Some Wiradjuri shot
In April 1820, Charles Throsby wrote to Governor Macquarie from his home, ‘Glenfield’, south of Sydney, requesting urgent military action in the ‘New Country’. He had received letters that he felt it necessary to send to the governor, which showed ‘the people are much alarmed at the natives’. He hoped ‘their fears are greater than their real danger’ and that the few ‘natives named as being at the head’ of events were the real issue. Throsby feared there were ‘a large collection of natives there, particularly those belonging to the western river’, who were ‘headed by Murrah-Murrah, who will never cease to be troublesome as long as he exists’. Throsby found that ‘some natives had been shot’ and this may have ‘exasperated them’. But before he had gone very far, somewhere near present-day Bargo, south of Sydney, Throsby ‘met with some of the very men who was accused as ringleaders’ and found ‘proofs of the total want of foundation for the shameful reports received’ and of the ‘cowardly conduct of the white people’. While it remains unclear what occurred, it seems that ‘some natives’ had been killed and some ‘white people’ then spread word the Europeans were under threat from Murrah-Murrah and his warriors.
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Sources
- Throsby to Macquarie, rc’d 30 April 1820, SRNSW, 9/2743, p. 139; Throsby to Macquarie, May 3 1820, SRNSW, 9/2743, p. 143–44. The Lachlan River was known as the ‘western river’, but it is unclear who Murrah-Murrah was and from which area. Murundah of the Burra Burra may well have been known to Throsby by this point. It seems he meant the ‘ringleaders’ were Aboriginal people who had travelled east and met him at Bargo.
Event mentions
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Some Wiradjuri shot1 Mar 1820 – 30 Apr 1820 — Bathurst regionIn April 1820, Charles Throsby wrote to Governor Macquarie from his home, ‘Glenfield’, south of Sydney, requesting urgent military action in the ‘New Country’. He had received letters that he felt it necessary to send to the governor, which showed ‘the people are much alarmed at the natives’. He hoped ‘their fears are greater than their real danger’ and that the few ‘natives named as being at the head’ of events were the real issue. Throsby feared there were ‘a large collection of natives there, particularly those belonging to the western river’, who were ‘headed by Murrah-Murrah, who will never cease to be troublesome as long as he exists’. Throsby found that ‘some natives had been shot’ and this may have ‘exasperated them’. But before he had gone very far, somewhere near present-day Bargo, south of Sydney, Throsby ‘met with some of the very men who was accused as ringleaders’ and found ‘proofs of the total want of foundation for the shameful reports received’ and of the ‘cowardly conduct of the white people’. While it remains unclear what occurred, it seems that ‘some natives’ had been killed and some ‘white people’ then spread word the Europeans were under threat from Murrah-Murrah and his warriors.Source: Throsby to Macquarie, rc’d 30 April 1820, SRNSW, 9/2743, p. 139; Throsby to Macquarie, May 3 1820, SRNSW, 9/2743, p. 143–44. The Lachlan River was known as the ‘western river’, but it is unclear who Murrah-Murrah was and from which area. Murundah of the Burra Burra may well have been known to Throsby by this point. It seems he meant the ‘ringleaders’ were Aboriginal people who had travelled east and met him at Bargo.