Matthew Moorhouse was an English pioneer in Australia, pastoralist, politician, and Protector of Aborigines in South Australia. He was in charge of the armed party that murdered 30-40 Maraura people, which may have included women and children, now known as the Rufus River massacre.

The Rufus River Massacre was a massacre of at least 30–40 Aboriginal people that took place in 1841 along the Rufus River, in the Central Murray River region. The massacre was perpetrated by a large group of South Australian Police which was sent to the region by the Governor of South Australia, George Grey, after a series of effective raiding operations were conducted by local Indigenous warriors. The police were augmented by armed volunteers and a separate party of overlanders who were already battling with Aboriginal people in the Rufus River area. The colony's Protector of Aborigines, Matthew Moorhouse accompanied the punitive expedition and unsuccessfully attempted to mediate a solution before the massacre occurred.