Massacre at Geike Gorge, West Kimberley (2)

Date: 13 Dec 1894 – 26 Dec 1894
Place: Geike Gorge, West Kimberley (2)
Event type: massacre
Direct violence: Yes
In one of the police actions following the death of PC Richardson in November 1894, PC Richard Henry Pilmer went on patrol into Geikie Gorge on 13 December that year 'and according to his record of events, by 26 December had killed anywhere between seven and twenty people' (Owen 2016, p. 316). '[Inspector William] Lawrence's telegram to [Commissioner of Police George] Philips recorded a death toll of seventeen, four being prisoners who had escaped when PC Richardson was murdered' (Owen 2016, p 317).
Notes:
CorroborationRating: ***
LanguageGroup: Bunuba
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 17

People involved

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Sources

Event mentions

  • Massacre at Geike Gorge, West Kimberley (2)
    13 Dec 1894 – 26 Dec 1894 — Geike Gorge, West Kimberley (2) — massacre
    In one of the police actions following the death of PC Richardson in November 1894, PC Richard Henry Pilmer went on patrol into Geikie Gorge on 13 December that year 'and according to his record of events, by 26 December had killed anywhere between seven and twenty people' (Owen 2016, p. 316). '[Inspector William] Lawrence's telegram to [Commissioner of Police George] Philips recorded a death toll of seventeen, four being prisoners who had escaped when PC Richardson was murdered' (Owen 2016, p 317).
    Source: WAPD, 'Capture of Wild Natives in the Oscar and Barrier Ranges', 26 January 1895, SROWA, Cons. 430, File 3548/1897. See telegram from Inspector Lawrence to Commissioner of Police, January 5, 1895; West Australian, January 8, 1895, p 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3071337/810682; Western Mail, January 12, 1895, p 13 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33111918; Owen, 2016, pp 315-316.