Jack Springheel
Guringay Elder
Jack Springheel, also recorded as Jacky Springheel and remembered by the name Goorack, was an Aboriginal Elder closely connected with Barrington, Rawdon Vale and the upper Barrington River country near Gloucester, New South Wales. Based on the age given at his death, he was born around 1814 and lived through a period of enormous disruption as Aboriginal families were displaced from their lands by pastoral settlement.
Historical accounts describe Jack as a senior and highly respected man of the Barrington Aboriginal community. Some records called him the “King of the Barrington Blacks,” but this was a colonial expression rather than a traditional Aboriginal title. He belonged to a generation who retained detailed knowledge of Country, cultural places, family relationships and the history of the Gloucester and Barrington districts.
Jack was remembered as an exceptionally fast runner. Family history records that he could chase and catch a kangaroo rat by its tail. He also worked as a skilled horseman, guide and bushman. A newspaper report published after his death claimed that he had participated in an expedition associated with the search for the missing explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. Later research indicates that this may have been the 1853 expedition led by Boyd Horsbrugh rather than a journey with Leichhardt himself.
Jack’s known family and kinship connections include his wife, Biddy Springheel, whose 1888 death certificate records her as Aboriginal. William Springheel is remembered as Jack’s brother. William married Sarah Brummy, the sister of Jessie Brummy, who married Jack Cook. William and Sarah’s family included David Springheel. These relationships connect the Springheel, Brummy, Cook and Kelly families within the wider Aboriginal history of Barrington and Gloucester.
A notice published in the Dungog Chronicle on 26 January 1904 reported that Jack had died at Barrington on 21 January 1904, aged approximately 90. Although the report used language typical of its period, it confirms that Jack was remembered locally as an Aboriginal man of considerable experience and standing.
The Barrington Towers
Jack Springheel is particularly important as a knowledge-holder associated with the Dreaming story of Mooloogat and Yettee, connected to the great stone formations known as the Barrington Towers. The story explains how Mooloogat and Yettee became two of the Towers, while Golwah became the third formation overlooking them.
The story was later published as “The Legend of the Barrington Towers” in the Gloucester Advocate on 18 December 1934 and as “Aboriginal Legend of the Barrington Towers” on 26 April 1940.
Cultural copyright notice
The Barrington Towers Dreaming story is part of the living cultural heritage and cultural knowledge of Jack Springheel’s descendants, including members of the Springheel and Kelly families. Its appearance in historical newspapers does not remove the cultural authority, responsibilities or continuing connection of those families. The story should not be reproduced, adapted, commercialised or used outside this website without consultation with and permission from the appropriate descendants.
Sources
- “Barrington,” Dungog Chronicle: Durham and Gloucester Advertiser, 26 January 1904. View on Trove
“The Legend of the Barrington Towers,” Gloucester Advocate, 18 December 1934.
“Aboriginal Legend of the Barrington Towers,” by “Womboin,” Gloucester Advocate, 26 April 1940. View on Trove
“Guringai Kabook and Watoo People of the Guringai Barrington River Gloucester, NSW,” Hunter Living Histories
Death certificate of Biddy Springheel, 1888, NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Springheel, Brummy, Cook and Kelly family history and oral knowledge.
The portrait shown above has been digitally restored and AI-colourised from a historical image. Interpretive added colours.