Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PINJARRA: BATTLE OR MASSACRE?
The popular myth of Australia's Indigenous people sitting back passively while the British took their land doesn't
fly in the Peel region. From the outset, after Thomas Peel was 'granted' this land, its Pinjarup owners asserted
their rights - spearing stock and destroying crops. An uneasy truce was reached, with the Pinjarup given regular
rations of flour, which they probably viewed as a kind of rent.
In 1834 the cutting of flour rations led Pinjarup leader Calyute to stage a raid on a flour mill. Four of his men
were arrested in Mandurah and taken to Perth, where they were publically flogged. Retribution was taken on a
19-year-old British servant (fair game under Noongar law as he was considered a member of the offending party's
tribe), who was killed and then ritually mutilated.
This caused an uproar among the settlers, with Peel strongly urging Governor Stirling to take action. Stirling
led a party of soldiers and settlers, including Peel, to Pinjarra, where they surprised Calyute's people and opened
fire on their encampment. What happened then is contested. Stirling's official report put the death toll at 15 men,
while the
Perth Gazette
reported 25 to 30 dead. The Pinjarup claim that the camp consisted mainly of women and
children and that the death toll was far higher. There was only one British casualty.
Stirling's threat to the survivors, that 'if any other person should be killed by them, not one (of their people)
would be allowed to remain alive on this side of the mountain', seemed to have had the desired effect, and cur-
tailed any future resistance.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Pinjarra
POP 3300
Stretching along the Murray River, genteel Pinjarra now seems the epitome of peace and
quiet. Yet it's best known as the site of a bloody incident in 1834 that was once re-
membered as the Battle of Pinjarra and is now known as the Pinjarra Massacre.
1
Sights & Activities
Town Centre
The South Western Hwy passes through Pinjarra's small historic precinct, immediately
after crossing the Murray.
St John's Church
, built 1861-62 from mud bricks, sits beside a
heritage
rose garden
and the original 1860
schoolhouse
(now a quilt workshop). Across Henry
St is the
Edenvale Complex
, with
tea rooms
(mains $6-15; 9am-4pm)
in the old homestead (1888),
art and craft galleries and a machinery display in the outbuildings. On the other side of the
highway, you can cross the river on foot via an old
suspension bridge
.
HISTORIC BUILDINGS
Peel Zoo
ZOO
