Lieutenant Colonel Henry John White (1777-1844) began a station on the Ovens River in early 1838. John Conway Bourke, the first mailman wrote of seeing Col White and his son Ned (Edward Riggs White 1817-1853) with their wagons pulled up by the river near the crossing place of the Ovens. JC Bourke said Col White and his son slept under a dray and planned to set up a station intending to build a hut and stockyards on the banks of the King River near its junction with the Ovens. (1)
Bourke described Col White as having a broad Cork man accent and that he could swear like a trooper. (1)
Lieutenant Colonel White and his son Edward known as ‘Ned’ arrived on board the ‘City of Edinburgh’ from Plymouth in early September 1837. (1)(2)
Four months later we find them camped at the Ovens River. (1)
The Sydney road was growing busy with overlanders heading into the Port Phillip district and in early April George Faithful drove his overlanding party of sheep and cattle near Col White’s camp.
WP Faithful remained home at his ‘Springfield’ station near Goulburn placing his men and sheep in his brother, George Faithful’s care. (3)
George Faithful camped on the banks of the Ovens near a bend in the river near Col White’s camp. One evening Faithful was joined by John Conway Bourke who was on his way south to Melbourne with the Sydney mail. (1)
John Conway Bourke was travelling to Melbourne in company with Charles Hotson Ebden (Who had just relinquished Mungabareena and taken up Carlshrue near Mount Macedon), John Hawdon (of Howlong) and Charles Flower (of Cumberoona). (1)
No doubt it was a merry occasion for Col Henry White to have such fine gentlemen guests to share news and tell stories.
That evening may have been the night the Faithful shepherds allowed a group of Blacks to join them and enter into a competition of skill with each showing their prowess firing guns and spears to see who among them were the best marksman. (4)
One of Faithful’s men later said that while they were encamped at the Ovens river a party of Blacks speared cattle. Faithful’s men fired upon the Blacks but whether anyone was injured or killed was not recorded. (5)
Ebden, Hawdon and Fowler never spoke openly about it so perhaps they were not present at the time it occurred. However, Lt Col Henry White’s camp was nearby so White must have known about the shooting yet he did not speak of it in the days following the Faithful massacre. It is not recorded in official papers of the time.
JC Bourke wrote in his letters of meeting James Crossley and many of his men during the night he camped at the Ovens. (1)
Shortly after JC Bourke, Ebden and co left Col White’s camp, George Faithful sent James Crossley in charge of WP Faithful’s sheep and wagon of provisions on ahead towards the Broken River.
On the third morning of Crossley’s stay at the Broken River, his party was attacked before daylight and his men being taken by surprise scattered into the bush running for their lives. (5)
News of the attack on Crossley and his men reached Col White’s later the same day when some of the survivors of the attack arrived. (1)
George Faithful sent some of his men on to the Broken River to collect what was left of their stock and possessions and to bury the dead. They then regrouped at Col White’s camp. (1)
The following letter was written by Colonel White, who introduces himself as being of the 96th Regiment, left Bank of the Ovens, April 15th, 1838.
The letter is to inform the Colonial Secretary, “of a most furious attack having been made on 18 men of Mr Wm. Faithfull’s, at the Swampy River or Winding Swamp, by about 300 of the aboriginal natives. It appears that on the morning of the 10th inst., when they were putting their bullocks to, the dash was made, when eight of the white men were unfortunately slain, and property, I believe considerable, destroyed. Mr. George Faithfull was on his way to this party when he fell in with one of the mangled corpses of the white men; several were found and buried. Mr. Faithfull has fallen back on my station with the escaped people, and one wounded man, who is so dreadfully lacerated, that I believe he cannot survive.” (6)
Crown Commissioner EPS Sturt was camped 10 miles from Col White’s. One of the surviving shepherds found his way to Sturt’s camp and alerted him of the attack. (7)
One would expect CCL EPS Sturt to immediately make his way to Col White’s to deliver the surviving shepherd and see what assistance he could offer. Yet there is no record to date, other than his own admission (7) that mentions him being present.
According to JC Bourke, about ten days after the Faithful massacre Peter Snodgrass arrived with his overlanding party to Col White’s and was appointed leader of a heavily armed group of 50 men who thirsted for vengeance. (1)
Bourke’s letters tell us about 100 Blacks were discovered by one of WP Faithful’s men while out searching for missing cattle. Bourke said these Indigenous people were making their way downstream along the King River about 15 miles from Col White’s. (1)
Peter Snodgrass led fifty heavily armed men in a slaughter of these people which included men, women and children. Under Peter Snodgrass’s command, they surrounded the 100 Indigenous people in open flat country. Bourke wrote, ‘the blacks cowered together for what they thought was protection and then got well riddled.’ (1)
Some jumped into the King River but every white man was armed with guns and horse pistols. Bourke wrote ‘among those killed was Port Phillip Charley* and Wellington who were the leaders of the Faithful massacre.’ (1)
Bourke said many were chased into the river and shot dead. ‘Mr Wellington,’ wrote Bourke, ‘a tall murdering looking fellow who got his name from having an aquiline nose. He was left as food for the fish of the King River.’ (1)
Some of the Indigenous people escaped the slaughter in the river and ran into a hut. (1)
Bourke wrote, ‘there was a small hut on the King River occupied by a stockman of George Faithfuls. He wrote, ‘into this hut, men women and children sought shelter and were about to be killed by Faithful’s surviving shepherds when Peter Snodgrass ordered the men that killing these unarmed people would be murder.’ (1)
Snodgrass then lectured the terrified Indigenous captives on the penalty awaiting them if they ever misbehaved towards the white man saying, ‘they would be shot like dogs.’ (1)
Bourke wrote that the hut where the men, women and children took shelter was looked after by a stockman of Faithful’s named George Graham. George Graham was murdered by hostile Indigenous people a few months later. (1)
Fearing reprisal from the Blacks after the slaughter, Col White retreated south to Tallarook while George Faithful and others headed towards the Murray River away from danger.
The Sydney Herald Thu 7 Jun 1838 Page 3 Extract from a letter dated 15th titled River Hume.
THE BLACKS May 1838:— “I brought away all the cattle and sheep, and everything else of any value. I was very sorry to be obliged to leave my station, but it would have been certain death to remain with eight men and one musket, and no hut up. Faithful and Bowman have left their cattle running about wild, and Colonel White buried his property in a hole dug in the ground—they fled and left me alone after advising me to leave everything and fly too. I brought everything away, even to a calf which a W B cow had dropped the very night before I intended to start. Tell Mr. O’Brien the sheep are with me, and all right. I will write to him at soon as I can spare one hour’s time.”
The author is thought to be Dr George MacKay. WB is likely William Bowman.
Mailman, JC Bourke wrote that a great fear swept through the area and no one dared travel between the Murray and the Goulburn rivers for some weeks. Overlanders massed at the Murray intending to travel en-masse. When they finally set off the overlanding parties covered an area 7 miles long, their dust rose as far as the eye could see. (1)
After the reprisal killings, Col White travelled down the Sydney road and took up Sunday Creek near Tallarook. On the Ovens, he had a boat which he used to cross the river and JC Bourke lamented Col White’s moving to Tallarook as he took his boat with him depriving Bourke of a dry passage when the river was in flood. (1)
George Faithful returned after a few months and formed a station near to where Col White had camped.
The Port Phillip Gazette of Sat 27 Oct 1838 Page 3, printed a letter where Col White chaired a meeting attended by Settlers in the district of Port Phillip. They pledged not to take into service any man unable to produce a written discharge or testimonial of character from his former master. The meeting was attended by settlers such as Peter Snodgrass, F A. Powlett, H. W. Bowerman.
At the meeting, Col White reported himself as being “of Mount Piper” which is located 4 km west of Broadford. The first survey map of the region in 1842 shows Colonel White’s Station on Sunday Creek positioned 4 km downstream of its junction with Dry Creek. That junction became the future town site of Broadford. (8)
Sunday Creek was named by explorers Hume and Hovell who camped there one Sunday.
Lady Franklin in April 1839 wrote in her diary that Colonel White had diseased sheep with catarrh. This would not have made him popular with his neighbours. (4)
Col Henry White was a founding member of the Melbourne Club and also had the license of the Belle Vue Station with his son Lieutenant Henry John White (1810-1869) and in 1840 he took the license of Mt Piper Station with his second son Edward Riggs White (ca 1817-1853). Edward was a surveyor of the South Australian/Victorian boundary in 1849-51. He died in Kilmore. (9)
* Port Phillip Charley is mentioned in Bourke’s letters while Bourke is travelling to Melbourne in the days before the Faithful massacre. Bourke wrote that after he and Ebden, John Hawdon and Charles Fowler left Col White’s camp they stopped a night at the Broken River. Bourke wrote that they camped at the spot where the massacre was shortly to take place. There were several mia-mia’s constructed and they pulled them apart to construct one large shelter for themselves. While they were making camp they met Port Phillip Charley who invited them to come with him and camp with his people where they would dine on possum and fish. Mr Fowler shot a duck and gave it Port Phillip Charley declining the invitation. This account gives insight into the hypocritical behaviour of white travellers when passing through Indigenous lands. They thought nothing of interfering with Indigenous people’s dwellings and belongings by pulling apart the mia-mia’s. (1)
THE REFERENCES;
(1) John Conway Bourke, Letters 1886 held at Royal Historical Society, Melbourne.
(2) The Sydney Herald Mon 4 Sep 1837 Page 2, Shipping Intelligence.
(3) profile on WP Faithful on this site
(4) as told to Lady Franklin by WP Faithful in 1839. – Lady Jane Franklin’s diary, This Errant Lady
(5) The North Eastern Ensign, Fri 30th Aug, 1907. Article titled ‘Further Information.’
(6) H.J. White to Col. Sec., Historical records of Victoria Vol 2A pg 319
(7) Letters from Victorian Pioneers – CCL EPS Sturt.
(8) Wikipedia entry – Broadford
(9) https://kilmorehistory.wordpress.com/category/community/
