Pinjarra
Your amateur researcher (YAR) visited Pinjarra, about 80km south of Perth, in March 2010 and again in 2026. Its location is shown on the ‘bonzle’ map:
Map of W.A. showing location of Pinjarra The Murray River at Pinjarra
The Murray River runs through the town, the main street of which is the South Western Highway, just off which is a small park in which, on the wrought-iron frame of a bench, it can be seen that the town name was once spelt Pinjarrah. In the same park there is a suspension footbridge crossing the Murray River, constructed in 1985.
The town name was once spelt Pinjarrah Pinjarra suspension bridge: a bouncy experience when being crossed
In 1834 Pinjarra was the site of an Aboriginal massacre. There was no mention of this on the information board at the edge of town, or anywhere else in the town, in 2010.
During YAR's 2010 visit a local referred to an historic incident with Aboriginal people as ‘the battle’. In the library some information was obtained about this event and the massacre site, which turned out to be quite close to the motel where YAR was staying.
Unmarked rock marking the start of a trail apparently to the massacre site, but you had to guess Track down to the river, 2010
An unmarked rock stood at the start of a trail and a number of small indicators marked a pathway to the river.
The river, a peaceful beauty spot
Following this tranquil path it was difficult to imagine what must have happened somewhere around here nearly 200 years ago. Little numbered markers continued to show the way, but in 2010 there was nothing to indicate where the trail was headed.
A flat clearing appeared to be the end of the trail, so this perhaps had been the site of the camp where the massacre took place.
* * *
Following are some extracts from the Wikipedia record of this event:
The so-called Battle of Pinjarra or Massacre of Pinjarra was an attack that occurred at Pinjarra, Western Australia on a group of up to 80 Australian Aborigines by a detachment of 25 soldiers, police and settlers led by Governor James Stirling in 1834. After attacks on the displaced Swan River Whadjuk people and depredations on settlers by a group of the Binjareb people led by Calyute had, according to white settlers, reached unacceptable levels, culminating in the payback killing of an ex-soldier, Stirling led his force after the party. Arriving at their camp, five members of the pursuit party were sent into the camp to arrest the suspects and the Aborigines resisted. In the ensuing “battle”, Stirling reported 15 killed (eleven names were collected later from Aboriginal sources); police superintendent T.T. Ellis later died of wounds and a soldier was wounded. Stirling warned the tribe against payback killings and arranged a peace between the warring tribes, but Calyute continued to break it in raiding the Whadjuk until his demise.
Massacre
The group was awoken two hours before dawn on 28 October, and ate breakfast in the dark. By 8:00 am, the party had rejoined the Murray where the river was 30 metres wide, between steep red loam banks, continuing northwards to cross the Oakley brook at about 8:35 am. Peel approached along the western bank of the river and returned to tell of a settlement of about 20 bark beehive shaped mia-mias in the bend of the river. The weather broke and it started to rain heavily as Captain Ellis, Mr Norcott and three of the police attacked from the south.
The Aboriginal men gathered up their spears and woomeras, as the women and children fled towards the river, where Captain Stirling, Captain Meares, Thomas Peel and 12 others were waiting in hiding. Ellis was soon in a melee with the Aborigines, and Norcott, recognising a troublemaker called Noonaar, shot him with his double-barrelled shotgun, causing the first casualty. Five or more Aboriginal people were killed in the first charge, and the remainder of the Aboriginal group then turned and ran towards the river, intending to cross and scatter into the hills. One of the eldest women in the tribe, Teelak, was shot dead with her 4-year-old daughter screaming violently. At least 13 other children and women were then shot.
Stirling, hearing the shots reacted quickly. Roe was sent with four others to prevent the group escaping south and guard the pack horses at the ford. The governor and 14 others in a line abreast then ambushed the surprised Aborigines who had crossed the river. Ellis had been dislodged from his horse but Norcott continued pushing the group into the river where they were caught in a withering crossfire. The flood-scoured slopes gave the men, women and children little cover as they tried to hide behind what logs or bushes there were. Many ducked into the water, holding their breath as long as they could. Some tried to float downstream out of range, but the water was too shallow to permit their escape. They, too, were shot. Roe’s journal records "Very few wounded were suffered to escape". Soldiers fired indiscriminately at those caught in the ambush and, when all had been slain, the posse remounted to chase the others who had fled north into the bush. By 10:05 am it was all over and, because of the serious condition of two of the European wounded, Stirling decided to return immediately to Mandurah.
Casualties
On the settlers’ side, Corporal Heffron was wounded in the arm, but recovered to later take part in Balardong Aboriginal massacres in the York area. Captain Ellis was suffering concussion, either from a glancing blow from a spear or from the fall off his horse, and later died on 11 November after having been in a coma for two weeks. A folk ballad, The Jackets of Green, honouring Ellis, was later composed and sung around Guildford and Perth taverns.
On the Aboriginal side there are conflicting reports. 60-70 Aboriginal men, women and children in the camp had been subjected to intensive fire of 24 guns for an hour, and for another half hour the survivors were hunted through the bush. No male prisoners were taken alive and all wounded were immediately shot. At the end of hostilities 8 women and a few children were taken as captives. In his report, Stirling claimed 15 Aboriginal men had been killed. Roe estimated the dead at 15-20. But these numbers don’t seem to have included women and children. Captain Daniel, whom Stirling sent to survey the “battleground” later, implied that many more were killed than officially acknowledged, as he found several mass graves, but the rain and his fear of an attack made exhuming the bodies for an official count impossible. Advocate-General George Fletcher Moore estimated from his own investigations (he was not present) that between 25 and 30 were left dead on the field and in the river.
* * *
In 2026, the rock that had stood unmarked at the start of the trail in 2010 now displays a commemorative plaque.
Pinjarra massacre commemorative boulder 2026 Commemorative plaque on the boulder 2026
Kaadaka-longka maaman, yoka, koolangka Binjareb Noongar moort Colonial Officer Ngiyan noyitj nidja 28th October 1834. Bangka winyarn moolymari moolymari moort-moort Koora kedala Maali bilya colony. Kaada-kwadji wern bardip kadak nidja boodja. Ngala koorl kodjookat dandjo nakaal Weyaroniny keyen djoorap moort nidja boodjak Mila djoowaka.
In memory of the men, women and children of the Binjareb Noongar people and a Colonial Officer who died here on the 28th October 1834 as part of confrontations in the early days of the Swan River Colony. Remembering the spirit of the traditional owners of this land, we go forward together in peace, building a united nation for future generations.
Interpreting the plaque
The commemorative plaque text is of recent composition, containing terms and expressions such as ‘confrontations', ‘going forward together’, and ‘building a united nation’ that are not found in nineteenth century vocabularies. YAR has used those nineteenth century vocabularies in an attempt to work out the meaning of the words on the plaque. Sometimes the historic words do not exactly match the plaque versions, and in about ten instances no historic words could be found. What follows is an analysis, then a table showing the sources for it.
Analysis table
The following table displays sources for most of the words found on the commemorative plaque. Occasionally the words in the first column of the following table (Australian) are not exact matches to the words on the plaque.
No source records could be found for the following words on the plaque:
moort
noyitj Nodytch
winyarn
moolymari moolymari [confrontation?]
moort-moort
koorl Go-ree
kodjookat koojarluck
Weyaroniny
keyen
djoorap
The best match with the best meaning is shown above for several of these.
Australian | respelt | English | EngJSM | source |
"kartaga longa" | gadaga langa | "memory" | memory [think xxx] | [23] Buller-Murphy [:321:49] [Wndi] [WA] [n.d.] |
"Mam-mân" | maman | "Father" | father | Symmons Grammar 1841 [:4.1:11] [Wjk] [WA] [1841] |
"[iuca]" | yuga | "[suckle, to]" | woman | [8 (N)] Salvado [:398:42.2] [Ywt] [WA] [1851] |
"culanga" | gulan-Ga | "children" | child [young]-PLUR | [8] Salvado 1851 [:235:17] [Ywt] [WA] [1851] |
"Pindjarup" | bindya-rab | "... (meaning 'Place of a swamp')....." | tadpole | |
"ngungar" | ngunga | "blackfellow; tribe" | man beard | [23] Buller-Murphy [:218:37] [Wndi] [WA] [n.d.] |
moort |
|
| and [?] |
|
Colonial Officer |
|
|
|
|
"Ngan" | ngan | "who." | who | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:105:1] [Nyga] [WA] [1840] |
"Nodytch" | nudady | "The dead; a deceased person..." | dead | Moore 1842 [:84:20] [Nyga] [WA] [1842] |
"Nidja" | nidya | "Here; in this place." | here [this] | Moore 1842 [:84:1] [Nyga] [WA] [1842] |
"Bang-ga" | bangGa | "part of any thing." | part | BRADY 1845 [:14:13] [Nyga] [WA] [1845] |
winyarn |
|
| [???] |
|
moolymari moolymari |
|
| confrontation [?] |
|
"molia" | mulya | "nose" | nose | [8] Salvado 1851 [:336:52] [Ywt] [WA] [1851] |
"Ma-ri (v.)" | mari | "to cry, to lament." | weep | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:80:6] [Wndi] [WA] [1840] |
moort-moort |
|
| [???] |
|
"Go-rah" | gura | "a long time ago, (the reverse of \“Mela.\”)" | longago | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:46:15] [Nyga] [WA] [1840] |
"Ge-da-la (y.)" | gidala | "a day." | day | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:41:17] [Nyga] [WA] [1840] |
"Marlie" | mali | "Black Swan" | swan black | Nind, Scott 1831 [: 49.1:43] [Mng] [WA] [1831] |
"Bi-ule (v.) or Boyal, / Bi-eul (v.)" | bayul | "...the run of water through a country. ..." | stream [west?] | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:12:8] [Wndi] [WA] [1840] |
"cuttah" | gada | "head" | head | [7] Stokes 1846 [:285:13] [Wjk] [WA] [1846] |
"catage-quadge" | gadady gwady | "remember" | remember think PAST | [24] Hassell, Edney [:360:39] [Krng] [WA] [c.1930] |
"werni" | wani | "Dead" | dead | Curr 1 #25 Hester [1:361.2:31] [Wndi] [WA] [1886] |
"bardip" | badib | "story; custom; legend" | fib | [23] Buller-Murphy [:397:3] [Wndi] [WA] [n.d.] |
"Ga-duk" | gadag | "the one who possesses, (always used …in the sense of – having.)" | having | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:40:8] [Nyga] [WA] [1840] |
"Nidja" | nidya | "Here; in this place." | here [this] | Moore 1842 [:84:1] [Nyga] [WA] [1842] |
"Boodjar" | budya | "land; the earth" | earth | Lyon 1833 Perth Gaz [:56.2:49] [Mng] [WA] [1833] |
"Ngal-a" | ngala | "we two .…” | we-two | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:104:3] [Nyga] [WA] [1840] |
koorl |
|
| [???] |
|
"Go-ree" | guri | "just now. [46]" | recently | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:46:19] [Nyga] [WA] [1840] |
kodjokat |
|
| [???] |
|
"koojarluck" | gudya-l-ag | "double" | double | [23] Buller-Murphy [:257:24] [Wndi] [WA] [n.d.] |
"Dan-joo" | dandyu | "together, in company; …” | together | GREY 1840 2nd edn [:25:17] [Nyga] [WA] [1840] |
"Nagal" | nagal | "Amicable" | recognise | Moore 1842 [:120:22] [Nyga] [WA] [1842] |
Weyaroniny |
|
| [???] |
|
keyen |
|
| [???] |
|
djoorap |
|
| [???] |
|
moort |
|
| [and ???] |
|
"Nidja" | nidya | "Here; in this place." | here [this] | Moore 1842 [:84:1] [Nyga] [WA] [1842] |
"Boodjar" | budya | "land; the earth" | earth | Lyon 1833 Perth Gaz [:56.2:49] [Mng] [WA] [1833] |
"Mila" | mila | "here, or after." | later | BRADY 1845 [:30:3] [Nyga] [WA] [1845] |
"D-yuar" | dyuwa | "[hillock marking a grave]" | burial | Moore 1842 [:15:4.3] [Nyga] [WA] [1842] |
Jeremy Steele
7 October 2026
Comments