By Heather Burke and Lynley A. Wallis

Proclaimed on 10 January 1854, the pastoral district of Port Curtis was named by Matthew Flinders during his 1802 circumnavigation of the Australian coastline after Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, who had given assistance to Flinders in 1801. Contained within the basin of the Fitzroy River, and separated from the Burnett by the Dawes Range and Leichhardt by the Callide, Calliope, Broad Sound and Connors Ranges, the Port Curtis pastoral district includes the Calliope, Boyne and Fitzroy Rivers in the east, and the headwaters of Callide Creek and the Dee River in the southwest.

Apart from a short-lived government settlement under the control of George Barney in 1847 that lasted only a few months, Gladstone (Port Curtis) was the first permanent settlement in 1854, followed by Rockhampton in 1856 (McDonald 2009:770–771).

White Exploration

The Port Curtis coastline generally had been charted by James Cook in May 1770, though only major topographic features were noted (such as Keppel Bay). More detailed charts were produced by Matthew Flinders in 1802, who charted the Port Curtis harbour and landed a small party, including botanist Robert Brown, on its shore.

Others to chart the Port Curtis coastline and harbour included Phillip King in 1819 and Owen Stanley in 1847. John Oxley explored the harbours of Port Curtis in 1823, concluding the country was, “generally unfertile and destitute of useful timber” (Oxley 1825:10) and his party saw no Aboriginal people. Despite this, the area was later to prove popular with squatters.

Key Pastoralists and Stations

The Port Curtis district drew the attention of prospective run holders in 1853 as a result of increasing pressure from squatters from the south. With a few notable other exceptions, much of the land taken up in Port Curtis was taken up by ‘run hunters’ or speculators, who often on-sold it quickly. Consequently, many holdings changed hands in rapid succession before being consolidated into stable runs.

The first White settlers were the Archer brothers (Charles, William and Colin), who were experienced pastoralists, having already established Eidsvold and Coonumbula in the Burnett District (MacDonald 1975:9). After several forays to scout new land, they took up land in 1853 near the Fitzroy River that came to be known as Gracemere (originally termed Farris), a short distance southwest from what would later become the township of Rockhampton. Kroombit was another of the Archer holdings, sold in 1859 to John Landsborough who put James Thomas Allan in as the manager.

Brothers James, Norman and Charles Leith Hay were hot on the heels of the Archers, taking up Rannes in April 1853, later becoming a town of the same name in 1860.

Barmundoo was taken up by brothers Alfred and Athur Brown in 1853, though quickly sold it on to William Barker who installed Richard Donovan Spier Harpur as the manager, and by 1861 the property was held by W. Barker. John Deuchar took up Canal Creek in 1853 and transferred the run to Thacker Daniel & Co in 1858. William Henry Walsh took up the vast Milton station (which essentially extended the length of the entire Boyne River) in 1854, Colin and Campbell McKay Morinish the same year, and William Young Mounin 1855 (Morning Bulletin 6 December 1924, 12). Other early runs included Miriam Vale (taken up by Arthur Chauvel and Joseph Sharp in 1854, and then purchased from them by Edwin Cordeuaux Blomfield in 1856 and managed for them by Lancelot Westwood Tolson) and Rosedale(taken up in 1854 by John Little, who was killed in an accident on the station in September 1863), both on Baffle Creek.

Philip ‘Hobby’ Elliot, a friend of the Archers’, and his nephew George Mackenzie Elliot took up Tilpal and Canoona late in 1855 [McDonald 1975:21]). Elliot sold Canoona to William Henry Gaden and John Bowen Peter Hamilton Ramsey just before gold was discovered there in 1858, leading to a short-lived rush.

Daniel Conner was another of the well-known earliest pastoralists of the Port Curtis district (and also of the adjacent Leichhardt District). He took up Princhester and Marlborough (latter on the junction of Marlborough Creek and Fitzroy River) in 1857, though he sold Marlborough to Edmund Biddulph Henning in 1858 (who then on-sold it in 1862) and Princhester to Theodore Willem Van Wessem about the same time.

 Dumgree (in the south of the district) was taken up in 1855 by John Bell. The same year Brothers Sir Maurice and Carlo O’Connell took up Iveragh (between Miriam Vale and Gladstone), and the former also taking up Riverstone at the same time.

John Peter Campbell, another early speculator in the district, took up a number of runs in 1855, including Tooloombah (formerly Langdale). The property was transferred early in 1860 to J. A. Newman, who transferred it to A. P. Raymond and J. Cameron later that year, with John Douglas stocking it.

John Arthur Macartney was another prominent early landholder in the district, establishing Waverley(near St Lawrence in 1853) and Glenmore (on the Fitzroy River) in 1858; the latter he then sold to John Kerr and Duncan Clark, and in July 1861 the property again sold, this time to Samuel Bradford Birkbeck).

Peter Fitzallan MacDonald, who like others had speculated on numerous runs and holdings across Port Curtis and in the adjacent Leichhardt district, brought his new bride to his headquarters at Yaamba in 1861 (McDonald 1975:26).

Raglan was taken up by William Landsborough in 1855, managed by his sons James and John, with the former acquiring sole ownership of the property by 1862 but it was sold by 1865. Langmorn was originally part of Raglan and was sold as a separate portion by the Bank of NSW to brothers Thomas and George Creed who bestowed the new name upon it.

Torilla was formed by Frank Newbold in 1858 and was another flashppint with local people., the Cooinmurburra. Conflict was still rife here a decade later and in 1868 Frank’s son William Newbold was fatally wounded, leading to violent reprisals.

Clairview near St Lawrence was taken up originally by brothers William and John Christian, but by 1864 had passed into the hands of Anslow and Black, while Glenprairie was held in 1861 by William Landsborough.

Other stations taken up in the Port Curtis district included Balnagowan, taken up by John Cook and Louis Gerald Ross in 1862; then sold on to RSD MacDonald in 1873. Rosewood was taken up by John Atherton in April 1859 after spelling at Gracemere in 1858; John also later acquired Mount Hedlow.

Raspberry Creek was initially taken up by James Ross and James Hutton in 1861, and was the scene of numerous violent interactions between pastoralists and local Aboriginal people.

NMP Presence

There was a total of nine NMP camps in Port Curtis, beginning at Gladstone in June 1853, although NMP patrols to the region had been taking place from the camps in the Burnett District from at least 1852. In 1853 John Murray was sent in command of the 1st Section in response to the deaths of two shepherds employed by the Leith Hay brothers at Rannes. Although Murray searched for a suitable reserve for the NMP at Gladstone proper, he instead established his camp at Calliope because of the lack of water (QSA2969637 1853 Letter from Frederick Walker to Colonial Secretary 20 August, Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland 1822–1860, Reel A2.26) and because of the presence of Surveyor Francis MacCabe (QSA212594 1854 Letter from Maurice O’Connell to Colonial Secretary 4 July [1], Letterbook-Govt Resident Port Curtis 1854–1857). The then Commandant, Frederick Walker, subsequently requested a five mile square block be set aside for Native Police use on Auckland Creek (QSL 1853 Letter from Frederick Walker to Colonial Secretary 20 August, Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland 1822–1860, Reel A2.26). In 1854 Maurice O’Connell ordered the Port Curtis detachment to remove from Calliope to Auckland Creek in order to be closer to the new and burgeoning settlement at Gladstone (QSA86133 1854 Letter from the Colonial Secretary to Commandant Native Police 9 August, General correspondence records of the Native Police 1848–1857, Mfilm 2435), considering this location more,

… conveniently situated for affording protection in case of need, to the inhabitants of the Township, and at the same time by the close proximity of their quarters, to give a feeling of security to the more scattered population of the suburbs, whenever any occupation may take place in that direction (QSA212594 1854 Letter from Maurice O’Connell to Colonial Secretary 4 July [1], Letterbook-Govt Resident Port Curtis 1854-1857).

The Gladstone camp was expressly intended to facilitate the settlement of the Port Curtis district and in these early years (c.1854–1856) troopers were sometimes stationed individually with settlers rather than in camp, presumably in order to respond more effectively to requests for assistance. This meant that the detachment was often not operating with its full complement.

By 1856 there must have been numerous NMP reprisals on local Aboriginal groups, since William Mayne, former Inspector General of Police, was able to state to a Parliamentary Select Committee Enquiry that “In the Port Curtis District I know they have had very serious collisions with the Aborigines. I know they have dealt out very summary punishment to repress their outrages” (NSW Legislative Assembly 1857:5). John O’Connell Bligh was stationed as an officer at Gladstone in 1857, where his uncle, Maurice O’Connell, was Government Resident.

By 1858 the then Commandant, Edric Morisset, decided to move the camp back to Calliope, for unspecified reasons (QSA282454 1858 Letter from Edric Morisset to Government Resident 17 November, Letterbook NP 1857–1859, Mfilm 2437). This received the Colonial Secretary’s approval in 1859, and the station at Auckland Creek was dismantled and sold (Letters relating to Moreton Bay & Queensland: A2 series – Reel A2.42 59/00343).

According to Walter Powell, when he first arrived in in District in 1856 he established his camp at the foot of Albert St, placing the very first iteration of the Rockhampton camp (then called the Fitz Roy) in what is now the city. The camp was later moved, possibly in 1857, to the police reserve on the Athelstane Range (now simply known as “The Range”) at Yeppen Yeppen lagoon; it was sometimes referred to by the name of the river and the waterhole it was situated on as Murrays Lagoon or the Fitzroy River camp. The site for the camp now sits within the present Rockhampton Botanical Gardens. By 1859 the camp had become the headquarters for the 1st Division (Port Curtis and Leichhardt District), taking over from Gladstone, which became an outstation, and encompassing other outstations on the Lower Dawson, Upper Dawson and Upper Fitzroy Rivers.

In 1862 the Rockhampton headquarters were shifted to Gracemere, either to remove troopers from the proximity of alcohol (Moreton Bay Courier 6 April 1861, p2) or because the feed for the horses had become inadequate at the Murray’s Lagoon camp (QSA846764 1862 Letter from John O’Connell Bligh to Colonial Secretary 8 October, In letter 62/2512, Mfilm 2512). Barracks were erected in late 1862, constructed by Lloyd and Horney on Kabra or Scrubby Creek. By 1866 Rockhampton had become part of the Northern Midland District (1866), extending to Maryborough in the south and Cardwell in the north (Brisbane Courier 23 January 1904, 12).

Other camps were associated with pastoral properties, such as Gracemere, a temporary camp associated with the Archer Brothers’ run. In 1855 a detachment of four NMP troopers under the command of Robert Walker, a cousin of the Archer family, arrived at Gracemere. This camp presumably only lasted for a part of this year, because Walter Powell also claimed that in 1856, after camping initially in the township of Rockhampton, he was invited by Charles Archer to camp at Gracemere. It is unclear whether Powell camped in the same location as Walker, or whether the NMP returned to the same location when the Rockhampton headquarters were formally shifted to Gracemere in 1862. NMP camps Broad Sound, Marlborough and Princhester were also located on pastoral properties.

Conflict Events

The first reported conflict in the Port Curtis district was in 1802, when Matthews Flinders was exploring and charting the coastline. In early August a small party on shore, including Robert Brown, were driven off by the local Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang people (Davis 2013). This incident is somewhat unusual, in that there are three different European accounts of it and, while the fundamentals are the same, each reveals differing levels of details and sympathies. Brown’s own account read as follows:

The attack was made with a war woop & discharge of stones: I was at this moment employ’d in putting specimens of Plants in paper & had scarcely time to collect my scatter’d paper boxes &c & make a hasty retreat … Thus ended our first skirmish with these poor unarm’d savages, in which they seem’d to have much the advantage of us in point of bravery & also in conduct. (Robert Brown’s diary, Thursday 5 August 1802).

The overall expedition leader, Matthew Flinders, had the following to say about the encounter:

The naturalist and his companions landed at the west side of the entrance, where some Indians had assembled to look at the ship; but they retired on the approach of our gentlemen, and afterwards taking advantage of a hillock, began to throw stones at the party; nor would they desist until two or three muskets were fired over their heads, when they disappeared. There were seven bark canoes lying on the shore, and near them hung upon a tree some parts of a turtle; and scoop nets, such as those of Hervey’s Bay, were also seen. (Flinders 1814)

Peter Good, one of Brown’s botanical assistants, provided the most detailed account:

… a number of Natives appeared making Gestures as we approached the Shore but on coming near they all run into the woods – We walked on in search of Natural History without paying any attention to them & crossed a neck of land till we found ourselves on an Arm of this large Bay – many Natives before us but would not permit us to come near them always retreating as we advanced on advancing to a little hill covered with Trees they threw a number of Stones towards us & kept among the Bushes out of sight – on our advancing up the hill they disappeared -we continued to advance till we came to the opposite side of the hill & in going down the bank the Natives gave the War Song & rushed out among the Bushes in different directions, throwing stones & sticks at us  – they appeared to have no Spears we got into an open space at the bottom of the hill and fired some Muskets in the Air when they all run [sic] away as fast as they could run  – on returning to the Shore we found the Shell of a very large Turtle which they had been roasting very lately, the head & part of the flesh was still firm – a great part of the flesh of Turtle hung up in a Tree of the Pandanus odoratissima so that it appears they live in luxury – they had many fishing nets & cordage about the Beach executed in the same manner as at Sandy Cape – Their Canoes were similar to those at Port Jackson but much larger & better executed. (Peter Good, cited in Edwards 1981:83-84)

Occasional subsequent events between 1837 and 1847 involved shipwrecked crews, and the arrival of Barney’s party to permanently settle the port in 1847 prompted a hostile interaction:

When the well-sinkers and five soldiers encamped upon the mainland, the blacks visited them again, and stealing an axe, repelled every effort to obtain its restitution, by brandishing their spears. The well-sinkers became alarmed, and quitted their work. An express was sent to Facing Island for a reinforcement; the soldiers in the meanwhile fired off all their ammunition, in order to keep their adversaries at bay. After a party of troops, under the command of Ensign de Winton, had arrived, about fifty adult blacks, armed with spears and slings, approached the camp; but the soldiers, who had concealed themselves, rose precipitately before any of the sable host were within musket-shot, and consequently had their labour for their pains. On the evening of the following day, about eight o’clock, whilst they were sitting round a fire, a shower of spears fell amongst them, thrown by the blacks, who had approached within a short distance unobserved. Running immediately for their arms, they started in pursuit, and following the latter across a small sandy flat, without grass or trees, fired several volleys—without aim, it is said; but, judging from the outcries of the gins, next day, a random shot or two must have ‘told.’” (Moreton Bay Courier 10 April 1847, p2)

It was about 10 years later that  Aboriginal people hit back against the tide of pastoralists, killing five workers at Mount Larcombe station in 1855 and fatally spearing a shepherd on Hobby Elliot’s run in 1856; Elliot himself was speared during the attack, and his friend Charles Archer wrote to Sir Maurice O’Connell, Government Resident at Gladstone, requesting protection (McDonald 1975:65). Prior to this the Archers had generally adopted a policy of “live and let live” – so long as Aboriginal people laid down their arms before approaching the homestead, they were generally not harmed, though there were isolated instances of misunderstanding and violence (McDonald 1975:66)

Of 148 known conflict events in Port Curtis, attacks on Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people were fairly even (60 vs 59), with most attacks on Aboriginal people taking place in 1866, the year that began with a drought and ended with a colony-wide depression. Only 28 known attacks were on stock or property, and most attacks (of all types) (50%) took place on pastoral runs. In all, some 332 people were known to have been killed in Port Curtis, most in the four years between 1854 and 1858, and 117 in 1855 alone. Forty-nine of these were non-Aboriginal; 283 were Aboriginal people, and these figures are likely an under-representation.

Political Representation

From 1856–1859 the United Pastoral Districts of Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett, Maranoa, Leichhardt and Port Curtis were represented by a single incumbent in the NSW Legislative Assembly. Incumbents included Gordon Sandeman (1856–1857), Patrick Leslie (1857–1857) and William Butler Tooth (1858–1859). In 1860 the seat was abolished and split into its respective parts. Charles Fitzsimmons was the first member of the Legislative Assembly for Port Curtis, elected in 1860. He was replaced in 1861 by Alfred Sandeman, who was succeeded by John Douglas (1863–1866), Arthur Hunter Palmer (1866–1878), Albert Norton (1878–1893) and Jason Boles (1893–1904). Fitzsimmons, Sandeman, Palmer and Norton were all pastoralists, many with interests in other Pastoral Districts; John Douglas, a pastoralist and journalist, often argued in Parliament against the NMP, and subsequently served as premier between 1877 and 1878 with ministerial responsibility over the force (Reynolds 2022).

A separate electorate of Rockhampton was established in 1865, held first by Charles Fitzsimmons (1865–1867), followed by Thomas Henry Fitzgerald (1867), Archibald Archer (1867–1869), Henry Milford (1869–1870), Alexander Fyfe (1870–1873), Charles Hardie Buzacott (1873–1877), and John MacFarlane (1877–1878).

Other Industries

A short-lived gold rush to Canoona in 1858 was succeeded by the opening of other fields at Morinish in 1866. It was at Morinish that Sub-Inspector Myrtil Aubin, in June 1867, was involved in highly publicised attack on Aboriginal people. A report was furnished by Aubin himself and an investigation led by George Murray at which several witnesses gave evidence (some of whom saw the deceased and injured afterwards, including the doctor, Henry Challinor). Although different versions were reported in the newspapers, certain details were consistent, with agreement that at least six Aboriginal people were killed, and a further six were injured; victims included at least one woman and a child. The event seemingly left the public in one of two camps: those who thought the killings were fully justified and that Aubin had only acted to save the lives of himself and his men, and those who expressed regret and disgust at the killing of innocent people. The matter might not have resulted in Aubin’s dismissal but for the fact that the report was discussed in Parliament and came to the attention of the Aboriginals’ Protection Society, who reported it to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in England. With such scrutiny the Executive Council seemingly had little option but to act, though Murray’s view was that it was “clearly” Aubin’s duty to disperse Aboriginal people; Murray’s only regret was that it had not been done “quietly”, implying that if it had not resulted in such public awareness, the event would have passed by without being considered unusual or worthy of disciplinary action (QSA282366 1867 Letter from George Murray to Commissioner of Police 13 July, Native Police Inspector’s Office Northern District Letterbook 1866–1867, Mfilm 2436).

References

Davis, M. 2013 Encountering Aboriginal knowledge: Explorer narratives on north-east Queensland, 1770 to 1820. Aboriginal History 37:29–50.

Edwards, P.I. (ed.) 1981 The Journal of Peter Good: Gardener on Matthew Flinders’ Voyage to Terra Australis 1801–03. Bulletin of the British Museum Historical Series 9. London: British Museum of Natural History.

Flinders, M. 1814 [1966] A Voyage to Terra Australis. London: G. And W. Nicol. [Australiana Facsimile Editions 17, Libraries Board of South Australia, Adelaide].

McDonald, L. 1975 Land Settlement in the Northern Districts of Port Curtis and Leichhardt, 1853–1869. Unpublished MA(Qual.) thesis, School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia.

McDonald, L. 2009 Separation and its effects upon Gladstone and Rockhampton. Queensland History Journal 20(12):769–774.

Oxley, J. 1825 Report of an expedition to survey Port Curtis, Moreton Bay, and Port Bowen with a view to form convict penal establishments there. In B. Field (ed.), Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales. London: John Murray.

Reynolds, H. 2022 On the Queensland frontier: Tragedy in the tropics. Griffith Review 76:142–153.