The Port of
Maryborough,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, was opened in 1847 and in 1859 it was declared a port of entry, meaning that overseas and intercolonial vessels could arrive and depart direct, although there appears to have been considerable uncertainty about the name of the port outside Queensland for some years. Customs officials elsewhere and such publications as the Mercantile Navy List frequently called the port "Wide Bay" well into the 1860s.
Background
The native name of the stream upon which the port is situated was named Moonaboola River by
Andrew Petrie
Andrew Petrie (1798 - 20 February 1872) was a pioneer, architect and builder in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Early life
Andrew Petrie was born in Fife, Scotland. He trained as a builder in Edinburgh. He married Mary Cuthbertson in 1821.
...
, which he discovered on his boat trip in 1842 while looking for good grazing land suitable for sheep. Later Mr Joliffe R.N. became the superintendent for John Eales, a prominent land owner in the Hunter Valley, and brought a flock of sheep across the Darling Downs, blazing a track over the
Brisbane Range to establish a head station near
Tiaro
Tiaro is a rural town and locality in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Tiaro had a population of 758 people.
Geography
The town is on the Mary River. It is situated on the Bruce Highway south of Mar ...
. This venture was short-lived as the local aboriginal tribes took a liking to the taste of lamb.
George Furber became the first white settler on the south side of the river in 1847, where he set up a trading station and Inn. When Edgar Aldridge, Henry and Richard Palmer, Enoch Rudder and their party arrived in 1848, they crossed the river and settled on the north bank, which was later to be named the Wide Bay Village, now the Old Township Site.
The river became known as the Wide Bay River until after the untimely death of Mary Fitz Roy, Wife of the
Governor of New South Wales at that time when it became known as the
Mary River. To honour her memory Governor Fitz Roy renamed the stream, Mary, and the post office at the settlement was then called, Maryborough.
Development
When the river became unnavigable to larger vessels a new township was surveyed by Surveyor Labatt in 1852 and in 1854 the small iron-hulled
screw steamship William Miskin, built in 1852, 124 tons discharged cargo at the Old Township and was possibly the first steamship to visit the Mary River.
In 1856, the people officially moved down to the new township, where the port was established. Wool became an important commodity and exports through the port in 1860 totalled £107,000 with wool accounting for £98,000 of that figure and imports totalled £71,456. At this time Maryborough was the only port in the colony with a favourable trade balance. Within the next ten years which included the discovery of gold at
Gympie
Gympie ( ) is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. The ...
and the commencement of the sugar industry, gold took the lead with £756,000, or nine tons, transported in a little over two years, while vessels totalling 163,532 tons visited the port during 1869. The gold was stored in the vault of the
Bank of New South Wales
The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and N ...
. The building now used as the
Maryborough Heritage Centre was the second
Bank of New South Wales
The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and N ...
to be built on this site.
Immigrants
From the 1850s to the end of the century the port was one of Australia's busiest
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
ports.
Immigrant labour was needed and an advertisement inserted in the ''Wide Bay & Burnett Times'' on 23 January 1861 by Messrs Melville & Travis announced that they would be bringing out British migrants while another advertisement by Henry Hamburger said that he would support the emigration of German settlers. Of the migrants landed at Brisbane in 1862 from the ship ''Suldanha'', 160 came to Maryborough by the paddle steamer ''Clarence''. The 42 Germans among them had already been engaged for work on nearby sheep runs.
The first migrant ship to call direct at Maryborough was the
barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...
''Ariadne'' (built in 1861 of 671 Tons). She arrived on 9 October 1862. This was the turning point for the Maryborough and
Wide Bay Region, and the number of passengers from the ''Ariadne'' swelled the population of Maryborough by one third. Between 1863 and 1870 there were 3,142 arrivals; from 1872 to 1880, 9,164 arrived (of which 1762 were Germans and Scandinavians) and between 1881 and 1890, 7,332 migrants landed. In all nearly 21,000 migrants landed before direct calls were abandoned in 1900, although ships still bought passengers into the port until about 1912.
The Immigration Celebration planned for 29, 30 September and 1 October 2012, to honour the arrival of the ''Ariadne'' 150 years ago, it is hoped, will be the first one to be celebrated each year afterwards, as each ship in each subsequent year will celebrate its 150th anniversary of its arrival into the Port of Maryborough.
Deep water facilities at Urangan
As ships became larger, it became more difficult for the larger ships to negotiate the Mary River up to Maryborough. Concerns about the port's ability to cope with exports of
Burrum coal were raised as early as 1882. A program of dredging was instituted to ensure the river remained deep and wide enough for navigation. However, by 1911, it was becoming obvious that Maryborough needed a deep water port. This resulted in proposals to construct a pier at
Urangan on
Hervey Bay
Hervey Bay () is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to ...
to reach into the deep water and then extending the existing
railway line from Maryborough to Pialba (which had opened in 1896) through to the pier at Urangan. Construction of
Urangan Pier commenced in 1913 and the extension of the railway line to the pier was completed in 1917.
While shipping continue to come to Maryborough, over time more of the vessels went to Urangan. By 1963, commercial shipping to Maryborough had ceased in favour of Urangan.
However, Urangan had its limitations as only one vessel could berth at a time and by the 1950s the facilities needed to be expanded to cater for even larger ships. However, the Urangan facilities were not upgraded and opening of the new
Port of Bundaberg at
Burnett Heads in 1958 created a major local competitor with better facilities. In 1985 the MV ''Leonard'' was the last ship to dock at the Urangan Pier, bringing the Port of Maryborough to a close.
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.nqbp.com.au/ – North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation Limited
Port of Maryborough Queensland Holidays
Port information Maryborough District Family History Society
Maryborough, Queensland
Economic history of Queensland
Maryborough
River ports of Australia
Mary River (Queensland)
1847 establishments in Australia