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Bongaree (Qld.)
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DescriptionMuch has been said about European expansion in Australia being at the cost of Aboriginals as it undoubtedly was, but what is not always recognised is that white exploration would not have progressed as rapidly and successfully as it did without the assistance of Aboriginal people. Many of the explorers took with them an Indigenous Australian to assist in establishing contact with tribes they might meet along the way.
Near the beginning of European settlement, Matthew Flinders took with him on his travels an Aboriginal man by the name of Bongaree (or Bong-ree as some called him) from the Broken Bay area near Sydney. Bongaree was with Flinders and his boatload of sailors when the naval captain landed on the northern shores of what he, following James Cook, called Glass House Bay. Flinders did not realise that he was stepping ashore on an island - Bribie Island. He though it was part of the mainland.
Things seemed to be going well in their encounter with the local Aboriginal people, until 16 July 1799, when Flinders thought his newfound acquaintances were taking too many liberties and he fired buckshot at one of them. Three other shots were fired. The point where this happened he marked on his chart as Point Skirmish. The name is still used of a point on Bribie Island, but now it refers to a different part of the island. What he called Point Skirmish is now South Point.
Bongaree, the man, was later given a military uniform by the governor of NSW and a seemingly endless supply of cocked hats. He cut a strange figure ceremoniously welcoming new arrivals in Sydney Town with a flourish of his hat and a deep, respectful bow. He wore a crescent-shaped brass plate suspended around his neck proclaiming him to be "Bungaree, King of the blacks". He died November 1830.
After the jetty was built in 1912 for the Koopa and Doomba bringing visitors over from Brisbane and Redcliffe, a township was surveyed, and this township was given the name of Bongaree, now a popular seaside resort on the western side of Bribie Island.
Near the beginning of European settlement, Matthew Flinders took with him on his travels an Aboriginal man by the name of Bongaree (or Bong-ree as some called him) from the Broken Bay area near Sydney. Bongaree was with Flinders and his boatload of sailors when the naval captain landed on the northern shores of what he, following James Cook, called Glass House Bay. Flinders did not realise that he was stepping ashore on an island - Bribie Island. He though it was part of the mainland.
Things seemed to be going well in their encounter with the local Aboriginal people, until 16 July 1799, when Flinders thought his newfound acquaintances were taking too many liberties and he fired buckshot at one of them. Three other shots were fired. The point where this happened he marked on his chart as Point Skirmish. The name is still used of a point on Bribie Island, but now it refers to a different part of the island. What he called Point Skirmish is now South Point.
Bongaree, the man, was later given a military uniform by the governor of NSW and a seemingly endless supply of cocked hats. He cut a strange figure ceremoniously welcoming new arrivals in Sydney Town with a flourish of his hat and a deep, respectful bow. He wore a crescent-shaped brass plate suspended around his neck proclaiming him to be "Bungaree, King of the blacks". He died November 1830.
After the jetty was built in 1912 for the Koopa and Doomba bringing visitors over from Brisbane and Redcliffe, a township was surveyed, and this township was given the name of Bongaree, now a popular seaside resort on the western side of Bribie Island.
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Bongaree (Qld.). Moreton Bay Our Story, accessed 13/05/2025, https://ourstory.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/nodes/view/18577
