Massacre at Bellinger River

Date: 1 Jun 1841 – 10 Jun 1841
Place: Bellinger River
Event type: massacre
Direct violence: Yes
When Major Oakes, Crown Lands Commissioner for the Clarence McLeay Pastoral District, and a party of mounted field police were returning from the Clarence River to Head Quarters at Kempsey in June 1841, they reported that they were attacked by a large group of Aboriginal people (Bundjalung) and, in self-defence, they killed and wounded 20 of them. A Government Inquiry was proposed (Sydney Herald, 19 July, 1841, p 2), but if it was held, there is no extant report.
Notes:
CorroborationRating: *
LanguageGroup: Gumbaynggirr
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 20

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Sources

Event mentions

  • Massacre at Bellinger River
    1 Jun 1841 – 10 Jun 1841 — Bellinger River — massacre
    When Major Oakes, Crown Lands Commissioner for the Clarence McLeay Pastoral District, and a party of mounted field police were returning from the Clarence River to Head Quarters at Kempsey in June 1841, they reported that they were attacked by a large group of Aboriginal people (Bundjalung) and, in self-defence, they killed and wounded 20 of them. A Government Inquiry was proposed (Sydney Herald, 19 July, 1841, p 2), but if it was held, there is no extant report.
    Source: Sydney Herald, July 19, 1841, 2. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12870072