Merriman's Places

Events Involving Merriman

Merriman's Places

  1. Tarrawingee was taken by William Bowman in late 1838 but Tarrawingee was also Merriman’s country. In 1841 Aboriginal protectorate, GA Robinson interviewed Waywurru people and was told that Tarrawingee was Merriman’s country.
  2. Mungabareena was the location where Indigenous people from every direction gathered each spring for trade and to organise marriages and settle disputes while athletes competed in competitions of skill. Historian, AA Andrews wrote about the traditional land use of Mungabareena in his book, First Settlement of the Upper Murray. JFH Mitchell, who grew up during the last years of the Mungabareena gathering being held wrote that one thousand Indigenous people attended the event.
  3. Wil-im-ee Mooring otherwise known as the Mount William stone axe quarry was a place Merriman’s Waywurru people would have travelled each year for trade. Stone hatchets or tomahawks were used to make notches in tree trunks giving access to high hollow branches where possums could be found. They were often carried in a belt sitting snug in the small of the back. They were essential to make canoes and gunyahs (shelters). The greenstone hatchet heads from Mount William or Wil-im-ee Moor-ring (Woiwurrung for tomahawk place) was highly sought after. Aboriginal people travelled great distances for the Mount William greenstone hatchets, bringing with them the possum skin cloaks and spears necessary to trade for the hatchets. As a result, Mount William became one of the largest and most intensively-worked quarries sites in southeast Australia. Wil-im-ee Moo-ring Stone Axe Quarry
  4. The Bogong high plains were a popular location for Indigenous people to spend summer enjoying cooler days and plentiful water. It was also a time to feast on protein-rich Bogong moths which were caught in nets as fine as human hair. The moths were toasted in hot ash to cook and could be rolled into large balls and smoked to last many months. Thomas Mitchell said the Blacks went to the high country for many reasons including ceremonies where they would commune with higher entities.
  5. Bungil or Bundjil the eagle (or eaglehawk) is a creator deity, culture hero and ancestral being. Bungil on the Murray River is a spectacular site associated with the deity. From the top of the huge granite rock formations are views to Table Top or Mulyan-yar-Gunyah meaning, the eagles nest. Bungil is located in Mount Lawson State Park, Victoria.
  6. Wagra or Wahn the Crow is a trickster, culture hero and ancestral being. Wagra is located in Woomargama National Park, NSW. The run was originally called Wagra meaning cry of the crow, AA Andrews, The First Settlement of the Upper Murray pg 178.
  7. Merriman was said to be one of the ring leaders of the failed raid on the Dora Dora homestead. The date of the raid is unknown but it was unsuccessful as a senior Wiradjuri man known as King George came to the hut in the night to warn Elliot Herriot. Elliot Herriot had taught King George, whose Indigenous name is not known, how to speak English. No doubt the senior Wiradjuri man wanted to teach Herriot about his land and it is a pity no writings have yet been found of what they discussed. JFH Mitchell wrote about the failed raid many times.
  8. After the Dora Dora raid John Jobbins led a reprisal killing on Indigenous people to send a clear message they should be respectful to their white masters. JFH Mitchell said Jobbins and his men shot twelve Indigenous people who were trying to escape. The details are listed on Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia – Dora Dora massacre
  9. There is reason to believe Merriman’s older brother, Harlequin, guided CH Ebden to the Campaspe River where he took up Carlsruhe station, near Mount Macedon in 1837. In Thomas Walker’s book, ‘One Month in the Bush’, there is mention of Ebden travelling with a Murray Black, and in Mollison’s journal, he wrote that Ebden lent him a Black named Harlequin to help him find good land where he could set up a station. Mollison wrote that in November 1837 Harlequin helped him find fine land where he set up his station. Mollison’s journal.
  10. Merriman was said to be one of the ring leaders of the Faithful massacre of 18 shepherds at the Broken River near present-day Benalla in 1838. The traditional name of this site is Marangan and the first white travellers often wrote of seeing large groups of Indigenous people camped nearby. Just days before the Faithful massacre John Conway Bourke the first mailman between the Murray River and Melbourne wrote that while 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 they camped a night at the very place where the massacre was soon to take place. While they were there they spoke with Port Phillip Charley, an Indigenous man who took place in the massacre.
  11. A few days after the Faithful massacre, Peter Snodgrass’ overlanding party arrived at Lt Col Henry Whites on the Ovens River and was made leader of a band of 50 well-armed men seeking vengeance for the Faithful Massacre. According to JC Bourke, the mailman of 1838 who travelled weekly between Melbourne and Howlong, a group of 100 Indigenous people were shot while trying to escape across the King River. Port Phillip Charlie and Wellington were among the dead. Both men were said to have been involved in the Faithful massacre. John Conway Bourke, Letters 1886-88. Held at Royal Historical Society, Melbourne.
  12. Merriman was employed by Robert Brown to ferry passengers and goods in his canoe when the Murray River was in flood. According to David Mackenzie of Kergunyah, the Murray could swell as wide as two miles wide. This site became the city of Albury. AA Andrews in First Settlement of the Upper Murray and JFH Mitchell both wrote of Merriman being the ferryman.
  13. William Lonsdale believed the Indigenous men involved in the Faithful Massacre were the same as those involved in the stealing of sheep that led to the Waterloo Plains Massacre. In June 1838 John Coppock led a group of convict servants and their masters in an attack on the Djadja wurrung killing up to 23 people. Merriman was not named as being present but Lonsdale felt certain it was possible. Years later John Coppock said some of the convict servants had been shooting at Indigenous men, women and children in the months before the massacre. The Waterloo Plains Massacre Information on William Lonsdale believing Blacks involved in Faithful Massacre comes from; Historical Records of Victoria: Vol2A pg 340. Letter titled, Attacks reported to Sydney to Col Sec. 2July, 1838.
  14. Merriman paid a visit to David Reid of Carraragarmungee in January 1840. He brought with him a group of armed warriors who intended to set fire to Ried’s crop. David Reid and his men managed to get hold of their guns in time and the Blacks fled the scene. Merriman visited David Reid two years after the attack and showed him the scar on his thigh from a bullet fired by Reid. This account comes from Ogier’s reminiscences by David Reid, pg 31.
  15. In May 1840 Merriman along with Harlequin and 18 others held Dr George Mackay’s hut in a siege for a number of days. Merriman demanded Benjamin Reed, a known killer of Indigenous people hand his wife over as payment. Merriman said if she were handed over they would go away and the anger would be all gone. Ogier’s reminiscences by David Reid,
  16. In July 1840 or thereabout, Merriman and Harlequin were captured by stockmen and locked in a hut. The stockmen placed wood against the walls and were about to set it alight when Major Nunn & Captain Christie arrived and demanded the prisoners be set free. From ‘The Border Post’, Saturday, August 17, 1875.
  17. On 27th September 1840 William Thomas, Aboriginal protectorate wrote the names of the Blacks Major Lettsom was looking for. Among the names, he wrote, ‘Merriman and Harlequin’. Thomas told Lettsome he would find Merriman among the Blacks between Goulburn and Mount Macedon. On 10th Oct Major Lettsom rounded up 400 Indigenous men, women and children and marched them at bayonet point to the stockade in Melbourne. Two died and GA Robinson was disgusted by the brutality displayed by those who participated in the round-up.
  18. In early December 1840 Harlequin was captured near the Murray River. A collar and chain was placed around his neck and he was made to jog to Melbourne behind mounted troopers. He arrived at the lock up gravely ill and on 8th December he died. He was 20 years old. GA Robinson took Merriman to see his dying brother. Harlequin was buried in an unmarked grave near the stockade. This information comes from GA Robinson’s journal, 1839-52. 10th December 1840.
  19. In September, 1840 Merriman went to the head of the Goulburn River to elude patrols sent to arrest him. Commissioner for Crown Lands, Henry Bingham was in search of Merriman and Harlequin and others responsible for the Mackay raid and other attacks of livestock and property. Bingham was informed of their movement and tracked Merriman and Harlequin for several days through forests and over mountains until at last, he lost all track of them, as they had crossed the Ovens and proceeded towards the head of the Goulburn. The Sydney Herald, Fri 30 Oct 1840, NEWS FROM THE INTERIOR. (From various Correspondents.) HUME RIVER. “THE POOR BLACKS” AGAIN.
  20. In 1852, Thomas Mitchell purchased Tangambalanga from Dr George Mackay and set aside a parcel of land as an Aboriginal reserve. Thomas Mitchell then became a self-funded protectorate of Aboriginal people. He wrote of witnessing a payback where Merriman had to stand in a clearing while three men with spears hurled their weapons simultaneously. Mitchell wrote Merriman was armed only with a heeliman or shield to defend himself. As the spears came at him, Merriman leapt into the air twisting his body sideways to avoid one spear while opening his legs midair for another to pass through, the third he deflected with his heeliman. AA Andrews, First Settlement of the Upper Murray. pg 39.
  21. Mitchell also spoke about Merriman making an extraordinary escape from a mounted trooper who was taking him to Melbourne. Apparently, the incident happened near the Ovens River when Merriman got free from the rope and irons and bolted. The trooper tries to ride him down but Merriman seeing no other way to escape turned and faced his opponent. He seized the reins and leapt up under the horses head and hung there gripping hold, his feet tucked up under the horses neck. The trooper swung his sabre but Merriman swung from side to side avoiding the deadly blade and eventually unbalanced horse and rider, however, he lost a toe as a consequence, it being stepped on by the horse. AA Andrews wrote of this incident using Mitchell as his source. First Settlement of the Upper Murray, page 38-39.
  22. Merriman and his father and mother and other family members were mentioned as attending the Beechworth Races in April 1858. The article printed in, The Age, Tue 13 Apr 1858, pg 4, Titled; THE MURRAY NATIVES, gives a description of a corroboree performed by Merriman and his family on the night they were near town. Merriman at the Beechworth races
  23. Merriman also attended the horse races at Albury. An article from the Colonial news, Victoria, writes of Merriman being in Albury for the races. It speaks of him being encouraged to drink until he is quite drunk. After which he attacks a woman in a hut on the edge of town before murdering his wife in a drunken act. It is a cruelly written piece. Source link to be added soon.
  24. The last mention of Merriman to date is of him escaping custody from the lock-up at Wangaratta in 1859. I have a copy of the warrant with the details and will add a link soon.