Myall Creek massacre - June 10, 1838

On this day in 1838, the Myall Creek Massacre occurred in New South Wales. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi everyone, Welcome to This Day in History Class,
where we uncover the remnants of history every day. Today
is June tenth. The day was June tenth the will

(00:26):
Ray of roy people, a tribal clan of the Camilli
Roi nation. We're getting ready to have their evening meal
at Mile Creek Station. Just before sunset, a group of
twelve Europeans, including convicts, former convicts, and one colonist, showed
up at the station, armed and massacred at least twenty
eight Aboriginal people. The killings at Mile Creek was one

(00:49):
of many incidences of colonial violence against Aboriginal people by
British colonists, but the trials that followed the massacre marked
the first time British subjects were executed from massacring Aboriginal
people in New South Wales. At the time of the
Mile Creek massacre, British law stated that killing Aboriginal people

(01:09):
was a crime, but as Aboriginal people and colonists clashed
over europeans increasing presents and use of land and resources,
violence became common. Aboriginal people fought against the incursion of
colonists and the state sanctioned attacks against Aboriginal people. On
January thirty eight, for example, Major James Nunn, the commander

(01:32):
of the New South Wales Mounted Police, along with some
soldiers in Stockman massacred more than fifty Aboriginal people at
Waterloo Creek. The Warray of Roy people had suffered many
losses as a result of the conflict between Aboriginal people
in Europeans. Fleeing frontier violence, they decided to camp on
Henry Dangar's property at Mile Creek Station, which was near

(01:54):
present day Bingara. The Worray of Roy assisted Stockman and
in Exchange, where detected from violence. But on June normal
operations at the station were interrupted when the group of convicts,
ex convicts and the colonists led by John Fleming, showed
up with weapons. Stockman, George Anderson and Charles Killmeister, as

(02:18):
well as two Aboriginal men, were attending the station. About
thirty Aboriginal people fled to the Stockmen's huts, while two
boys escaped by jumping into a creek. The attackers tied
up the Wearray of Why people and took them from
their campsite. Though several women and girls were separated from
the group and taken elsewhere. Kill Meister joined the attackers

(02:40):
while Anderson attempted to help an Aboriginal girl and woman.
The Weraya Why people were taken to a stockyard and killed,
and their bodies were dismembered and burned. People who committed
massacres of Aboriginal people were rarely punished. In fact, many
colonists thought that Europeans should not be punished for killing

(03:02):
Aboriginal people, but the proceedings that would follow the Mile
Creek massacre sat a judicial precedent. Station manager William Hobbs,
police Superintendent Thomas Foster, and colonists Frederick Foote reported the
massacre and Governor and George Gibbs sent police Magistrate Edward
Denny Day to investigate the crime. After taking depositions from

(03:25):
nineteen witnesses, Day arrested eleven of the twelve people who
had committed the massacre. The free colonist John Fleming managed
to get away the convicts, and ex convicts who had
perpetrated the murders were sent to Sydney for trial. The
first trial began on November thirty eight at the New

(03:46):
South Wales Supreme Court. It was presided over by Chief
Justice Sir James Dowling, and there were twelve Colonists on
the jury. The Aboriginal man named yante in Ten, who
witnessed the killings, could not testify by in court because
he was not Christian, so he could not swear to
his evidence. In the end, the jury found the eleven

(04:07):
defendants not guilty of committing murder at Mile Creek, but
Attorney General John Plunkett was not satisfied with that verdict,
so they went to a second trial. Plunkett split up
the defendants, hoping they would tell in each other. Seven
of the defendants were tried by Judge William Burton. They
were found guilty and they were hanged in December at

(04:29):
the George Street Jail. The remaining four defendants were set
to go to trial as well. This time was Yanayanten
as an eyewitness as he had been introduced to Christianity.
But yanta Inten was never seen again and the rest
of the murderers walked free. After the trials, Colonists expressed

(04:49):
more anger at the executions of the Europeans than the
killings of the Aboriginal people, and they continue to massacre
Aboriginal people, though the but who committed the murders did
not publicize them as proudly and took measures to cover
them up. Even though there was a reward for Flemming's capture,
he was able to reintegrate into society and never faced trial.

(05:14):
One of the people who committed the massacre and got
off free died by suicide, and William Hobbs, who reported
the crime, lost his job with Dangar. Today there's a
memorial site in service at Mile Creek. I'm Eve Jefco
and hopefully you know a little more about history today
than you did yesterday. But if you still don't know enough,

(05:36):
you can listen to another show I host called Unpopular.
Un Popular is a podcast about people in history who
challenged the status quo and we're sometimes persecuted for it.
You can listen anywhere you get this day in History class.
You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at
t d i h C podcast. Thanks again for listening

(06:02):
and we'll see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from My
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