Neddy Noora, Shoalhaven, 1834 breastplate
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Contents
- Neddy Noora
- Other breastplates
- References
- Acknowledgement
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1. The Neddy Noora breastplate
Around 1834 the artist Charles Rodius (1802-1860) sketched an Aboriginal man of the Shoalhaven tribe by the name of Neddy Noora, wearing a breastplate. A lithograph of the original sketch was subsequently published, along with a number of other portraits of male and female members of the the Shoalhaven tribe. These beautiful artworks are rare in Australian colonial history, and also significant for their provision of information concerning individual members of the local Indigenous community. There were few records kept of the local population during the nineteenth century, and as such these portraits add much to the scant picture we have of life for these people following the British invasion of 1788. The addition of a breastplate - a British reward for services rendered - is useful for the biographical and cultural information it provides, but out of place otherwise. In most instances official records were not kept regarding the issuance of breastplates, as in by whom, for what reason and usually the date of presentation. The survival of the breastplates is also shrouded in mystery as it appears most were buried with their recipients and, therefore, must have been retrieved post mortem. There is also scant mention of them in published material such as contemporary newspapers, magazines and journals.
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| Neddy Noora / Shoal Haven / 1834 |
Who was Neddy Noora?
According to the blanket list compiled on 4 June 1834 at Shoal Haven, one of those to receive a blanket was Neddy Noo-ra, age 24, or Noorah, age 25, a member of the Shoalhaven tribe (Organ 1989). Neddy was given as the English name, and Noo-ra as the native name. Subsequent to that entries between 1836 and 1840 were all Neddy Noorar, given age 27 to 28. It was said elsewhere that Noora was from Berrima, and even the "king" there. However, it seems that this was brought about through the 1860s writings of Louisa Atkinson of Sutton Forest. They mentioned a man by the English name of Neddy who was the king, though king and chief were English titles attached to those who are now referred to as Elders. In regards to the Neddy Noora breastplate of 1834, an item in The Shoalhaven Telegraph of 8 July 1925 is the earliest known published reference to it, outside of those from the 1830s:
OPEN COLUMN. (To the Editor).
Sir, — It may be of interest to your readers that I am in possession of two brass plates, one oblong, the other crescent shaped, bearing the following inscriptions:
Upon the oblong plate is inscribed 'Broughton, native constable, Shoalhaven,' and dated 1822. To it is attached a chain. It was discovered at Worrigee in the ashes or calcined clay of a burnt stump. One can imagine that the constable was slaughtered by an enemy, and this symbol of authority thrown into the hollow of a tree before he fled.
The crescent plate, with its chain, was discovered in the bed of the Broughton Mill Creek, near my residence, after a heavy flood which evidently washed away the gravel. It bears the legend 'Neddy Noora, 1834.' It is possible the present site of Nowra may have originally been known to the aboriginals as Noora, which is equally if not more euphonius than its present modern name.
Yours, etc., JOHN STEWART, Berry, July 6th, 1925.
The information provided regarding the Broughton and Neddy Noora breastplates is significant, not only in regard to physical description but also as to location. It is possible that the latter was washed out of a grave in sandy loam associated with Broughton Mill Creek. It was common for local Aboriginal people to be buried in this manner along the east cost of Australia. The discovery of the Broughton breastplate in a burnt stump suggests that it may have been associated with a carved tree which was often found next to the grave of an important person in the tribe.
Both Broughton - native name Toodwit - and Neddy Noora of the Shoalhaven tribe were guides to Surveyor-General John Oxley in securing an overland route from Sydney to Jervis Bay during 1819 (Saunders 2019).
The following additional reference to the Neddy Noora breastplate was published in The South Coast Register, Berry, on 20 February 1936:
"NOORA"—NOT NOWRA
Referring to the relics in the possession of Messrs. E. and N. Stewart, we inadvertently quoted one of the bronze decorations as bearing the word "Neddy Nowa." It should have read "Neddy Noora." This tablet might give our Nowra friends some food for thought, in that it might have some significance so far as their town is concerned. Perhaps Nowra was known as "Noora" in the early days.
Some history related to the Neddy Noora breastplate and copy of the print in the Shoalhaven Historical Society collection is contained in the following story from The Canberra Times, 28 August 1988:
Neddy's plate
The Shoalhaven Historical Society's museum, which occupies the old police station at the corner of Kinghorn and Plunkett Streets, Nowra, has a wealth of memorabilia from the district's past. An item of particular interest, with links going back to the exploration of the district by John Oxley in 1819, is a breastplate worn by Neddy Noora, one of the Aborigines accompanying the expedition. According to the society's treasurer, Miss Kay Harrison, the breastplates were a type of medal indicating the wearer's authority. The breastplate bears the inscription "Neddy Noora, Shoal Haven, 1834." To add interest to the exhibit is a lithograph obtained by Miss Harrison of Neddy Noora wearing the plate. The lithograph was by the German-born artist Charles Rodius, published in 1834. The museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays from 1pm to 4pm and school holidays 11am-3pm, Monday to Friday.
A 2011 archaeological report for the Bundanon area stated in regards to the breastplate and its recipient:
King Neddy Noora received a breastplate in 1834 identifying the Shoalhaven as his country when in fact he was from Berrima. He had been Oxley’s guide during his 1819 expedition (Anthill 1982), explaining his presence in the Shoalhaven (Feary and Moorcroft 2011).
It would appear that aspects of this statement were wrong, as Noora was of the Shoalhaven tribe, and not Berrima, as mentioned above. This breastplate was also one of a number known to have been issued to people from the Shoalhaven from 1822 - the date of the arrival of Alexander Berry at Cullungutti - through to the end of the century.
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2. Other local breastplates
* Nemmit, Chief of Sutton Forest, 1825. Referred to in the article Old Shoalhaven Relic, The Shoalhaven News and South Coast District Advertiser, 9 October 1926, as follows:
OLD SHOALHAVEN RELIC.
Recently Mr. Lindon Biddulph, a native of Shoalhaven, forwarded to the Mitchell Library an aboriginal breast-plate presented to Nemmit, chief of the Sutton Forest tribe, in 1825. The plate is said to be of an earlier date than any other in the Mitchell Library. The plate was found in 1876 (50 years ago), by a member of the Biddulph family, at the blacks camping ground, Sandy Point, on 'Eree' Estate, Shoalhaven River, 14 miles upstream from Nowra. 'Eree' was purchased from Mr. Hyam, of Nowra, by the Biddulph brothers (Lindon and Tregenna), and in 1855 they went to live there. Nemmit and his followers from the adjacent high country made Sandy Point, on the river, their camping ground, generally about harvest time, in order to assist in harvesting and pick up anything they could could lay their hands on - square bottle rum being the main thing, with plug tobacco and old clothes next in demand.
Also mention in a recent cultural management report for Bundanon is a description of the site on the Shoalhaven River (Feary and Moorcroft 2011):
In 1853 the Wardlows owned Riversdale, and the Biddulph family was at Eearie Park by 1854. Either Aboriginal people were already there or came as a result of settlement at Eearie Park because in 1876 a breastplate was found by the Biddulph family at the ‘blacks camping ground, Sandy Point’. The breastplate was engraved with the words ‘Nemmit, 1825, Chief of the Sutton Forest Tribe’. This may be the same person as Louisa Atkinson’s ‘Jemmy Meretts,’ son of ‘chief’ Jim Vaugh (Atkinson 1863b).
There was a close relationship between the people of the Shoalhaven and Kangaroo Valley and those west of the escarpment in the region of Bundnoon north through Sutton Forest towards Mittagong and Bowral - then known generally as Bong Bong. For this reason it is understandable that Nemmit's breastplate would be found in the region of the Shoalhaven River, rather than on the highlands near Sutton Forest.
* Budd Billy II, King of Jarvis Bay, National Museum of Australia, Canberra. Refers to James Goulding - native name Budbili - who was the husband of Mary Carpenter.
* Mary Carpenter, Queen of Jarvis Bay, private collection.
* Coomee, last of her tribe, Murramarang, National Museum of Australia, Canberra.
* Boongong Nimmitt, Chief of the Burrier Tribe, 1847, Powerhouse Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney.
* Broughton, Native Constable, Shoalhaven, 1822, Berry Historical Society Museum, Berry. Stolen. Reference: Poignant Regalia.
* Cockabundy Chief of Tollwong, Shoalhaven River district, Australian Museum, Sydney.
* Richard Buttong of Coolangatta, 1888. Location unknown.
* Wagin Chief of Shoalhaven. Private collection.
* Yager Chief of Jervis Bay. Private collection.
* Timothy / Chief of / Merricumbene [Batemans Bay].
* Biamanga / King of Wallaga / & Bega District / Born Bredbatoura.
* Jenny / Queen / of Broulee.
* Presented to Baraban by Shepherd Laidley / In Remembrance of 9th Decr 1867
[Shoalhaven].
* Cookabundy / Chief of Jerrick Nora [Shoalhaven]
* Sangrado, Pilot of Shoalhaven. Pencil sketch by Charles Rodius, August 1834, State Library of New South Wales.
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3. References
Antill, R., Settlement in the South, Weston and Co., Kiama 1982.
Aboriginal Breastplates, Wikipedia, accessed 30 September 2025.
Clark, Alan, Neddy Nora "King Plate", Shoalhaven Chronograph, October 1982.
Cleary, Tanya, Poignant regalia : 19th century aboriginal breastplates & images : a catalogue of Aboriginal breastplates held in public, regional and private collections in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory [Exhibition], Greenway Gallery, Hyde Park Barracks, 26 May-4 July 1993; Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, Glebe, 1993, 136p.
Feary, Sue and Heather Moorcroft, An Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management Plan for the Bundanon Trust Properties, August 2011, 88p.
Neddy's plate, The Canberra Times, 28 August 1988.
Organ, Michael, A Documentary History of the Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850; including a Chronological Bibliography 1770-1990, Aboriginal Education Unit, Wollongong University, December 1990, 646p.
Rodius, Charles, Neddy Noora Shoalhaven, 1834, lithograph, ink and white on paper, 1834. Collection: State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
Saunders, Jen, Small histories: a road trip reveals local museums stuck in a rut, Media Centre, University of Wollongong, 18 October 2019.
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4. Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Lynne Allen, President of the Shoalhaven Historical Society, for her assistance in the compilation of this article.
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Shoalhaven & South Coast: Aborigines / Indigenous / First Nations archive | Amootoo | Aunty Julie Freeman art | Berry's Frankenstein & Arawarra | Blanket lists | Bundle & Timelong | Byamunga's (Devil's) Hands | Cornelius O'Brien & Kangaroo Valley | Cullunghutti - Sacred Mountain | Death ... Arawarra, Berry & Shelley | God | Gooloo Creek, Conjola | Indigenous words | Kangaroo Valley | Mary Reiby & Berry | Mickey of Ulladulla | Minamurra River massacre 1818 | Mount Gigenbullen | Neddy Noora breastplate | Timelong | Ulladulla Mission | Yams |
Last updated: 30 September 2025
Michael Organ, Australia
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