Major Logue
Major Logue | |
|---|---|
| Born | circa 1826 Derry, Ireland |
| Died | Error: Need valid birth date (second date): year, month, day Ellendale, Western Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Settler, pastoralist, politician |
| Years active | 1850–1897 |
| Known for | Pioneering settler and pastoralist in Western Australia; member of the Legislative Council (1870–1874) |
Major Logue (circa 1826 – 1 February 1900) was among the pioneering settlers and pastoralists in Western Australia.
Originally from Derry, Ireland, he was the son of Elizabeth (née Goodwin) and Joseph Keys Logue. In 1837, he emigrated to Western Australia with his family aboard the ship Hero. By 1850, Logue had driven livestock overland from York to Geraldton and founded a pastoral estate called Ellendale near Greenough, situated on land traditionally inhabited by the Yamatji people. He spent the remainder of his life at Ellendale.
Logue began his political career in 1870 when he became one of the inaugural elected members of the Legislative Council, serving as the representative for the Geraldton constituency until his resignation in 1874. During the 1890s, he sought to re-enter parliament on two occasions but was unsuccessful in contests for the Greenough seat in both the 1894 and 1897 elections.
He passed away from apoplexy at Ellendale in February 1900. In 1856, Logue married Lucy Ellen Shaw, and together they had nine children—four sons and five daughters.
Logue’s history also involves his participation in violent confrontations that led to the deaths of at least nineteen Aboriginal individuals.
Murders
For five decades, Logue maintained a diary chronicling his role in shootings that resulted in the deaths of no fewer than nineteen members of the Yamatji community. Portions of these entries describing such incidents are obscured using a basic pigpen cipher. Geraldton historian Nan Broad suggests that Logue was likely involved in the 1854 Bootenal massacre, an event where colonists under his brother-in-law, John Nicol Drummond, were responsible for killing at least thirty Aboriginal people; however, this massacre is not explicitly referenced in Logue’s diaries.
As of 2025, a published edition of these diaries is planned by Hesperian Press, with all content relating to Logue’s killings of Aboriginal people omitted.