THE HERBERT RIVER STORY Bianka Vidonja Balanzategui is a sugar industry and migration historian who since her marriage has lived in the Herbert River Valley. Daughter of a World War 2 displaced person, her first book was Gentlemen of the Flashing Blade: The Displaced Person as Canecutter in Post World War 11. A commission by the Department of Environment and Heritage resulted in the comprehensive field research and documentation of The Tropical Queensland Sugar Cane Industry. A Structural and Material Survey 1872-1955. Other commissioned published works include Portrait of a Parish. A History of Saint Patrick's Church and Parish Ingham 1864-1996 and Thirty-three miles to Rollingstone. A short history of Rollingstone and Balgal. 0 'Meara's Vineyard. A Short History of Canossa Catholic Primary School Trebonne 1951-2001 documented the arrival and work in the Herbert River Valley of the Italian Missionary Order, the Canossian Daughters of Charity. The Fronton: A Basque Legacy in Tropical North Queensland, co­ authored with Barbara Debono, was published in the Journal of the Society of Basque Studies in America, while Basking in a Different Sun: The Story of Conchi Mendiolea in the anthology, Amatxi, Amuma, Amona: Writings in Honor ofBasque Women was published by the Centre for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada. THE HERBERT RIVER STORY Bianka Vidonj a Balanzategui Hinchinbrook Shire Council First published in 2011 Copyright © Bianka Vidonj a Balanzategui This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be ad­ dressed to the Publishers. All rights reserved. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Author: Vidonja Balanzategui, Bianka Title: The Herbert River story I Bianka Vidonja Balanzategui ISBN: ISBN: 9781921555732 (pbk.) Subjects: Herbert River (N.T. and Qld.)--History. Dewey Number: 994.36 Published by Hinchinbrook (Qld. : Shire). Council. Printed and bound by Watson Ferguson & Company, Salisbury, Brisbane, Australia. HINCHINBROOK SHIRE COUNCIL DEDICATION "He was au intrinsic part ofthe district lte /0J1ed- ft veritable walking history ofthis co111m1111ity a11d his death leaves a gap tltat 110 011e will e11tirely fill".1 This st01y is dedicated to Robert "Bob" Shepherd with gratitude. Image 1 Robert 'Bob' Shepherd, local historian and Editor of The Herbert River Express. 1. Brown, Rea in "Val.e Bob Shepherd.. and thanks in The Herbert River Express, March 4, 1989, p. I. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank several institutions and individuals. Substantial funding from the Hinchinbrook Shire Council supplemented by a grant from the Q 150 Community Funding Program made this book possible in the first place. I am indebted to the staff of the Hinchinbrook Shire Library for providing a room for me to work in, access to the required historical resources, and the use of a computer and other materials. For their patience and belief in the project, I thank Councillor Andrew Lancini and Manager, Corporate and Economic Development, Hinchinbrook Shire Council, Rosemary Pennisi. I extend a heartfelt thanks to Barbara Debono, Librarian and dear friend, who had the vision for this book, worked hard to secure the requisite funding, researched, located photographs, indexed and edited. Without her this book would never have come to fruition. I would also like to thank Dianne Shineberg, Teacher Librarian and friend, and Fran Moroney, Manager, Library and Cultural Services for their support and editing of various drafts of the book. I thank Anthony Vardanega and Kellie White for their contributions to the composition of the evocative cover of this book: Anthony for his skilful and creative design, and Kellie White for her atmospheric photograph of the Tyto Wetlands on a misty morning. Finally, I would like to thank my family: husband Mark, children Javier, Keziah, Viktoria, Petra and Sabin, and mother Laurel, who always give me the emotional and physical space necessary to pursue my first love, the past and its stories. CONTENTS Dedication v Acknowledgements VI Illustrations Vlll Preface XXlll Prelude xxv The Original Inhabitants European Arrival and Colonization 8 And then there was Sugar 26 A Tale of Two Towns 47 From "Rum Swizzles" to Hard Yakka 66 A Life to be Endured 75 Children "running wi ld" - The Advent of Schools, Shows and Churches 86 Driving Home in the Cool of the Evening by Moonlight 103 Migration and the Herbert River Valley 117 World War I 141 The "Critical Threshold": Migration in the inter-war Period 148 "Hot boxes" - Schools, Churches and Clubs in the inter-war Period 169 Progress and Order - the interwar Years 181 Bubonic Plague, Hookworm, Drunken Demons and other Perils of Valley Life! 198 World War 2 208 After the War 224 Korea, Vietnam and Beyond 258 Marching Towards the Millennium 264 The Herbert River Valley in the 21 st Century 301 Postscript 342 BIBLIOGRAPHY 344 INDEX 357 ILLUSTRATIONS All images are taken from the Hinchinbrook Shire Library Local History Collection unless otherwise noted. DEDICATION Image 1 Robert 'Bob' Shepherd, local historian and Editor of The Herbert River Express. PRELUDE Image 2 Aerial view Lower Herbert River. (Copyright Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2011) Image 3 Lower Herbert River. Image 4 Hinchinbrook Island, view from Cardwell Range. ORIGINAL INHABITANTS Image 5 Australian Aboriginal group at the base of the Seaview Range. Image 6 Australian Aboriginal men, Ingham district. One is weaving a basket. EUROPEAN ARRIVAL AND COLONIZATION Image 7 George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple, Chief Commissioner for Crown Lands to oversee the opening up of the Kennedy District to leasing for grazing purposes. (John Oxley Library, State Libra1y of Queensland Image Number: 14465) Image 8 Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert, Queensland's first Premier and after whom the Herbert River was named. (John Oxley Library, State Libra1y of Queensland Image Number: 15693) Image 9 Early Cardwell, a new port to access the hinterland behind Seaview Range. Image 10 Map: Early Pastoral Occupation in Queensland. (Sim, Jeannie and Seto, Jan, Jnvent01y of historic cultural landscapes in Queensland: final report : stage I : 1996. Research Report, 1996.) Image 11 Valley of Lagoons Homestead. Ludwig Leichhardt named Valley of Lagoons because of its impressive chain of waterholes. Image 12 Vale of Herbert Station. The proprietors of the Valley of Lagoons appointed Herny Stone as manager of the Vale of Herbert waystation, half way property, between Cardwell and the Valley of Lagoons. Image 13 Stone Hut circa 1875. Inl869 Henry Stone took up permanent residence in the Herbert River Valley at Stone Hut located on Trebonne Creek. Vlll Image 14 Henry Stone. As the waystation, the Vale of Herbert Station, was located on the first land selection claimed in the Herbert River Valley, Stone is considered to be the first European to settle in the Herbert River Valley. Image 15 House with thatched roof: To Kalon, Trebonne Creek, Lower Herbert with Messrs R.S. Alston, E.J. Kerly, Mrs. Alston, Mrs. Kerly and Ned Hill. Image 16 James Cassady, owner of Mungalla, was known for his cordial relationship with the Aboriginal people. (Atkinson, R.L. Northern pioneers, p.136) Image 17 Mungalla, like most of the large properties of the time, featured a tennis court and a carefully sculptured garden. (Reproduced by kind permission of Richard Wallace and the Mungalla Aboriginal Business Corporation) Image 18 Gowrie Creek. Messers Scott, Clark and Stone and Aboriginal people and dwelling. The Vale of Herbert waystation encompassed land from the junction of the Stone and Herbert Rivers through to the present Abergowrie area. Image 19 Wallaman Falls. On Arthur Scott's first trip to the Valley of Lagoons he and Dalrymple caught sight of a deep gorge and broad valley and could hear waterfalls in the distance. Henry Stone is credited with being the first European to see the Falls. Image 20 Mt. Fox, extinct volcano. AND THEN THERE WAS SUGAR Image 21 Gairloch Sugar Mill, the first mill on the Lower Herbert, opened by Lord Normandy. The mi 11 first crushed in 1872. Image 22 Charles Leon Burguez on horseback, Gairloch Plantation, Lower Herbert, 1880. Burguez installed himself as manager of Gairloch. He was a colourful character who pursued the grand plantation lifestyle despite living well beyond his means. Image 23 Kanakas chipping cane at Mona vale, Halifax, 1899. One vital aspect of the plantation system was that the labour force was usually servile and indentured. Image 24 Macknade House and Mill. Brothers Arthur and Frank Neame were amongst the first to take a gamble on the future potential of the Valley. The Neames named their property Macknade. Image 25 Arthur Neame. Arthur recorded in his diary that had not his brother Frank died, he would have stayed on in the district and had hoped that his own children would have taken over the Macknade plantation in time. (John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Image Number: 195780) Image 26 Halifax Landing with Paddle Steamer Kent. Land with a Halifax River frontage, purchased by C.S.R. from August Anderssen, enabled the company to build a wharf. Image 27 Waterview Station, Police Camp, 1872. The detachment was first stationed at Waterview, a selection taken up by John Allingham on Waterview Creek which was also the site of the Telegraph Repeating Station. lX Image 28 Sir Alfred S. Cowley on horse in front of Manager's House, Harnleigh Sugar Plantation. The Hamleigh Mill enterprise was started by the Hamleigh Sugar Company and first crushed in 1883. Image 29 C.S.R. 's Victoria Mill, 1885. The mill first crushed in 1883. A TALE OF TWO TOWNS Image 30 William Bairstow Ingham after whom the town of Ingham was named.