The birth place of Queensland

[bob10]

Town of 1770, researched by, and dedicated to, Arthur Jeffrey.


Bit of a long tale, but, hopefully, I will be allowed to tell it in instalments.


Miriam vale Shire has a unique place in Australia's history. In 1770,Lt. James Cook came ashore at what is now known as the Town of 1770. This was his second landing in Australia and the first in Qld. The Town of 1770 is the birth place of Qld. In later years Captain Matthew Flinders, Captain King & others would explore these waters. The Merooni tribe lived in this area when Cook landed, although he had no contact with them, only seeing them from afar, & finding remnants of campsites.


Land was first settled in the Shire in 1853 with John little coming overland to select a property at Rosedale. Agnes Water was first settled by Daniel Clowes in 187678. He built large stock yards & ran cattle on the miles of unoccupied coastal country. Agnes Water became a popular holiday destination with buggies being driven onto the beach for horse races & other sporting events. Many more people were to follow, opening up the land to grazing, timber cutting, & other industries.


To Arthur Jeffery, local historian, until his death in 1994, we owe a great debt.


Tuesday, May 23rd , 1770, saw Lt. Cook anchor Endeavour in 5 fathoms of water, abreast of the Sth. point [ Round hill head] of a large open bay, bearing E 3/4 South & 2 miles distant , time 8 PM. At 10 AM Wed. 24th, Cook & a party including Joseph Banks & Dr. Solander went ashore to examine the country. They landed a little within the south point of the bay , where they found a channel leading into a large lagoon. The entrance of this channel lies close to a large spit of sand. Cook remarked that there was room for a few ships to lie in great security, & a small stream of fresh water.


Mangrove trees, the first they had seen on the voyage, were growing along the banks. Also, lots of palm nut trees [ pandanus] were growing . These they had seen on the islands in the tropics & made them realise they were again entering tropical regions. In the branches of the mangroves were nests of green ants which, when disturbed, came out in large numbers& took revenge on who ever had disturbed them with a much sharper bite than they had felt before.




At this point, I must leave, a rather nasty electrical storm has come upon us, About bloody time. See you tomorrow, Bob

[JDNSW]

While 1770 is a historic location, I think it is a bit of a stretch to call it the birthplace of Queensland.

Cook's voyage was only indirectly connected to the first British settlement in Australia, although the settlement was supposed to be at Botany Bay, Cook's first landing place (Phillip deemed it unsuitable and moved the location to Port Jackson, a few miles further north, and which Cook had not entered).

The landing at 1770 was only connected to the founding of the state of Queensland in the sense that Cook's mapping (supplemented by later explorers) meant that the existence of Queensland was known.

The first British settlement in what is now Queensland, a penal settlement, was in Moreton Bay (initially Redcliffe, very rapidly moved to the location of Brisbane) in 1824, more than fifty years after Cook's exploration, and in a bay that he had not mapped, and about 370km from 1770.

Queensland itself did not separate from NSW until 1859, and although I cannot easily find any direct information, it seems likely that the town of 1770 was not settled until after this - Maryborough was only founded in 1847.

In my view the birthplace of Queensland has to be the site of the first penal settlement on the Redcliffe peninsular.

John

P.S., yes, I have visited 1770 a couple of times - by sea!

[101RRS]

Of course good old Captain Cook did make his home in Cooktown for about 7 weeks in 1770 so maybe this could be considered the birthplace of Qld.

[bob10]

1770, continued;


Also on the mangroves were large numbers of green caterpillars with hairs on their bodies. They were lined up on the leaves side by side , like soldiers, 20 or 30 on one leaf. When touched the hair had the same effect as a nettle& gave much more acute though less durable pain. The soil, they noted, was dry & sandy & the sides of the hills covered with trees growing separately , without any underwood. They saw many large birds, some much bigger than swans, they judged to be pelicans. On shore, they saw a species of bustard, one of which was shot. It was as large as a turkey, & weighed 17 1/2 lbs. They agreed it was the best bird eaten since leaving England, & in honour of it, named the inlet Bustard Bay.


The sea seemed to abound with fish, but unhappily, they tore their net to pieces at the first haul. Under the mangroves, numerous varieties of oysters were found. The landing party saw several lots of smoke but only one was close enough for them to get to. at this one they found 10 small fires, still burning within a few paces of each other, but the people were gone. Near the fires, were several bark vessels, thought to be used for holding water, & shells & fish bones, the remains of a recent meal. Lying on the ground were several pieces of soft bark about the length & breadth of a man, they imagined might be their beds. All this was in a thicket of close trees, which gave good shelter from the wind. The crew left on board ship saw about 20 natives come down to the beach abreast of the Endevour & look at her for some time before going away.At 4.30 am the next morning on Thursday 25 May , Endevour weighed anchor, and made sail out of the bay.


Nearly 32 years later, in the late afternoon of Tuesday, August 3, 1802, Captain Matthew Flinders anchored the Investigator in almost the same spot Endeavour had moored. He sailed at daylight the next morning but having no breeze was only abreast of north point of the bay at mid day. He was then drifting towards rocks when fortunately as Flinders records, "a light air sprung up from the north, and we stretched away from the rocks. " The report of Flinders showed a classic piece of navigation with his latitude of 24 degrees 09 minutes for the south point of the bay, spot on with its present observation. Bustard bay was examined by Colonel Barney in Sep. 1846, for the site of a proposed settlement to be the capital of North Australia, but " it was found unsuitable, & did not offer sufficient shelter for shipping."
In 1853, Colonel Barney was Chief Commissioner of Crown lands and in a report, stated all available land in the Burnett district was occupied, but there were only 2 or 3 squatters between the Burnett district & Port Curtis. As a result of this, report, Arthur Chauvel discovered an area of well watered land & was so impressed that he named it Miriam Vale, in honour of his sister

John Little was the first settler in the Miriam Vale shire, & on the suggestion of his wife, named his property Rosedale. The last place they camped on July 12, 1853, before they reached their property was named bottle creek, as an empty rum bottle was left there. John Little was killed on August 30, 1863 when he was struck by the limb of a falling tree & the management of the property was carried on by his eldest son, William.
A lease for the Miriam Vale run was tendered for by Arthur Chauvel & Joseph Sharp in Jan. 1854. In 1856 , the run was settled by Chauvel & Lancelot Westwood Tolson, & stocked with sheep. On Feb 12, 1857, aborigines attacked one of the outstations , & the following night, they attacked the main station.


Mr Tolson from the Miriam Vale station applied for the lease of the Taunton run in may, 1858. On Friday, Sep. 6 1861 he was drowned in Baffle creek & the lease of Taunton passed on to Mr John Robinson & in Feb. 1862, he gave notice of his intention to operate a boiling down works on Baffle Creek. Jenny Lind creek, at the northern end of Bustard Bay, was named after the schooner Jenny Lind, which ran ashore there on Feb. 2 1857. It was not until 6 months later in August that she was refloated & sailed to Sydney for refitting. Pancake creek north of Bustard Bay, was named after the cutter Pancake, which anchored there in 1862.


enough for now, my typing finger is sore, Bob

[lr110qld]

Arthur Jeffery's personal opinion was much like JDNSW.

The folks who made the claim that 1770 was the "Birthplace of Queensland" were from the Royal Historical Society, Queensland Branch. They based this on the first place that the British set foot on Queensland soil.

The Royal Historical Society (QLD), with the Royal Geographical Society (QLD), under the signature of the QLD Governor, decide to raise public funds to erect a monument at 1770 to commemorate that. The fund was oversubscribed within the 1st month. The cairn was unveiled by the Commander of the Australian naval fleet (Com. Hyde) in 1926.

Prior to the erection of the monument, the government made the land there a recreation reserve to protect the monument. In 1928, some land for the site of the town was surveyed and excluded from the reserve.

For the Captain Cook bi-centenary celebrations, the QLD government erected a second monument on the headland at 1770. Sir Rafael Cilento, President of the Royal Historical Society (QLD) was given the task to design this monument. The booklet produced for the opening ceremony, and the plaques fixed to the monument, proclaim "This was the birthplace of Queensland". Sir Rafael Cilento named the monument the "Doorway to Destiny" to further underline that.

Further to the following statement from JDNSW:

Cook's voyage was only indirectly connected to the first British settlement in Australia, although the settlement was supposed to be at Botany Bay, Cook's first landing place (Phillip deemed it unsuitable and moved the location to Port Jackson, a few miles further north, and which Cook had not entered).

There is an interesting, but little known connection (drawing a long bow here) between 1770 and Agnes Water and the Endeavour.

After Endeavour crossed Hervey Bay and proceeded north toward 1770, the waters were shallow and she was anchored for the first time after leaving Botany Bay. That night there was a lot of drinking, and Cook's clerk passed out. While he was in that state, someone cut off his clothes and ear lobes.

The clerk blamed midshipman Magre, but Cook couldn't determine the culprit. To maintain discipline he suspended Magre.

Magre had been born in the USA to Corsican parents, and changed his name from Matra to Magre when he went to England. After he left Endeavour he changed his name back to Matra and asked Joseph Banks if he could find him employment and became a ambassador in several places including Tenerif. He made many submissions to the British government to colonise NSW, with the main claim that they should do so before the Dutch. The Dutch had closed the western and northern routes to the spice islands and Matra claimed they would close the route through Torres Strait if they were to occupy what the named New Holland.

Those submissions didn't persuade the British Government until Matra added convict relocation as suggested to him by Banks.

[Redback]

Overnighter, hardly the birth of a state, 7 weeks in Cooktown would be though.

[bob10]

1770, continued;


Also in 1862, Albert Norton tendered for Turkey Station , a run of 25 miles. The boundaries of Rodds Bay & Turkey runs were settled during 1879 to the advantage of Turkey which added 2 sqaure miles to its area. Turkey was bought under the Crown Lands Act of 1884 & part resumed by the government, ie. held by the Government, but leased to the run holder.


The first mail route thru the shire in 1854 went from Gayndah [ Qlds oldest town ] to Gladstone by way of Miriam Vale & was carried by Native Police.


In 1867 a contract to erect a lighthouse at Bustard Bay was let to Mr Clark and sailing directions issued for the bay.The southern headland was named Round Hill Head, & the northern headland , Bustard Head actually sits at the top of Middle Island , separated from the main land by a narrow passage, able to be negotiated by small boat, or crossed at low tide. The light in the tower was operated by an oil burner, the fuel being half kerosene, & half paraffin, which was pulled up thru the tower by a rope & pulley, with the aid of ropes. A school at the Bustard Head lighthouse was established during 1888. In May of the same year, the telephone line at the light house needed repairing, After the job was completed ,Alfred Power , a linesman from Miriam Vale, was taken across Pancake creek by the lighthouse keeper, Mr Gibson On the journey across, the boat capsized, Power was drowned, along with Gibsons daughter Mary, & Elizabeth Wilkinson, who had gone along for the ride. They were buried on Middle Island not far from the lighthouse, where their graves remain today.


In 1900 Captain James Bowton took over the job of lighthouse keeper along with his wife Katherine, teenage son Frederick, & younger daughters Bertha & Elsie. When Captain Bowton died in 1905 his wife took over the pastoral lease of Middle island to support the family , driving the cattle to market over Middle creek at low tide. Fred married & settled on his own property but the two sisters [ known as 'the maids' ] remained there until they were in their late 80's. Bertha, an excellent horsewoman, was very well read & enjoyed listening to parliament on the radio, & debating issues with the many visitors to the island. In later years she looked after Elsie whose eyesight had failed, & was crippled with arthritis. It was only when Bertha missed a radio communication that a search was made and she was found to have had a stroke that the two sisters had to give up their life on the island

[bob10]

I must acknowledge the Miriam vale Shire historical society for their information, and especially the late Arthur Jeffery, a local historian whose collection is housed in the Museum in Springs road. Agnes Water. Check it out, if you are up that way. Much more to learn about this area, Bob

[lr110qld]

I must acknowledge the Miriam vale Shire historical society for their information, and especially the late Arthur Jeffery, a local historian whose collection is housed in the Museum in Springs road. Agnes Water. Check it out, if you are up that way. Much more to learn about this area, Bob

After council amalgamations, where Miriam Vale Shire was lumped into Gladstone Region, the Miriam Vale Shire Historical Society Inc. became the Discovery Coast Historical Society Inc.

The website for the museum while still under construction has a fair bit of information, including journals from Cook and Banks, but has not been updated for a while.