The European history of the area began 1843, when Captain Francis Henry (Frank) Griffin (ca. 1813-1881) became the first free settler to occupy the land. A short time later, Frank was joined by his brothers John and William. In 1845 they were joined by the mother Jane and father Gearbe who was the controlling partner in the property. [4]: 579 The run taken up by the Griffins for raising both cattle and sheep, which was named Whiteside, was an extensive portion of 28 square miles of land on the north bank of the North Pine River stretching from the sea coast as far west as Terror's Creek (now Dayboro) and northwards nearly as far as the Caboolture River.[5]
Circa April 1847, it was alleged that servants at the Whiteside sheep station of Captain Francis Griffin mixed flour laced with arsenic and left in a hut with the expectation that Aboriginal people "would visit the hut and make use of the mixture". The act was reportedly in revenge for an aboriginal attack on a hutkeeper, who had been blinded by a blow to the head with a waddy. The servants denied mixing the flour with arsenic, claiming that both were separately kept in the hut and that the Aboriginal people must have combined them.[6]
The assault on the hut keeper and the killing of a shepherd appear to have been punishment under Aboriginal customary law for a previous incident where three Aboriginal people were murdered and others injured by poisoning by the shepherd in question, according to Tom Petrie.[7]: 85
After the massacre of the 50-60 Aboriginal men, women and children, on March 2, George Griffin had taken his dray to Brisbane only to discover one of his employees, John Brown, at the court office making a complaint about the massacre. It was reported that George Griffin immediately "galloped back to the station to warn his staff."[4]: 583
Upon being questioned about the massacre, the Griffins did not deny it, but claimed that it had been perpetrated by a servant no longer in their employ. History does not record any search for the alleged perpetrator or further investigation.[7]: 85 Circa 1866, Edgar Foreman "saw scores of bleached bones including a complete skeleton" while riding in the vicinity, and heard that "fifty or sixty" Aboriginal people had lost their lives there by poisoning.[8][9] Freeman claimed John Griffin of the Samsonvale cattle property told him that the deaths were caused by the Aboriginal people stealing from the hut and mixing them into dampers and Johnny cakes as they had seen the white men do and that over 50 Aboriginal people died from eating them.[10]
Further violence occurred in September 1847 when a group of Aboriginal men attacked and killed some of the workers at a saw-pit.[11]
Demographics
In the 2011 census, Whiteside had a population of 703 people, 50.4% female and 49.6% male. The median age of the Whiteside population was 47 years, 10 years above the national median of 37. 79.3% of people living in Whiteside were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 6.2%, New Zealand 2.7%, Germany 1.6%, United States of America 0.9%, Netherlands 0.9%. 91.5% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 1.7% Dutch, 1% Spanish, 0.6% Croatian, 0.4% German, 0.4% Italian.[12]
In the 2016 census, Whiteside had a population of 753 people.[13]
In the 2021 census, Whiteside had a population of 810 people.[1]
^"MORETON BAY". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. XXII, no. 3231. New South Wales, Australia. 28 September 1847. p. 2. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022 – via Trove.
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