The Mount Cottrell massacre involved the murder of an estimated 10

Wathaurong The Wadawurrung nation, also called the Wathaurong, or Wathaurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong, and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin alliance. The ...

people near Mount Cottrell in the

colony of Victoria The Colony of Victoria was a historical administrative division in Australia that existed from 1851 until 1901, when it federated with other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the southeastern corner of the Australian ...

in 1836, in retaliation for the killing of two European settlers.

Description

On 16 July 1836, a number of

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of a single Wathaurong (previously thought to be possibly Woiworrung) clan were murdered in retaliation for the killing of

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...

Charles Franks and his convict shepherd Thomas Flinders. Estimates of the number of victims vary between 5 and 35, with recent research () by the University of Newcastle's '' Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia, 1788-1930'' database putting the number of dead at 10 Wathawurrung people. Franks, in partnership with George Smith and George Armytage, selected a run near Mount Cottrell, just to the west of where members of the

Port Phillip Association The Port Phillip Association (originally the Geelong and Dutigalla Association) was formally formed in June 1835 to settle land in what would become Melbourne, which the association believed had been acquired by John Batman for the association fr ...

had appropriated their land in the Port Phillip District of New South Wales. Franks had arrived at Point Gellibrand (modern day Williamstown) on 23 June with 500 sheep and had reached the Mount Cottrell area by 2 July. Franks and Smith pitched their tent close to thick bushland "eight miles" from the nearest

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

. Smith left the camp to get supplies from the port. Soon afterwards, Franks and Flinders were visited by five Aboriginal people (two men, two women and a boy). Squatters Armytage and Malcolm discovered the remains of Franks and Flinders near their hut after a period of them being missing. Their bodies had been mutilated. A group of men gathered at Franks’ station to set out to find the murderers, with

Aboriginal tracker Aboriginal trackers were enlisted by Europeans in the years following History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation of Australia, to assist them in exploring the Australian landscape. The excellent tracking skills of these Aboriginal ...

s, including a Bunorong man called

Derrimut Derrimut ( ) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Brimbank Local government area. Derrimut recorded a population of 8,651 at the 2021 census. Derrimut is a ...

. A few days later a group of about 80 natives were tracked down. The party of 17 menHenry Batman, Mr Guy, George Hollins, Michael Leonard, David Pitcairn, Alexander Thomson, William Winberry, John Wood; Aboriginal men Benbow,

, Baitlange (Ben Benger) and Ballyan, and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Aboriginal men Bullett, Stewart and Joe the marine went in search of the perpetrators, armed with

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

s. They tracked a group of about 80 Aboriginal people ''...at no great distance from where the bloody deeds were perpetrated...'' and watched them during the evening. At dawn, the party attacked from about , firing on the group, resulting in the death of many Aboriginal people. Some early media reports of the incident stated that 5 Aboriginal people were killed, while according to Aboriginal

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

, there were 35 victims. 21st-century research by the University of Newcastle suggests that ten were killed. ''

The Cornwall Chronicle ''The Cornwall Chronicle'' was a newspaper published in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Austral ...

'' (published in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

) reported a few days later that the party had succeeded in "annihilating them".

Aftermath

Media at the time were divided, as the "Colony has to deplore the loss of one of its brightest ornaments". Some championed the revenge:

The barbarous murders of Mr. Franks and his shepherd, have been, in some degree, revenged, which, we trust, will be a warning to the natives, not in future to commit wanton excesses upon our countrymen.

Others were critical of the lawless nature of the killing. The Tasmanian ''

Colonial Times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

'' editorialised:

This will not end here - a tribe swept off from the face of the earth so illegally - so diabolically - will require retributive justice. Good heaven! Is a whole community to be murdered in cold blood for the offence of three? - This is indeed visiting the sins of the father upon the children. Every human being, save the Port Philip jobbers, will look with horror on such proceedings; and this very act alone ought to destroy the settlement.

Newly appointed Port Phillip Magistrate William Lonsdale landed at Point Gellibrand months later (around late September 1836) to formalise the settlement of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, after which he undertook an investigation into the incident. Party members were interviewed and admitted firing on the Aboriginal group, but said that they were unaware if any were wounded. The event was notable at the time, as Franks was the first free settler to be killed (convicts had been killed previously) in frontier violence in new European colony of Port Phillip. The reprisal raid foreshadowed similar conflict that would take place across Victoria's western district.

Description

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading