First Nations Stories of Sydney Harbour

Two of the most famous figures from this era are Frederick Ward, a serial horse thief, and his wife, Worimi woman Mary Ann Bugg (pictured). On 11 September 1863, Ward cemented his place in folklore when he became the first and only person to successfully escape Cockatoo Island. 

Although accounts vary, some hold that Bugg rescued Ward. Namely, she swam to the island from Balmain and left Ward a file to remove his chains. After a swim through shark-infested waters, Ward made it to shore where Bugg was waiting with a horse and they rode to freedom.
 

The area holds special significance for its Traditional Owners, the Borogegal People. It served social and ceremonial purposes and the foreshore was a source of shelter, food and water.   

Although the original inhabitants were the Borogegal, the traditional owners of the Broken Bay area – the Garigal People – also have a notable connection to Headland Park 

In 1815, NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie granted 16 Garigal families land at Georges Heights to settle and cultivate. Macquarie encouraged the group to adapt to the European way of living and appointed Bungaree, a celebrated Aboriginal pioneer and diplomat, as their leader.

The land grant at Georges Heights was coined as ‘King Bungaree’s Farm’ and was the first Aboriginal land grant in the colony. Ultimately, however, Macquarie's experiment was deemed a failure. 

Although the exact boundaries of the farm are unknown, the Sydney Gazette (1815) situated it on “the peninsula of Georges Head” and Thomas Florance’s Survey of Port Jackson (1828) placed it at Middle Head.

“Car-rang gel (North Head) stood out as a monolith, towering above the plains to the east and looking over the lands to the west… Baiame [The Creator] is still known to sit and watch over her lands from this sacred place."

“Car-rang gel is in fact a giant pelican, one of two created by Baiame, who lay down and passed on after raising the first pelican chicks in the inland sea.”  –Excerpt from “What The Colonists Never Knew” by Dennis Foley and Peter Read (National Museum of Australia Press, 2020)

North Head was a special place for the Koradgee (medicine men and women healers). They used the area for spiritual ceremonies and rituals. Rock engravings, rock art, campsites, burials, and middens are reminders of the Gayamagal People’s connection to the area.  

Some of the early interactions between First Nations Peoples and the European colonists occurred in the North Head area. Notably, the First Fleet – led by Captain Arthur Phillip – made contact with the local Aboriginal People in 1788. 
 

The following year, three locals –Arabanoo, Bennelong and Colbee – were captured by early settlers who intended to use them as interpreters. In 1790, at nearby Collins Flat Beach, Governor Phillip was speared in the shoulder at a feast conducted over a stranded whale. 

 

Perched above the cliffs at Vaucluse, Macquarie Lighthouse is a navigational beacon with 200 years of history. First lit on 30 November 1818, Macquarie Lighthouse was designed by convict architect Francis Greenway and named for Lachlan Macquarie, the Governor of NSW. 

Crumbling foundations led to the construction of a replacement lighthouse. Completed in 1883, the new tower – also named Macquarie Lighthouse – was designed by James Barnet, the Colonial Architect for NSW. This iteration of Macquarie Lighthouse survives to this day. 

An archaeological survey of the lightstation noted that the shell mortar contained in the Greenway Wall  –  a remnant of the original lighthouse –  is likely to have come from an Aboriginal midden and appears to contain at least one possible artefact.  

“It is a wild and picturesque site to watch a party of natives spearing fish by torch-light in the sheltered bays around Camp Cove and in Camp Cove itself." 

"They wade into the water until about knee deep, each man brandishing a flaming torch, made of inflammable bark; this attracts the fish and with their four-pronged spears they strike them with wonderful dexterity." – George French Angas

Archaeological sites, including a rock shelter as well as rock engraving depicting marine life, offer insights about the area’s original inhabitants.   

Sydney Harbour is arguably the location of first continuous contact between First Nations Peoples and Non-Indigenous Australians. As a caretaker of heritage sites across the region, the Harbour Trust has a responsibility to assist in the national journey towards Reconciliation. 

This includes preserving the First Nations heritage of its sites and pursuing respectful ways to share the lived experiences of their Traditional Owners and Custodians.  We hope you enjoyed this story sharing some of the First Nations stories of our sites on Sydney Harbour.