Years of Terror

Our annual dinner and AGM with guest speaker Marguerita Stephens was held on Tuesday 25 August. About 40 members and guests enjoyed a convivial dinner in the Yorkshire Stingo dining room and then Dr Stephens presented an illuminating talk based on the journal of Assistant Protector of the Aborigines, William Thomas. Having set up camp with the Wurundjeri near the confluence of the Yarra River and the Merri Creek, he recorded many details of Kulin life in the 1840s.At times as many as 1000 Kulin gathered at this spot. Topics included the establishment of the Merri Creek School in 1845, the death of Billibellary in 1846, and the impact of the flu epidemic of 1847-8 which took a frightful toll on the Kulin.