Massacre at Biniguy
On the 5th of September, 1839, Edward Denny Day, Police Magistrate of Muswellbrook gave evidence to the Committee on Police and Gaols. He spoke of the country being in a state of warfare and mentioned three massacre sites prior to the massacre at Myall Creek: Vinegar Hill, Slaughterhouse Creek and Gravesend, committed by groups of mounted and armed stockmen:
'It was represented to me, and I believe truly, that the blacks had been repeatedly pursued by parties of mounted and armed stockmen, assembled for the purpose, and that great numbers of them had been killed at various spots, particularly at Vinegar Hill, Slaughter-house Creek, and Gravesend, places so called by the stockmen, in commemoration of the deeds enacted there' (Day, Evidence to Committee on Police and Gaols 5.9.1839, p 224).
Descriptions of the massacre at Slaughterhouse Creek often describe it as an extended expedition of colonists aiming to finding and kill Aboriginal people. The headwaters of Slaughterhouse creek and the mouth of Slaughterhouse Creek, where it joins the Gwydir River at Biniguy, are both mentioned as massacre sites. Since this was an extended expedition it is reasonable to think both of these locations are massacre sites rather than it being one or the other. In Day's evidence, he mentions Vinegar Hill as a separate site to both Slaughterhouse Creek and Gravesend. Gravesend is a site reported by others. In his notes on p 811, Millis suggests 'Vinegar Hill' may be Biniguy or 'Binegar' (Millis, 1992, p 811). The word is phonetically similar, so colonists may have, after the massacre, corrupted the name to associate it with the Vinegar Hill uprising in the early colony of Sydney, named in turn after a battle in the Irish uprising, or Denny Day or the court scribe may simply have misheard it as 'Vinegar'. No other likely location for 'Vinegar Hill' in this region has been identified.
See Slaughterhouse Creek.
'It was represented to me, and I believe truly, that the blacks had been repeatedly pursued by parties of mounted and armed stockmen, assembled for the purpose, and that great numbers of them had been killed at various spots, particularly at Vinegar Hill, Slaughter-house Creek, and Gravesend, places so called by the stockmen, in commemoration of the deeds enacted there' (Day, Evidence to Committee on Police and Gaols 5.9.1839, p 224).
Descriptions of the massacre at Slaughterhouse Creek often describe it as an extended expedition of colonists aiming to finding and kill Aboriginal people. The headwaters of Slaughterhouse creek and the mouth of Slaughterhouse Creek, where it joins the Gwydir River at Biniguy, are both mentioned as massacre sites. Since this was an extended expedition it is reasonable to think both of these locations are massacre sites rather than it being one or the other. In Day's evidence, he mentions Vinegar Hill as a separate site to both Slaughterhouse Creek and Gravesend. Gravesend is a site reported by others. In his notes on p 811, Millis suggests 'Vinegar Hill' may be Biniguy or 'Binegar' (Millis, 1992, p 811). The word is phonetically similar, so colonists may have, after the massacre, corrupted the name to associate it with the Vinegar Hill uprising in the early colony of Sydney, named in turn after a battle in the Irish uprising, or Denny Day or the court scribe may simply have misheard it as 'Vinegar'. No other likely location for 'Vinegar Hill' in this region has been identified.
See Slaughterhouse Creek.
Notes:
CorroborationRating: *
LanguageGroup: Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi/Gomeroi)
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 20
CorroborationRating: *
LanguageGroup: Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi/Gomeroi)
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 20
People involved
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Sources
- Reece 1974, p.34; Telfer, 1980;Day, Letter to Colonial Secretary, 31 July 1838, SRNSW CSO CSR 38/9458; Telfer, 1980; Millis 1992, pp 200-3; Day, Letter to Colonial Secretary, 10 September 1838, SRNSW CSO CSR 38/9458; Day, Evidence to Committee on Police and Gaols 5.9.1839, p 224, NSWLC V&P 1839; North West Champion, 20 Oct 1949, p 10 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/184173250;
Event mentions
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Massacre at Biniguy1 May 1838 – 7 May 1838 — Biniguy — massacreOn the 5th of September, 1839, Edward Denny Day, Police Magistrate of Muswellbrook gave evidence to the Committee on Police and Gaols. He spoke of the country being in a state of warfare and mentioned three massacre sites prior to the massacre at Myall Creek: Vinegar Hill, Slaughterhouse Creek and Gravesend, committed by groups of mounted and armed stockmen:
'It was represented to me, and I believe truly, that the blacks had been repeatedly pursued by parties of mounted and armed stockmen, assembled for the purpose, and that great numbers of them had been killed at various spots, particularly at Vinegar Hill, Slaughter-house Creek, and Gravesend, places so called by the stockmen, in commemoration of the deeds enacted there' (Day, Evidence to Committee on Police and Gaols 5.9.1839, p 224).
Descriptions of the massacre at Slaughterhouse Creek often describe it as an extended expedition of colonists aiming to finding and kill Aboriginal people. The headwaters of Slaughterhouse creek and the mouth of Slaughterhouse Creek, where it joins the Gwydir River at Biniguy, are both mentioned as massacre sites. Since this was an extended expedition it is reasonable to think both of these locations are massacre sites rather than it being one or the other. In Day's evidence, he mentions Vinegar Hill as a separate site to both Slaughterhouse Creek and Gravesend. Gravesend is a site reported by others. In his notes on p 811, Millis suggests 'Vinegar Hill' may be Biniguy or 'Binegar' (Millis, 1992, p 811). The word is phonetically similar, so colonists may have, after the massacre, corrupted the name to associate it with the Vinegar Hill uprising in the early colony of Sydney, named in turn after a battle in the Irish uprising, or Denny Day or the court scribe may simply have misheard it as 'Vinegar'. No other likely location for 'Vinegar Hill' in this region has been identified.
See Slaughterhouse Creek.Source: Reece 1974, p.34; Telfer, 1980;Day, Letter to Colonial Secretary, 31 July 1838, SRNSW CSO CSR 38/9458; Telfer, 1980; Millis 1992, pp 200-3; Day, Letter to Colonial Secretary, 10 September 1838, SRNSW CSO CSR 38/9458; Day, Evidence to Committee on Police and Gaols 5.9.1839, p 224, NSWLC V&P 1839; North West Champion, 20 Oct 1949, p 10 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/184173250;