Editing Neville Bonner (section)

==Early life==
Bonner was born on 28 March 1922 on [[Ukerebagh Island]], a small island in the [[Tweed River (New South Wales)|Tweed River]] of [[New South Wales]] close to the border with [[Queensland]]. He was the son of Julia Bell, an Indigenous Australian, and Henry Kenneth Bonner, an English immigrant. His maternal grandmother Ida Sandy was a member of the Ugarapul people of the [[Logan River|Logan]] and [[Albert River (South East Queensland)|Albert River]]s, while his maternal grandfather Roger Bell (or Jung Jung) was a [[Initiation#Tribal|fully initiated]] member of the [[Jagera people|Yagara]] people of the [[Brisbane River]]. According to Bonner, his grandfather was "sort of captured ... out of the tribe" as a young boy and given an English name.<ref name=rowse>{{cite Au Senate |Sen id=bonner-neville-thomas/ |name=Bonner, Neville Thomas (1922–1999)|first=Tim |last=Rowse |year=2010 |volume=3 |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref>

Bonner's parents met and married in [[Murwillumbah, New South Wales]]. His father abandoned his mother when she was pregnant with him, leaving her destitute. She subsequently moved to the [[Aboriginal reserve]] on Ukerebagh Island, where she had another son. After about five years, the family moved near [[Lismore, New South Wales]], to be closer to Bonner's grandparents, living on the banks of the [[Richmond River]] under a [[lantana]] bush. His mother subsequently had three children with Frank Randell, an Aboriginal man who was employed by the local police. One of his half-brothers died as a child and he "witnessed frequent acts of violence by Randell against his mother".<ref name=rowse/>

Bonner's mother died in July 1932, when he was ten years old, and his grandmother subsequently became his main caregiver. She moved the family to [[Beaudesert, Queensland]], where in 1935 he completed his only year of formal education at Beaudesert State Rural School. His grandmother died in June 1935 and he moved back to New South Wales after finishing the school year.<ref name=rowse/> Bonner worked as a ring barker, cane cutter and stockman before settling on [[Palm Island, Queensland|Palm Island]], near [[Townsville, Queensland]] in 1946, where he rose to the position of Assistant Settlement Overseer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/australian-biography-neville-bonner-1|title=Neville Bonner - Biographical Information|access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref>