THE RISE OF THE NORTHERN TOWNS.
The site of Rockhampton, now the principal city of Central Queensland,
was chosen in 1855 by Mr. Wiseman, a Land Commissioner of New South
Wales who had been despatched from Sydney to confirm the Archer Brothers
in the possession of their Gracemere run. The town received its name
from the bar of rocks running across the river at the head of
navigation. Its first expansion dates from the rush to the Canoona
diggings, then called Port Curtis rush, which took place in 1858, as it
was then the nearest port to the field, and therefore handled all the
trade to and from the diggings. When the field was declared a "duffer,"
and the miners departed in disgust, they left the nucleus of a
settlement behind which was subsequently to become the seaport and
distributing centre for all the rich pastoral country now comprised in
the Central District.
* * * * *
Among the first settlers to open up Gladstone was R. E. Palmer, who
built a large wool store and wharf so that the wool from Rannes and
other stations lately formed could be shipped from there. He then took
up Targinie cattle station over the harbour on the north side. The town
is now noted for its healthiness and pleasant climate, and the beautiful
view of the harbour, studded with islands. A North Australian settlement
was attempted here when the Gladstone Government was in power, in
January, 1847. Colonel Barney was head of the colonising party in the
"Lord Auckland." Both these names are perpetuated in Barney Point, and
Auckland Creek. The party were recalled after three months stay, and the
locality was left alone until 1854, when Captain (afterwards Sir)
Maurice O'Connell was sent up as Government Resident.
* * * * *
The first to discover and report on the grand harbour of Port Denison
was Captain Sinclair, in the schooner "Santa Barbara." An expectation
had been held out by the New South Wales Government that a handsome
reward would be given to anyone who discovered a good harbour north of
Port Curtis.
In hope of obtaining this reward, this little craft of only nine tons
was fitted out at private expense, and sailed from Rockhampton on
September 1st, 1859. The party consisted of Captain Sinclair, master; W.
H. Thomas, seaman; and Messrs. James Gordon and Benjamin Poole,
passengers. After piloting their way through islands and reefs and heavy
storms, besides unknown dangers from the natives, they sailed into Port
Denison on October 17th, 1859, and were gratified and surprised to find
such a capacious and secure harbour. They landed and examined the bay,
surveying and sketching some parts of it, but owing to the hostility and
treachery of the natives, who were very numerous both on the islands and
the mainland, they were not permitted to extend their knowledge of the
port. The "Santa Barbara" left Port Denison on October 19th, and after
boxing about for some time among the Cumberland Islands, reached Keppel
Bay on her return on October 31st. The harbour is of an oval form,
probably some ten miles in extreme length, and about four miles across
from Station Island to the mainland; it is formed partly by an
indentation in the coast, and partly by two islands running across it.
Here at last was a port that would be a starting point for further
settlement in the interior, a most suitable and secure harbour,
discovered and opened up without any expense to the Government, and with
such small means and outfit that the journal of those enterprising and
heroic voyagers reads like a tale of romance. Although successful in
this matter, they were not able to obtain the promised reward, for just
at that time the separation of the new colony took place, and their
claim was handed over to the new Government. A petition presented to the
Queensland Parliament procured no further recognition than that Captain
Sinclair was made Harbour Master, and Mr. James Gordon the first
customs officer in Townsville.
Very little was at that time known of the interior comprising the
Kennedy district, which was thrown open to pastoral occupation on
November 17th, 1859, by proclamation of the New South Wales Government,
it being then part of that colony. Leichhardt had passed through it down
the Suttor; Mitchell just touched its southern extremity; Landsborough
penetrated from the direction of Fort Cooper, into the upper waters of
the Bowen, which river he discovered and called the Bonnar.
Bowen was settled by George Elphinstone Dalrymple, Police Magistrate and
Commissioner of Crown Lands, and several squatters who had come overland
with him, and also by a number of persons, including Mr. James Gordon,
who arrived at Bowen from Rockhampton per schooner "Jeannie Dove" with
stores, a few days before Mr. Dalrymple.
On the organisation of the new Queensland Government, a proclamation was
issued withdrawing the Kennedy district from occupation, and the tenders
previously received were returned to the tenderers.
These explorers of a new port and future city were deserving of a much
higher and better recognition than was accorded them by either
Government.
The first sale of Bowen town lands was held in Brisbane on October 7th,
1861, when eighty-nine lots were sold, realising L2,083. Many of those
early investors were Brisbane men, well known in business and the
professions. The lots were mostly half-acres in area, and averaged about
L25 to L50 per acre, the first Bishop of Brisbane (Tuffnell) figuring
largely among the land buyers. In 1863 the demand for land called for
several sales, as the town was progressing on account of the large
overlanding of stock and the shipments of supplies for parties taking up
country to the north and west.
A land sale on April 20th, 1863, was held in Bowen, when seventy-nine
lots were sold, realising L1,718; all the lots went above the upset
price. On June 8th, 1863, another land sale took place in Bowen, when
seventy-four lots were sold, realising L1,135; among these were some
country lands in ten-acre lots, which realised the upset price, L3 7s.
6d. per acre. For town lots the upset price was L20 per acre; the
competition for fancy lots was keen enough to run them up to as much as
L100 per lot. Still another land sale had to be held to keep pace with
the growing town, and the demands of speculators. This was held in Bowen
on August 3rd, 1863, when seventy-three lots found purchasers, realising
L2,643. This sale consisted mostly of country lands, put up in lots of
from seventeen to fifty acres, at the upset price of L1 per acre; 1,518
acres were sold at this last land sale. These figures from official
sources testify to the rapidity of the expansion of the new town, and
to the high expectations that were formed as to its future rise and
progress. Many familiar names occur in the annals of the official
register, but most of the purchasers are now dead. Seaward, Marsh, and
Genge, who had a large business as storekeepers, figure extensively as
buyers, also Mr. J. G. Macdonald, James Hall Scott, Korah H. Willis,
Thomas Cavanagh--a well-known celebrity of Bowen--and many other old
identities are called to mind by looking through the list of the first
land buyers in Bowen. Few now remain of those early speculators. The
treasury of the young colony benefited by their ambition to hold land in
the future capital of the north by the sum of L7,579.
The town wore gay and holiday aspect when the Governor, Sir G. F. Bowen,
landed in 1865. The jetty at that time was being built, and the town was
filled with squatters from all parts of the north, getting supplies or
tendering for new country. Flags were flying, addresses of welcome were
presented, a bullock was roasted whole on the beach, barrels of beer
were on tap alongside the bullock, tons of bread were there to go with
it, and an assorted crowd was ready to do justice to both bullock and
beer. A levee was held, an undress one, of course, as evening dress had
not reached so far north at that time, but coats were found for every
one in which to make a bow to the Governor. The only block hat that had
reached the latitude of Bowen was worn by Mr. R. H. Smith, afterwards
member for the district, who had the honor of escorting His Excellency
up to the town. A ball was held in the evening in honor of the event,
and many other things took place that this chronicle will pass over.
Frederick Bode, at Strathdon, W. Powell, of Salisbury Plains, J. G.
Macdonald, of Inkermann, Collings, at Eton Vale, A. C. Grant, at
Dartmoor, all were settlers in Bowen district in the early days.
* * * * *
Townsville was named after Captain Robert Towns, of Sydney, of the firm
of R. Towns and Co., who held stations inland from Cleveland Bay, and as
it became necessary to open some other port north of Bowen, which had
hitherto been the distributing centre, explorations were made by some of
the managers of these stations, foremost among whom was Mr. Ball, the
result being the discovery of the site of the present town, which was
gazetted as a port of entry in October, 1865. On the 10th of that month,
Mr. James Gordon arrived to perform the duties of Sub-Collector of
Customs, and a great number of other official duties as well.
* * * * *
Cardwell is situated near the head of Rockingham Bay, opposite the north
end of Hinchinbrook Island, and distant north-west from Brisbane about
950 miles, in latitude 18 deg. 16 sec. S., longitude 146 deg. 4 sec. E.
Population of district and town, 3,435. The first settlement in the
locality took place in 1863, and it became a place of considerable
importance, being the nearest port on the east coast to the Gulf of
Carpentaria, but since then other ports have been opened, offering
greater facilities for shipping.
The first telegraph line from the east coast to the Gulf of Carpentaria
commenced at Cardwell, but the expense connected with keeping the line
open across the Sea View Range and through the dense jungle on the coast
side thereof, proved too great, and the route was finally abandoned. Up
to 1873, Cardwell was the most northern port on the east coast of
Australia, and the port of entry for the Herbert River district. The
town is now in a languishing state, but the excellence of the port may
yet redeem it from obscurity.
It was from here that Kennedy's expedition took its final departure for
the north early in June, 1848, and in connection with that memorable
event, we may quote a paragraph recently appearing in a Queensland
journal:--
"A SAD REMEMBRANCE BRINGS."
Recently a remarkable discovery was made at the foot of
the Coast Range to the north of Cardwell--relics of the
vehicles left by Kennedy, the explorer, when on his
ill-fated journey up York Peninsula. It may be remembered
that the party landed at Tam O'Shanter Point, Rockingham
Bay, on May 30th, 1848, and that on July 18th the carts
were abandoned, the party going on with twenty-six pack
horses and fifty sheep. The story of the fate of Kennedy
and nearly all of those who accompanied him has been
frequently told, and the discovery of the remains of the
carts, which have lain for nearly half a century in the
jungle, revives interest in one of the saddest episodes
in Australian exploration. The exact locality of the
relics is kept a strict secret, the possessor of the
secret being of opinion that he should profit by it. No
doubt the Government would be glad to secure information
which would enable it to establish the authenticity of
statements which have been made on the subject.
The first intimation the southern parts had of the existence of gold in
the north was a telegram from Cardwell dated September 9th, 1873. It ran
as follows:--"Prospectors Mulligan, Brown, Dowdall, A. Watson, and D.
Robertson, got one hundred and five ounces on the Palmer River, which
they prospected for twenty miles. They say nothing of the country
outside the river. Nearly all are leaving here." This news spread like
wild-fire and created a great sensation all over Australia; the
difficulty was to get to the Palmer quick enough. The Government sent
Mr. Bartley Fahey, Sub-Collector of Customs at Normanton, to explore the
Mitchell River in order to open communication from Normanton towards the
new field. Mr. G. E. Dalrymple, leader of the north coast expedition,
was ordered to proceed to the Endeavour River, and he arrived at Cook's
Landing on October 24th, 1873, but the expedition was recalled. In the
meantime, the A. S. N. Co.'s steamer, the "Leichhardt" (Captain
Saunders), left Brisbane on October 15th with some members of the
Endeavour River expedition on board. Mr. A. C. MacMillan and his party
were taken on at Bowen. The "Leichhardt" arrived at Townsville on
October 20th, and took on all the horses, forty-six in number, and one
hundred and fifty diggers, all for the new Palmer rush. Mr. Howard St.
George and party embarked at Cardwell, and on Saturday, October 25th,
1873, the "Leichhardt" was made fast to the mangroves on the Endeavour
River, in sixteen feet of water, and the new township began its
existence on the site where the famous navigator, Captain Cook, on June
17th, 1770; beached his damaged vessel for repairs. The gold fever was
irresistible, and helped to lift the town into prominence at once,
drawing people from all parts of Australia. Four months after the
landing of Mr. St. George, J. V. Mulligan, arriving from the Palmer
field, described Cooktown as a large progressing township, about half a
mile long, with stores, public houses, and shops of all sorts, with
steamers and other boats coming in and going out every few days, and
containing not less than two thousand people, though some estimated the
numbers at a much higher figure. Cooktown dates its existence from the
landing of the passengers by the steamer "Leichhardt" in 1873. The first
Police Magistrate appointed was Mr. Thomas Hamilton, who also acted as
Sub-Collector of Customs. Mr. James Pryde was the first Clerk of Petty
Sessions. When the first court was held on December 27th, 1873, it was
to deal with the charge of stealing a goat from Townsville.
Mr. Gold, Commissioner St. George, and Mr. A. C. MacMillan, soon started
on their expedition after landing at Cooktown, accompanied by
eighty-six diggers, the command being one hundred and eight strong. They
reported finding a good track to the Palmer. One reminiscence of their
journey remains in the name of the original track, which is now known as
Battle Camp, because the natives came down from the adjoining hills to
dispute the right of the white men to travel through their country.
Things in Cooktown kept booming along, and in April, 1874, there were
from three to four thousand people camped between Grassy Hill and the
outside boundary of Cooktown. During that month, sixty-five publicans'
licenses were issued, and thirty more applied for; there were also
twenty eating houses, twelve large stores, twenty small ones, six
butchers, five bakers, three tinsmiths, four tent makers, six
hairdressers, seven blacksmiths, besides doctors, chemists, fancy shops,
watchmakers, bootmakers, saddlers, etc., in proportion, and all going
full speed ahead. Until the discovery of the Palmer field, and the
opening of Cooktown, Cardwell was the most northern port of call on the
Queensland eastern coast, and was the telegraphic centre of news from
the Etheridge and Gilbert goldfields. The golden news from these far
northern diggings was of a most glittering nature, but there was a
reverse side of the picture in the hardships and privations endured.
In 1874, the Cooktown "Courier" was started, and shortly afterwards the
"Herald." The journalistic standard of the early days of Cooktown was
esteemed, comparatively speaking, brilliant. The Queensland National
Bank opened a branch there in 1874, followed by the Bank of New South
Wales and The Australian Joint Stock Bank. Religion was not neglected
either. In 1876, Cooktown was proclaimed a municipality, and from thence
to 1878, it prospered mightily. Gold was plentiful, and its export was
measured by the ton. The official returns in 1878 showed something over
forty tons as having passed through the Customs, but that did not
represent the measure of the enormous richness of the Palmer, as
thousands upon thousands of ounces of gold were secretly taken away to
China. Since then the goldfields have gradually dwindled down in their
returns, and the Palmer of to-day, or even the Palmer of a few years
ago, was not the grand and glorious field that made Cooktown rise like
magic by the side of its splendid harbour. The later discovery of tin on
Cannibal Creek, and the Annan River, again caused some stir in business,
but of a much quieter description than in the halcyon days of golden
light. The beche de mer industry has also been a great help to business
people in Cooktown. The great red-letter day in Cooktown was the turning
of the first sod for the Cooktown-Maytown Railway, on April 3rd, 1884,
by the Mayor, Mr. Edward D'Arcy, when a tremendous public demonstration
took place. Mr. George Bashford was the contractor for the first
section, and he gave a great banquet on the occasion, inviting people
from all parts of Queensland to be present. Like many other towns in
Queensland, Cooktown in recent years has suffered from depression, but
there is a solid future before it still. With one of the finest harbours
on the east coast, it is the key to the Torres Strait route and to New
Guinea. The reef-bearing country on the Palmer has still to be
developed, and the great extent of this mineral wealth is as yet quite
under-rated. Besides containing tin and coal in abundance, North
Queensland has other grand resources in its back pastoral and
agricultural country.
* * * * *
The town of Normanton was opened by the settlers as a better port for
shipping for the Lower Flinders stations than Burketown, which was
inconvenient, being too far to the west, and difficult of access. The
Norman River, so called by Landsborough after the captain of the
Victorian Government ship "Victoria," is a fine and deep river.
Messrs. W. Landsborough and G. Phillips were the first to navigate the
Norman, in January, 1867. They chose the site for the township on the
left side of the river, where some high ironstone ridges come close in
on the river bank. Here was room for the extension of a large city,
naturally drained, and free from the possibility of floods, with ready
access to the back country. Unfortunately, the upper reaches of the
river are obstructed by bands of rocks running across from bank to
bank, that hinder navigation. These, however, could be removed at small
cost.
Among the first to settle in the town was Dr. Borck, a popular medical
man; his brother still keeps a store in the town. Another hotel built in
the first days was that of Mr. A. McLennan, who had been concerned in
the first occupation of Burketown. Ellis Read, trading for R. Towns and
Co., soon had a fine store established, and carried on a large business
with the stations, and also with the diggings opening on the Etheridge
River. The first team to arrive in the town was driven in down Spear
Creek by George Trimble from his station on the Saxby, at the head of
the Norman River. Then wool commenced to arrive from Donor's Hills and
other stations on the Flinders, even as early as 1868, and was shipped
away to Sydney by any chance vessel offering. One of the early traders
to the Norman was a well-known skipper on the east coast, Captain Till,
of the "Policeman," schooner, who made several voyages there. Normanton
was never affected by sickness as Burketown had been, and its progress
was steady, though slow. The country around was well watered, but not
adapted to agriculture. Lagoons of fresh water fringed the river, and
were well supplied with game, the river full of splendid fish, some of
which ranged up to twenty pounds in weight. Alligators abounded in all
the brackish waters, as they do in all tidal rivers in the Gulf, while
the crocodile (so called), a smaller but quite harmless creature, is
found in fresh water only. Being amphibious in its nature, it can adapt
itself to pools and rivers a long way inland, and is found wherever
there are deep lagoons, and in all the waters flowing into the Gulf of
Carpentaria.
In the early times, when one of R. Towns and Co.'s vessels was unloading
at the bank of the river, one of the Kanakas employed was seized by an
alligator. The man held on to a mangrove tree, and his mates beat the
alligator over the head until he let go, but not before he had so torn
the flesh from the man's leg that he bled to death.
Among those who are to be reckoned as the oldest inhabitants of the Gulf
country, was John Harrix, who came over with the first cattle of Mr. J.
G. Macdonald from Bowen in 1864, and who owned some teams and a small
station near Normanton. A partner of his named Macdonald came down the
Flinders early in 1865. Percival E. Walsh, a nephew of Mr. W. H. Walsh,
of Degilbo, helped to settle some runs in the Gulf country. He took up a
run on the Dugald, naming it Granada, which was sold afterwards to
Messrs. Hopkins Brothers. He also restocked Iffley after its desertion
by its first owners, the Earle Bros., now of Yacamunda, on the Suttor
River. The early citizens of Normanton include the names of Peter
Armstrong, David Swan, Charles B. Hely, Charles Borck, John Edgar
Byrne, for many years proprietor of "Figaro," and a hundred others who
more or less helped to form this city of the Gulf. Many of them are now
resting in the cemetery outside the town.
R. Towns and Co. had forty thousand sheep on the Leichhardt, near
Floraville, and a shearing shed near tidal water lower down the river,
where a small steamer (the old "Pioneer," the remains of which are still
to be seen at Sweer's Island), came for the wool. The country proving
subject to terrible floods and unsuitable for sheep, the numbers
gradually decreased until the remnant were finally removed.
The Etheridge goldfield was opened in the early days of Normanton, and
found occupation for many teams and much labour.
Prices in the early days were at a really famine level; flour was often
sold at L40 a ton, and other goods at a corresponding rate. The writer
had experience of these prices when loading his own team in those early
days.
Normanton had many advantages over her sister settlement, Burketown, and
when the port became known, all the station trade drifted there, and
Burketown declined in consequence.
Normanton was, in 1891, connected with Croydon by a railway ninety-four
miles in length, which cost L211,000, and was constructed by Mr. G.
Phillips, C.E., on a principle new to Queensland, the sleepers being of
mild steel, instead of wood, on account of the ravages of the white
ants. The line between Croydon and Normanton passes through a perfectly
level and very uninteresting country, a melancholy sandy waste of
ti-tree flats, covered with the innumerable pinnacles and mounds made by
white ants; the pasturage is as poor as the country looks.
From Normanton a number of carriers are employed to carry goods to
Cloncurry and the many stations trading therewith. Many teams are found
carrying loading by the side of the railway line to Georgetown and the
Etheridge past Croydon, ignoring the services of the railway. A punt
service connects the town with the carrier's camp on the opposite side
of the river, where loading starts for the Etheridge. The carrier's
waggon is loaded fully up to its carrying capacity of from six to seven
tons, and is drawn on to the punt by the team; on its arrival on the
opposite side, the team draws the load on to the bank ready to depart on
its journey. The country to Georgetown is generally of an inferior
description. Towards the Cloncurry (southwards) for the first twenty
miles, the road passes through timbered country, bloodwood and messmate
of a poor class, then it opens out after passing Reaphook Range into
open treeless plains and black soil, with excellent pasturage, and this
extends for hundreds of miles to the interior, the whole of which is
occupied by cattle and sheep stations that draw their supplies from
Normanton up to a certain point, when the trade is induced by special
arrangements of rebates on traffic rates, to diverge to Townsville, at
the expense of the Gulf ports.
* * * * *
About the same time that Townsville was opened as a port in order to
meet the requirements of the new movements in stock on the country
surrounding the Gulf, Burketown commenced its rather chequered career as
a commercial port in 1865.
The first supplies were brought by the "Jacmel Packet," chartered and
loaded by R. Towns and Co., from Sydney. She was the second vessel in
the Albert River, the first being the brig "Firefly," in which Mr.
Landsborough brought his horses, which were landed a mile below the site
of the town. The old vessel afterwards went to pieces in the river. The
manifest of the "Jacmel Packet" was perhaps the most varied and
strangely assorted that a trading vessel ever carried; the general cargo
included pigs, dogs, fowls, houses, building materials, outfits of every
kind, drays, rations, rum, and other spirits. In such fashion was the
mercantile trade of Carpentaria commenced. On the opening of the goods,
a saturnalia ensued, and the times were lively. The overlanders having
money to spend, and not having indulged in a "spree" for years, took
advantage of the absence of all control, and thoroughly enjoyed
themselves in bush fashion; a fight every half hour, horse racing on the
plain, or in "the street" as it was called, and strong rum for
everyone. Other vessels quickly followed the first venture with more
supplies. One of them, the "Gazelle," from Sydney, made a very quick
trip of sixteen days to the mouth of the river, where she broke her back
on a sandbank; the hulk was towed up the river, and gradually mouldered
away just opposite the town. In 1866 the first wool was shipped to
Sydney from the Gulf; the first load of wool taken into Burketown being
from Conobie station, shorn in November, 1865, on the Cloncurry, about
200 miles distant. The assistance the first settlers received from the
Government amounted to little or nothing; the administration situated
nearly two thousand miles away, had little care or thought for the
struggling outsiders in the far-away Gulf country. The settlers had to
protect themselves from blacks as well as from whites, and as it was
some years before Burketown was made a port of entry, goods had to be
cleared at Brisbane before sailing for Burketown. When the port was
opened, the Customs Officer, Mr. Sandrock, was kept at Sweer's Island,
where supplies had to be cleared before going on to the mainland. This
meant a great loss of time to those who brought in teams for loading.
All departmental work had to be done in Brisbane, and there also the
first applications for runs and declarations of stocking had to be made.
The tide of settlement had been too swift and too strong for the
authorities to keep pace with, and although a Land Commissioner, in the
person of Mr. J. P. Sharkey was sent out in 1866, and the Government
were represented the same year by Mr. W. Landsborough in Burketown, the
fact was evident that people were pretty well left to do as they liked.
Burketown in 1866, and for the two or three following years, made some
little progress, or appeared to do so. The drovers and shepherds, paid
off after long trips with stock, had good cheques to spend, and their
money was laid out in the lavish way peculiar to the old bush hand.
Wages were high for all sorts of employment, 35s. to 45s. a week being
the lowest. Everything was dear in the new town, but that made little
difference to men who had not been in a town for years and had money to
spare.
One of the first vessels to arrive in the Albert River in 1866 was the
"Margaret and Mary." She was said to have touched at some infected port
in Java, and after arrival a fatal sickness broke out in Burketown that
nearly carried off all the population. All hands that came in the ship
died except the captain, his wife also falling a victim. A new crew had
to be engaged to work the vessel before she could get away. There is
little doubt but that the great mortality among the residents of
Burketown during 1866 was traceable to the infection brought by this
vessel. It was the wet season at the time, and this, in conjunction with
the reckless life led by most of the people, and the want of medical
assistance, increased the danger of the disease, and scores of strong
men succumbed to its malign influence.
* * * * *
It would be difficult to say how many men fell victims to the epidemic,
but there must have been at least a hundred, besides those who died on
the surrounding stations. The disease, which ended in fever and
delirium, was as fatal to the strong as to the weak, and the little
cemetery soon looked like that of an old established town, so numerous
were the graves. This outbreak gave Burketown an evil name. People began
to leave it, and when Normanton was opened in 1867 with the prospect of
becoming a more suitable port for the district, many removed there to
carry on their business. Shortly after this, Burketown was absolutely
deserted, not a living soul remained, and nothing was left to mark the
spot except heaps of empty bottles and jam tins, and some large iron
pots belonging to a boiling-down plant. A few stumps remained standing
on the open plains where once had been buildings. The hulls of the
"Gazelle" and "Firefly" lay falling to pieces in the river, and none
were left to sigh over Burketown's fallen fortunes, or sing a dirge in
memory of its history; its short and merry life was over, and none
lamented.
* * * * *
In these early days, Sweer's Island was a kind of marine suburb
belonging to Burketown, a sanatorium about thirty-five miles from the
mouth of the Albert, where the fever-stricken people were taken to
recover. Mr. W. Landsborough, the Police Magistrate, or Government
resident, lived there with his family. Mr. J. P. Sharkey, the first Land
Commissioner, and Mr. Ellis Read, in charge of R. Towns and Co.'s
stores, also resided on the island. Life was much pleasanter there than
on the dead plains surrounding Burketown, and the sea breezes were
constant and refreshing. On Sweer's Island, which is only about nine
miles long, and from half a mile to three miles in width, vegetables and
watermelons grow in profusion. A township was surveyed called Carnarvon,
after the Earl of Carnarvon, allotments were sold and buildings erected.
The first Customs House in the Gulf was here, and Mr. Sandrock was the
first officer. The soil on Sweer's Island is sandy, and the grass thick
in places. The turtle ponds made there by Captain Norman of the
"Victoria" in 1861-2, were still to be seen in 1866, as also was the
well sunk by Flinders in 1803, from which fresh water was still
obtainable. Opposite the island, towards the west, lay Bentinck Island,
much larger than Sweer's, though unoccupied, except by the natives,
whose fires could be seen every evening after dark. About forty miles
north-east of Sweer's Island is Bountiful Island, noted for its oysters,
and also for turtles, large numbers resorting there at certain seasons.
Sweer's Island has been deserted for many years, and is no longer a
health resort. The buildings are gone, and the people also. The only
residents now (1897), are a family of the name of Creffield, who keep
some cattle, goats and sheep on the island.
To the south-west of Burketown is a fine run called Lawn Hill,
comprising a lot of good country surrounded by mountains, and well
watered. This property was taken up by Mr. Frank Hann and Mr. E. R.
Edkins in 1875. The former bought up many of the brands of cattle left
in the district by former occupiers, and also travelled stock from
Lolsworth on the Burdekin, and by this means a large herd was soon
raised. At the same time the Watson Brothers stocked Gregory Downs,
which is only ninety miles from Burketown. Then Mr. F. H. Shadforth, who
had come all the way from Victoria overland with his family, took up
Lilydale, next to Lawn Hill. In those days the supplies had to be
obtained from Normanton, so Hann, Watson, and Shadforth chartered a
schooner, loaded her with station supplies and material for a store for
Foulkes and Harris to start business. The schooner arrived, and the
store was erected on the site of old Burketown, but disaster followed.
Foulkes was drowned, and Harris was killed by his team of horses bolting
and dragging the waggon over him. Then Watson Brothers ran the store for
a time, Mr. P. S. Watson taking charge and enlarging it in every way.
Shortly afterwards Mr. Michael Kelly opened a public house, and the town
commenced its second term of existence. Mr. Jack Reid soon opened
another public house, and Burns, Philp and Co. began another store
under the management of Mr. Theodore C. Amsden. Then police protection
under Senior-constable Synnott, arrived, as the people were becoming
rather lawless. Mr. P. Macarthur was appointed Customs Officer, and in
conjunction with this appointment held many other offices. Finally the
Queensland National Bank opened a branch. The town now progressed
quickly owing to the great number of cattle passing through to the
northern territory and the reoccupation of all the deserted runs. A
Divisional Board was formed in 1884, and the population of the town rose
to three hundred and fifty. Burketown resumed her old activity in
business matters, and the evil name died out with the memories of the
old days. So mote it be!