Australian Dictionary of Biography

Colebee (c. 1755–c. 1806), kidnapped Aboriginal man and resistance fighter, also known as Coalby and Botany Bay Colebe, was an Eora (Cadigal/Gadigal) man whose Country ran along the eastern shores of Port Jackson, from South Head to Darling Harbour. He and Bennelong were captured at Manly Cove on 25 November 1789 by Lieutenant William Bradley’s boat crew and held at Government House. Governor Arthur Phillip wanted to use them to learn about their language and customs as a precursor to establishing peaceful relations with the Eora. Colebee escaped after three weeks; Bennelong was freed in April 1790.

Colebee was treated with deference by Bennelong, who was younger than him by some ten years. Constantly together, they refused invitations to return to the European settlement for some time, but finally acceded, and in September 1790 brought their families to the town. Other Aboriginal people soon followed.

Colebee acted as guide and mediator on journeys with Governor Phillip to the Nepean River and other places, helped to recover gear from an overturned fishing boat in the harbour, and led a lost soldier back to the settlement, for which services he was rewarded. He sometimes dined at Government House and took part in the whale feast at Manly in September 1790 when Governor Phillip was speared in the shoulder. Later, he promised to bring in Pemullaway, the alleged murderer of the gamekeeper McEntyre, but failed to do so.

Colebee’s wife, Daringa, was a sister of the clan leader Moorooboora. They had a daughter, Panieboolong, in 1791, but she died in infancy. Colebee’s treatment of Aboriginal women in the settlement was remarked upon by European observers: it was said that he severely battered Boorong, a young Aboriginal woman living with Richard Johnson’s family, in October 1790; attempted to abduct a young Aboriginal woman from Government House in May 1791; and, with Yeranibe, murdered Yeranibe’s young wife in 1797. Such actions may have been part of ritual revenge battles, for he subsequently killed Yeranibe, and his life was saved by soldiers following a ritual fight in December 1797. In July 1805, Colebee and Bennelong, who were usually allies, fought a duel over Bennelong’s wife Kurubarabulu. There is no record of his life after 1806.

♦♦  This article was revised on 18 July 2025