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James Morrill Birth
Morrill was born at Heybridge in the English county Essex. -
First sailed to Australia
Morrill signed up to sail aboard to Australia as a crewman of a ship carrying soldiers . -
Set to sea on 'The Peruvian'
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The Peruvian Shipwrecked
The vessel crashed into a submerged reef near Minerva Shoal in the Coral Sea. A raft was created for the remaining survivors. -
Washed ashore of Cape Cleveland
Close to death, the 12 survivors washed up on the north east coast of Queensland. A aboriginal community, residing in Mount Elliot took in the survivors and nursed them to health -
Period: to
Morrill lived among the Bindal / Gugu-Badhun Peoples
In this time, Morrill were taught how to gather food, snare wildfowl and were able to speak some of the language. After years went by Morrill continued to live around Mount Elliot as a member of this tribe. He was given the name Karckynjib-Wombil-Mooney and learnt eight local dialects of the Biri language and shared in their customs. -
First Sighting of English Colonisers
Member of the indigenous community discovered a ship that had landed on the coast of Cape Cleveland. Attempting to explain to the colonisers that they had 'one of their own' with them, these indigenous were killed. -
Morrill approached white settlers
Morrill left Mount Elliot and approached white farmers living in Jarvisfield, in the hope to negotiate the terms of safety for his indigenous community. Morrill washed himself in a creek to make himself "as white as possible" and approached white settlers on their farm saying "do not shoot me, I am a British subject - a shipwrecked sailor" After some conversation, Morrill travelled back to Mount Elliot to warn his community that the colonisers "had come to take their land away" -
Morrill's final Farewell
Morrill said goodbye to the Bindal / Gugu-Badhun Peoples, in his journals Morrill writes it was extremely difficult to overcome "the feeling of love, I had for my old friends and companions". Morrill travelled with the farmers to the nearest settlement of Bowen. -
Morrill travelled to Rockingham Bay
Morrill accompanied an expedition into Rockingham Bay to be a translator between the English and the local aboriginal communities. Morrill was instructed to warn the local communities that the British had come "to occupy the land and would shoot any who approached" -
Morrill's Death
Morrill died at the age of 40 in Bowen, due to sickness he attained when attempting to reintegrate into western society. It was claimed that he had had a daughter with an Aboriginal women, Morrill never admitted to this in the fear settlers would go looking for them.