Merri Creek Protectorate Station

(1841 – 1851)

Formed in England in 1837, the Aboriginal Protection Society aimed to reduce tension between settlers and Koori population by encouraging the local tribes to abandon their nomadic lifestyle for farming and to adopt Christianity.    George Augustus Robinson was appointed Chief Protector with four Assistant Protectors to act as liaison between the Koori and the Government.

William Thomas, Assistant Protector, had the responsibility for the Yarra and Western Port tribes.  His brief was to establish a Protectorate Station at Narre Narre Warren.  The Woiwurrung and Boonwurrung tribes agreed to move there despite their links to Melbourne and the Yarra River.
The Colonial Government, worried about the growing commercial and social interaction between the settlers and the Koori, were keen to see them relocated well away from Melbourne.

At first the move seemed to have worked.  The Native Police Corps were located at nearby Dandenong and provided employment for the men of the clans.  However by 1841 the Native Police Corps had been relocated to the Merri Creek and Thomas watched helplessly as the clans followed them. 

Thomas eventually accepted the inevitability of the move and abandoned the Narre Narre Warren station and established a new station at the Yarra Bend, near the current cricket oval.  A budget cut meant the new station was a much more humble building than its predecessor.

Over the next few years the Merri Creek station flourished.  Thomas had formed a close relationship with Billibellary, a leader of the Woirurrung tribe, and this helped Thomas in establishing a degree of cooperation from the tribes.    The conjunction of the Merri Creek and Yarra River was also a place of significance to the local tribes and this helped the success of the Protectorate. 

In 1847 Thomas estimated that there were about 450 Koori in and around Yarra Bend.  Groups had spread to either side of Heidelberg Road, occasionally clashing with travellers on the road.  At these times the Native Police Corps were used to maintain peace.

By the late 1840s Billibellary had died and disease had made substantial inroads into the local Koori population.  A year later only a handful remained and they soon left the area for healthier climates.

Sources

Clark, Ian D. & Heydon, Toby (2004). A bend in the Yarra: A history of the Merri Creek Protectorate Station and Merri Creek Aboriginal School 1841-1851. Canberra (A.C.T.): Aboriginal Studies Press.

Lemon, Andrew (1983). The Northcote Side of the River. North Melbourne: Hargreen.