New South Wales Surveyor-General, Thomas Mitchell, names Belyando River believing it to be an Aboriginal name (9 August 1846).
James Morrill was one of 14 crew members shipwrecked when the barque Peruvian ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef on board the barque, the Peruvian. Those who survived the wreck were cast ashore at Cleveland Bay 42 days later, and of them only Morrill survived, living with the local Bindal people for 17 years.