Massacre at Glennies Creek

Date: 1 Sep 1826
Place: Glennies Creek
Event type: massacre
Direct violence: Yes
The massacre was carried out on the Wonnarua people on the evening of 1 September 1826. The massacre was in reprisal for fifteen Wonnarua men of 'the neighbourhood of Glenny's Creek' killing two convict workers Henry Cottle and Morty Kernan on 28 August 1826, at the hut of Richard Alcorn who was overseer of Capt. Robert Lethbridge's Bridgman Estate, Fal Brook, near Ravensworth in the Hunter Valley (The Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, 9 Sep 1826 p 3). Magistrate Robert Scott led a party of 14 (five mounted police, four convict stockmen and four Aboriginal trackers, all armed) that pursued and 'came suddenly upon' an Aboriginal camp in the evening of 1 September 1826. They killed at least 18 Wonnarua people and wounded more. (The Australian September 23, 1826, p 3). Governor Darling enclosed Scott's report of the massacre in his dispatch November 1826, ML A 1197, vol.8, p.344. Historian Mark Dunn provides the most recent account of the massacre (Dunn 2020, 167-171).
Cotter argues that James Bowman's Ravensworth Estate, neighbouring Lethbridge's, was the 'epicentre' of conflict in the region (Cotter, 2022 p 4).
Notes:
CorroborationRating: ***
LanguageGroup: Wonnarua
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 18

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Sources

Event mentions

  • Massacre at Glennies Creek
    1 Sep 1826 — Glennies Creek — massacre
    The massacre was carried out on the Wonnarua people on the evening of 1 September 1826. The massacre was in reprisal for fifteen Wonnarua men of 'the neighbourhood of Glenny's Creek' killing two convict workers Henry Cottle and Morty Kernan on 28 August 1826, at the hut of Richard Alcorn who was overseer of Capt. Robert Lethbridge's Bridgman Estate, Fal Brook, near Ravensworth in the Hunter Valley (The Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, 9 Sep 1826 p 3). Magistrate Robert Scott led a party of 14 (five mounted police, four convict stockmen and four Aboriginal trackers, all armed) that pursued and 'came suddenly upon' an Aboriginal camp in the evening of 1 September 1826. They killed at least 18 Wonnarua people and wounded more. (The Australian September 23, 1826, p 3). Governor Darling enclosed Scott's report of the massacre in his dispatch November 1826, ML A 1197, vol.8, p.344. Historian Mark Dunn provides the most recent account of the massacre (Dunn 2020, 167-171).
    Cotter argues that James Bowman's Ravensworth Estate, neighbouring Lethbridge's, was the 'epicentre' of conflict in the region (Cotter, 2022 p 4).
    Source: The Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, 9 Sep 1826 p 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2186503; The Australian, September 16, 1826, p2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37072221, and September 23, 1826, p3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/4248925; NSW Governors' Despatches ML A1197, vol. 8, p344; Dunn 2020, pp167-171; Cotter, 2022 https://www.ipcn.nsw.gov.au/resources/pac/media/files/pac/projects/2022/02/glendell-continued-operations-project-ssd-9349/public-submissions/general-public-submissions/220328-maria-cotter_redacted.pdf.