Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Colonel James Nunn, Australian Mounted Infantry (1837-1846), c. 1840

Colonel James Nunn, Australian Mounted Infantry (1837-1846), c. 1840

Oil on canvas

ML 1321

Purchased October 2014


Nunn arrived in New South Wales in 1837 with the 80th Regiment of Foot and became commander of the NSW Mounted Police in the same year. In December, reports were received that Aboriginal warriors had attacked and killed stockmen on properties beyond the limits of settlement in the Namoi River district. Nunn was dispatched with two sergeants and twenty troopers. On 26 January 1838, near the Gwydir River, his party was attacked and a corporal wounded. In retaliation the troopers opened fire and a number of Aboriginal people were killed. The Mounted Police then pursued the Aborigines and engaged them again, killing more. This event is now known as the Waterloo Creek Massacre.


Nunn was probably part of the 5th Irish Lancers whose uniform is distinguished by the great flowing green head-piece depicted. He became prominently associated with the 80th Regiment, but is essentially wearing the uniform of the Mounted Police in this portrait. His sabretache has the `VR’ cypher for Queen Victoria who became monarch in June 1837. 


Nunn was made a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army in 1846.


The 80th Regiment was sent to India in 1844 and Nunn died at Meerut, 2 February 1847, aged 57. His death and obituary was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, 7 September 1847.


It is hard to ascertain exactly how many people were killed in the Waterloo Creek Massacre. Contemporary reports were vague. Some suggested about 8 deaths, others put the figure at 40-50, while Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld suggested between that between 200-300 people were killed. The official inquiry, held 15 months after the event and reproduced in Historical Records of Australia vol.20 remains unclear. There were no convictions from this massacre.

The Waterloo Creek Massacre (south west of Moree in northern New South Wales), occurred in the same year as the Myall Creek massacre (June 1838). These violent incidents highlight the highly charged situation on the Australian frontiers between Aboriginal people, settlers and stockmen.