Raid and burning of hut at Mr Jenkins run
In a planned ambush warriors speared and tomahawked a hut keeper at Mrs Jenkins, plundered and burned the hut. 'The blacks have recently done a deal of mischief since the murder of a hut-keeper of Mrs Jenkin's. This man's murder was very coolly planned and perpetrated, viz.—they lay in ambush until the man went to milk his cows, and then threw six spears at him, which went through his body; they afterwards mangled his body with tomahawks, and then plundered the hut, and set fire to it.' (The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser, May 11, 2025 p2)
Police Magistrate Hardy reported to the Colonial Secretary that the killing of Jenkins's servant happened not at 'Bangus' but 40miles downstream. This would be somewhere near Wagga Wagga. However, Jenkins is indicated as owning a station at Buckenbong, further down river near Narrandera, so this is likely the place meant. The report gave a description of a Wiradjuri resistance leader known to colonists as 'Brian Boru', named after a legendary Irish king:
'a well known Tribe of Blacks indigenous to that neighbourhood were known to have been on the spot
on the morning of the murder as well as for several days previously; that amongst them was a very
remarkable Black known by the name of "Brian Boru", who, amongst other peculiarities, has a foot
of very great length (14 inches at least, and of proportionate breadth); that the marks of this foot
were distinctly seen on the ashes of the Hut and round about by several persons the same day the
murder was committed; that this Tribe have not made their appearance since in the neighbourhood,
but are known to have gone farther down the River; and, lastly, that, owing to the great scarcity of
water, the Tribe in question are, in his opinion, certainly to be met with on its Banks, and at no great
distance.' (Hardy to Thomas, 18/01/1839)
Colonists who later captured warriors at Wamber Tumber Gap blamed one of them known as 'Buonaparte' for the killing of Jenkins's servant. It's not clear if there were two warriors, both blamed for the murder, or one warrior known by two names to colonists.
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Event mentions
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Raid and burning of hut at Mr Jenkins run13 Feb 1839 — Buckenbong
In a planned ambush warriors speared and tomahawked a hut keeper at Mrs Jenkins, plundered and burned the hut. 'The blacks have recently done a deal of mischief since the murder of a hut-keeper of Mrs Jenkin's. This man's murder was very coolly planned and perpetrated, viz.—they lay in ambush until the man went to milk his cows, and then threw six spears at him, which went through his body; they afterwards mangled his body with tomahawks, and then plundered the hut, and set fire to it.' (The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser, May 11, 2025 p2)
Police Magistrate Hardy reported to the Colonial Secretary that the killing of Jenkins's servant happened not at 'Bangus' but 40miles downstream. This would be somewhere near Wagga Wagga. However, Jenkins is indicated as owning a station at Buckenbong, further down river near Narrandera, so this is likely the place meant. The report gave a description of a Wiradjuri resistance leader known to colonists as 'Brian Boru', named after a legendary Irish king:
'a well known Tribe of Blacks indigenous to that neighbourhood were known to have been on the spot
on the morning of the murder as well as for several days previously; that amongst them was a very
remarkable Black known by the name of "Brian Boru", who, amongst other peculiarities, has a foot
of very great length (14 inches at least, and of proportionate breadth); that the marks of this foot
were distinctly seen on the ashes of the Hut and round about by several persons the same day the
murder was committed; that this Tribe have not made their appearance since in the neighbourhood,
but are known to have gone farther down the River; and, lastly, that, owing to the great scarcity of
water, the Tribe in question are, in his opinion, certainly to be met with on its Banks, and at no great
distance.' (Hardy to Thomas, 18/01/1839)
Colonists who later captured warriors at Wamber Tumber Gap blamed one of them known as 'Buonaparte' for the killing of Jenkins's servant. It's not clear if there were two warriors, both blamed for the murder, or one warrior known by two names to colonists.