Massacre at Perth Area

Date: 1 Apr 1833 – 1 Sep 1833
Place: Perth Area
Event type: massacre
Direct violence: Yes
In September 1833 an article appeared in the Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal (September 7, 1833, p 142), describing how Noongar leaders Migo and Munday expressed a desire to meet with Noongar interpreter Methodist Missionary Francis Armstrong. Armstrong and the pair could converse sufficiently to come to an explanation that the Noongar people 'wished to come to an amicable treaty with us, and were desirous to know whether the white people would shoot any more of their black people. Being assured that the white people would not, they proceeded to give the names of all the black men of the tribes in this immediate neighbourhood who had been killed [Names not included in article], with a description of the places where they were shot, and the persons who shot them. The number amounted to sixteen, killed, and nearly twice as many wounded; indeed it is supposed, that few have escaped uninjured...They seemed perfectly aware that it was our intention to shoot them if they "quippled"���committed theft, they said then no more white men would be speared' (The Perth Gazette September 7, 1833, p 142).
Notes:
CorroborationRating: *
LanguageGroup: Whadjuk Noongar
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 16

People involved

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Sources

Event mentions

  • Massacre at Perth Area
    1 Apr 1833 – 1 Sep 1833 — Perth Area — massacre
    In September 1833 an article appeared in the Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal (September 7, 1833, p 142), describing how Noongar leaders Migo and Munday expressed a desire to meet with Noongar interpreter Methodist Missionary Francis Armstrong. Armstrong and the pair could converse sufficiently to come to an explanation that the Noongar people 'wished to come to an amicable treaty with us, and were desirous to know whether the white people would shoot any more of their black people. Being assured that the white people would not, they proceeded to give the names of all the black men of the tribes in this immediate neighbourhood who had been killed [Names not included in article], with a description of the places where they were shot, and the persons who shot them. The number amounted to sixteen, killed, and nearly twice as many wounded; indeed it is supposed, that few have escaped uninjured...They seemed perfectly aware that it was our intention to shoot them if they "quippled"���committed theft, they said then no more white men would be speared' (The Perth Gazette September 7, 1833, p 142).
    Source: Perth Gazette and West Australian Journal, September 7, 1833, p 142 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/641889/148