Bong Bong

Early journeys and a river crossing

John Price’s journal offers an early written colonial account of journeys through the wider district in 1798. Philip Morton summarises the expeditions led by John Wilson and reproduces extracts, drawing on R. H. Cambage’s 1919 reconstruction of the route. The modern place names attached to the journal are interpretations of that route and should be checked against the original text and maps; Aboriginal people knew and travelled this country long before these expeditions.^[21]

Bong Bong was connected to the coast by tracks long before a practicable road for wheeled vehicles was established. Philip Morton’s account describes Charles Throsby’s 1818 journey with Aboriginal guides via Meryla Pass into Yarrunga and Kangaroo Valley. The pass later carried stock and, after the railway opened, produce towards Werai siding. The article also follows Robert Hoddle’s 1830 survey through the Yarrawa Brush towards Kiama and subsequent road surveys. These colonial records sit within a much longer history of Aboriginal routes and knowledge.^[20]

Heritage NSW records the first town settlement in the district at Bong Bong in 1821, about eight kilometres south-east of Berrima on the Wingecarribee River. The old south road through Mittagong and Bong Bong carried traffic until the Great South Road through Berrima opened, after which the earlier alignment was deserted. Council describes the former settlement as lying on Moss Vale Road between Moss Vale and Burradoo, marked by an obelisk within the Burradoo Landscape Conservation Area. Bong Bong is therefore a historical locality, not simply a modern suburb label.^[13][14]

Church and community

The district’s church history can be followed through family papers and contemporary notices. A descendant’s account in the Society newsletter traces the Stone and Nicholson family connections and reproduces an 1845 newspaper report of a church ceremony associated with Throsby Park. As with all family accounts, follow its references back to the original records.^[15]

Christ Church Bong Bong was built and consecrated in 1845. Its own history attributes the design to architect John Verge and describes the support of Charles Throsby junior and Elizabeth Throsby. The churchyard and cemetery offer a further research trail, with grave locations and profiles available from the church; inscriptions and family links should be checked against registers and other records.^[17][18]

The common and its surviving history

Bong Bong Common preserves part of the former settlement landscape beside the Wingecarribee River. The common management committee’s history brings together information about the early southern road, the crossing and the later shift of traffic towards Berrima. Old parish plans can help locate the original town layout alongside today’s landscape.^[16]

In October 2021 Society members visited archaeological trenches at Bong Bong Common ahead of proposed works. Linda Emery reported preliminary evidence including postholes near the former lock-up, possible drains and a latrine near the commandant’s building or commissariat, and brick paving that may have belonged to the soldiers’ barracks. These were observations during an excavation, not final identifications; the archaeologists’ completed report should be consulted for conclusions.^[19]