia, 1788 – 1930. Apparently the Massacre, and O’Brien’s role in it, was reported to the authorities of the day – viz Depositions to the Sydney Bench, October 24, 1818; Report by Joseph Wild, district constable at Illawarra; Elder 2003: 25-6 see also Bibliography. However, no action was taken against O’Brien.

Arising out of this scan of recent reports on the event, the writer realised that the account provided in the 1988 / 2003 Blood on the Wattle book lay at the heart of them all. A deep dive into that was therefore required.

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4. Elder's account 1988 / 2003

Within Bruce Elder's Blood on the Wattle, chapter 2 is titled Massacres to the south of Sydney. A description of the Appin massacre of 1816 is given, and it is followed by reference to the Minnamurra Massacre of 1818. There is overlap in a number of players associated with both events, including Governor Lachlan Macquarie, Charles Throsby and Joseph Wild. Elder's text therein is rather vague in regard to precise details of the event, though it does provide context and contemporary quotes, following as it does on the Appin massacre of 1816 and related punitive actions by government:

..... Here [Appin 1816] was the governor's troops engaged in legalised massacre. Yet, at the same time, the governor [Lachlan Macquarie] was insisting on the rule of law. How was anyone on the frontier to interpret these contradictory messages? Inevitably the legalised killing by the troops spilled over into private murders. Thus, when Charles Throsby, who was largely responsible for the opening up and development of the South Coast, wrote to Governor Macquarie in [October] 1818 complaining about vigilante action against Aboriginal people at Yallah, south of Wollongong, the governor gave him full support.

In essence, Throsby was complaining about the actions of Lieutenant Weston, the owner of a property at Dapto, south-west of Wollongong, and Cornelius O'Brien, the overseer of William Browne's property at Yallah. According to depositions presented to the Sydney Bench of Magistrates on 24 October 1818 O'Brien and Weston, armed with muskets, cutlasses and bayonets attached to long sticks, and accompanied by a posse made up of seven labourers and convict workers including a man variously known as McLease / McAlese / Macaleise, headed south supposedly to recover two muskets which had been lent to a group of Aboriginal people who were living around the Minnamurra River, north of Kiama. A report submitted from Joseph Wild, a district constable at Illawarra, reveals:

Bundle a Native came and told me that the Natives (Men and Women) at the river were all killed. He said a Black Woman had told him so. It was about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Next day I went over to Mr. O'Brien's and asked him why they had shot the Natives who were doing no harm. Mr McAlese said he had shot one who had howled like a Native Dog, and that he would shoot all before him even if the Governor stood by, if they ship'd a spear at him.

The magistrates, presided over by D'Arcy Wentworth, decided that the case had not been proved and that McAlese 'fired his musket in consequence of the apprehensions excited by a Native having shipped a spear at him.'

Governor Macquarie was furious. He wrote to D'Arcy Wentworth from Government House at Parramatta on 1 November 1818:

... it appears most clearly proved that a Party of White Men headed by Mr. O'Brien, armed for the purpose, proceeded, in hostile array, to attack most wantonly and unprovokedly, the poor unoffending Black Natives of Illawarra, and actually fired on them, it being also proof that one Native Boy was wounded. After much clear proof of those circumstances, I cannot help expressing, and thus conveying to you, Sir, for their information, my surprise, regret, and displeasure, at the Bench of Magistrate treating this wanton attack on the Natives with so much levity and indifference.

Macquarie then ordered Wentworth to issue a warrant for Macaleise's arrest and to have him 'lodged in Sydney jail.'

This was always the problem. Evidence was hard to get, people on the frontier told different versions of the event, the lives of local Aboriginal people were disposable, and no-one ever had the intelligence to try to determine the root cause of the antagonism (Elder 1988 / 2003).

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5. The Weston / O'Brien case

Having researched the Elder material, the present writer realised that much of the original source information was published in his own Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1788-1850 (Organ 1989). Therein it was under the title The O'Brien and Weston Case and not referred to as the Minnamurra Massacre. It is reproduced below, with some amendations.

Cornelius O’Brien & Lt. Weston’s Vigilante Action Against lllawarra Aborigines

8 October 1818: Charles Throsby writes to Governor Macquarie complaining about the action of Cornelius O’Brien (overseer on William Browne’s property at Yallah) and Lt. Weston (owner of a property later called West Horsley near Dapto) in leading a vigilante action against some lllawarra Aborigines. The matter is subsequently investigated by the Sydney Bench of Magistrates, though no action is taken against any White Male perpetrators.

The O’Brien & Weston Case

24 October 1818: The Sydney Bench of Magistrates, led by D’Arcy Wentworth, investigates charges against Cornelius O’Brien and Lt Weston re their abuse, and possible murder of Aborigines at lllawarra {Source: Wentworth Papers, Mitchell Library, A753, CY699, pp.243-252}:

New South Wales: Before D’Arcy Wentworth Esqre. Magistrate of the Territory and others. His fellows Justices assigned to keep the Peace

John Stewart Stock keeper to Mr George Johnston sworn saith on the 27th of September or thereabouts Mr O’Brien and Mr Weston and several others came to the Hut in which I live, to inquire after the Natives. Mr O’Brien and Mr Weston were armed with Muskets some others of the party were armed with Cutlasses and Bayonets, or long sticks. They said they came to get back some fire arms which Mr O’Brien had lent the Natives = Two Muskets = They said they were not going to hurt them but merely to recover their fire arms.

I accompanied them in search of the Natives. We saw no Native men but the Native Women who, as soon as they saw us coming, ran away. One of the Women left her Child behind. I brought it away with me, and another Child followed me Home. Mr O’Brien returned Home in the afternoon and the Natives then returned also. They said they were very much frightened. While I was with Mr O’Brien as aforesaid I heard two shots fired and another was fired by his Party on their return home. I never heard from the Natives that any one of them was injured or wounded; nor do I believe that any Person was hurt by Mr O’Brien or any of his Party. The Natives have since returned to their usual places and their accustomed habits.

I have heard the Natives say that sometimes Mr O’Brien is a good Man and that sometimes he beats them. Mr O’Brien’s Muskets were brought to my House the Day after this transaction by five or six Natives.

Sworn before us this 24th day Octr 1818
Signed John Stewart

Joseph Wild, District Constable at lllawarra, sworn saith on the 26th of Septr. William Richards alias Charcoal Will came to my Hut and asked me to lend my two muskets. He said Mr O’Brien had sent him, for that the Natives were "very savage". He said that nobody had seen them (only their smokes). I said as they had done no Damage I would neither go myself nor lend my Muskets. The next day Bundle a Native came and told me that the Natives (Men and Women) at the river [?Minamurra] were all killed, he said a Black Woman had told him so. It was about 5 o’clock in the afternoon. Next day I went over to Mr O’Brien’s and asked him why they had shot the Natives who were doing no harm.

McAlese said he had shot one who had howled like a Native Dog, and that he would shoot all before him even if the Governor stood by, if they ship’d a spear at him. I asked Mr O’Brien why he went after the Natives with Muskets and Cutlasses and Bayonets stuck on long sticks, he said he went to get his Muskets back. He said he saw no Black Men only Women. McLese said he had seen only two or three. The Black Women said that one little Boy was shot in the forehead with a slug. I have ascertained that no Person else was hurt, nor have I seen the Boy that was wounded. In about a week they returned to their usual habits and residences. I have heard the Blacks say that Mr O’Brien was not good sometimes, because he would not give them Patta [food]. I heard from a Black woman that McLease had fired at the Blacks. The Boy was a Native of Mine Mura.

Sworn before us same day Signed Joseph x Wild

Joseph Wild further saith that Mr O’Brien said his object in sending for me was that I should use my influence with the Natives to recover the Muskets.

John McArthy sworn saith. I was one of the Party who accompanied Mr O’Brien in search of the Natives. We left Mr O’Brien’s soon after breakfast. There were Mr O’Brien, Mr Weston and about seven others. The chief part of us had Muskets, there were two cutlasses and one Bayonet fix’d on a long stick. We went to Stewart's Hut and from thence to Mr Johnstons Meadow where we fell in with a few Natives, Men, Woman and Children "about five or six" when they saw us they ran away. Mr O’Brien called to them to come as usual instead of which they ran off. We followed them to try if we could find where the Muskets were, and whether the Natives intended to do us any harm. As I was the best runner I caught a woman and told her we only came to get the Muskets back from Phillip. She said "there is Phillip". Mr O’Brien and Charcoal Will then came up and we let the Woman go and a Child the Woman left behind was brought up to her by either Charcoal Will or Mr O’Brien. We pursued Phillip and the other Natives but they got away from us.

On our return home our party separated. Soon after I heard a shot fired. We went towards the place and found McLease and Charcoal Will and another man. McLease said that a Native had ship’d a spear and he had fired at him. The Woman who ran away was so alarmed that she left her child and called for the Natives to assist her. I do not think that any of the Natives were either killed or wounded on that day. On our return home Mr O’Brien fired at some Parrots on a tree and said he was going to shoot Bucks. The Natives were not friendly for about a fortnight, it might not be more than four or five days. They have now returned to their old habits.

I think Mr O’Brien behaves as well to the Natives as he does to his Government Men. In consequence of a Rumour that some White Men are to be sent to the Coal River [Newcastle] on their account they have got saucy again. Two days after the muskets were returned, the Blacks returned to Mr O’Briens House and were well fed.

Sworn before us same day
Signed John x McArthy
Signed S. Lord, D.Wentworth
R. Brooks

William Richards (alias Charcoal Will) sworn saith I have seen the Boy who was wounded in the Head and he told me that he had been shot by Phillip who was shooting at a Kangaroo and the shot having been extracted the Boy is as well as ever. In three or four days the Natives returned to Mr O’Briens as usual and have continued on friendly terms, ever since. I left ‘Frying Pan Jack’ at Mr O’Briens in the Five Islands. He refused to come to Sydney with us. He is on the most friendly terms with Mr O’Briens family.

Signed The mark of William x Richards
(als) Charcoal Will

I confirm the preceeding Depositions which I have heard read, in all the other particulars.

Sworn before us same day
(Signd) D.Wentworth
S.Lord
R. Brooks
A True Copy
D. Wentworth J. P.

The Magistrates having carefully investigated the allegations contained in Mr Throsby’s letter of the 8th October addressed to His Excellency the Governor, are of opinion that the same have not been proved, farther than that Messrs. O’Brien and Weston appear to have acted with great indiscretion in going in search of the natives, Armed and Attended as they were. The Magistrates are further of opinion that McAIese fired his Musket in consequence of the apprehensions excited by a Native having shipped his Spear at him.

D. Wentworth, J.P.
Court Room October 24 1818

Macquarie’s Displeasure re O’Brien & Weston Case

1 November 1818: Governor Macquarie writes to D’Arcy Wentworth, head of the Sydney Bench of Magistrates, expressing surprise, regret, and displeasure at the Sydney Bench’s treatment of the O’Brien - Weston case with so much levity and indifference, and calling on further action to be taken {Wentworth Papers, Mitchell Library, A753, CY699, pp.207-209}:

Government House
Parramatta 1st Novr 1818

Sir

I herewith do myself the honor to return you the Depositions taken by the Bench of Magistrates at Sydney relative to the late attack made by Mr O’Brien and certain other white men on the Natives of lllawarra and which you delivered to me yesterday at Sydney for my perusal. I have accordingly perused those Depositions from which it appears most clearly proved that a Party of White Men headed by Mr O'Brien, armed for the purpose, proceeded, in hostile array, to attack most wantonly and unprovokedly, the poor unoffending Black Natives of lllawarra, and actually fired on them, it being also in proof that one Native Boy was wounded.

After much clear proof of those circumstances, I cannot help expressing, and thus conveying to you, Sir, for their information, my surprise, regret, and displeasure, at the Bench of Magistrates treating this wanton attack on the Natives with so much levity and indifference; and as I consider it my indispensible duty to protect those unfortunate Natives from similar acts of outrage and barbarity in future, I most desire that you will issue your Warrant forthwith for the apprehension of the Convict named Macaleise, now in the service of Mr Brown at lllawarra (and whom it is proved fired on the Natives) and have him lodged in Sydney Jail to be afterwards dealt with as I may judge expedient.

I have the Honor to be Sir
Your most obedt. Servt.
L. Macquarie

To D. Wentworth, Supdt. of Police, Sydney

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6. Timeline

The fate of McAlese is unknown, though it is likely he was simply transferred from the district. From this information we can develop the following relevant timeline:

1818

* 26 September - Charcoal Will, an employee of Cornelius O'Brien and former soldier, goes to the hut of Constable Joseph Wild and asks for two muskets. This is done on behalf of O'Brien, because he believes the local Natives are "very savage." Wild refused to lend the muskets. It appears that previous to this O'Brien had given two muskets to one of the Natives known as Phillip.

* 27 September - O'Brien and Weston and others, fully armed, visit the hut of John Stewart inquiring about the whereabouts of the local Natives. They say they are going to retrieve two muskets belonging to O'Brien and in the possession of Phillip. They head south via Mr. Johnston's Meadow [modern-day Albion Park] where they see a party of 6 or 7 Natives, who attempt to run away in fear from the party, leaving two children behind. They pursue the Natives, and capture a woman. They reach the Mine Mura river around 5pm, before turning back. The party fires shots on the day. A young boy is shot in the head. Charcoal Will later states that the boy was shot accidentally by Phillip, whilst attempting to kill a kangaroo. Stewart reports being told that sometimes O'Brien beat the Natives.

* 28 September - Bundle comes to Joseph Wild's hut and tells him that he has been told by a Native woman that all the men and women at the Mine Mura river had been killed the previous day. Bundle had been an Aboriginal informant for the military during Governor Macquarie's campaign against the Natives around Sydney in 1816.

* 29 September - Constable Wild visits O'Brien at Yallah and asks why the party had shot the Natives? The convict McAlese states he shot one, after a spear was thrown at him. He had also previously fired at the Natives.

* 28 September - five or six Natives return the two muskets to the hut of John Stewart, who then supposedly passes them on to O'Brien.

* 30 September - the Natives return to Mr. O'Brien's house at Yallah and are well fed.

* 8 October - After being informed by Joseph Wild on the events of the 27th, Charles Throsby writes to Governor Lachlan Macquarie complaining about the vigilante action led by Weston and O'Brien. Macquarie subsequently orders an investigation.

* 24 October - The Sydney Bench of Magistrates, under Superintendent of Police, D'Arcy Wentworth, hear testimony regarding the incident from: Charcoal Will (William Richards), John Stewart, John McArthy, and Constable Joseph Wild. There were no depositions from Weston or O'Brien or McAlese. The court finds the accusations of a massacre not proven.

* 1 November - Macquarie writes to Wentworth, concerned over the decision of the Bench and calling for the arrest of McAlese. It is unknown if this ever took place.

As far as is known, the incident of the Weston and O'Brien posse was never reported in the limited public media of the day.

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7. Persons named

In the following list, all dates refer to 1818 unless otherwise indicated.

* Bundle (c.1781 - c.1844) - a Native.

* Charcoal Will / William Richards - an old soldier associated with Cornelius O'Brien.

26 September - visits the hut of Constable Wild and asks for two muskets on behalf of Cornelius O'Brien.
28 October - provides a deposition to the Sydney Bench of Magistrates investigation.

* Governor Lachlan Macquarie.

1816 - Macquarie sanctions the Appin massacre and carries out a war and terror campaign against the Natives around Sydney.
8 October - Charles Throsby writes to Macquarie complaining about the Weston & O'Brien vigilante action. The governor subsequently requests an investigation.
1 November - writes to D'Arcy Wentworth requested that convict McAlese be arrested for shoot a Native.

* McAlese (convict) - member of the O'Brien party.

27 September - shoots a male Native.
28 October - provides a deposition to the Sydney Bench of Magistrates investigation.

* John McArthy - member of the O'Brien party.

28 October - provides a deposition to the Sydney Bench of Magistrates investigation.

* Cornelius O'Brien (1796 - 1869) - landowner and overseer.

1815 - arrived Sydney with family. Stayed with uncle William Browne at Appin.
1816 - Overseer at William Browne's Yallah property, Dapto, and at Bulli, Illawarra.
1 October 1818 - participated in the Minnamurra River event.

* Phillip (Moodelong / Mugelong / Mewjalong / Mogelong / Moogolong) - a local Native

27 September 1818 - Phillip is the possessor of two muskets given him by Cornelius O'Brien. On this day a posse of White Men led by O'Brien and Weston pursue a group of local Natives including Phillip in order to retrieve the muskets. The Natives escape, apart from some women and children.
28 September - five or six Natives - likely including Phillip - return the two muskets to the hut of John Stewart, who then supposedly passes them on to O'Brien.
30 September - the Natives return to Mr. O'Brien's house at Yallah and are well fed.
21 May 1834 - according to the Return of Aboriginal Natives at Wollongong on this day, ‘Phillip’ was the Native ‘Moodelong’, aged 30 years.
7 May 1838 - according to the Return of Aboriginal Natives at Wollongong on this day, ‘Phillip’ was the Native ‘Mugelong’, aged 30 years.
1 May 1840 - according to the Return of Aboriginal Natives at Wollongong on this day, ‘Phillip’ was the Native ‘Mogelong’, aged 35 years.

* Charles Throsby (1771 - 1828) - explorer and land owner at Bong Bong

* D'Arcy Wentworth, Superintendent of Police (1962 - 1827)

28 October - chairs the Sydney Bench of Magistrates investigation into the Weston and O'Brien accusations.

* Lt. William Francis Weston (1793 - 1826)

1817 - arrives in Australia with his family.
30 March 1818 - given 500 acre grant at Dapto called West Horsley.
1 October 1818 - participated in the Minnamurra River event.

* Joseph Wild / Wilde (1773 - 1847)

1759 or 1773 - Joseph Wild born.
June 1797 - Wild arrives in Sydney aboard the Ganges as a convict.
August 1810 - obtains Ticket of Leave.
? Assists explorers Lt. Barralier and Robert Brown.
January 1813 - grated Conditional Pardon.
1814 - labourer at Liverpool. Begins working for Charles Throsby.
9 December 1815 - appointed Constable in the District of Five Islands.
1816 - involved in Governor Macquarie's military campaigns against the Aboriginal people around Sydney.
1817 - explores with Throsby the country west of Sutton Forest.
1818 - explores with Throsby to Jervis Bay.
1 October 1818 - Minnamurra River event. Wild later prepared a report which mentioned this event.
5 June 1819 - assigned 100 acres by the Governor in honour of his services in assisting in the explorations of Charles Throsby towards Bathurst, and to whom he was attached as a convict servant.
October 1819 - superintendent of a road gang, comprising 14 convicts. Paid £20 per annum.
1 January to 30 June 1820 - government salary £10.
August 1820 - assists in discovery of Lake George.
October 1820 - Governor Macquarie names Wild's Pass in honour of his work with the gang, in the Cookbundoon Range area.
December 1820 - travels with Throsby towards the Murrumbidgee River.
March 1821 - travels with Throsby towards the Murrumbidgee River, crossing Molonglo and Queanbeyan rivers.
3 March 1821 - appointed Constable in country of Argyle.
April - May 1823 - accompanies Captain Currie and Major Oven in discovery of the Monaro Plains.
3 June 1824 - government grant available at the office of the Surveyor-General.
30 August 1825 - government grant available at the office of the Surveyor-General.
1 October 1827 - Certificate of Freedom granted to Joseph Wild, Grenada (2).
2 April 1828 - after Throsby's death Wild becomes head stockman for Charles Throsby Jnr.
25 May 1847 - death of Joseph Wild, age 88.

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8. Conclusions

It seems from the number of contemporary and first-hand accounts by White Men presented above, and despite the absence of first-hand evidence from Aboriginal people, that the following conclusions - both tentative and confirmed - can be reached:

* The pursuit of a party of Aboriginal people by a posse of White Man from Yallah to Albion Park and Mine Mura [Minnamurra] river did take place on 27 September 1818.

* 6 or 7 Natives were pursued by the armed White Men, according to the testimony of John McArthy.

* The convict McAlese shot a Native who had thrown a spear at him. He had previously shot at Natives.

* A Native boy was shot in the head, possibly by Phillip, the Aboriginal man. He survived.

* There is no evidence that 6 or 7 Natives were killed by the White Man, apart from the account of a Black Woman presented to Aboriginal man Bundle, who in turn took this information to Constable Joseph Wild, from whence it was then passed on to Charles Throsby and Governor Lachlan Macquarie.

* It remains possible that 6 or 7 Natives were killed by the White Men, and that the depositions to the Bench of Magistrates were not the truth.

* In the posse's pursuit of Natives they were specifically after Phillip, who had possession of the muskets. It is noted in a deposition that on the 27th September he and the majority of the Natives escaped from the vigilantes. Phillip / Mugelong was later listed as a recipient of blankets at Wollongong during the 1830s, indicating he had not been killed, if indeed he was the same Phillip. His age in 1834 was given as 30, though this was based on rough estimate by the person recording the distribution of blankets, thus putting him at age 16 around the time of the incident. It is likely / possible that he was older if he had been given muskets by O'Brien, most likely to shoot kangaroo and birds etc. for food. It should also be noted that O'Brien were relatively young at the time - just 22- which may help explain his intemperate aggression towards the local Natives at the time. The more mature Constable Joseph Wild (45) and Charles Throsby () needed to pull him into line.

In summary: There is not enough information available to confirm it either way.

In investigating the evidence for the massacre of six or seven Australian Aboriginal people at Minnamurra River, New South Wales, on 27 September 1818 - not 1 October - as identified by Bundle, a Shoalhaven Aboriginal man, and led by Lt. Weston and Cornelius O'Brien, no concrete conclusion could be reached. The Bench of Magistrate hearing only received evidence from White Men and therefore came down in favour of acquittal. No Aboriginal people from the area were deposed, neither were Cornelius O'Brien or Lt. Weston who led the posse. However, Governor Lachlan Macquarie was less accepting of the decision and called for the arrest of McAlese, one of the convicts involved. Undoubtedly there is suspicion on the part of the present writer in regard to the various depositions and testimony presented to the Bench of Magistrates, and some conflict. Also, the evidence of previous abuse of Aboriginal people by O'Brien and McAlese supports the Bundle account. What remains open to question is: Why would the White Men take such punitive action against the local Aboriginal people? Was if fear, contempt, or racism, or some other form of discrimination? We know from evidence outside of the Illawarra and throughout the century that all were present amongst the non-Indigenous population, and able to be put into effect without penalty. Once again the failings of the British legal system were exposed in this case. There was no justice for the Aboriginal people, who the court did not allow to engage with due to their "pagan" status and inability to therefore swear upon a bible. There could be no justice whilst ever the information brought before the court was so one-sided and not subject to normal critical assessment or cross-examination. Of course, the failure to carry-out an onsite investigation lay at the heart of this failure. From a reading of the depositions it may seem that (1) no Natives were killed, and (2) a couple of days after the so-called massacre, the people who were supposed to have been massacred were, in fact, at the Cornelius O'Brien Yallah property being fed and carrying on as though nothing happened. Of course we know that something happened, but precisely what remains a mystery. Perhaps within the Indigenous community more precise information about that day in 1818 has been handed down and can bring us closer to the truth.

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9. References

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

Botsman, Peter, Barbarity of our own Countrymen, Academia.edu, Peter Botsman's Working Papers, 27 November 2020.

Browne, J.F.R., A history of William "Merchant" Browne of Abbotsbury and Appin, 1762-1833, Manly, 1975, 86p.

Bundle c.1781 - c.1844, Journeys in Time, Macquarie University, accessed 14 October 2025.

Christian, Kerrie, Bulli - since 1769, Black Diamond District Heritage Centre and Museum, Bulli, accessed 12 October 2025.

Cornelius O'Brien, WikiTree, accessed 9 May 2025.

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

Elder, Bruce, [Minnamurra River massacre] in Blood on the Wattle: Massacres and maltreatment of Aboriginal Australian since 1788, 1st edition 1988 / 3rd edition, New Holland Press, April 2003, pp.25-6.

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

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

King, N.S., Cornelius O'Brien" Pioneer of Bulli, Illawarra Historical Society, Wollongong, 1965, 18p; reprinted 1980, 28p.

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

Lorenzo, Thomas, Love of Life - The Minnamurra River, Thomas Lorenzo Music, accessed 12 October 2025.

-----, Love of Life #6 Ancestral Wisdom [instrumental song], Ecopathways - Culture - Nature - Community, 26 October 2023, YouTube, duration: 4.25 minutes.

Lt. William Francis Weston (1793 - 1826), WikiTree, accessed 12 October 2025.

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

Minnamurra River massacre, Wikipedia, accessed 12 October 2025.

Organ, Michael, Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770 - 1850, Aboriginal Education Unit, University of Wollongong, 1989, 640p.

-----, Appin Massacre 1816 - Australia's first officially sanctioned massacre of Aboriginal people, blogger.com, 7 April 2016.

Parsons, Vivienne, Joseph Wild, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University, Canberra, volume 2, 1967.

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

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

Scott, Peter, Cornelius Neal O'Brien and Henry O'Brien, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University, Canberra, volume 3, 1967.

The Minnamurra Massacre, Kiama Library, accessed 12 October 2025.

Wentworth, D'Arcy, Wentworth Papers, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, A753, microfilm reel CY699, pp.207-209.

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Last updated: 14 October 2025

Michael Organ, Australia

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