Massacre at Cockatoo Valley, Hollow Tree

Date: 23 Oct 1828
Place: Cockatoo Valley, Hollow Tree
Event type: massacre
Direct violence: Yes
In two separate attacks over two weeks in October 1828, near the northern and western shores of Lake Tiberias, 23 Oyster Bay warriors, possibly led by Tongerlongter, killed Anne Geary and Mrs Gough and two of her little girls and then Mrs Langford's son, John. On 23 October a reprisal party of 'stockkeepers and others', 'fell upon' the warriors' campsite near Cockatoo Valley at 11pm and fired after them, (HTC, Nov, 1, 1828) and 'killed and wounded a considerable number' (The Tasmanian, October 31, 1828). The killing of the two women, the little girls and the boy was the trigger for the proclamation of martial law on 5 November 1828.
Notes:
CorroborationRating: **
LanguageGroup: Oyster Bay
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 6

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Sources

Event mentions

  • Massacre at Cockatoo Valley, Hollow Tree
    23 Oct 1828 — Cockatoo Valley, Hollow Tree — massacre
    In two separate attacks over two weeks in October 1828, near the northern and western shores of Lake Tiberias, 23 Oyster Bay warriors, possibly led by Tongerlongter, killed Anne Geary and Mrs Gough and two of her little girls and then Mrs Langford's son, John. On 23 October a reprisal party of 'stockkeepers and others', 'fell upon' the warriors' campsite near Cockatoo Valley at 11pm and fired after them, (HTC, Nov, 1, 1828) and 'killed and wounded a considerable number' (The Tasmanian, October 31, 1828). The killing of the two women, the little girls and the boy was the trigger for the proclamation of martial law on 5 November 1828.
    Source: The Tasmanian, October 31, 1828 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/25173660; HTC October 18http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4220434; November 1, 1828 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/641811; Ryan, 2012, pp 103-105.