ShadowCastle Hill

In theof

Margaret Heuscheleand the

William Ross State High School Year 10Leading Learner Social Education Class

In the Shadowof Castle Hill

Townsville Library Service

Wholly designed, set and printed byJames Cook University.

Cover photograph: View of Castle Hill.Date unknown.

- arcr-xt—±i'lt

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Margy and the William Ross High School Leading Learners would like to thank all the people and organisations who havehelped us throughout the project.

Townsville City Council Millennium Grant.

Maide Van Kerkwyk and Cathy Smith - William Ross High School.

John Nicholson - Melbourne award-winning junior non-fiction author and illustrator.

David Heuschele - Artist.

Townsville Library Service Local History Collection.

Acting Reference Librarian, Annette Laguna and Townsville City Council library staff.Margaret Bird - Archivist, Catholic Diocesan Centre.

Jennie Ginger and Joe Sproats - The Rocks Historic Guesthouse.

Nanette Mortimore - North Queensland Photographic Collection, James Cook University

Corporal Peter Treasure - RAAF Photographer.Townsville Museum.

North Queensland Military Museum.

Townsville National Trust Heritage Centre.

North Queensland Sports Foundation.Port Authority.

Ian Hollins.

Royal College of Nursing Australia.Peter Treasure Photography.

The Desktop Publishing Unit at James Cook University.Editors: Robin Lee, Malcolm Campbell, John Mathew.

All photos where the source has not been acknowledged came from the Townsville Library Service Local History Collection.

ISBN 1-875830-41-3

Heuschele, Margaret.

Published by Townsville Library Service 2000.

ForewordFOREWORD FROM THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF TOWNSVILLE

In the Shadow of Castle Hill is one of several significant projects that Townsville City Council

has undertaken in the year 2000 to celebrate the new Millennium. This publication is a

uniquely written and illustrated history of Townsville for primary school students. The desire

to encourage children to take an active interest in our community's history is extremely

important. A publication of this kind not only supports the school curriculum but will inspire

young people to understand the significance of our past.

This project is distinctive as it presented a group of Townsville's young people from William

Ross High School the opportunity to work with Council's Library staff and a professional

author to produce this resource. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of these students

in researching and writing this book. I would also like to thank the Aitkenvale Library's Young

Persons Librarian, Margy Heuschele, for her foresight and initiative.

I am pleased to recommend In the Shadow of Castle Hill to everyone with an interest in

Townsville's history.

Kind regards,

Yours sincerely

--------

TONY MOONEY

MAYOR OF THE CITY OF TOWNSVILLE

FOREWORD FROM WILLIAM ROSS STATE HIGH SCHOOL

The involvement of twelve, Year 10 William Ross State High School students in the writing of

this book has proven to be a unique experience and a fantastic opportunity.

When Margy Heuschele first approached the school librarian about this millennium proposal,

we had no idea about the challenges associated with writing a non-fiction book. However her

initiative and drive convinced us that it could be done and we had the students prepared `to

have a go'. Throughout the project, Margy has been inspirational in her dedication and

enthusiasm as editor of the publication.

The students have had to develop sophisticated research and communication skills. As well

they have had the opportunity to learn about the history of Townsville 'first hand' through

their access to local historical collections. It has been an experience they will not forget.

We hope you enjoy learning about Townsville through reading In the Shadow of Castle Hill.

MAIDE VAN KERKWYK AND CATHY SMITH

Contents

Introduction 1

Spirit of the Land 2

Magnetic Dreaming 3

Townsville or Blackstown ? 6

Heroes and Hooligans 8

Timber and Termites 14

Triumphs and Tears 22

Rations and Raids 26

Wheels and Cogs 30

Nature's Fury 32

A Sight to See 36

Index 44

-,,

-4- -

IntroductionThe idea for this book came about with children visiting the library to findinformation about Townsville history for projects they were doing at school. Itwas soon obvious that very little information existed for young people on thistopic although excellent books have been written for adults. The concept thatdeveloped was to have a local high school class research and write the book withthe help of school and Council Library staff. After discussion with staff from theWilliam Ross High School and the Year 10 Leading Learners Social Education classit was decided that they would take on this project.

As junior non-fiction is a specialised genre John Nicholson, an award winningauthor and illustrator of junior non-fiction from Melbourne, was invited toworkshop with the young people for two days. John was a tremendous help andinspiration to the class, giving us many suggestions and ideas and he was veryimpressed with the work the class had produced.

After the Leading Learners had completed a great deal of research I checkeddetails, found extra information, gathered the photographs and compiled thebook.

It is worth emphasising at this point that this book is a history of Townsville forprimary school children, therefore it can not possibly be a comprehensive history.Topics were chosen to give an overall picture of Townsville history and to whet theappetite of the younger generation. To make this possible we combined dates andfacts with interesting stories and trivia.

In researching this book the inconsistency of the facts that have been presentedover time was amazing; for example, the dates when people were born and died,the dates of particular events and specific details of incidents. Where possible thisinformation was clarified with other sources and all attempts made to presentaccurate details.

MARGY HEUSCHELE

Young Peoples Librarian

Townsville Library Service

TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL

Spirit of the Land

Aboriginal Camp, Rowes Bay, circa 1870.

In the Shadow of Castle Hill

V

ery little is recorded about theAboriginal people who lived in theregion now known as Townsville. It

seems that no Aboriginal group livedpermanently in the Townsville district,probably because of the river tributariesand low lying nature of the area. Rather,the neighbouring tribes would travelthrough the area from one place to another.

The Wulgurukaba people, as well asliving on Palm and Magnetic Island, mayalso have lived in an area around CapeCleveland. South west to Charters Towers,the Warunga people lived around the headwaters of the Burdekin River. TheWarakamai people lived to the north in anarea around Halifax Bay. The Bindal, Juruand Nawagi group also lived in or near theTownsville region.

In 1963 an Aboriginal reserve was builtat Aitkenvale. The reserve was used for

W--

many things but its initial use was as ahostel for Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander people visiting Townsvillefor hospital treatment. It also providedaccommodation for the families of thosewho were in hospital and was used as acamping ground for visitors to Townsvillefor sporting or cultural activities.

Corroboree, Rowes Bay, circa 1881.

Magnetic DreamingAttE-4MitF

Ageless you nave turned many a page

9n book of time, while we engage

A few short years, then life is done

put you eternally are young

Holding us in your spell

Dream /Magnetic of ages past

Dream, but tell us your dreams at lust

- A verse from a poemby Jessie Macqueen

C

aptain James Cook namedMagnetical Island on Wednesday,6 June 1770. The island received its

name because Cook believed that the rockyoutcrops on the island attracted hiscompass and affected his bearings.

In recognition of Cook being the firstEuropean to discover Magnetic Island thehighest peak, Mount Cook, was namedafter him. Another smaller peak on theisland was named Mount Endeavour afterCook's ship, the Endeavour.

White settlers are recorded as far backas 1864 however none of them had beenpermanent until Henry Butler and hisfamily came in 1877. The Butler familysettled in Picnic Bay, where Henry built ahouse made of coral and limestone. HenryButler had originally planned to move toCardwell (a town north of Townsville)where his brother was living at the timebut he was so fascinated by MagneticIsland's beauty that he decided to start upa home there instead.

Occasionally the Butlers hadunexpected visitors from foreign places -escaped convicts from New Caledoniaand other penal settlements in the Pacific.

Henry Butler is the gentleman sitting down.

Source: James Cook University

The unfortunate thing about the visitorswas that none of them could speak a wordof English. They arrived on Magnetic Islandin dinghies or anything that would floatand became stranded in either Rocky or

Townswile 3ErstsIn 1900, a De Dion,

brought from the United

States was the first motor-

car to use the Townsville

!netic Dreaming 3

Magnetic Dreaming (Continued)

Butlers' Huts, circa 1900. Magnetic Island Ferry 7930.

Nelly Bay. Once they arrived on MagneticIsland they would see the smoke from theButlers' chimney and follow it, hoping tofind food and shelter. Henry would take theescapees back to the mainland and letthem go free. Some of them were caught,yet others were successful in their bid forfreedom.

The Butler family was involved withthe quarantine station which wasestablished at West Point in 1886. It closedin 1915 when the station was movedto Pallarenda.

In 1899 the Butler family sold theirinterest in a boarding house that theyowned to Robert Hayles. Hayles was bornin England in 1843 and came to Australiawhen he was 18. When he first sawMagnetic Island he thought it hadpotential so he built a boat to take visitorsto and from the Picnic Bay Hotel anddance hall which he had built on the

island. This then inspired the birth of theferry service to the island.

Other early settlers included theWellbeloved Family and the Bright Family.After emigrating from South Africa theWellbeloved family tried growing fruit andvegetables on Magnetic Island. Thisunfortunately was unsuccessful but theydid however, create history by having thefirst white baby born on the island. Thebaby was named Nita Wellbeloved andsoon after Nita was born the family movedto Townsville.

The Bright family consisted of WilliamBright, his wife Mary and daughter Fanny.

Did you Know?Greg Norman rates the 5th hole at theMagnetic Island Golf Course as one ofthe most difficult he has played.

Did you Know?

In 1871 a man was fined for shootingat a crocodile in Stokes Street.Although he missed he was fined atotal of 2 pounds with costs.

Picnic Bay Baths, 1951.

They arrived on Magnetic Island around1880 after a six month voyage fromEngland. The family took up farming

Arcadia Bay Jetty, 1930.

pineapples, mangoes and pawpaws atNellie Bay. They were also well known fortheir mango and plum wines.

In 1886 a surveyor by the name ofJ.G O'Connell named each of the MagneticIsland bays after the Pearce family - Nellie,Geoffrey, Alma, Arthur and Florence, whowere then living in Townsville. It has alsobeen thought that Nelly Bay may havebeen named after Nell Butler. Radical Baywas named after a cutter wrecked in thebay in 1918.

411111111riat.

Townsville firstsThe first Townsville librawas opened in 1866 atthe School of Arts. Thre,hundred books and maazines were donated bytownspeople.Townsville also had thefirst free public library inQueensland.

Townsville or Blackstown?

W

ould you prefer to live inBlackstown or Townsville? Itcould have been possible you

know as the two men mainly responsiblefor the city's early development were JohnMelton Black and Captain Robert Townsand the town could have been named aftereither.

In 1864 Black was down on his luck.He had built the Theatre Royal inMelbourne however it was not making anymoney and the venture failed. He travelledto Sydney and visited the office of CaptainRobert Towns who was something of afinancial whiz. What a shock he got whenhe walked into the office. Captain Townswas in the throes of a fit! The story goesthat John Black quickly ran to the chemist,bought a stomach pump, used it on Townsand saved his life. It was later found thatTowns had eaten some figs which had beenpoisoned with arsenic. This was the birth ofa long lasting partnership.

In 1864 Black set forth to NorthQueensland to manage Towns' stationinterests and to organise new properties.While he was stationed at Woodstock Blacklearned that they could make more moneyfrom selling the tallow - the fat used formaking candles and soap, and the hidetaken from the beast rather than the meatitself, as prices were very low for cattle. Todo this Black needed to build a boilingdown works to treat the carcasses. At thattime Bowen was the nearest northern port,a long and rough journey from Woodstock.Also, the townspeople in Bowen thoughtthe smell from the boiling works wouldmake life unpleasant and they opposed the

idea. Although Black was unhappy abouttheir reaction, he was not put off anddecided to investigate the more convenientlocation of Cleveland Bay as a possible site.

In April 1864 Andrew Ball, themanager of Woodstock station, and MarkReid were sent by Black to find a suitableshipping and boiling down works site onCleveland Bay. After reporting back thatCleveland Bay was a suitable location a

A stomach pump.

further expedition with sheep and storeswas arranged in October 1864. Ball namedthe area Castletown. Black followed soonafter to start construction.

In the Shadow of Castle Hill

Did you Know?

Near the intersection of FlindersStreet, Morris Street and InghamRoad, there used to be a toll gate.People riding on a horse and buggyfrom Hermit Park to West End had topay a fee to get through.

Black planned to create a township anda port. The problem was that theGovernment needed to approve the plan.This was unlikely as there was already aport at Bowen and one being developed atCardwell. However Black, with the financialsupport and influence of Towns, decided togo ahead without the knowledge of outsidersand permission of the Government eventhough the Government could always takeback the land for its own use. The two menhoped that when it was complete theGovernment would not refuse permissionand instead reward their initiative bygranting them the land they had built onand improved. A daring idea indeed!!

In order to start Towns and Blackneeded to get a grant of land at theproposed site. As it was difficult to get aland grant from the Government, theyleased the land under the Coffee and SugarCultivation Act which was designed toencourage the cultivation of these twoproducts. When news was received that aGovernment official was coming to inspectthe project Black quickly arranged for tworows of coffee to be planted on Ross Island.Coffee and sugar were planted in theoutlying area of Hermit Park. However thesupply of coffee seeds had not arrived soBlack used the only available beans whichwere roasted coffee beans. Although heknew they wouldn't grow Black plantedthem anyway. The official was so impressedby the enthusiasm displayed that he gavea favourable report. As a result theGovernment declared it a port of entry.

On 31 July 1865 the first land saleswere held in Bowen, where the Governmentoffices were located. Unfortunately theGovernment refused to give Towns andBlack the free land they had hoped toreceive. If they wanted to keep any land

they had to pay improved land value pricelike everybody else and it was they who haddone the improving! With some negotiationit was agreed that five portions of landwould be reserved for them and threewharfage allotments were acquired byprivate treaty from the Government. Blackalso bought six unimproved allotments.Although their scheme to obtain free landwas not successful they did succeed inestablishing a port and boiling down works.

One of the first houses in Townsville.

By August 1866 Townsville wasproclaimed a municipality and renamed. ATown Council was elected with John Blackas the first mayor and a newspaper, twobanks, a hospital, a School of Arts, a raceclub, a number of hotels, a mail steamerservice, a Court of Petty Sessions and othergovernmental departments wereestablished.

Heroes and Hooligans

ROBERT TOWNS

Robert Towns, 1913.

The man after whom Townsville wasnamed was Captain Robert Towns. He wasborn in Long Horsley, Northumberland,England on 10 November 1794. He was asailor and master mariner. In 1827, whenhe was 33, he made his first trip toAustralia in command of a vessel namedthe Brothers and subsequently made hisfortune bringing migrants to Australia. In1833 he married Sophia Wentworth, sisterof William Charles Wentworth. By 1842 hehad had enough of sea life and establishedthe firm of R. Towns, a mercantile andshipping agency in Sydney: He was anoutstanding businessman and became avery important man in the early years of

PAIIIIIIMMIE 141

Sydney. In 1853 he was appointedChairman of Directors of the Bank of NewSouth Wales. Towns was appointed aMember of the first Legislative Council ofNew South Wales in 1856. Towns was alsoinvolved with the transportation of SouthSea Islanders, known as Kanakas, to beused as a cheap labour force. They wereused on Towns' cotton plantations andsome were also used in the building ofTownsville itself.

Robert Towns bought many pastoralproperties in North Queensland and ownedland from the lower Burdekin through tothe Gulf. Together with his partner, JohnMelton Black, he worked on the ambitiousscheme to establish a port and township inthe Cleveland Bay area. Although Townsoften complained about the amount ofmoney being spent he provided the financeto ensure the steady flow of buildingmaterials and machinery. He alsoinfluenced the Queensland Government tosupport the venture. Towns paid his firstand only visit to Townsville in 1866. One ofthe reasons for his visit was to celebrate theopening of the Criterion Hotel. Sir Robert

Townsville 3irstsThe first house, other thanslab huts, erected inTownsville was for JohnMelton Black on MeltonHill. It was a four roomcottage surrounded byverandahs with a detachedkitchen.

Did you Know?Until 1914 the suburb of BelgianGardens was known as GermanGardens.

Heroes and Hooligans 9

Towns died of a stroke on 11 April 1873 at`Cranbrook', his home in Sydney.

JOHN MELTON BLACK

John Melton Black, 1866.

Townsville would not be the 'Capital ofNorth Queensland' if it were not for theenergy, drive and enthusiasm of anextraordinary individual, John MeltonBlack.

Black was born in Scotland in 1830and came to Australia as a young man in1852. He made some money by developinga carrying service from Melbourne andGeelong to the Goldfields. After the failureof the Theatre Royal in Melbourne he metTowns in Sydney and became the stationmanager for Towns & Co's stations inNorth Queensland. Always a businessmanit was Black's idea to build a port inCleveland Bay and develop a township.

Due to ongoing problems hispartnership with Towns finished in April

1867. During that same year Black sailedfrom Townsville aboard the Boomerang toSydney. He never returned. Black sold hisshare of the business to Towns, went backto England and had a family of five chil-dren. The citizens of Townsville were soappreciative of what Black had achievedthat they sent him a gold cup made fromCape River gold. Back in England hefounded the Bell Punching and PrintingCompany. He died in London in 1919 atthe age of 89.

JAMES MORRILL

James Morrill, born 20 May 1824, wasone of fourteen crew on board the Peruvianon its way to China from Sydney when ithit a shoal near Minerva Reef in the CoralSea in 1846. Twenty-one crew andpassengers survived the sinking of the shipand were adrift for forty-four days aboard araft built from the wreckage. During thistime fourteen of them perished. Althoughseven people reached the shore atCleveland Bay, two more died soon afterand one paddled off in a native canoenever to be seen again. The four remainingsurvivors were the ship's Captain and hiswife, Wilson, the ship's boy, and JamesMorrill. The survivors were found and caredfor by a tribe of Aborigines. Unfortunately,although they were well looked after by theAborigines the three survivors other thanMorrill died within the next three years.

(,....... ../ n1

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James Morrill, circa 1865.

Heroes and Hooligans (Continued)

Before long, Morrill was accepted aspart of the tribe and stayed with theAborigines for seventeen years learningtheir language and way of life. AlthoughMorrill sighted ships and heard of crewsbeing seen ashore he was unable to makecontact. One day in 1863 Morrill was givena report of some white men to the south.After finding where they were located,Morrill washed himself to try to look aswhite as possible and decided to approachthe men. Struggling to remember Englishwords that he had not used for so manyyears he eventually made himselfunderstood.

After spending some time with thesettlers he returned to his tribe to explainthat he was going to live with his own

people again. The tribe did not wantMorrill to leave but when they realised hewas determined to go they asked him totalk to the white people and try to find asolution to the violence against theAboriginal tribes.

Morrill married Eliza Ann Ross on20 September 1864. In October 1864 Morrillworked with the Government MarineSurveyor, Captain Heath, as an Aboriginalinterpreter. In March 1865 Morrill was sentto Cleveland Bay (now Townsville) as theCustoms Overseer. What an amazing twistof fate to be working in the same areawhere only two years earlier he had huntedwith his Aboriginal tribe. Morrill died on30 October 1865 and is buried in theBowen cemetery.

times Morrill bought the

first allotment sold atthe first land sale for

Townsville. The sale was

eld in aoweli on'31 July

865.

Did you Know?

The Townsville suburbs of Hermit Park,Hyde Park, Pimlico, Mundingburra,Aitkenvale, West End, Garbutt, BelgianGardens, Oonoonba and Stuart wereall once included in Thuringowaand were transferred to Townsvillebetween 1918 and 1936.

Sir/Col James Burns, 1874. Thomas Aitken.

SIR JAMES BURNS

THOMAS AITKEN

James Burns was born at Polmont,Scotland on the 10 February 1846. In 1862at the age of 16 James and his olderbrother migrated to Brisbane. After makinglarge profits at the Gympie Goldrush hereturned to Scotland in 1870 for a shortperiod.

James returned to Queensland andbought land in Townsville in 1873 wherehe built a general store in Flinders Streetsupplying all the goldfields in NorthQueensland. Together with Robert Philp,admitted as a partner in 1875, the businessBurns, Philp and Co. continued to growand expand into a large commercial andshipping enterprise. Eventually brancheswere established across Australia and worldwide. Burns died of cancer in 1923 at hishome 'Gowan Brae' in Parramatta, Sydney.

Thomas Aitken was born in Scotland in1817 and arrived in Brisbane in 1835. Afterbeing in Australia for several years hereturned to Scotland in 1851 to marryMargaret Storey. The couple returned toAustralia where they had a dairy farmnear Brisbane. They ventured to Townsvillein 1867 and took up 3 500 acres of land onthe Ross River. Their property was calledthe Aitkenvale Estate. Later, during theland boom, all but thirty acres of the estatewere sold and subdivided. This area thenbecame known as the suburb of Aitkenvale.

Thomas and Margaret had fivedaughters and one son. Margaret died inMarch 1897 at the age of 73 and Thomasdied later that same year.

Did you Know?On 23 June 1890 Gladys Van Tasselmade a balloon ascent at Acacia ValeGardens, near where the Villa VincentHome is located. Gladys made theascent on a trapeze bar attachedunder the balloon. When she was atconsiderable height she cut off fromthe balloon and came down with theassistance of a parachute.

Did you Know?The story goes that Gladys Moncrieff,a famous soprano singer whoattended school in Townsville, onceclimbed a ladder to the roof of theSchool of Arts building to hear DameNellie Melba sing inside only to betrapped when someone removed theladder.

In the Shadow of Castle Hill

Heroes and Hooligans (Continued)

CATHERINE ROBINSON

Mrs Robinson, 1913.

Catherine Robinson, born in CountyArmagh on 23 November 1835, came toQueensland at the age of 24. In 1865 afterspending two years in Brisbane Catherinetravelled to Townsville aboard the schoonerPoliceman where she was employed as abarmaid at the opening of the firstCriterion Hotel. She was one of the firstwhite women in the city at that time.

Catherine went on a picnic with RobertTowns and some other people to MagneticIsland during Towns' only visit toTownsville. After drawing straws Catherinehad the privilege of being the first whitewoman to set foot on the Island.

Catherine met and married herhusband, Heinrich Fredrich Rubinstein(later known as Robinson) in Townsville.They tried to grow grapevines at KissingPoint but were unsuccessful. After successin dairying at German Gardens theymoved to Mt St John to continue dairyingsupplying Townsville with milk. Catherinewould ride with a bucket of milk on eachside of her saddle until they bought adelivery cart.

With only a brief absence Catherinelived in Townsville for 70 years. She died atthe age of 95.

ELIZABETH KENNY

Sr Elizabeth Kenny.

Source: Royal College of Nursing, Australia

In 1886, Elizabeth Kenny was born atWarialda, New South Wales. She graduated

as a nurse in 1911. While working as anurse in outback Queensland she saw herfirst case of polio, a dreadful disease whichparalysed children. To help patients recoverKenny developed her own method oftreatment. It involved packing warmblankets around the arms and legs andmassaging the affected limbs. Kennyopened her first clinic in Townsville duringthe polio epidemic of 1933. During thistime she treated and cured many patients.She also taught other nurses her method oftreatment. Although Kenny was considereda fraud by doctors because her treatmentwas so different to the method used at thattime she had support from the QueenslandGovernment who opened a Kenny Clinic inBrisbane in 1934. Sister Kenny took herspecialised treatment overseas where shewas given much greater recognition of herachievements. Clinics were opened all overBritain, USA, Canada and Russia.

Kenny died in Toowoomba, Queenslandin 1952 after suffering from Parkinson'sDisease.

Sr Kenny working in the Townsville clinic.

Source: Royal College of Nursing, Australia

1.611;—tettk:r ese'Timber and Termites

Customs House.

CUSTOMS HOUSE

The Customs House is oneof five customs buildings inQueensland built before theFederation of Australia. Twoarchitects from New SouthWales, John Smith Murdoch,the Chief GovernmentDesigner, and George Payne,designed the building.

Plans for the CustomsHouse were completed andapproved on 3 January 1900.The Customs House was builtby a Brisbane construction company,Crawford and Cameron. The building wasmade of brick and faced with local granite.To try to keep white ants out the use ofwood was kept to a minimum. During theconstruction there were many argumentsbetween the Department of Public WorksInspector, Mr Hunt and the site overseer,Mr Cameron. Mr Hunt argued that thegranite work was poor and the overallstandard of work was unsatisfactory.Although the disagreements caused a workstoppage on the 25 October 1900 thebuilding was finally finished in 1902.

The Customs House is built inFederation style with some modificationssuch as the extremely high ceilings to suitthe North Queensland climate. When somuch thought went into making thebuilding suitable for this climate it seemsstrange that fireplaces were included insome of the offices! It is hard to imaginethat they were ever used here in the tropics.

Underneath the Customs House is amaze of passageways and cellars known as`the Dungeon'. It looks as if this would bea great place to hold prisoners but it wassimply used as a storage area. It was alsoan ideal air raid shelter during WorldWar II. A special tunnel was dug from theback of the dungeon through to WickhamStreet, in case the main entrance wasdestroyed. Some say that another

Townsville 3irstsTownsville's first . hotel, theCriterion was built in 1The original building wan unlicensed log hFood was available for tbachelor labourers andrinks sold for 1 shillinabout ten cents. it was:owned by William Ross.

11.11111111.

underground emergency tunnel existed tothe Queen's Hotel.

Other original features that still existare the original brass gaslights on thepolished granite columns that stand oneither side of the staircase to the first floor.During Cyclone Leonta two chimneys andsome of the roof tiles were damaged.Although the roof was repaired there wasa problem with the roof leaking. The tileswere eventually replaced with an iron roofin 1910. The lookout on top was used toview the harbour so that the officials wouldknow when a ship had come into the port.

The Second World War saw somechanges to the Customs House. TheDepartment of Defence extended thebuilding and modified some of the interior.A two-storey timber-framed extension wasput onto the rear so that the building couldcope with the extra people and activitiesgoing on. A mezzanine floor wasconstructed in the long room and otherspaces were converted into offices.

ST JAMES CATHEDRAL

On 1 October 1871, St James Churchwas opened and dedicated on the site ofthe present Cathedral. Bishop Stanton laidthe foundation stone of the presentCathedral of St James on 21 June 1887. Thededication service was held on the sameday as Queen Victoria's Jubilee. It was notuntil 1960 that the cathedral was formallyacknowledged as being complete - anextraordinary length of time of overseventy years.

The Cathedral was designed and builtby Arthur Blacket of Sydney. St James hasthe largest pipe organ in NorthQueensland. The organ was built in 1884by the English firm of Brindly and Foster

St lames Cathedral, 1906.

and was donated to the congregation byMiss M E Holland. The cathedral waspartially destroyed by Cyclone Leonta in1903.

BUCHANAN'S HOTEL

Buchanan's Hotel was owned by DavidBuchanan, a hotel keeper in Townsville fortwenty-seven years. Buchanan's was firstwas built in 1902. It had red brick wallsand every up-to-date feature possible. Thehotel, originally called the Prince Of Wales,was changed to Buchanan's Hotel after afire in 1902. The architecture of the hotelwas unique as the verandahs were allsurrounded by some of Australia's finestiron lace. The wrought iron incorporatedpanels of coloured glass. The clientele ofthis facility could summon the staff withelectrically-powered bells. Some of

Did you Know?The Theatre Royal was opened on19 August 1869. The first concert everheld in the Theatre was by theCarandini Company. The cost for abox seat was only 40 cents, stalls30 cents and a pit seat was a mere10 cents

Ive.-442A• . 1

Buchanan's HotelC.I.A. HOUSE)E. T. CORBETT, Proprietor.

THIS WAS THE HOME OF THE

VISITING SOUTHERN CRICKETERSincluding DON BRADMAN,

(luring the EASTER CARNIVAL.

ALWAYS NOTED FOR COOL DRINKS.AND THE BEST OF LIQUOR.

Towns eis first gaol wasba in 88 in North

ar right where tstudents today attendCentral State School. Theschool's administrationblock was once used as agaolers' quarters. Originalwalls and cells can stillbe seen in the schoolplayground.

Timber and Termites (cont€nued) -

Buchanan's guests were Sir DonaldBradman and Lyndon B. Johnson - a futureAmerican President. In 1982 Buchanan'swas burnt down and then demolished.The hotel has been featured on anAustralian stamp.

An advertisement for Buchanan's Hotel circa 1930-35.

researching the history of Townsville. It wasoriginally a two storeyed wooden buildingwith wide verandahs.

In 1879 Evans sold the Queen's toHenry 'Harry' Boulton who had anexcellent reputation as the landlord of the`Mining Exchange' in Charters Towers.When Boulton took over the Queen's it wasdescribed as having twenty bedrooms andthree sitting rooms. While the Queen's gavevisitors magnificent views the surroundingswere less attractive as the road wasunformed and the beach was covered withcreepers . Nevertheless it was a favouredretreat for visiting Governors, politiciansand other dignitaries visiting Townsville.

Boulton ensured that his hotel wasalways up-to-date with every conveniencepossible. In 1882 the Queen's was thesecond building in Townsville to havereticulated water. In 1883 the Queen's wasone of the first buildings to be connected tothe town's gas supply, though it was onlyused for lighting not cooking.

QUEEN'S HOTEL

From 1873 to 1914 the Queen's Hotelwas the only hotel in Townsville tomaintain the high standards of a 'GrandHotel' which is like a five star hotel today.The owner of this grand hotel, JamesEvans, built the Queen's in 1873. The date1864 shown on the facade of the buildinghas been a trap for many people

Queen's Hotel, 1930.

Queen's Hotel, circa 1890. Inside Queen's Hotel, 1908.

In 1885 Boulton sold the Queen's toJames Cran. The Crans converted theWickham Street wing of the building,originally single storey, to two storey,adding twenty-one new rooms andexpanding the number of available beds tosixty-five. It was most unfortunate whenCran, in the prime of his life, disappeared

on a boating trip in Cleveland Bay.Accompanied by an insurancerepresentative named Pitt, he set out inMarch 1891 in the Lady Elvin to visitRattlesnake Island. They never returned.

The service at the Queen's was superb,provided by a small army of uniformedcooks, kitchen maids, waiters and

Timber and Termites (continued)

AoillSomNIP**,-oq

waitresses, chambermaids and porters. In1899 the Queen's was sold to John Tyackwho, in 1901, decided to replace the oldbuilding with new red brick walls. It was aFederation style building with influencefrom the Moghul architecture of India.Today the building is occupied by theChannel Ten television studios.

SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL

The church of the Sacred Heart wasbuilt when the existing Catholic Church inTownsville, St. Joseph's, situated in NorthWard on the Strand collapsed whenundermined by floodwater in January1892.

Parish Priest, Father Walsh and hisparishioners decided that the growing townneeded a bigger church more centrallylocated. Donations for this building camefrom all denominations in Townsville andthe surrounding area.

Reid, Smart & Tappin, a Victorianarchitect firm, designed the church. Theychose a gothic design. The furnishings wereby Mr Dalton of Sydney. The Right Rev. Dr.Higgins, Bishop of Rockhampton, laid theFoundation Stone in October 1900. Thesame Bishop performed the blessing andopening of the new Church two years later.

Leonta, a cyclone that caused havoc inTownsville during March 1903, damagedthe new Sacred Heart Church. The roofblew off and some internal damageoccurred.

Sacred Heart Cathedral.

St Joseph's Catholic Church, The Strand, circa 1885.

The marble altar at the front of thechurch is a memorial to Fr. Walsh who diedin February 1908. His body is in a specialvault built inside the Cathedral.

The Sacred Heart Church became theSacred Heart Cathedral in 1930 whenTownsville separated from theRockhampton Diocese and the Diocese ofTownsville was formed.

m er and Termites

The Rocks, circa 1888.

Source: Jennie Ginger and Joe Sprouts

THE ROCKS

The Rocks was given its name as it waslocated on the rocky outcrop of Melton Hillknown as The Rocks. This outcroporiginally extended into the sea fromMelton Hill and divided the Strand into twosections. As this headland was preventing aroadway being built along the beachfrontand rock was needed for the westernbreakwater of the man-made harbour, theoutcrop was quarried and used to make thebreakwater. This allowed the road nowknown as The Strand to be built fromKissing Point to Ross Creek.

The Rocks was built as a banker'sresidence in 1888 for the first manager ofthe only bank ever formed in NorthQueensland. In 1909 it then became afamous private hospital and was advertisedas being open for business on 30 October.The wife of Dr Ernest Humphrey turned the

hospital into an upmarket guesthouseduring the 1930s.

The house became a hospital againduring World War II when it was occupiedby the American Army. A bomb shelterbuilt during the war still exists at the backof the house. After the war The Rocksbecame a budget guesthouse.

The present owners bought the buildingwhen it was in a state of disrepair.Extensive restoration has returned TheRocks to its former glory. Today the billiardsroom is named after George Gray, aprevious owner of the house during the1950s. In 1912, George was a WorldBilliards Champion at the age of 19.

CURRAJONG

Currajong was built in 1888 as theresidence for the manager of the Australian

Currajong.

In the Shadow of Castle Hill

Timber and Termites (continued)

Joint Stock Bank, Mr Alfred P. MacKenzie. Itwas built on the site where the MaterHospital is now located on Fulham Road.Currajong is typical of the timber housesbuilt for the tropical climate, using featuressuch as wide verandahs to help keep thehouse cool.

Mr Edward Hunt purchased the housein 1890 and named it Currajong after alarge currajong tree which was a featureof the local area. From 1942 Currajong wasused as a RAAF medical receiving stationduring World War II. In 1952 it waspurchased by the Redemptorist Fathersthen passed on to the Sisters of Mercy in1955 who began to build the MaterHospital during the 1960s.

When extensions were proposed to thehospital in 1978 Currajong was scheduledto be demolished. Recognising the historicalsignificance of this home the TownsvilleNational Trust Branch, with the consentof the Sisters of Mercy and the help ofTownsville City Council, relocatedCurrajong to the Heritage Centre inCastling Street, West End.

I:4 . 73 *f

01111Ca.*--'

Rosebank, circa 1900.

ROSEBANK

The first owner of this beautiful homewas Andrew Ball. In the first expeditionsent by John Melton Black, Ball locatedRoss Creek as a suitable site for the portand boiling down works. Originally set ontwenty acres Rosebank was built in 1886.The verandah was decorated with a crosspattern balustrade which was a commonfeature at the time. Rosebank is describedas a villa residence. These countryhomesteads tried to be like the countryvillas of England and were commonlyset in parklike surroundings. Estate owners

in the western suburbswere able to establishmagnificent gardensdue to fertile soil anda good water supply.Rosebank is locatednear Mindham Park,off Ball's Lane,in the suburb ofMysterton.

Andrew Ball, 1870.

numberof names towards the end it was called TheWest End Hotel as indeed that site wasconsidered the west end of the township.The hotel was demolished in 1884.

The site where the PercTucker Gallery is now locatedwas originally sold to SarahAtkins at the first land saleheld in Bowen. It was thehighest price paid for a blockof land at that sale. Not longafter Sarah bought the landshe sold it to F. Hamilton whobuilt a hotel on the site. Overtime the hotel was sold severaltimes until the Union Bankpurchased the site in 1884.Although it seems the hotel had a

LEFT:The Union BankBuilding, circa 1891.

BELOW:The Union BankBuilding, circa 7935.

PERC TUCKERREGIONAL GALLERY

The Union Bank building was designedby the colonial architect, F.D.G. Stanley. Itwas first occupied by the bank on Saturday12 June 1885. Originally it was designed asa single storey building but due to the need

for expansion a second storey was added in1935. The ANZ Bank was the lastcommercial business to own the building.In 1981 the Townsville City Council boughtthe heritage building and developed it as apublic gallery. It was officially opened bythe Mayor of Townsville, Alderman M.F.Reynolds, on 25 September 1981. It isnamed in honour of the late AldermanPercy Tucker, Mayor of Townsville from1976 to 1980.

Triumphs and Tears

Townsville 3irstsNot only was the TownsvilGolf Club the first golf duin Townsville but it was the.first formed in Queenslandand one of the first •Australia.

In the Shadow of Castle Hill22 4

ZMORMENIENMERW"lk

Townsville has been the birthplace andbreeding ground for a number ofAustralia's leading sports people andteams. Townsville sports people haverepresented Australia at Olympic Games -both summer and winter, CommonwealthGames, World Championships, World Cupevents and Masters Games. Townsvillecurrently has two national sporting teamsin Basketball and Rugby League.

The Murray Sporting Complex inAnnandale was started in 1968 with theoriginal hockey fields being built in 1969.The complex includes an internationalstandard hockey pitch and grass fields,basketball stadium, soccer, rugby league,Australian Rules fields, netball courts andskatepark. A cycling velodrome andequestrian complex are located nearby.

Tobruk Pool, located on the Strand, wasused by the 1956 Australian swimmingteam for training before the MelbourneOlympic Games. Famous swimmersincluding Dawn Fraser, John Conradsand Lorraine Crapp spent weeks trainingat the pool in preparation for theOlympic Games.

11nn•n11111111111111011.1111.1111111*

T

ownsville is well known throughoutQueensland for its rich sportinghistory. Many of Queensland's and

Australia's first sporting clubs wereestablished in Townsville with golf, racing,sailing, rugby league and cricket amongthe first.

Sporting facilities first appeared inTownsville in the 1860s. Just two years afterBlack arrived in Townsville, the Burdekinand Flinders Turf Club was formed in 1866.The first races were held on the beach ofthe Strand from Melton Hill to KissingPoint. The first race track was establishedat Garbutt in 1868. A new course wasestablished in 1883 at Cluden.

The city's first cricket ground wasopened in 1870 in the vicinity of theBotanical Gardens Reserve and CentralState School.

The Magnetic Island to TownsvilleSwim was first held in 1954 in honour ofthe visit of Queen Elizabeth. The localswanted to have an entertaining event thatwould be distinctly different to celebratethis momentous occasion. The racecontinues to be a prominent event in thetown's sporting calendar with many wellknown swimmers competing in the 8kmannual event.

The North Queensland Games are heldevery two years. The Games, the largest oftheir type held in Australia, are a multisport event that began in 1984. Thousandsof people compete in over 50 sports withcompetitors ranging in age from the veryyoung to the young at heart.

7;4;1,44,4.4e,

Racecourse, North Ward, circa 1886.

Cricket Team Queen's Park, circa 1890.

Tandem record makers, 1897.

Ladies' Rowing Club, circa 1911.

Townsvi e firsts

On 1 May 1933, Townsville hosted the firever bullfight in Australia. Mount Sal.John was the site for this historic evewhich raised 600 pounds for local charitiThe organiser of this bullfight, Mr St joRobinson, gave 37 pounds to the lo

animals so11111n•••"

-...1"R. •• 'IP- I "" •

arn

•

•• ,

''•••'

A SELECTION OF TOWNSVILLE SPORTS PEOPLEWHO HAVE REPRESENTED AUSTRALIA

Mery CrossmanHelen Gray

Barry MalcolmJim Mason

Alan OshyerNev Pery

Lesley MayesDarcy ClaytonGisela Clayton

Leah FeldtGlen Buchanan

Robyn BonnifaceLinda OrrowMark Bragg

Sandy MillerRenita Farrell

Roy KubigBrett Clarke

Joyce TrageaAustin Adarraga

Natalie CookPete Burge

HockeySwimmingHockeyHockeyWeight liftingWeight liftingSwimmingArcheryArcheryArcherySwimmingHockeyCyclingBasketballWater poloHockeySwimmingTable tennisTable tennisSquashVolleyballAthletics

Swimming on the Strand

Top: The Strand 1890. Centre: 1905.Bottom: pre-1921

Swimming on he Strand 25

Top: The Strand 1921.Centre: 1924.Bottom: circa 1954.

•Rations and Raids

W

hen Japan attacked PearlHarbour in 1941 the fear thatwar would reach Australia

became widespread. As Townsville had alarge shipping port and was close to thePacific it was an ideal location for amilitary base. Townsville also became animportant training area for both theAustralian and American Forces as therainforests around Townsville are verysimilar to the rainforests in Papua NewGuinea.

PREPARING FOR WAR

Townsville changed dramaticallyduring World War II. For a start, asAmerican and Australian army, airforceand navy personnel poured into thedistrict, Townsville's population grew fromaround 32 000 in early 1942 to 122 000 bymid 1943. This put a lot of pressure onresources such as food, water, ice andhousing. Food was rationed and water wasavailable only for a couple of hours in themorning and evening.

To help protect people living inTownsville the City Council dug slittrenches - open holes in the ground,around the city. The slit trenches were aproblem during the wet season as theyfilled up with water. Fifteen concrete boxes,known as 'Hanlon's Hideouts', were builtalong Flinders Street. The boxes were to beused as air raid shelters if Townsville wereattacked. Almost every house in Townsvillehad a shelter of some kind. Some peopledug trenches while others made shelters ofsandbags or wood.

The Post Office tower was taken downso it couldn't be used as a target by theenemy. To help slow down the enemybarbed wire was stretched along thebeaches and mudflats. Guns andsearchlights were placed around the city instrategic positions. During a 'blackout' allhouse lights and street lights were switchedoff and the city was in complete darkness.For the rest of the time lights could be usedas long as windows were covered in brownpaper or painted with blackout paint. Thiswas called a 'brownout'. Sirens would wailat any hour of the day or night to alertpeople to find shelter from approachingaircraft. Air raid drills were practisedregularly.

EVACUATIONS

In 1942 people in Townsville wereencouraged to evacuate. Many families,especially women and children, left theirhomes and lived with family or friends outwest or down south so they were away fromdanger if the coast were attacked. In the

Air raid shelters, 1942-1945.

Army Hospital, Pallarenda, 1943.

middle of February it was estimated that upto 60 homes a day were evacuated. Peoplewho stayed in Townsville had a small bagpacked ready to take with them if they hadto leave straight away.

SCHOOL LIFE

School life was disrupted greatly duringthe war years. Some of the schools wereclosed down and others were used formilitary purposes such as headquarters,hospitals and accommodation for soldiers.For those children who hadn't beenevacuated school was late starting in 1942.It was required that slit trenches be dug inthe school grounds so that it was safe forchildren to attend school. While waitingfor school to start children did specialcorrespondence lessons organised by theirteachers. At school air raid drills werepractised daily. Some children were givencamouflage hoods or sugar bags to wear inthe trenches. In case of an air raid some

children were given a cloth bag with itemssuch as cotton wool, bandages anddisinfectant. Others were given a woodenpeg to bite on if there was a bomb blast.Children also learnt first aid every day atschool so they would know how to treatinjuries and shock.

Did you Know?

During the war thirty houses inChapman Street, Mysterton weretaken over by the U.S. Army to makethe 12th Station Hospital. The peoplewho lived in Chapman Street weregiven approximately one week toleave their homes. Walls wereknocked out and houses joined bycovered walkways. The houses on oneside were used as wards, while theother side was used as laundries,laboratories, kitchens and storage formedical supplies.

Did you Know?A plan to attack Japanese harbours bylaunching collapsible canoes carryingmen who would attach limpet minesto the sides of the Japanese ships wastested in the Port of Townsville. Thepractice attack was named "OperationScorpion."At midnight on 20 June 1943, thepractice attack began. Five canoes,each with 2 men, left their base onMagnetic Island and started paddlingtowards Townsville Harbour. Theymanaged to attach limpet mines to10 ships without being detectedmuch to the astonishment andembarrassment of ship's captainswhen they noticed something strangeunder their ships the next morning.The operation was considered asuccess'and used in future attacks.

In the Shadow of Castle Hitt28

Rations and Raids (conti€ ued)-

JAPANESE AIR RAIDS

Townsville came under enemy attackon the night of 25 July 1942. It was atabout 11:30pm when four JapaneseKawanishi flying boats started to circlearound Townsville. They were soon spottedby searchlights and were forced out to sea.They returned at about 12:40am anddropped bombs on the harbour and thetidal flats near the mouth of Ross River.Nothing was damaged.

A second attack was made on 28 Julyat about 2:25 am, by a single flying boat.The RAAF Radar Station detected theaircraft an amazing 1 hour and 50 minutesbefore it reached the town. Six AmericanKittyhawks were called into action. Anti-aircraft batteries were fired at the flyingboat when it was spotted by searchlightsbut this made it hard for the Kittyhawks tointercept the plane. The Japanese aircraftdropped nine bombs near Many PeaksRidge, which the pilot may have mistakenfor Garbutt Airfield. Once again there wereno casualties or property damage.

On 29 July at 12:27 in the morningTownsville was attacked for a third time.The radar station issued a warning 30minutes before and two Kittyhawk fighterstried to cut off the bomber. After 2.00 amfour American Airacobras joined in thechase. The flying boat managed to dropseveral bombs in Cleveland Bay. Anotherbomb fell harmlessly in the grounds of theAnimal Health Station at Oonoonba,damaging a palm tree and some fenceposts. Altogether twenty-six bombs weredropped by the Japanese over Townsville.

Anti-aircraft guns, 1942.

Dalrymple RoadduringWorld War II.Source:Royal Australian Air Force

Did you Know?

Dalrymple Road was an air stripduring the war.

Although people were supposed to betaking cover in their bomb shelters manysat outside and watched the action as itunfolded across the Townsville night sky.

(Source: Townsville at War by Darryl McIntyre, p 68-71).

KISSING POINT FORT

In 1878 a group of volunteers formedthe Queensland Volunteer Artillery. TheseTownsville men were becoming concernedthat North Queensland would be attackedby a foreign power, particularly Russia. TheKissing Point Fort was constructed in 1889-1891 to help protect the North Queenslandcoastline. It is one of only a few remainingcoastal defences constructed in Australia inthe Nineteenth Century.

Garrison Artillery, Kissing Point, pre-1901

Source: North Queensland Military Museum

Unfortunately the Fort did not provevery useful as the shallow waters ofCleveland Bay would have preventedwarships of any size or power approachingthe Townsville harbour anyway. As the Fortcould not protect the northern and westernareas around Townsville new forts were setup during World War II at north-westPallarenda and Magnetic Island. Since thattime the Kissing Point Fort has remainedthe property of the Army as part of theJezzine Barracks.

In 1979 the Australian Army realisedthe significance of the Kissing Point Fortwith its history of the defence of NorthQueensland and a committee of soldiersand civilians turned it into a militarymuseum. On 12 June 1980 the museumwas officially opened by the Chief of theGeneral Staff, Lieutenant General SirDonald Dunstan and the Mayor ofTownsville, Alderman Perc Tucker.

1.111W9111116.AEtt

Wheels and Cogs

T

ownsville is a large industrial citywhere many enterprises have grownand developed. These are just a few.

PORTWhen John Melton Black arrived one of

the first things he organised was theclearing of the mangroves along the leftbank of Ross Creek and the building of awharf which enabled the unloading ofshipments needed for the settlement. Thefirst Townsville Harbour Board meeting washeld on 26 March 1896. By 1900 the RossCreek entrance had been widened, a 20 tonsteam crane installed and 560m of wharveshad been built along the easternbreakwater. In 1901 a rock bar at themouth of Ross Creek was blasted anddredging along the wharves and PlatypusChannel made the port deeper. At this timea large meat export trade, wool and anexpanding sugar trade was shippedthrough the port. In the 1910s so manyships were using the port that many had towait for a berth.

Work was discontinued on the portduring World War I. With the addedpressure of coping with the Defence Forcesduring the war and the strikes in thedecade after the war the port was nearlyruined. However in the 1920s, when InvictaMill at Giru crushed sugar for the first time,a dramatic increase in the number ofshipments occurred followed by majordevelopments to the port's facilities. Thisimprovement led to the first shipment ofproducts from Mount Isa Mines in 1931.

In 1942, during World War II, the portwas a stronghold for the Allied Forces so

the Japanese attempted three air raids onthe port. As the war continued Alliedvictories and stronger defences ended theJapanese raids. Port overcrowding was onceagain a major problem as the port tried todeal with the needs of the Allied Forces aswell as maintaining regular trade.

Although developmental work sloweddown after the war due to shortages ofmaterial a number of projects werecompleted, such as the widening of theEastern Breakwater and a storage area forMount Isa Mines products. In 1954 the porthosted Queen Elizabeth II's first visit toTownsville.

In the late 1950s the building of a bulksugar terminal was completed. It was theHarbour Board's biggest project during thatdecade. In 1963 a great fire burst out in thesugar sheds - a great mystery as raw sugarwas thought not to burn. As a result fireprevention methods were activated at allsugar terminals. Further tragedy struck in1971 when 122 knot winds from CycloneAlthea knocked out all the beacons inPlatypus Channel and left the port withoutpower for two days. The Port Control

Woolowra loading sugar at Townsville Port, 1908.

Source: Townsville Port Authority

minted two; newspapers

fa week, casting, three,,:,,,pence each However, du-to public demand, thTownsville local news-paper appeared daily fromJanuary 1883 becomingthe first published daily

wspaper in Queensland.

heels and Cogs

building was devastated and many smallships were damaged.

The Townsville Harbour Board officiallychanged its name to the Townsville PortAuthority in 1987.

COPPER REFINERY

The Copper Refinery located on theoutskirts of Townsville in Stuart, owned andoperated by Mount Isa Mining was officiallyopened on 2 October, 1959 by the StatePremier, the Honourable G.F.R. Nicklin.Work on the site began in September 1956.The process at the Copper Refinery turns thecopper ore into 99.99% pure grade Acopper. In 1959 the refinery had a capacityof 40 000 tonnes of copper per year. By theend of the 1990s it had increased itscapacity by 575% to 230 000 tonnes.

RAILWAY

Surveying for a railway line inTownsville started in 1875. The railway wasneeded because of the increase in miningand pastoral activities out west. Beforerailway the means of transport was Cobband Co and bullock teams. These wereextremely slow and easily bogged in thewet season. The first section of railway fromTownsville to Reid River was opened in1880 and the section to Charters Towers in1882. Ravenswood was reached in 1884,Hughenden in 1887, Cloncurry in 1908.

The sixth and last section to Mount Isa wasopened in 1929.

Originally the railway was supposed tohead west from the port but under theinfluence of the city business people, thespur line was redirected across Ross Creekto the site of the first station on Flinders StWest. During the 1890s the townspeoplewanted a better station built closer to townso an improved one was built in 1913which is the one still in operation today.The adjacent administration block wasbuilt in 1965.

The rail had a big part to play in WorldWar II and that role was relived in 1995during the VP 50 celebrations when thetroop train arrived from Brisbane.

Townsville Railway Station, 1932.

Townsville firstsIdTownsville's first ambulancservice started after cocerned citizens brought upthe subject at a towmeeting on 19 October1900. The appointment ofSuperintendent went toMr G. R. King. The localbutcher kindly donated ahorse and buggy tohelp with transportation.A stable for the horse wailbuilt in Sturt Street.

o I

Nature's Fury

T

ownsville has experienced a largenumber of cyclones over the years. Inbetween the years of 1940 and 1969,

Townsville was hit by more cyclones thanany other town in Australia.

THE AWESOME FOURSOMEAlthough there have been many

cyclones in Townsville's long history manywere not recorded until the last 150 years.The first cyclone recorded by Europeansettlers was on March 3 and 4 in 1867. Itwas unnamed as Townsville was not yetthree years old. The settlers, having notexperienced such conditions before,wondered what was going on! Tents wereblown away and shacks were blown topieces leaving the occupants out in theopen. A considerable number of people leftthe settlement as a result.

An unsolved mystery of the 1867cyclone was the disappearance of the shipEva and its passengers. When the Eva triedto come into Cleveland Bay on 3 March itwas not able to land cargo and passengersbecause of the huge waves. So it tried tofind shelter near Magnetic Island. After thestorm the Eva was nowhere to be found.Then in November 1867 four white menand a woman were reportedly sighted onHinchinbrook Island. A search partyscoured the island and found anembroidered handkerchief, a partly burntwoman's shoe, a ship's locker, human hairand bones. Unfortunately they never foundthe missing people. Their disappearanceremains a mystery.

The second cyclone, again unnamed,hit in 1870. Damage was caused to thesettlement but both cyclones were timidand weak compared to the awesome powerof the third and fourth cyclones, Sigma andLeonta.

Sigma hit on 26 January 1896 andTownsville took a devastating blow.Eighteen people were killed including sixwomen and children who were in a rescue

Alexandria run aground, Cyclone Sigma, 1896.

9

=II OM 1•111111ININ4111111 RIO O.- in! use

"!:

jnC(r 1/111

North Ward after Cyclone Leonta(corner of Eyre and Leichhardt Sts), 1903.

Townsville General Hospital after Leonta, 1903.

boat which overturned. Dozens of vesselswere set hopelessly adrift in the ragingwaters, smashing against rocks and eachother. Ships like the cargo ship Florence

Elliot and Presto broke from the wharf andsank with valuable cargo. Lalla Rookh

drifted helplessly and ended up onMagnetic Island. Houses were blown offtheir stumps and sent rolling down thestreet. One family's home was blown off itsstumps and landed intact in their garden.

Leonta was the last of the four earlycyclones to wreak havoc on Townsville andhit on 9 March 1903. In the one yearTownsville was named a city and almostblown off the map. It flung itself at the cityunexpectedly. Children were still at schoolwhen it appeared. Once again wallscrumbled and roofs were sent flying over

the horizon. Most of the damage was donein the first few minutes. For 14 hours theterror varied it's attacks, pausing for severalminutes before pounding the residents withstronger gusts. At the hospital on StantonHill typhoid patients were removed fromthe top story of the two story building justbefore the roof was ripped off by the windand the fourteen inch brick walls of theupper story collapsed on the lower storykilling five people.

CYCLONE ALTHEA

The cyclone that was responsible forfour deaths on Christmas Eve 1971 wascyclone Althea. Serious damage occurred inthe suburbs of Pallarenda, Yarrawonga,Garbutt and Magnetic Island. In those daysmany houses in Townsville were not builtto stand up to the vicious, devastating force

Damage at the airport after Cyclone Althea, 1971.

Damaged houses at Pallarenda,Cyclone Althea 1971.

33

Nature's Fury (continued)tt ,e-40,4,0

of a cyclone. Roofs were ripped off,windows smashed and walls were blownaway. One person was decapitated by aflying piece of iron. The wind reachedspeeds of up to 203 kilometres an hour atGarbutt and 221 kilometres an hour atMagnetic Island. In 5 hours 190mm of rainfell at North Ward and 244mm at JamesCook University. Storm surges caused thelow tide to rise from 1.3 metres to 2.85metres and the high tide reached a massive4.15 metres. The damage from Althea allup cost $6 million.

CYCLONE TESSI

It was Monday morning 3 April 2000when Cyclone Tessi hit Townsville.Powerlines were torn down during thenight and homes were flooded. Trees wereblown onto fences and in some cases treesfell on homes and blocked roads. Manybusinesses had to be closed. Some roadswere covered in up to 90cm of water. Carshad water up to their windscreens andsome were swept into ditches at the side ofthe road. Some people lost power for up tothree days.

South Townsville houses, 1946.

Republic Hotel, corner of Plume and McllwraithStreets, South Townsville.

FLOODS

Flooding is another problem inTownsville particularly in the aftermath ofcyclones. In March 1946 305mm of rainwas recorded in a two hour period in theUpper Ross area. Over four metres of waterwas flowing over the Aplins Weir. Duringthe floods a house floated from the site of t

the present Al motel on Bowen Road,-Rosslea, down Bowen Road and onto Hodel

Street, where it came to rest on a vacantallotment opposite the present no. 56.

One of Townsville's most expensivefloods occurred in January 1998. Thedownpour started on 10 January andcontinued over a staggering 8 days. Therain depression that caused the flood wasex-tropical cyclone Sid. The buckets of raincaused many dry, small creeks to becomeraging torrents that swept away bridges

n the Shadow of Castle Hilt

Flooded house, Boundary Street, 1946.

and roads as if they were made of paperrather than concrete and bitumen. On thefirst night of the floods an amazing 950mmof rain fell at James Cook University.

Town Common fire, 1965.

Did you Know?1877 saw the building of a fire stationshed on the corner of Flinders Streetand Denham Street. The station hada bell but neither firemen nor a fireengine. In 1878 a voluntary firebrigade was formed. A man by the.name of Augustus Fisher Lowe waselected Captain Superintendent of theBrigade. By this time a manuallydrawn engine had been bought. On28 May 1878 a fire started in thebush behind Mr Champion's property.This was the first alarm sincethe Townsville Fire Brigade began.Unfortunately the fire engine brokedown and the flames of the fire had tobe beaten out by hand.

many years. In 1879 goats on CastleHill reached plague proportions. TheCity Council offered Aborigines oneshilling for each goat captured andwithin a short time 300 goats weredeported to Magnetic, Palm and RattleSnake Islands. The Council received aletter in 1922 stating that herds ofgoats from Castle Hill spent most oftheir recreational hours in the vicinityof Victoria and Stanley Streets.

Castle Hill has been referred to as"the world's biggest piece of gymequipment" by the former coach ofthe Sun's Basketball, Mark Bragg.

The most notable mark to be found onCastle Hill is the Saint. The 20 meterhigh figure is reported to have beenfirst painted on the side of Castle Hillin March 1962, by a couple ofUniversity students after a popular

Townsville jiThe first time the Australianflag was officially flown onAustralian soil was righthere in Townsville on16 September 1901. Thisspecial event occurredduring a visit of the firstGovernor-General, the Earlof Hopetoun. The flag wamade in Townsville ba local sail maker anchandler, William McKenzie.A commemorative flag polis located in Flinders Mall tomark this special occasion.

Shadow of Castle Hilt

A Sight to See

CASTLE HILL

C7L1STEE /-19LE by A.Gitano

Thom gloomy hill! 9n years to come

`Choi0 stand where thou lost now,

IgHol see, unmoved, the weight of care

That stamps each prisoner's brow!

Beneath thy frown will guilty men

S-In shackles lie and groan,

eot thou wilt never heed their cries,

Thom massive moont of stove.

(Published in the Townsville Herald, 4 July 1877)

It's Townsville's Statue of Liberty,Eiffel Tower or Harbour Bridge, butit's a natural landmark.

(Townsville City Council, The vision for CastleHill: Management Plan 1993)

A Castle Hill is a 298 metre high naturalstatue that looms over the heart of thecity. 298 metres is 997 feet, 3 feet shortof being a mountain. In the past it hasbeen suggested that an extra couple ofboulders be placed on the top so thatCastle Hill could become a mountain.

ACastle Hill was named by Andrew Ballin 1864. It is thought he named iteither because he thought it resembledpart of the Isle of Man or a hill nearDublin. The hill was also namedMount Cudtheringa by LieutenantHeath during a survey of ClevelandBay. This may have been on thesuggestion of James Morrill who waswith Lieutenant Heath at the time.Cudtheringa possibly means 'PossumDreaming'

A- Goats living on Castle Hill were amajor nuisance in Townsville for

City from Melton Hill

television series of the time. It wasthen touched up in 1970 when amechanic by the name of MauriceSmith lowered an unidentified Armycook down the cliff face to touch upthis infamous saint.

AOver the years there have been severalsuggestions that Castle Hill bequarried and the stone used to build aroad to Magnetic Island. In 1885 itwas reported in the North QueenslandTelegraph that at a Council meeting asuggestion had been made to employconvicts to demolish Castle Hill andconstruct a road from Kissing Point toMagnetic Island. A letter from St JohnRobinson was published in theTownsville Bulletin in 1938 suggestingthat a causeway be built to MagneticIsland using rock from Castle Hill. Arumour circulated in 1942 statingthat the US Army offered to demolishCastle Hill and construct a causewayto Magnetic Island.

A The Minister for Labour and Industry,Hon. M.P Hynes, MLA, officiallyopened the Castle Hill road andsummit lookout on 27 February 1937.The Robert Towns Memorial waserected in the summit parking areain 1949.

Sir, can you inform me who isresponsible for the disreputableappearance of the most prominentfeature of our city. In 1880 it was apleasure to look at our hill covered,as it was then by pine trees, andstrangers were struck with thebeautiful aspect the hill presented.Just look at it now in 1887 and tell mewhat has become of the timber.

An enquirer, Townsville Daily Bulletin, 1887.

• Because of complaints, Castle Hill wasproclaimed a recreation reserve in1888 and a tree ranger was appointedto prevent further destruction of thehill. In 1992 Castle Hill was listed onthe Queensland Heritage register.

THE ROCK POOL

The full name of the Rock Pool is"Coral Sea Memorial Rock Pool", andit was opened in 1968 as a dedicationto the sailors and airmen who losttheir lives during the battle of theCoral Sea in 1942. The Townsville CityCouncil considered blasting rock fromKissing Point to construct the seawall but the Council decided that itwould be more economically andsatisfactorily carried out by tender.

Work started on the Rock Pool on25 July 1968 by Lazzaroni Brothers of

A baby crocodile found in the Rock Pool, 1970.

A Sight to See THE STRAND -

M1111W_

•' '

Top:The Strand1873

Centre: 1896Bottom: 1904.

'

In the Shadow of Castle Hitt -7:438

L.

A Sight to See

Source:QueenslandQueenslandMilitaryMuseum

From top:The Strandcirca 1920;

1932;1974;2000.

Source: Peter TreasurePhotography

Townsville. 13000 tonnes of rock wereused to enclose the 1 acre bathingarea. This rock was taken from thefirm's Roseneath quarry.

The Coral Sea Memorial Pool wasofficially opened on 28 September1968. Since the opening a number ofweird creatures have been discoveredthere including: a small shark, a fewsea snakes, a stone fish, mud andsand crabs and a baby crocodile.

THE STRAND

ia=' Since Townsville was first settled theStrand has been the most popularbeachfront area for social gatherings.The earliest settlers built beach-hutson the Strand and enjoyed swimmingand picnicking.

Il The first Catholic Church inTownsville was built on The Strandin 1872.

raln 1913 the owner of the QueensHotel, also a City Councillor, wasworried about the appearance of thesurrounding area of his hotel. Hedecided to beautify the area in front ofhis hotel and it then became knownas Strand Park. In addition, abandstand was placed in StrandPark. The park is now known asAnzac Park.

11 ==)During World War II Australian andAmerican troops practised beach \landings from military amphibiouscraft. In 1943 landing craft came _ L

ashore near the Ethel M. Crowther

In the Shadow of Castle Hill40

A Sight to See (continued)

bathing enclosure at Kissing Point tounload vehicles and supplies.

Freda Gietzke lived on the Strandduring World War II and one morningFreda opened the curtains and saw aU.S Navy Flotilla anchored outsidepreparing for the Battle of theCoral Sea.

ILWThe Tobruk Pool is situated on theStrand in Townsville and is one ofAustralia's most famous swimmingpools. It was constructed towards theend of the Second World War andbecame the official training site forOlympians during years 1952, 1956,1960 and 1964. Around 55 AustralianOlympic swimmers converged onthe shores of Townsville includingchampions such as Dawn Fraser,Murray Rose, Jon Henricks,Lorraine Thurlow (nee Crapp) andRobert Windle.

==)The Strand Waterfall, designed byAlan Wilson, Council ParksSuperintendent, was handed over tothe Mayor, Alderman Harold Phillipson 13 May 1968 by the Queen ofMagnetikana, Miss Barbara Mays.

r"The Strand suffered extensive damageafter Cyclone Justin hit in March1997. There was further destruction bythe storm ex-cyclone Sid in January1998. As a result of the damage majorconstruction was needed. Threeheadlands were built in the newdevelopment to help lessen the forceof extreme weather conditions. Theheadlands were also designed to trap

A Sight to See

sand and break the force of waves.These headlands are the largestdevelopments of their type designedin Australia.

ir&In 1999, whilst the Townsville CityCouncil was redeveloping the Strand,bulldozers uncovered a clutch ofFlatback turtle eggs. They were rescuedand taken to Reef HQ where they weresafely hatched and reared.

ir&-)The newly revamped Strand wasofficially opened in October 1999.

isC 3 Sister Kenny Park is the site of theWater playground. This section of theStrand was named after legendaryAustralian nurse, Sister Kenny, whoprovided therapy relief to thousands ofpolio victims.

ir'The Strand's redevelopment consistedof 100,000 square metres of turf,7,500 ground cover plants, 6,500shrubs, and 620 new palm trees (notincluding coconuts), 570 general treesand 80 palm trees which wereoriginally moved from the Strandwhile excavation work was beingdone. When the work was finishedthey were replanted with all surviving.

EW There were over 40,000 truckmovements involved withredeveloping The Strand. 250,000tonnes of rock, 390,000 tonnes ofearth fill and 400,000 tonnes of sandwere transported.

IThe Strand is 2.2 kilometres long.

FLINDERS STREET

+ Back in the 1800s, Flinders Street wasnot only a main road in Townsville butit was where all of the warehouses and

shops would stock and supply produceand other goods to the wharf, docksand to the public. In 1864 whenTownsville was first established FlindersStreet was a rough track running alongthe bank of Ross Creek and was oftencovered with water at high tide.

In the wet season of 1866-67 theCouncil covered the mud of FlindersStreet with mangrove saplings.

Gas lights were installed in FlindersStreet in 1883.

To help keep the dust down in 1884Flinders Street was watered withsalt water.

In 1887 James Alexander stretched atightrope across Flinders Street andwalked safely across.

Mr P. Burke was fined five shillings forleaving his spring cart unattended inFlinders Street on 4 July, 1887 .

W. A. Welch collided with a strayhorse while riding his bicycle inFlinders Street in 1889.

Flinders Street was lit by electricityin 1922.

In 1923 flower beds were establishedalong the middle of Flinders Street.

By November 1963 the Council wasinterested in converting part ofFlinders Street into a pedestrian malland arcade. The Mayor, AldermanAngus Smith, called upon the ownersand business representatives in theCentral Business District to investigateideas and suggestions. In June 1970Council employed Geoffrey Mill Pty.Ltd. to study the problem. The FlindersMall was opened on 1 November 1979by the Mayor, Alderman Percy Tucker.

A Sight to See FLINDERS STREET

42 In the Shadow of Castle Hill

Top: Flinders Street,circa 1876.

Centre: 1885.Bottom: 1897.

Note: (below)Hanlon's Hideouts

(air raid shelters downthe middle of the street)

and missingPost Office tower.

itione01111

ch borRwtfaOWr: Ty,

From top:Flinders Street

1928;1943;1964;1996.

A Sight to See

Index

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 2, 9-10Aitken, Thomas 11Australian Flag 36Ball, Andrew 6, 20Black, John Melton 6-9Bowen 6, 7, 10, 21Bright Family 4Buchanan's Hotel 15Burns, James 11Burns, Philp and Co. 11Butler, Henry 3Castle Hill 36-37Cook, James 8Copper Refinery 31Customs House 14Currajong 19cyclones 32-34

Althea 33Leonta 15, 18, 33Sigma 32Tessi 34

Flinders Street 7, 41-43floods 34-35gaol 16Hayles, Robert 4Kenny, Elizabeth 13Kissing Point Fort 29Magnetic Island 3-5, 37Melton Hill 8, 19, 22Moncrieff, Gladys 12

Morrill, James 9-10Murray Sporting Complex 22Perc Tucker Regional Gallery 21Queen's Hotel 16-18, 40railway 33Reid, Mark 6Robinson, Catherine 12Rock Pool 37-38Rosebank 20Sacred Heart Cathedral 18sport 22-23St James Cathedral 15St James Catholic Church 18Strand 19, 24-25, 38-41The Rocks 19Theatre Royal 15Tobruk Pool 22, 25Towns, Robert 6-9, 12Townsville City Council 7, 21, 28, 39Townsville Library 6Townsville Port 30Union Bank 21Van Tassel, Gladys 12Wellbeloved Family 4World War II 14, 15, 19, 30, 40

evacuations 26Japanese air raids 28preparation 26school 27

: I I I I I

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• • e I I I

• I I • I • • : •

In the Shadow of Castle Hill is a history of

Townsville designed specifically for primary school

children. A combination of facts and dates with

interesting stories and trivia will whet the appetite

of the younger generation and give an overall

picture of Townsville history.

The William Ross High School Leading Learners

Back Row (L to R):

Phillip Teakle, Shaun Galbraith, Anupa Manatunga,Zoie Jones, Kathy Hillyard, Drew Anderson,Shaun Woodgates.

Front Row (L to R):

Kerrie Aitken, Clare Robinson, Tiffany Hartigan,Deena Alexander, Patricia Hu.

m Ilermlumwage

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