Massacre at Malanda

Date: 1 Jan 1890 – 31 Mar 1890
Place: Malanda
Event type: massacre
Direct violence: Yes
Following 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).
Notes:
CorroborationRating: **
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 6

People involved

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Sources

Event mentions

  • Massacre at Malanda
    1 Jan 1890 – 31 Mar 1890 — Malanda — massacre
    Following 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).
    Source: Townsville Daily Bulletin, February 2, 1933, p 10 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61375496; Ramsland, 2019, pp 46-49.