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Appin MassacrePrint Page Print this page

15-January-2016
15-January-2016

Photographs supplied by Peter F Williams

The monument commemorates the Dharawal people killed in the massacre of 1816 in Appin.

During March 1816 under the command of various military leaders three detachments were dispatched by Governor Macquarie to `inflict terrible and exemplary punishments` on the Aborigines of the Appin area. Under Governor Macquarie’s and the British Government’s instructions attempts were made to live in good relations with the indigenous peoples but relations between Aborigines and Europeans in the Appin area became strained. This may have been exacerbated by a severe drought in the area that placed pressure on food supplies.

Early one morning the military’s leader for the Appin area Captain Wallis and a number of his men came across a Dharawal men’s camp. They slaughtered the men who were mostly elders, cut off their heads and took them back to Sydney. While Captain Wallis returned to Sydney the remaining men hunted down the local Aboriginal clan (Dharawal people). They found the camp where the women and children were staying. They shot and trampled them under their horses and drove them over the cliffs at Broughton Pass.

Location

Address:Cataract Road, Cataract Dam, Appin, 2560
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.264968
Long: 150.804575
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:Frontier
Actual Event Start Date:17-April-1816
Actual Event End Date:17-April-1816
Link:https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colo…

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Sunday 15th April, 2007
Front Inscription

The massacre of men, women and children of the Dharawal Nation occurred near here on 17 April 1816.

Fourteen were counted this day, but the real number will never by known. 

We acknowledge the impact this had and continues to have on the Aboriginal people of this land. 

We are deeply sorry. 
We will remember them.

Winga Mayamly Reconciliation Group
Sponsored by Wollondilly Shire Council.

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au