Beilba

Beilba (c.1825 – March 1866), sometimes referred to as Beilbah or Bielbah, was an Indigenous Australian resistance fighter from the Expedition Range area of what is now known as Queensland. He became famous for being a leader in the Hornet Bank massacre of 1857, where Aboriginal forces killed 11 British settlers.

Early life Not much is known about Beilba's upbringing, but it is believed that he was a member of either the Kongabula or Yiman people of the upper Dawson River region of central Queensland. According to the colonist Pollet Cardew, Beilba as a young man had partaken in raids against British settlers at Mount Abundance and Dulacca in 1848 and 1849. He escaped being shot by the Native Police in follow-up punitive expeditions. Cardew also maintained that since 1854, Beilba had been involved in the killings of shepherds in the upper Dawson River region.

Hornet Bank massacre By the mid 1850s, Beilba had become closely associated with the Yiman people of the upper Dawson River. The Fraser family from the Hornet Bank property (established on Yiman land in 1853), had persecuted the Yiman for years, killing their men, raping their women, poisoning them and taking their land. In October 1857, the Yiman, with the assistance of Beilba, several former Native Police troopers and an Aboriginal servant from the Hornet Bank household named Baulie, decided to take revenge on the Frasers.

Later years, death and legacy Beilba survived for another six years, appearing to be protected and receiving food hand-outs from Aboriginal workers on properties around the Condamine River. It seems he may have also been protected by at least one colonist in the region. Bounties of £25 and £50 were announced for his capture, dead or alive.

His name lives on by the locality of Beilba, Queensland, situated in the rugged parts of the Expedition Range where Beilba once hid out from the colonists.