Waterloo Creek Massacre - The Events

The Events

It was at the end of a two-month expedition by a detachment sent from Sydney to track down the Namoi, Weraerai and Kamilaroi people who had killed five stockmen in separate incidents on recently established pastoral runs on the upper Gwydir River area of New South Wales. The mounted police, consisting of two sergeants and twenty troopers led by Major James Nunn, arrested 15 Aborigines along the Namoi River but released all but two, one of whom was shot whilst attempting to escape. The main body of Kamilaroi eluded the troopers, thus Major Nunn’s party along with two stockmen pursued the Kamilaroi for three weeks from present-day Manilla on the Namoi River north to the upper Gwydir River. On the morning of January the 26th in a surprise attack on Nunn’s party Corporal Hannan was wounded in the leg with a spear and subsequently four or five Aborigines were shot dead in retaliation. The Aborigines fled down the river as the troopers regrouped, rearmed and pursued them led by the second in command Lieutenant George Cobban . Cobban's party found their quarry about a mile down the river now known as Waterloo Creek, where a second engagement took place. The encounter lasted several hours, and no Aborigines were captured. It is this second clash where details of its occurrence contrast substantially. There was an inquiry held on the 22nd of July 1839 at the Merton Court house (New South Wales). There were no convictions and the matter was dropped. The only eyewitness accounts of this second engagement were provided to the judicial inquiry by Lieutenant Cobban and Sergeant John Lee.