Place Names Register Extract
Bellamack
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Print Extract | Search Again| Name | Bellamack |
|---|---|
| Type Designation | Suburb |
| Place Id | 2010 |
| Place Type | Administrative Area |
| Status | Registered |
| Date Registered | 5 December 2001 |
| Location (Datum GDA94) | |
| Latitude: -12° 30' S (Decimal degrees -12.5151) | |
| Longitude: 130° 58' E (Decimal degrees 130.983) | |
| View Map | View in NT Atlas | View in Google Earth | |
| Locality / Suburb | |
| (None Found) | |
| Local Government Area | |
| Palmerston City Council | |
| History/Origin | This original Palmerston suburb is named after a local Larrakia Aboriginal of 1870 mentioned in Surveyor-General Goyder's papers on the early survey expedition and the settlement of Palmerston (now Darwin). One of the first Aboriginal people to welcome Goyder, Bellamuck ("Billiamook" or by his nickname "Billy Muck") gave W W Hoare, the Doctor's assistant, a necklace of red beads when the party first arrived on the "Moonta" in 1869. He gave help to the surveyors, standing between Schultze, the botanist, and a group of the tribe with spears who were demanding food (the remains of an emu). Saving the life of Schultze, he was described as "a handsome, well built Aboriginal whose intelligence was outstanding among his tribe and was well liked by all the members of the expedition who encountered him." The Northern Territory Times recorded his movements around Port Darwin over the years and in 1882 he was sworn in before the Court as an interpreter for the Larrakia Aboriginal people. He and "Umballa", another Larrakia, travelled widely including to Adelaide. Bellamuck disembarked on return from Adelaide in the uniform of the Adelaide Volunteers. Bellamuck was described by Wildey in "Wildey's Australasia and the Oceanic Region" (1876) as "becoming a fluent speaker of English and one of the finest to demonstrate a remarkable ability to adopt to the European culture whilst retaining his responsibilities as a Larrakia." |
Register & Gazettal information
| Date | Gazettal | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 17/10/1984 | NTG41 | |
| 05/12/2001 | NTG48 | Revocation of 17/10/1984 gazettal and renaming of suburb with slight changes to boundaries |