They were drawn to Far North Queensland by news of gold finds on the Palmer River, but it was a retail empire that helped Scotsman William Jack and Irishman John Newell become household names throughout the region. The pair played a key role in the birth of the Herberton tin mining district in the 1880s – both as prospectors and through their general store, which provided a kick start for mining n...
In a trip down memory lane we bring you the speech given by then Prime Minister Bob Hawke at the commissioning of the Burdekin Dam in 1988. A ‘confluence of support’ ensured the dam’s future after nearly a century of unsuccessful lobbying. It was largely underwritten by the efforts of then Member for Herbert Ted Lindsay MP who acknowledged cross party backing, principally from Qu...
Meet the man who has been to every Railway Hotel in Queensland. Railway enthusiast, enjoyer-of-beer and amateur historian Scott Whitaker is working his way through pubs of that name nationwide as he puts in the research for a bar-hopping book series. Whitaker said he had started out including pubs with railway-related names such as Terminus or Station, but the project simply became too big. And ye...
A duel between a publican’s pet death adder and a prospector’s dog was among the tales author Scott Whitaker uncovered from the gold mining town of Ravenswood. The Railway Hotel at Ravenswood had its beginnings in 1886 and still trades today. “Gold was discovered on the Ravenswood Pastoral Run in 1869. A rush ensued and by 1893, some 50 hotels were serving a population of 5000 people,” Whitaker s...
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