Convincing Ground
The Convincing Ground was one of the first whaling stations in Victoria , Australia . It was in Allestree on Portland Bay , ten kilometers from Portland .
The Convincing Ground Massacre took place on the grounds of the whaling station in the early 1830s , one of the largest massacres of Aborigines in Australian colonial history . The site of the whaling station has been a listed building since 2006.
Name and massacre
The term convincing ground (translated roughly " convincing ground ") was used as a euphemism in the early Australian press . This was the name given to the place for tough sporting competition, for example a boxing arena - as one speaks of "striking arguments" in German in this context.
This name was also used by European whalers for the convincing ground massacre that occurred at the whaling station in 1833 or 1834. The name became common with Convincing Ground.
According to oral tradition, the massacre is said to have taken place as follows: When a whale carcass was washed up on the beach of the whaling station, the Aborigines claimed their right to property in their traditional tribal area. A dispute arose with six to eight whalers, who then took handguns and shot an estimated 60 to 200 Aborigines from the Kilcare clan of the Gunditjmara Aboriginal tribe . There are different representations of the sequence, location and number of those killed.
Elective station
It is believed that whalers from Tasmania came sporadically to Portland Bay as early as the early 19th century. The Convincing Ground whaling station was founded in 1833 by Wilhelm Dutton. When Edward Henty, an entrepreneur, came to Portland on November 1, 1834, he showed an interest in whaling and invested in the Launceton Whaling Company . There are drawings from 1835 showing that the structural complex was extensive and comprised nine buildings. At the end of the 1830s, Edward Henty established his whaling station in this area. In 1840 the first map of Portland Bay was drawn up on the Convincing Ground. There are documents from 1851 that show that the whaling station had a dock for ships and a ramp. Killed whales were pulled ashore on this ramp for further recycling.
End of the whaling station
In the late 1840s , the use of the convincing ground diversified, possibly as the number of whales declined. Ships were now being built on the site. Edward Henty had one built for the colonial government and two transport ships. The Portland Bay area was to be settled in the future, and other Aborigines who lived there were driven from their ancestral lands.
In 2006, only the wooden posts of the whaling station's pier protruded from the bay. In the same year, the Convincing Ground area was inscribed on the Victoria State Heritage List.
Individual evidence
- ^ Convincing Ground (PDF; 99 kB), August 3, 2006, on Victorian Heritage Database Report. Pp. 1-2. (English)
- ^ Convincing Ground (PDF; 99 kB), August 3, 2006, on Victorian Heritage Database Report. S. 2. (English)
- ^ Convincing Ground (PDF; 99 kB), August 3, 2006, on Victorian Heritage Database Report. P. 3. (English)
Coordinates: 38 ° 16 ′ 39.8 ″ S , 141 ° 39 ′ 40.4 ″ E