Breastplate | State Library of New South Wales
Breastplate

Breastplate, 1816-1852
Maker unknown
Brass
Engraved: 'Cora Gooseberry, Freeman Bungaree, Queen of Sydney & Botany Bay'
ML R 251b

In 1815 Macquarie began presenting selected Aboriginal men and women with brass breastplates. Modelled on the gorgets worn by military officers, they were engraved with the recipient's name, tribe and title, either 'chief', 'king' or 'queen'. Cora Gooseberry was the wife of Bungaree, who had received a breastplate naming him 'Chief of the Broken Bay Tribe'.