B
Badgelly Hill (NSW) The context suggests that Macquarie passed by the foot of the present Mount Annan, not by the foot of the present Badgelly Hill, which is three miles to the northward.
Bagdad [also BAGHDAD]
Capital of modern Iraq. Macquarie visited Bagdad in May 1807 when it was a Pashaliq within the Ottoman Empire. The city controlled the overland route to Constantinople [ISTANBUL].
Bajelling (NSW) Mount Annan.
Bahia (also 'Bay of All Saints') (Brazil) Port and city of St. Salvadore. Located at the E part of the entrance to the Bay of All Saints. In 1549, Thome de Souza, the Portuguese governor, landed in the bay, and founded a city which he called Cidade do Salvador, 'the city of the Saviour'. The official designation became Cidade do San Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, 'the city of the Holy Saviour in All Saints Bay,' which became
abbreviated in common usage into 'Bahia, 'the bay.' Macquarie visited Bahia in 1822.
Bankstown (NSW) The Bankstown district
originally comprised the area of which the present centre is Liverpool, at the
head of navigation on Georges River. The modern town of Bankstown is distant
about three miles northeast.
Bass Rock (East Lothian, Scotland)
Prominent island situated in the Firth of Forth, three miles north-east of North Berwick. One mile in circumference and rising on all sides to a height of 350 ft. (107 m). Bass Rock has a lighthouse, the remains of a C16th chapel, a fortress and prison. It is a natural haven for thousands of seabirds on the east coast of Scotland.
Baucooba [BA'QUBAH] (Iraq)
Town in E Iraq, on Diyala River in a fertile agricultural region. 32 miles (51 km.) NE of Baghdad. Macquarie visited Baucooba in 1807.
Baulkham Hills (NSW) Early settlers at Baulkham Hills include George Best and John Pye. George Best arrived in the William & Ann in 1791 and John Pye the same year in Britannia. Both settled at Baulkham Hills in 1796. They were industrious farmers and prospered.
Bay of All Saints [BAHIA DE TODOS OS SANTOS] (Brazil) Area surrounding Bahia, the port of St. Salvadore.
Discovered by Amerigo Vespucci on 1 November 1501, All Saints Day, and therefore
named 'Bahia de Todos os Santos'. Several rivers empty into the Bay and provide
easy access to the Reconcavo the semi-tropical area of land surrounding
the Bay of All Saints (and extending inland for approximately 25 miles). Under the Portuguese this area produced much of the world's sugar, as well as
becoming an important producer of cotton, tobacco and manioc (cassava). These
products formed the basis for a large slaveholding plantation society dominated
by an entrenched planter aristocracy.
Bennelong Island/Bennelong Point (NSW)
Originally a small tidal island consisting of a pile of rocks with a small beach on the western side located on the tip of the eastern arm of Sydney Cove (now called Bennelong Point). Separated from the mainland at high tide. For a short period in 1788 it was called 'Cattle Point' because it was used for confining the few cattle and horses that had been brought from Cape Town by Governor Phillip with the First Fleet.
In December 1798 a half-moon battery was constructed at the extreme northern end of Bennelong Point, mounted with guns from H.M.S. Supply.
The tidal area between little Bennelong Island and the mainland was filled with
rocks excavated from the Bennelong Point peninsular in 1818-1821 when the whole area was levelled to create a platform and to provide suitable stone for the construction of Fort Macquarie. While the fort was being built a large portion of the rocky escarpment, known as the Tarpeian Way, at Bennelong Point was also cut away to accommodate the road from Sydney Cove to Farm Cove. The existence of the original tide island and its rubble fill were largely forgotten until the late 1950's when both were rediscovered during the excavations related to the construction of the Sydney Opera House.
Bent's Basin (NSW) Macquarie records that he viewed "a large and deep beautiful basin formed by the River Nepean from the
bottom of this farm where the river bursts into it through a very narrow opening
in the mountains." He is referring to Ellis Bent's land grant called 'Moulsey.'
Bent's Farm (NSW) Property belonging to Ellis Bent who travelled to NSW in 1809 on board the Dromedary with the Macquaries to be become the first practising barrister in the colony; upon arrival he replaced Richard Atkins as Judge-Advocate. He received two grants on the Nepean River at Bringelly called 'Moulsey' (1265 acres) and 'Wolverton' (800 acres). The purchase of grazing stock for 'Moulsey' had been acquired with financial assistance from Lieut. John Birch, Paymaster of the 73rd Regiment (whose wife owned the adjoining property); while the latter property, 'Wolverton', had been granted by Macquarie for the ultimate benefit of Bent's two infant sons, Ellis and Robert. Both properties appear to have been sold by Bent prior to his death in November 1815.
Bill of Portland (Dorset, England) Rocky peninsular extending into the English Channel. Highest point (496 feet) on the Isle of Portland and connected to the mainland by a shingle ridge known as Chesil Beach; area 12 sq km. Famed for its hard white limestone which has been quarried here for centuries. The stone was used for the building of St. Paul's Cathedral. London. It was also used in the construction of the breakwater that protects Portland Harbour - built by convict labour between 1849 -1905 - to create a naval base.
The coast at Portland can be treacherous to shipping as a result of powerful
coastal currents, and below Pulpit Rock, at the tip of the Bill of Portland, is
a tidal confluence known as the Race. This promontory, as well as adjoining
shingle beach of Chesil Beach, has made this area one of the most dangerous
beaches in Europe and the site of numerous wrecks and drownings.
Birch's Farm (NSW) Known later as
'Greendale Farm', belonged to Mary Birch, wife of Lt. John Birch (Paymaster of the 73rd Regiment). Macquarie granted her the land here on the Nepean in 1813 - and it was given to her as provision for her young family when her husband was adjudged to be insane. In 1815 she was leasing her land and at least 20 acres of it were under wheat when Macquarie visited the area. Mary Birch departed NSW with her husband and family in 1814 for Ceylon, and never returned to Australia.
Black-Heath [also: Blackheath] (NSW) Major Antill's diary for 15 May 1815 records 'The fog continued the whole of the night, and the weather was much milder than we had found it for some nights past. From the appearance of this Station, it being a kind of heath, but a very wild scenery, The Governor
gave it the name, of Blackheath, though to my eye, very unlike its namesake.'
Blaxland's Farm (NSW) The "small farm belonging to Mr. Gregory Blaxland" was a farm of 280 acres granted to
Lieutenant Villiers of the New South Wales Corps in April 1809. It was
immediately assigned by him to Gregory Blaxland. It came within the category of those grants to officers of the Corps, which Macquarie was directed to cancel, but Macquarie allowed Blaxland to retain it. It is Portion 23, parish of Claremont, and adjoins, on the south, Gregory Blaxland's 2,000 acres, which had been a grant named Lee Howe, Portion 22, parish of Claremont. It was from the hut that they began their journey over the Blue Mountains in 1813.
Brimstone Gully (Picton, NSW) The
descent described by Macquarie appears to be near the junction of the Nattai and
Wollondilly Rivers. The present Brimstone Gully is a few miles away, nearer to
the junction of the Wollondilly and Cox's Rivers.
Bushire [BUSHEHR] (Iran)
Principal Iranian seaport in the Persian Gulf. Macquarie visited Bushire in 1807.
Bussorah [BASRA or AL-BASRAH] (Iraq)
Port at the head of the Shatt al Arab waterway, about 75 miles (121 kms.) from the Persian Gulf. Founded by Caliph 'Umar I in 638 A.D. Macquarie visited Bussorah in 1807.
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