 | |
| Date | 10 June 1838 |
|---|---|
| Location | Myall Creek, New South Wales, Australia |
| Outcome |
|
| Deaths | 28+ |
| Accused | John Henry Fleming and 11 assigned convicts |
| Convicted | Charles Kilmeister, James Oates, Edward Foley, John Russell, John Johnstone, William Hawkins, and James Parry |
The Myall Creek massacre was the killing of at least 28 unarmed Aboriginal people in the Colony of New South Wales by eight colonists on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek in the north of the colony.[1][2][3] Seven perpetrators were convicted of murder and hanged.
This was one of the few alleged massacres of Aboriginal people to have been proven in court. After two trials, seven perpetrators of twelve accused were found guilty of murder and sentenced to execution by hanging. Four men were never retried on additional charges following their acquittal in the first trial. The leader of the perpetrators, free settler John Henry Fleming, evaded arrest and was never tried.[2] The trials and guilty verdicts sparked extreme controversy within New South Wales settler society.[1][4][5]
- ^ a b "Myall Creek massacre". National Museum of Australia. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
The remains of at least 28 corpses were later observed at the site, but the final death toll has never been confirmed.
- ^ a b "Myall Creek Massacre and Memorial Site". Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. 25 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013.
- ^ Franks, Rachel (September 2017). "Terry Smyth, Denny Day: The Life and Times of Australia's Greatest Lawman". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ Rogers, Thomas James; Bain, Stephen (3 February 2016). "Genocide and frontier violence in Australia". Journal of Genocide Research. 18 (1): 83–100. doi:10.1080/14623528.2016.1120466. S2CID 147512803.
- ^ Tedeschi, Mark (9 June 2023). "True heroes exposed the Myall Creek massacre. To our shame, we don't know their names". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2023.