Bilin Bilin Gugingin (abt. 1805 - 1901)

Born about 1805 in Logan District, Queensland, Australia

Died 1901 at about age 96 in Deebing Creek Mission, Queensland, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Australia Project WikiTree [send private message]

Bilin Bilin Gugingin was an Indigenous Australian. Join: Indigenous Australians Project Discuss: INDIGENOUS_AUSTRALIANS

Biography

Bilin Bilin, which means 'many parrots', was also known as Jackey Jackey, Kawae Kawae, John Logan, Bilinba, or King of the Logan and Pimpama ^[1] of the Yugambeh people. They consisted of 9 clans who spoke the Yugambeh language and lived in southeast Queensland bounded by the coast from the Tweed River in the south and along the Logan River in the north and west^[2]. He is thought to have been 'born in the early 1800s ^[1] and would have experienced the arrival of early invaders, displacing them "from traditional food sources as settlers acquired land for agricultural purposes, ... conflict leading to multiple deaths of Yugambeh and Europeans soon followed throughout the 1850/60s" ^[3] with increasing pressure from the settlers in the Logan district.

Bilin Bilin became a leader of the Yugambeh people in about 1863 and encouraged them to live on their land, and some of the German settlers certainly had a good relationship with the traditional owners.

With the setting up of the Bethesda Mission in 1866, Pastor Johann Gottfried Hausmann, encouraged some of the Yugambeh people to come to the Mission, and also taught Bilin Bilin to read and write, while the latter charged Hausmann 5/- per week to sit and discuss religion with the tribe and to pay his people to clear the land ^[1].

In 1875, Bilin Bilin was presented with a 'king plate' which stated that he was 'King of the Logan and Pimpama' ^[1]. A photograph was taken of him wearing only trousers in ca.1895 and the plate states that the inscription reads 'Jacky Jacky King of the Logan and Pimpama', and that it was taken in the Albert River District of Queensland^[4].

"With the introduction of the Aborigines Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act in 1897 most of the remaining Yugambeh were removed from their land to Aboriginal missions and reserves throughout Queensland. Bilin Bilin resisted the pressure from the Southern Protector of Aborigines, Archibald Meston, to live in an Aboriginal reserve until the late 1890s" ^[1].

Regarding descendants, it appears from a Native Title Claim document that Bilin Bilin had 3 wives - "Bilin/Bilinba/Jackey Jackey/Kawae-Kawae (and brothers Mark Jackey and Harry Jackey) (and 3 wives Nellie, Mary and Sarah; brother-in-law Minnippi Rawlins)"^[5]. He did have at least 300 descendants by 1987 ^[6]

"Bilin Bilin moved about in his own country, set up strategies to protect his family, negotiated work contracts, and refused to pay to travel on the new train, which by 1887 was traversing his country. He officiated at ceremonies, presided at burials, and kept such ‘sacred’ locations a secret… When Bilin Bilin considered that his life’s work was done…he ‘sat’ down at the Deebing Creek Industrial Mission with members of his extended family group" ^[7], where he passed away in 1901 ^[1].

He "is buried on a mountainside in his own country – a country where Yugambeh people today are once again learning to speak his tongue in the schools and homes of Logan and the Gold Coast"^[8].

Research Notes

• The clan of Bilin Bilin was the Gugingin ^[9]. Based on the naming conventions this would be used as an LNAB.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Laughton, Karen (n.d.) Frontier Relations in the Logan District In Ganter, Regina (2009-2018) German Missionaries in Australia: A web-directory of intercultural encounters Griffith University
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugambeh_people
3. ↑ Office of City Architect Heritage Unit (2017, Apr) Indigenous history in Nerang Heritage Walk City of Gold Coast Nerang Queensland
4. ↑ Unidentified (c. 1895) Jacky from the Logan and Pimpama River District John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
5. ↑ National Native Title Tribunal (2015, Feb 11) Reconsideration of Claim Section 190E Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) QC2011_008-4 11022015
6. ↑ Best, Ysola and Barlow, A. (1997) Kombumerri – Saltwater People Heinemann Australia 1997.
7. ↑ Steele, J. G. (1983) Aboriginal Pathways in South East Queensland and the Richmond River, Queensland University Press, St. Lucia
8. ↑ Lucashenko, Melissa (2018, Jan 29) Time to mention the war: Towards a new settlement Griffith Review
9. ↑ https://fiverivers.net.au/gugingin-profile

• Rick, A. (1931, Mar 25) King Jacky and his Tribe. The Brisbane Courier Wed 25 Mar 1931 Page 3
• Hinchcliffe, F.W. (1931, Jun 12) Jackey Jackey: King of Logan and the Pimpana The Beaudesert Times Page 7
• Australasian Study of Parliament Group (Queensland Chapter) (2015, Jul 27) Women in Parliament: Transcript of Proceedings Aunty Lynne MATSEN

  Thank you, Donna. Good afternoon Premier, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I will just establish my credentials for being up here to welcome you to country. My apical ancestry can be traced back to 1815 to Bilin Bilin and Nellie. Bilin Bilin was King of Logan and the Pimpama area and Nellie was his third wife. Bilin Bilin and Nellie had a daughter, Emily Jackey, who married Willy Williams back in 1878. My grandfather Arthur Ford was born at the foot of Mount Warning in 1866 and he was the first Aboriginal birth registered by Joshua Bray, who was the first postmaster, JP, first police magistrate, Coroner and gold warden down on the Tweed. He had a number of roles!

  Arthur Ford married Kitty Sandy, who is buried at Deebing Creek and has the historical gravesite that is up there. His second marriage was to Eva Williams, who was Emily Jackey and Willy Williams’s daughter. When checking with Maroochy and Uncle Des Sandy and Uncle Alex Davidson if I was able to do welcome to country or acknowledgement, it was discovered that Connie Isaacs, Maroochy’s mum, went to school with my father and his brothers. The Ford family has lived at Paddington, Rosalie, Torwood and are still living in Holland Park and it has been confirmed by the apical ancestry researcher that the Ford family can establish and show an unbroken connection with Turrbal country going back to the time of the arrival of the first Europeans. So I take this opportunity to welcome everybody to the luncheon today which is being held on Turrbal land.

• Monument Australia (1991, Aug 24) William & Emily Williams Address: Mount Lindesay Highway & Tamrookum Church Road, Tamrookum Memorial Hall, Tamrookum, 4285 State: QLD Area: AUS GPS Coordinates: Lat: -28.123218 Long: 152.917164 Monument Type: Monument Monument Theme: People Sub-Theme: Indigenous

  A tribute to our Aboriginal pioneers, William Williams (1847 -1927) and his wife Emily Jacky (1856 - 1929).

  William and Emily Munaljahli Aborigines of the Yugembah language group who lived and worked in the Logan and Albery valleys in the European settlement. William and Emily lived out their lives in their own country and are buried in the nearby Tamrookum Church Cemetery.

  Their children Teddy, Eva, Eliza, Wille, Cissy, Henry, Lilly, Claude, Clara, Katherine and Mary were amongst the earliest students and Hillview State School, and later worked as carriers and contractors, stockmen and drovers, axemen and haulers, housekeepers and farmers at Tamrookum, Tabooba, Maroon, Kooralbyn, Dulbolla and other places in the valleys.

  The plaque also plays tribute to the Munlajalhi People who survived on this land and contributed to the prosperity of the Logan and Albery Valleys.

  Nahli wahlu yabbalehla yi-u jagin gali yabruma

  You and I will go bye-and-bye. The earth will always remain.

  Erected By The Descendants Of William And Emily With The Support And Assistance Of The Tamrookum Hall Committee And The Beaudesert Shire Council, August 24th, 1991

.