From the Archives: Monument to the Pioneers of the sugar industry, Innisfail
When the people of Innisfail prepared to take part in the centenary celebrations marking 100 years since Queensland was proclaimed a state:1859-1959, the Italian community in Innisfail raised £5,000. They organised a statue to honour the pioneers of the sugar...
Bankfoot House and Grigor family, Glasshouse Mountains
Bankfoot House was established in 1868 by William and Mary Grigor. The residence was a stopover for Cobb & Co coaches, which travelled to the Goldfields, between Brisbane to Gympie. Travellers would stop in for lunch or overnight. They would pay one shilling for a...
George Chester, the ‘Banana Case Baron’
Italian workers carrying bunches of bananas to conveyor on Mr G. Chester’s plantation,Upper Commera 1954. P54487 Upper Coomera is located in the Gold Coast region and was first explored in 1827 by Captain Patrick Logan. It was initial a prominent area for its farming...
From the Archives: Letters from France
https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/gallery/1964 William Thomson Waddell, son of Allan and Margaret Waddell was born and brought up in Irvinebank, a rich mining town in North Queensland, where he spent five years apprenticed to Irvinebank M CC(Contract Mining...
Greetings from the RHSQ
Get historical during the holidays and see you again on the 8 January 2019!
From the Archives: Irvinebank
Irvinebank, near Mareeba, is west of Cairns on the Atherton Tableland. Once a rich mining town, it is now virtually abandoned. Established in 1884, it yielded tin until about 1900. Many of the buildings in the town are heritage-listed. At a time when gold was the...
From the Archives: Paronella Park
Spanish immigrant, Jose Paronella, came to North Queensland in 1913 to work as a cane-cutter. In 1924 he returned to Spain, married Margarita and brought her back to see the piece of tropical scrub that he was intent on buying. His dream was to build a castle within...