Jackey Jackey

Jackey Jackey, Indigenous guide, was a member of the Wonnarua tribe in NSW. He accompanied the explorer Edmund Kennedy on an expedition in 1848 to Cape York Peninsula. Members of the party were left along the way as they became weak and ill. Jackey Jackey and Kennedy were attacked by Aborigines when close to Cape York and Kennedy was killed. Jackey Jackey, after burying him, reached the waiting supply ship on 23 December 1848. In May 1849 Jackey Jackey guided an expedition in search of survivors from Kennedy’s party but was unsuccessful. On his return, he was rewarded with an engraved breastplate and a £50 gratuity. Jackey Jackey died in 1854 near Albury, NSW.

Archival Resources

‘Silver breastplate presented by His Excellency Sir Charles Augustus Fitz Roy K.B., Governor of NSW to Jackey Jackey’

Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW Call Number: SAFE / R 453

Statement of Jackey Jackey, 1848

Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, Angus & Robertson manuscripts by Jackey Jackey, 1848, Call Number: MLMSS 314/vol. 151/Item 1

Books

Narrative of an expedition undertaken under the direction of the late Mr Assistant Surveyor E. B. Kennedy, for the exploration of the country lying between Rockingham Bay and Cape York

Willam Carron, 1849.

A Fortunate Liaison: Dr Adoniah Vallacck and Jackey Jackey

Jack Sullivan and Paterson Historical Society, 2003.

Jackey Jackey

Margaret Paice, 1976.

Newspapers

Original Correspondence Jackey Jackey

Sydney Morning Herald
7 March 1849, p. 3

The Fate of Kennedy Expedition

Sydney Morning Herald
6 March 1849, p. 2

No title

Sydney Morning Herald
31 December 1850, p. 2

Assistant Surveyor Kennedy

Sydney Morning Herald
6 March 1852, p. 4

Online Resources

Monuments Australia: Jackey Jackey
Australian Dictionary of Biography: Jackey Jackey
Wikipedia: Jackey Jackey
Medal given by Sir C. Fitzroy to Jackey Jackey, native servant to the explorer Mr Kennedy
Northmost Australia