By Heather Burke and Lynley A. Wallis
The Kennedy District was initially proclaimed at the end of 1859, though by 1864 it had been split into two districts, imaginatively designated North and South. Named after explorer Edmund Kennedy (who accompanied Sir Thomas Mitchell on his ventures, and who was himself killed by Aboriginal people while examining Cape York Peninsula in 1840), Kennedy is drained by the Herbert and Burdekin Rivers in the north and the Belyando, Suttor and Cape Rivers in the south.
The northern boundary of Kennedy — like many other districts — follows a watershed, this time of the Burdekin River flowing to the southeast (as opposed to the rivers across the range in Cook that flow to the north). To the west it is separated from the Burke District by the Gilbert Ranges and from Mitchell by the Belyando Ranges, and extends as far south as the headwaters of the Belyando drainage system.
In the north, the initial port town of Bowen (aka Port Denison, 1860) was followed by Cardwell (1864), Townsville (1864) and Ingham on the coast, and Dalrymple, Charters Towers, Cape River and Ravenswood in the interior. In the south, Mackay became the sole port (established 1862, when it was known as Alexandra), with no substantial settlements in the interior.
White Exploration
Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European to pass through the valley of the Suttor and Upper Burdekin rivers, in the Kennedy district on his 1845 (between March and May) expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington; it was he who named the Burdekin River. He saw Aboriginal camps, often featuring large piles of mussel shells, along the banks of the Suttor in the South Kennedy (e.g. 14 and 20 March 1845 journal entries), whose occupants appeared terrified by their appearance:
… as soon as they became aware of the approach of the two horsemen, withdrew with the greatest haste into the scrub; the men driving the shrieking women and children before them. (15 March 1845 journal entry).
Along the Burdekin itself they had very few direct interactions:
The cooee of natives had been heard only once during our journey along the banks of the Burdekin; and the traces of their former presence had not been very frequently observed. (13 April 1845 journal entry).
A well beaten path of the natives showed that they were numerous in this part of the country: we saw many of their camping places during the stage; and the fires of their camps were numerous. (3 May 1845 journal entry).
And Leichhardt attributed their absence to fear:
In the early part of our journey, one or other of our party kept a regular night−watch, as well to guard us from any night attack of the natives, as to look after our bullocks; but, latterly, this prudential measure, or rather its regularity, has been much neglected. Mr. Roper’s watch was handed from one to another in alphabetical rotation at given intervals, but no one thought of actually watching; it was, in fact, considered to be a mere matter of form. I did not check this, because there was nothing apparently to apprehend from the natives, who always evinced terror in meeting us; and all our communications with them have been accidental and never sought by them” (13 April 1845 journal entry).
There was, however, one minor incident, when members of his party went back to a camp at Reedy Brook they had left, to find Aboriginal people there conducting a thorough investigation. Although the parties had had peaceful interactions the day prior, on this occasion:
… upon reaching the place where the camp had been made, saw the natives examining and beating every part of it; at the approach of the horsemen, however, they retired to the other side of the river; but when they turned their horses’ heads, after having found the bell, the natives followed them, and threw three spears after them whether it was out of mere wantonness, or with hostile intentions, I do not know, though I was inclined to believe the first. It was, nevertheless, a warning to us not to repose too much confidence in them. (Leichardt 1847: 10 May 1845 journal entry)
Leichhardt sent back positive reports of the northern country, especially in terms of its potential for pastoralism:
After establishing our camp, and making the necessary preparations, we killed one of our little steers, and found it in excellent condition. The graziers will judge by this simple fact, how well the country is adapted for pastoral pursuits; particularly when it is remembered that we were continually on the march, and had frequently to pass over very rocky ranges, which made our cattle footsore; and that the season was not the most favourable for the grass, which, although plentiful, was very dry. (25 April 1845 journal entry).
Thomas Mitchell passed through the very extreme southwest portion of the district, along the Belyando, though had little to say about it specifically. Augustus Gregory also visited during his 1856 expedition from the west, but it was not until August 1859 that exploration of the region for its own sake began in earnest. In that year George Dalrymple (who had been managing a sheep station the Darling Downs) set out with a party funded by a consortium of investors, many of whom had existing pastoral interests in the south. Twenty-three investors, including Robert Towns, each contributed £50 to equip the party, which, apart from Dalrymple, also included Ernest Henry, Philip Selheim, Henry Stone and Richard Houghton.
Dalrymple also conducted the first colonising expedition to Rockingham Bay in 1864, founding the town of Cardwell as a port for his and the Scott brothers’ Valley of Lagoons pastoral run in the hinterland.
NMP Presence
In all there were 18 NMP camps in North Kennedy between 1860 and 1899, and seven in South Kennedy, spanning 1863 until 1877. Six of the North Kennedy camps were in or near Cardwell. The earliest camps were associated either with the port settlements of Bowen and Cardwell, or with prominent pastoral properties, such as Mt McConnell (the Suttor River camp), Reedy Lake (Upper Burdekin), the Valley of Lagoons (Valley of Lagoons camp), or Pioneer station on the Belyando (the Belyando River camp). The Fort Cooper NMP camp in the neighbouring district of Leichhardt occasionally patrolled into South Kennedy.
It was perhaps telling that the official government party landed at Port Denison in 1860 included with it an NMP detachment of 15 troopers under the command of Lieutenant Walter Powell and Acting Sergeant E. Reilly. Similarly, John Marlow and three troopers accompanied Dalrymple and the Scott brothers to Rockingham Bay in 1864. In 1865 15 new police stations were formed across Queensland in an effort to cope with the influx of settlers and the expansion of settlement into the pastoral district of the far north, three of which were NMP camps (QSA846807 1866 Letter from David Seymour to Colonial Secretary 15 February, In letter 66/870).
Conflict Events
Frontier conflict was associated with Dalrymple’s colonising party in 1861, although Edmund Kennedy and several mariners had also had violent encounters with Aboriginal people on the coast throughout the late 1840s and 1850s. On first arriving in Cardwell in July 1848, Kennedy’s party were,
… followed by a tribe of natives, making threatening demonstrations, and armed with spears; one spear was actually thrown, when Mr. Kennedy, fearing for the safety of his party, ordered his men to fire upon them; four of them fell, but Mr. Kennedy could not ascertain whether more than one was killed, as the other three were immediately carried off into the scrub. (Carron 1849:40).
Breslin (1992) has argued that Dalrymple assumed hostility on the part of Aboriginal people where it did not exist and by his actions created it, his presumption leading to actions that then propagated hostile responses, for example taking possession of, and destroying, Aboriginal canoes and weapons. Dalrymple’s attitude was certainly possessive, his first spoken interaction with Aboriginal people at Rockingham Bay (interpreted by James Morrell), by his own account, consisting of a declaration of ownership:
I told them … that we had come to take possession of the coast from a point on the north-west shore of the bay to a point opposite Haycock Island, and that we were going to settle there and possess it. They said, ‘they hoped we were not going to war with them.’ I replied, ‘No, that we did not wish to hurt them, but that we wished to be left alone; that if they would keep off and not molest us, we would not injure or interfere with them in any way.’ They seemed to understand this ultimatum, and retired slowly into the mangroves; Morrill having explained it to them over and over again, and told them to inform the neighbouring tribes accordingly. (Brisbane Courier, 6 August 1864, p5).
Arthur Scott felt that “The fact of occupying their country is at once a declaration of war with the blacks” (Scott 1864), and according to Morrell, Dalrymple’s interaction went slightly differently. It may have been a result of translation rather than intent, but Morrell claimed that, while answering that they “came as friends”, he also told them, “they must clear out and tell others to do so as we wished to occupy the land, and would shoot any who approached, that we were strong, and that another party would soon follow. They told us to leave and not to return and then went away” (Loos 1982:34).
Dalrymple’s attitudes were “typical attitudes in contemporary colonial society”, not “a response to the situation at hand” (Breslin 1992:41), but regardless they created an atmosphere of aggression and response that was then acted out throughout the following decade. Of 365 conflict events in Kennedy, most (n=90 in each decade) took place in the 1860s and 1870s. Most of these events took place on pastoral runs, and most of those in 1866—perhaps reflecting increased tensions as a four-month drought at the beginning of 1866 was followed by a colony-wide depression after the failure of the Agra and Masterman Bank of London, the principal underwriter of the colony’s loans, in July the same year (Beanland 2018). There was seemingly more conflict in North than South Kennedy (265 vs 100 events), though whether this is an artefact of a greater propensity for reporting in the North owing to proximity to news routes is unclear.
Key Pastoralists and Stations
The newly establishe Queensland colonial government in 1859 was in dire need of income, so the pressure to establish pastoralism was immense, and accoringly the Kennedy District was opened. Fortunately, many squatters in the southern sites of NSW and Victoria were searching for new prospects, following the introduction in those colonies of legislation designed to break the squatting stranglehold on land (Allingham 1975). Queensland was viewed as a far more pro-squatter colony and the liberal terms provided by the new government encouraged many to take up the opportunity.
After waiting in Rockhampton for the opening of the new district, the initial pastoral influx arrived in company with George Dalrymple at Port Denison in 1861. Intent on acquiring the best runs, men such as Christopher Allingham, Philip Somer, Edward Cunningham, Michael Miles and William Stenhouse immediately set about exploring to claim suitable land and took up the earliest runs (Allingham 1975).
In the north, Walter and Arthur Scott and George Dalrymple, with the Premier Robert Herbert as partner, took up the Valley of Lagoons (including Springfield, Homestead and Wyandotte, as well as its out stations Glen Dhu, Lake Lucy and Stone Hut) on the Burdekin River, Edward Cunningham took up Burdekin Downs (later John Graham Macdonald), Christopher Allingham took up Hillgrove, Philip Selheim, Strathmore, and Michael Miles, Fanning Downs, all in 1861. Inkerman was also originally taken up by Macdonald and John Robertson by 1862, but taken over by Robert Towns via mortgage in 1864 (Bolton 1972:30).
Jolimont was one of the four runs of the original St Helen’s pastoral run taken up by John Arthur Macartney, of Waverley, Broadsound, in 1863. He later sold St Helen’s to his cousins, John and William G. Macartney, and a cousin’s husband Robert W. Graham.
Logan Downs was originally taken up by William Landsborough, and then passed into the hands of Claudius Cheesborough MacDonald and Michael Carrol, who engaged Thomas Carrol as the manager. MacDonald also held Strathbogie (about 100 km from Port Denison), but later solid it to James Hall Scott. The Fort Cooper NMP detachments regularly purchased rations from Logan Downs.
James Gibson took up Cargoon on the western boundary of the district in 1862.
In 1861 Edward Spencer Antill took up Jarvisfield along the lower Burdekin River. This property also regularly supplied to the Fort Cooper NMP detachments with rations.
Proserpine, near the coast and named for the river on which it was situated (named itself by George Dalrymple during his privately funded expedition in 1859) was taken up by Daniel Emmerson, reportedly with his two sons Joe and William (McClements 1975:66), and his brother Charles, in 1861-63. There was considerable violence in this region as the Gia people fiercely resisted the White incursion.
Cornelius Joseph O’Kelly and William Reeve, took up Reedy Lake and Eumara stations on the Burdekin from about 1863.
Robert Stewart, a Scottish aristocrat established Southwick (west of the Herbert River) in 1861, named in honour of his birthplace and childhood home, Southwick House. He ventured into the northern frontier as a pastoralist and although he was initially involved in conflicts with Aboriginal people defending their lands, he quickly became interested in Aboriginal artefacts and actively collected such things up to 1887. Over that time, he incorporated Hillgrove (originally owned by Christopher Allingham) into his pastoral holdings.
In the south, Biddulph Henning took up the run of Exmoor in 1861, and Ernest Henry Mt McConnell and Conway. Other early runs were Surbiton, on the Belyando River (William Kilgour, taken up by 1865), Avon Downs (before 1863 by McDonald Campbell), Blenheim (on the Bown River, taken up by E. Lack in the early 1860s and then sold to H. Tucker in the 1870s), Woodstock, and Eton Vale (John Melton Black 1862), Kirknie (J.G. Macdonald 1862), Yacamunda(originally taken up by Murray and Parks in 1864, and then taken over in 1866 by William and Thomas Earle) and Dunrobin (F.S. Hodgson 1862). Various members of the Hann family had applied for runs by 1862, including Maryvale(later in partnership with Richard Daintree) and Bluff Downs on the Basalt River. Balnagowan, immediately west of Mackay, was applied for by John Macrossan in 1861, although originally under the name Shamrock Vale. Macrossan substituted it for Abington, further to the west, and the run taken up in 1863 by Louis Ross and John Cook, who called it Balnagowan (Moore 1990). Pentland Downs was taken up in 1865 by James Kennedy) (Townsville Daily Bulletin 17 April 1952, 5).
Nulla Nulla was first taken up in 1861 by a Rockhampton expedition party which included among others Joseph Hann, two of his sons, and Moses Angel James. The latter ended up with Nulla Nulla, and was joined in 1863 by John Fenwick. Though Fenwick returned to Brisbane in 1864, he continued the partnership with James.
Robert Kellett took up Natal Downs with his brother-in-law, Thomas de Lacy Moffat, in 1862, although they subsequently forfeited the leases owing to a failure to pay the fee. Kellett took up Natal Downs again in 1863 but quickly transferred his license to John De Villiers Lamb and Charles Parbury, who took on a partnership with Emu Plains Station.
John Muirhead was initially co-owner (with Sinclair from 1864) and then sole owner (from 1869) of Elgin Downs, near Clermont on the Belyando River, through to 1880s. Here, Aboriginal people strongly resisted the incursion of Whites in their territorial lands, and the property was the scene of several clashes in which people on both sides were killed. According to Fox (1919:536), when John’s wife Jane and children were left at the station “without male protection, she would frequently appear about the place in her husband’s clothing and handling his gun, knowing that her invisible foes were on the watch, and trusting that her masculine appearance would effectually check their approach”.
In all 200 runs were under application in September 1862 (Courier 10 September 1862, p4), covering all parts of the Kennedy District, although many were under threat of forfeiture by 1866 for non-payment of rent (Brisbane Courier 13 November 1866, p4), including Natal Downs (Lamb and Parbury), Vine Creek (Fetherstonhaugh), Crystal Brook (William Seaward), Merri Merriwah (Montague, Marmaduke, Julius and Walter Curr), and Strathdon and Goorganga(William Dangar and Frederick Bode). Merri Merriwah later became the location for the Ravenswood goldfield in 1870, and was resumed in 1872 by the government because a substantial proportion of it was already occupied for mining purposes (Bell 2015:16).
The depression of the late 1860s forced many pastoralists out of the industry, and many properties were subsequently converted to cattle (Bolton 1972:40). The many goldfields which proliferated throughout the 1870s and 1880s, however, contributed to a revival of pastoralism post-Depression, with many new stations being established, including Greenvale, Cashmere and Gunnawarra (originally all Valley of Lagoons), and Niall and Tara (the latter two taken up by Daniel Cudmore, who was the JP who took the original complaint by Michael Bird Hall in the 1877 inquiry against NMP Sub-Inspector Robert Johnstone).
Syndey Davis took up Craven, installing manager Theodore van Wessem, but this was a property that fell into the hands of the Bank of NSW after the depression of the late 1860s. A similar story exist for Dotswood: the Keelbottom and Watershed runs which were part of the later Dotswood (eventually along with Yallack Vale) were taken up in 1863 by Phillip Somer and Matthew Hervey who by late 1865 had transferred their holdings to the Bank of NSW. The Dotswood property (along with Erridge) was sold to Messrs Degraves and Co of Victoria, and Edward Thomas Costin was put in as the manager. There were numerous attacks on stock on Dotswood in the late 1860s, and according to Babidge (2016): “In 1868, Frank [sic] Costin … was threatening “wholesale annihilation of the blacks” on his run if he did not get more help from Police (Cleveland Bay Express, 28 March 1868, p3)”.
The current Byerwen was an 1885 consolidation of the Kangaroo Creek, Minivera and Byerwen runs; the latter was taken up on 16 July 1864 by Archibald Ferguson. Alfred Featherstonehaugh took up Tinwald Downs.
St Anne’s station was originally part of the Earle brothers’ Yacamundra, but later a discrete station.
Other Industries
From the mid-1860s onwards, mining began to take over from pastoralism as the dominant industry in the Kennedy District, beginning with small finds of gold on the Fanning River in 1862, the Star River in 1866 and Mt Wyatt in 1867, followed by major rushes to the Cape River (1867), Ravenswood (1869) and Charters Towers (1871) (Bell 2015; Bolton 1972:44–50). The interrelationships between cattle graziers and mineral finds on pastoral runs are both knotty and suspicious, probably because the graziers were seeking to manufacture new outlets for their beef and sudden population rushes after gold were highly desirable (see Bell 2015).
Cotton and sugar production began in the second half of the 1860s, although cotton had failed as a crop by the 1870s. Sugar production at Bowen and Townsville were relatively short-lived, with a more successful industry established on the Herbert River from 1869 onwards and especially south around Mackay from 1865 onwards. John Ewen Davidson made an abortive attempt to establish a sugar plantation at Bellenden Plains near Cardwell in 1866, although had to abandon it by the early 1870s (Griggs 2000:618). By the mid-1880s Mackay was producing the most sugar cane of any area in Queensland, producing two thirds of the colony’s sugar (Bolton 1972:135). With agriculture as important as pastoralism in South Kennedy, there was an economic incentive to employ Aboriginal people as a cheap labour force, although this had been overtaken by South Sea Islander labour by the late 1870s.
Political Representation
The first parliamentary representative for Kennedy was George Dalrymple, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1865. A driving force behind the exploration and settlement of Kennedy, Dalrymple served as the Commissioner for Crown Lands, as well as becoming a pastoralist with multiple runs. He was succeeded by Thomas Fitzgerald (1867–1869), surveyor and sugar cane plantation owner around Mackay, who founded the Innisfail sugar plantation in 1880 (later to become the town of Innisfail). The Quaker John Bright succeeded Fitzgerald in 1869 as part of a general political push for the separation of north Queensland as a separate colony, although he never actually came to Queensland and was forced to vacate his seat the following year. His successors were Edward McDevitt (1870–1873), John Macrossan (1873–1878), Henry Wyndham Palmer, brother of Arthur Hunter Palmer (1878–1883) and manager of Beaufort, on the Belyando, in 1885, Isidor Lissner (1883–1893), and George Jackson (1893–1909). Bowen became its own seat in 1873 and was initially represented by Thomas Fitzgerald until 1875.
References
Allingham, A. 1975 Pioneer squatting in the Kennedy District. In B. Dalton (ed.), Lectures in North Queensland History. Second Series, pp.77–96. Townsville: James Cook University.
Bell, P. 2015 Discovering gold in the north: The evidence changes. Journal of Australasian Mining History 13: 11–22.
Bolton, G.C. 1972 A Thousand Miles Away. A History of North Queensland to 1920. Canberra: ANU Press.
Breslin, B. 1992 Exterminate with Pride: Aboriginal-European Relations in the Townsville-Bowen Region to 1869. Townsville: James Cook University.
Griggs, P. 2000 Sugar plantations in Queensland 1864–1912: Origins, characteristics, distribution and decline. Agricultural History 74(3):609–647.
Leichhardt, L. 1847 Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. London: T. and W. Boone.
Loos, N. 1982 Invasion and Resistance. Aboriginal-European relationships on the north Queensland frontier 1861–1897.Canberra: ANU Press.
McClements, M.I. 1975 A town called Proserpine. Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland9(6):64–77.
Moore, C. 1990 Blackgin’s Leap: A window into Aboriginal-European relations in the Pioneer Valley, Queensland in the 1860s. Aboriginal History 14(1/2):61–79.