Barangaroo Cammeraygal (abt. 1750 - 1791)

Born about 1750 in Kayeemy [uncertain]

Wife of Bennelong Wangal — married [date unknown] in New South Wales, Australia

Died 1791 at about age 41 in Port Jackson, New South Wales

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Gillian Thomas [send private message] and Australia Project WikiTree [send private message]

Barangaroo Cammeraygal was an Indigenous Australian. Join: Indigenous Australians Project Discuss: INDIGENOUS_AUSTRALIANS

First Nations people should be aware that this biography contains images and names referring to people who have passed into the dreaming.

Biography

Barangaroo (pronounced /baraŋaru/^[1]) was part of the Cammeraygal Eora whose country was centred around Kayeemy (Manly Cove) in what now is the Lower North Shore of Sydney ^{[2] [3]}. She was estimated to have been aged around 40 years when she came into contact with colonists in 1790 ^[4].

There are scarce details of her life prior to colonisation.

Barangaroo was one of the partners of Bennelong. It is likely that Bennelong was staying with Barangaroo at Kayeemy when he was seized and brought captive to Governor Arthur Phillip in 1789.

Barangaroo would meet Governor Phillip for a second time with Bennelong in a boat on 3 February 1790 at Rose Bay ^[3]. In October 1790 she met other officers who estimated her age at about 40 ^[5] and recognised that she "had presence and authority".

She had a daughter by Bennelong, named Dilboong (Bellbird), in the bush, who only lived for a few months in 1791 ^[3]. Bennelong wanted her to have their child in Government House but she refused.

Barangaroo has been described as "one of the powerful figures in Sydney's early history" ^[5]. She was one of the few older women, and refused to wear any clothes in the presence of colonists. She survived the smallpox epidemic, which is said to have killed one of her partners and two of her children.

She possessed knowledge of laws, teaching and women's rituals and exercised authority over the younger women. She was a fisher, skilled in diving, swimming and canoeing, all while caring for children. Along with the other women, she provided her community with fish, which were caught from bark canoes with lines and hooks. ^[5].

She is said to have resisted Bennelong's engagement with colonists, but came to live with him at Port Jackson at the end of 1790. She was appalled by the sight of public floggings. ^[6]

Barangaroo died in 1791. ^[7] She was cremated and Bennelong buried her ashes in the garden of Government House ^[5], in Port Jackson, in the area of the present day Circular Quay.

Naming and Kinship

Suggested use of naming fields (please click on hyperlinks for definitions):

• Proper first name: Barangaroo
• Preferred name: Barangaroo
• Other Nicknames:
• Skin name: unknown
• Clan/family group: Cammeraygal - in light of Baranangaroo's skin name not being publicly known, Cammeraygal is considered to be the most appropriate name to be used in the Last Name at Birth (LNAB) field, representing a family group.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors. “Dharug Language - Phonology.” Wikipedia, 31 Mar. 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharug_language#Phonology
2. ↑ Collins, David (1788-1792) An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales. Volume 1. With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners &c. of the Native Inhabitants of that Country. To Which are Added, Some Particulars of New Zealand: Complied by Permission, From the Mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King University of Sydney

   Many of the men with whom we were acquainted did not confine themselves to one woman. Ben-nil-long, previous to his visit to England, was possessed of two wives, (if wives they may be called,) both living with him and attending on him wherever he went. One named Ba-rang-a-roo, who was of the tribe of Cam-merray, (Ben-nil-long himself was a Wahn-gal,) lived with him at the time he was seized and brought a captive to the settlement with Cole-be; and before her death he had brought off from Botany Bay, by the violence before described, Go-roo-bar-roobool-lo, the daughter of an old man named Met-ty, a native of that district; and she continued with him until his departure for England

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Smith, Keith Vincent (2009) Bennelong among his people Aboriginal History Vol. 33 (2009), pp. 7-30
4. ↑ Karskens, Grace (2010, Mar 6) Barangaroo, a woman worth remembering Sydney Morning Herald
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Karskens, Grace (2014), Barangaroo and the Eora Fisherwomen, Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust.
6. ↑ Sydney Barani (n.d.) Significant Aboriginal People in Sydney, City of Sydney; accessed 25 Feb 2019.
7. ↑ Collins, David (1788-1792) An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales. Volume 1. With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners &c. of the Native Inhabitants of that Country. To Which are Added, Some Particulars of New Zealand: Complied by Permission, From the Mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King University of Sydney

   When Ba-rang-a-roo, Ben-nil-long’s wife, died, several spears were thrown by the men at each other, by which many were wounded; and Ben-nil-long had a severe contest with Wil-le-mer-ring, whom he wounded in the thigh. He had sent for him as a car-rah-dy to attend her when she was ill; but he either could not or would not obey the summons. Ben-nil-long had chosen the time for celebrating these funeral games in honour of his deceased wife when a whale feast had assembled a large number of natives together, among whom were several people from the northward, who spoke a dialect very different to that with which we were acquainted.

• Tench, Watkin (1789) A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson Including An Accurate Description of the Situation of the Colony; of the Natives; and Of Its Natural Productions University of Sydney
• Wikidata: Item Q807254, en:Wikipedia