Simon Wonga

Simon Wonga (1824–1874), ngurungaeta and son of Billibellary, was an elder of the Wurundjeri people, who lived in the Melbourne area of Australia before European settlement. He was resolute that his people would survive the "onslaught" of white men. Life In 1835, he was present when his father and other Wurundjeri elders met with John Batman and witnessed the signing of the historically contentious "treaty" which heralded the establishment of a permanent British colony in Victoria. In 1840 Wonga injured his foot in the Dandenongs. Billibellary searched for him, and when found carried him to a homestead where he was transported back to Melbourne by dray to be cared for and have his wound dressed for a period of two months by Assistant Protector William Thomas and wife Susannah. His father died in 1846 and by 1851 he was recognised leader, the ngurungaeta or headman of the Wurundjeri and Kulin people.