One of the things I was most surprised to learn when we spent some time in Maryborough was that this had once been Queensland's major port, and for quite some time. To qualify the comment about my surprise, I have enlisted 'Google Earth' come to my aid.
As is clearly demonstrated in this view, Maryborough is anything but close to the coast, and the Mary River is anything but a broad and welcoming expanse of water.
Admittedly its entrance is sheltered in the lee of Fraser Island (green arrow) and some of the shoals and shallows which can be seen from the satellite are not quite as challenging as would appear, but from this perspective it hardly seems a waterway conducive to access by large sailing ships (I've indicated the location of Hervey Bay with the red arrow because this location assumed relevance later in Maryborough's maritime history).
But, I have to concede, what would I know?
The first Port of Maryborough was opened in 1847, but by 1856 it was recognised that the river was too shallow at this point for safe and consistent navigation by larger vessels and it was moved some distance downstream to a deeper location. The town we know today rose around it, and as we were to discover, many of Maryborough's grand and beautiful old buildings are clustered around this area (more of these later).
This is the area (encircled in red), again courtesy of 'Google Earth' which was to be the focus of today's ramble. The yellow dart shows the centre of Queens Park whilst the very wobbly looking green arrow shows the location of the now derelict Walkers Shipyards.
Before we begin our Mary riverbank ramble, a quick word about its name, one which was born out of a tragic event.
In 1842 the first European explorers through this area named it the Wide Bay River. Indeed this region of Queensland which includes Maryborough, Gympie, Hervey Bay and Fraser Island is still officially known as the 'Wide Bay Burnett'.
The river's original name prevailed until the end of 1847, when in December of that year Lady Mary Fitzroy, the wife of the Governor of colonial NSW, was killed when thrown from a carriage being driven by her husband.
Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy honoured the memory of his wife by renaming the Wide Bay River the Mary River, and as the fledgling town grew up along its banks it adopted the name as well.
I must confess I was initially a little puzzled by the fact that the Governor of colonial New South Wales would (and could) name a Queensland river, until, that is, I remembered that what we now know as the 'Sunshine State' was initially a part of the colony of New South Wales, formally separating from it and gaining its independent status on 10 December 1859.
So, in 1847-8 good old Sir Charles Augustus was entirely within his rights.
Initially wool, tallow, hides and timber were loaded for shipment out of this busy port and small vessels plied the coast bringing supplies to the settlers.
At one time the wharves stretched from the far end of Queens Park to beyond the Granville Bridge, as can be seen here in this old photo courtesy of 'pinterest'.
Believe it or not this is the same section of the river, as we saw it on the day of our tramp through the old wharf area (that's the Granville Bridge centre shot).
Now, instead of the large square riggers such as the 'Eastminster', which hove to at the Maryborough docks during the late 1800's, (thanks to the State Library of SA for this photo)
the old wharves are gone and this section of the Mary River provides shelter and moorings for craft of a very different stamp.
The Gympie gold was brought down to Maryborough and stored in the vaults of the Bank of New South Wales before being shipped out. And there was plenty of it. At one stage, in little over two years, nearly nine tons (yep...tons) of the stuff moved through this port. The old bank buidling now houses the Maryborough Heritage Centre.
Aside from the movement of goods and gold, the port of Maryborough soon had movement of another sort entirely....people.....immigration, good and bad.
Between 1859 (when Maryborough was declared an official Port of Entry) and 1901, more than 22,000 immigrants from Great Britain and Europe entered Australia through the port. Believe it or not, for quite some time Maryborough ranked second only to Sydney as the entry port on the eastern seaboard for those coming to settle in Australia from other countries.
The first migrant ship to call direct at Maryborough was the 600 ton barque 'Ariadne'. She arrived on 9 October 1862. This was the turning point for the Maryborough and surrounding region. At that time the disembarking passengers from the 'Ariadne' increased the population of Maryborough by one third.
A plaque in the river front gardens overlooking the old wharf area now records this event.
But there was a very dark (no pun intended here) side to the immigration story here. The local sugar cane industry had begun to thrive during the latter part of the 1800's. Cane farmers were discontent with the wages they had to pay to the immigrant European labourers (all of whom had responded to advertisements to come to Australia I might add!).
To the abiding shame of our country, the demand for indentured cheap labour resulted in the infamous system where Kanakas (as they came to known) from various South Sea Islands were brought to Australia to work the cane plantations.
Many were induced with the promise of good wages (which never materialized) but large numbers were also seized against their will (thanks to the State Library of Qld for this photo).
Until 1903, when this practice was declared illegal, the unscrupulous ship owners who became known as 'blackbirders', had brought over 12,000 souls to this area (many, many more were landed in other parts of the country). Some thirty vessels were involved in the trade, and it as only the fact that these unfortunates were paid a pittance of a wage for their labour that this trade could distinguished from that of outright slavery.
We were reminded of this blot on our history as we wandered around the old wharf area with the discovery of a large information board (part shown)
which stood near this extraordinary collection of standing stones, complete with shining gold coloured symbols which initially meant absolutely nothing to us, until, that is,
we looked about us and came across another series of information boards. These told us that each of the symbols we could see represented an aspect of the culture and mythology of the various islands from which the indentured labourers had come. I found it more than ironic that the dove included in this symbol from the Solomon Islands 'Represents peace'!
On a more positive note, the port area was also home to a thriving ship building industry for many years. On a previous shopping visit to the town whilst we were staying at nearby Poona Point, we had driven past a decidedly run down series of large sheds and other industrial looking stuff on the bank of the river. At the time, other than thinking what an eyesore this was, we took no additional notice.
On this occasion, however, our further interest was piqued when we came to this Navy Memorial on a section of the river bank walkway.
Included prominently in the series of plaques on the low walls behind the pole and yard arm was this one.
From this is it was clear that Walkers shipyards played a significant role in the economic stability of Maryborough for many years. Over these years navy frigates, corvettes, and patrol boats all slipped from the construction yards into the Mary River. During WW2 this shipyard went into overdrive, building two River-class frigates, a Bay-class frigate and seven Bathurst-class corvettes.
These were not small ships by any means as this photo of 'HMAS Diamantina' (a River-class frigate) alongside a Melbourne dock at the end of WW2, shows.
The rusting roof of the shipyard which can be seen overlooking the Mary River marina is something of a sad reminder of the glory days of Maryborough shipbuilding.
But, despite its length, necessary to reach deep water in the shandy shallows of Hervey Bay (very akin to the jetty at Port Germein in South Australia), this wharf too had its shortcomings.(?!) Only one ship could dock at a time, and in 1958 the Port of Bundaberg at nearby Burnett Heads became the commercial port for local shipping.
This is the area (encircled in red), again courtesy of 'Google Earth' which was to be the focus of today's ramble. The yellow dart shows the centre of Queens Park whilst the very wobbly looking green arrow shows the location of the now derelict Walkers Shipyards.
Before we begin our Mary riverbank ramble, a quick word about its name, one which was born out of a tragic event.
In 1842 the first European explorers through this area named it the Wide Bay River. Indeed this region of Queensland which includes Maryborough, Gympie, Hervey Bay and Fraser Island is still officially known as the 'Wide Bay Burnett'.
The river's original name prevailed until the end of 1847, when in December of that year Lady Mary Fitzroy, the wife of the Governor of colonial NSW, was killed when thrown from a carriage being driven by her husband.
Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy honoured the memory of his wife by renaming the Wide Bay River the Mary River, and as the fledgling town grew up along its banks it adopted the name as well.
I must confess I was initially a little puzzled by the fact that the Governor of colonial New South Wales would (and could) name a Queensland river, until, that is, I remembered that what we now know as the 'Sunshine State' was initially a part of the colony of New South Wales, formally separating from it and gaining its independent status on 10 December 1859.
So, in 1847-8 good old Sir Charles Augustus was entirely within his rights.
Initially wool, tallow, hides and timber were loaded for shipment out of this busy port and small vessels plied the coast bringing supplies to the settlers.
At one time the wharves stretched from the far end of Queens Park to beyond the Granville Bridge, as can be seen here in this old photo courtesy of 'pinterest'.
Believe it or not this is the same section of the river, as we saw it on the day of our tramp through the old wharf area (that's the Granville Bridge centre shot).
Now, instead of the large square riggers such as the 'Eastminster', which hove to at the Maryborough docks during the late 1800's, (thanks to the State Library of SA for this photo)
the old wharves are gone and this section of the Mary River provides shelter and moorings for craft of a very different stamp.
In 1867, the discovery of gold at nearby Gympie (a find which saved the fledgling colony of Queensland from bankruptcy) had real significance for the town and the port.
The Gympie gold was brought down to Maryborough and stored in the vaults of the Bank of New South Wales before being shipped out. And there was plenty of it. At one stage, in little over two years, nearly nine tons (yep...tons) of the stuff moved through this port. The old bank buidling now houses the Maryborough Heritage Centre.
Aside from the movement of goods and gold, the port of Maryborough soon had movement of another sort entirely....people.....immigration, good and bad.
Between 1859 (when Maryborough was declared an official Port of Entry) and 1901, more than 22,000 immigrants from Great Britain and Europe entered Australia through the port. Believe it or not, for quite some time Maryborough ranked second only to Sydney as the entry port on the eastern seaboard for those coming to settle in Australia from other countries.
The first migrant ship to call direct at Maryborough was the 600 ton barque 'Ariadne'. She arrived on 9 October 1862. This was the turning point for the Maryborough and surrounding region. At that time the disembarking passengers from the 'Ariadne' increased the population of Maryborough by one third.
A plaque in the river front gardens overlooking the old wharf area now records this event.
But there was a very dark (no pun intended here) side to the immigration story here. The local sugar cane industry had begun to thrive during the latter part of the 1800's. Cane farmers were discontent with the wages they had to pay to the immigrant European labourers (all of whom had responded to advertisements to come to Australia I might add!).
To the abiding shame of our country, the demand for indentured cheap labour resulted in the infamous system where Kanakas (as they came to known) from various South Sea Islands were brought to Australia to work the cane plantations.
Many were induced with the promise of good wages (which never materialized) but large numbers were also seized against their will (thanks to the State Library of Qld for this photo).
Until 1903, when this practice was declared illegal, the unscrupulous ship owners who became known as 'blackbirders', had brought over 12,000 souls to this area (many, many more were landed in other parts of the country). Some thirty vessels were involved in the trade, and it as only the fact that these unfortunates were paid a pittance of a wage for their labour that this trade could distinguished from that of outright slavery.
We were reminded of this blot on our history as we wandered around the old wharf area with the discovery of a large information board (part shown)
which stood near this extraordinary collection of standing stones, complete with shining gold coloured symbols which initially meant absolutely nothing to us, until, that is,
we looked about us and came across another series of information boards. These told us that each of the symbols we could see represented an aspect of the culture and mythology of the various islands from which the indentured labourers had come. I found it more than ironic that the dove included in this symbol from the Solomon Islands 'Represents peace'!
On a more positive note, the port area was also home to a thriving ship building industry for many years. On a previous shopping visit to the town whilst we were staying at nearby Poona Point, we had driven past a decidedly run down series of large sheds and other industrial looking stuff on the bank of the river. At the time, other than thinking what an eyesore this was, we took no additional notice.
On this occasion, however, our further interest was piqued when we came to this Navy Memorial on a section of the river bank walkway.
Included prominently in the series of plaques on the low walls behind the pole and yard arm was this one.
From this is it was clear that Walkers shipyards played a significant role in the economic stability of Maryborough for many years. Over these years navy frigates, corvettes, and patrol boats all slipped from the construction yards into the Mary River. During WW2 this shipyard went into overdrive, building two River-class frigates, a Bay-class frigate and seven Bathurst-class corvettes.
These were not small ships by any means as this photo of 'HMAS Diamantina' (a River-class frigate) alongside a Melbourne dock at the end of WW2, shows.
The rusting roof of the shipyard which can be seen overlooking the Mary River marina is something of a sad reminder of the glory days of Maryborough shipbuilding.
As a quick footnote I should add that Walkers Limited did more than build ships. Literally hundreds of steam and diesel railway locomotives have rolled off the company production lines over the years, engines which have been sold to Governments and private companies all over Australia. Induction into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in 2017 demonstrated the regard in which this engineering company is held.
All this or course leads to the inevitable question......what has happened to the port and the docks?
To cut a rather long and detailed story short, the increasing size of shipping and the need to cope with coal exports from the not too distant Burrum coal mines (the first in Queensland and only some 30 kms from Maryborough) began to raise questions about the the viability of the port of Maryborough. Constant dredging to retain depth in the Mary River was necessary and by 1911 the need for a deep water port in the region was gaining traction.
Eventually this resulted in the construction of the long wharf at Urangan in nearby Hervey Bay and a railway connection to Maryborough, and although limited shipping did continue to ply the Mary River for some time, by 1963 all commercial shipping favoured Urangan.
But, despite its length, necessary to reach deep water in the shandy shallows of Hervey Bay (very akin to the jetty at Port Germein in South Australia), this wharf too had its shortcomings.(?!) Only one ship could dock at a time, and in 1958 the Port of Bundaberg at nearby Burnett Heads became the commercial port for local shipping.
So when in 1985 the MV 'Leonard' became the last ship to dock at the Urangan Pier, the 'Port of Maryborough' came to an official close.
There was another factor which had a significant influence on the demise of Maryborough town docks......flooding.....a not uncommon phenomenon along the Mary River, and one which has plagued the town since settlement.
As this photo, courtesy of the 'Fraser Coast Chronical' so amply shows, when the mighty Mary is up the town goes under,
such as happened to Ann Street in 1955, for example.
This height marker we spied during our walk on the now green and peaceful banks of the river was a telling reminder of just what the Mary could do when the rains came.
This section of the riverside park is not all about history. A low waterfall feeds a delightful small lake
near which these pieces of public art have a significance which now completely escapes me!
A 'tourist train',
drawn by the oddest of little steam engines from Walkers,
snorts and bellows its way around an extensive riverside rail system, part of which is pictured here
from the upper precinct walkway which took us from the old wharf area back into Queens Park itself.
This same pathway brought us another local history lesson in the form of this group of old guns pointing out across the river.
Before the Australian colonies came together as a Federation at the turn of the 20th Century, each was responsible for its own defence, among many other things. Queensland was no exception, and the three guns now 'protecting' the riverfront walkway were all, at one stage, mounted on craft of various kinds.
I was tickled to learn that the big one of the group, the 50 pound breach loading gun, was actually set up on a hopper barge, and I have since read that these were aimed by actually turning the craft to point at the target. Now that's basic!
The last of the interesting odd and sods we found in this most fascinating of river fronts came from a most unexpected quarter in the form of the rubbish bins dotted along the path.
As my resident model is demonstrating, these rather ornate bins come equipped with a small, but very heavy lid. Odd, we thought.
One glance at the words cast into the metal solved the mystery. No wonder the crows of Maryborough are so skinny!
As I mentioned at the outset of this missive, it is around the old wharf area of Maryborough that the real majority of its grand and beautiful old buildings can be found. A few of these, some of the incredible collection of the town murals, and the town's connection with a famous author who was born in Maryborough in 1899, will be the subject of my next offering.
But I should comment that this will not be forthcoming for a few days at the earliest. In real time it is now the early morning of 30 April, and in a few hours we move to our new home at Goolwa North.
I shall be somewhat pre-occupied in the immediate future!!
No comments:
Post a Comment