Redcliffe, former residential and resort city, southeastern Queensland, Australia, on Redcliffe Peninsula, a 15-square-mile (39-square-km) promontory bounded on the south, east, and north by Bramble, Moreton, and Deception bays.
Originally called Humpybong, derived from the Aboriginal umpi bong, meaning “dead houses,” the peninsula’s name was changed in 1799 by the English navigator Matthew Flinders. In 1824 the governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane, called for a penal colony to be established there; after three months, because of the hostility of the local Aboriginal people, the site was changed to what is now Brisbane, 22 miles (35 km) southwest. A settlement was subsequently reestablished, and Redcliffe was proclaimed a town in 1921 and declared a city in 1959. It is linked to Brisbane by rail and by the Hornibrook Highway over Bramble Bay, one of Australia’s longest (1.7 miles [2.7 km]) causeways. Redcliffe is one of several resort towns on the beach-ringed peninsula. Redcliffe is the base for fishing fleets that catch prawns, cod, whiting, and snapper. In 2008 the city was merged with the shires of Pine Rivers and Caboolture to form the Moreton Bay Regional Council.