A Christmas Tragedy single work   essay  
Issue Details: First known date: 1900... 1900 A Christmas Tragedy
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

This is a vivid account of the slaying by Aborigines of the Turner family, consisting of two brothers, a wife and a baby, at Munglago station, Port Curtis, on Christmas Day, 1855. Meston stresses that the tribesmen were motivated by a desire for retribution for cold-blooded slayings by whites, who were also contemptuous of Aboriginal customs and law. The essay concludes with an account of revenge taken by the Native Police for the Turner slayings: a 'dispersal' in which twenty-six Aborigines were killed.

Notes

  • Note that some doubt has been expressed as to whether the events referred to in Meston's article actually occurred. Queensland Native Police scholar Dr. Jonathan Richards, suggests that Meston's article might have had its origins in a frontier conflict incident that occurred at Mt Larcom station, located between present day Gladstone and Rockhampton, on 26 or 27 December 1855. On this occasion Aborigines killed four Europeans and at least one Aboriginal station hand. In response, a native police detachment led by Lt. John Murray chased a group of Aborigines across the Fitzroy River, and according to Murray, killed 11 of them (Ref. : N. S. W. Colonial Secretary's Inwards Correspondence 1856/2128). Dr. Richards has no knowledge of the incident referred to in Meston's article.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Queenslander 15 December 1900 Z1111927 1900 newspaper issue 1900 pg. 2 Section: Christmas Supplement
Last amended 31 Jan 2011 10:09:00
2 Christmas Supplement http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21251520 A Christmas Tragedysmall AustLit logo The Queenslander
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  • Gladstone area, Maryborough - Rockhampton area, Queensland,
  • 1855
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