Historical Australian Towns: Caboolture, QLD: Experience History

Caboolture is located about 45 minutes from Brisbane CBD,

The name is derived from the word Kabul-tur, meaning the place of the carpet snakes, used by the Gabi Gabi Aboriginal people for the area around the Caboolture River.

The Kabi Kabi people

The Caboolture area is the traditional home of the Kabi Kabi people (various spellings). However, in the south of Caboolture lies the Yugarabul traditional Aboriginal country.

The Gubbi Gubb language, like other Aboriginal Australian languages, was an oral language and not recorded in written form until the arrival of the Europeans.

Although the Kabi and Wakka dialects are largely distinct, especially as regards nouns and adjectives, yet the two tribes followed very much the same customs, they were very friendly and intermarried freely, the class restrictions being the same for both.

Yams, fern-roots, the roots of the cmijevoi, the core of the top of the cabbage-palm, and a few wild fruits, such as the quandong, the native plum, and the native lime, were the most common. It was the recognised duty of the women to dig the yams {Dioscorea Transversa) for family use. They were regularly provided with the yam-stick for this purpose, a staff about five feet long, the thickness of a stout walking-stick, and pointed at both ends. It served another purpose equally well, being the women's fighting weapon. They used it like a single-stick with great deftness in their feminine encounters.

But, for the Kabi people especially, the most esteemed vegetable food was the product of the beautiful bunya tree.

R H Matthews (1910)

Subsection systems are a the social structure that divides Australian Aboriginals into a number of groups, each of which combines particular sets of kin and was important with regard to marriages between Aboriginal people.

Marriage was a central feature of traditional Aboriginal societies and often involved arranged infant betrothal. Usually this was between a young girl and an older man. (1.)

The area of Caboolture area may include sacred and ceremonial sites, including bora rings, paintings and axe-grinding grooves.

Party of Aborigines from either the Pine or Caboolture tribes. Taken in teh early 1870s or 60s. Bancroft Collection

A native hut built of saplings, grass and mud. Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Saturday 13 May 1939

Initiation, R H Matthews explained, was "a great educational institution" intended to strengthen the civil authority of the elders of the tribe.

John Mathew - File:Two Representative Tribes of Queensland. Gabbi Gabbi Clan

Tom Petrie's Reminiscences of Early Queensland

(Dating from 1837)

1770

James Cook was the first navigator to chart much of Australia;s east coast, one of the last major coastlines in the world unknown to Europeans at the time. He passed the Morton Bay area on 15 May 1770,

1840s

Durundur Station was established in 1841, one of Queensland’s earliest pastoral stations. Located near present-day Woodford, it was founded by Scottish brothers John and David Archer.

Timber was rafted at hightide in groups, each of ten logs, down various streams and then drawn by
bullock teams to the Mooloolah River for shipment to Brisbane

The Caboolture area was opened up to free settlers in 1842. There were frequent clashes between Aboriginal people and Europeans.

SOMETHING THAT MUST BE ENQUIRED INTO.

IN the Observer of Saturday last is the commencement of a journal kept by the Rev. W. SCHMIDT, one of the German Missionaries to the blacks in the Moreton Bay district, in which, speaking of the disinclination of some natives to accomppany him in a particular direction, Mr. S. says, "There was also another reason which influenced greatly our natives against going any further, viz.—A LARGE NUMBER OF NATIVES, ABOUT FIFTY OR SIXTY, HAVING BEEN POISONED AT ONE OF THE SQUATTERS' STATIONS." From what we have heard of Mr. SCHMIDT, we believe him to be a prudent, cautious man, who would not make a statement conveying such a serious charge as that of murder against any one, unless he felt convinced that he had good authority for so doing. It will be perceived that there is no hesitation in Mr. SCHMIDT'S assertion ; he does not allude to the charge as a rumour, or as dependant upon the testimony of the blacks themselves, but boldly and unconditionally asserts that fifty or sixty blacks had been poisoned at one of the squatters'
stations. This grave charge cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed. It is the duty of the
GOVERNOR, and the Law Officers of the Crown, to cause a charge thus publicly made by a respectable member of society to be enquired into...

Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 5 December 1842, page 2

Frontier violences reminiscence here

1860s

Experiments with growing sugar cane and cotton were made by pastoralists in the 1860s. In 1861, George Raff began growing cotton on his property in Morayfield, along the Caboolture River. However, the cotton venture was unsuccessful and Raff began growing sugar by 1866, He grew sugar cane for sugar, rum and molasses production until 1889.

In early 1860s, following the offer of a medal by the Royal Society of London for the first ton of sugar to be grown and processed in Queensland, that interest turned to that commodity and by 1865 some 2,000 acres were devoted to sugar,

Rev. John Mathew came to Queensland in 1865. He won the Royal Society of New South Wales bronze medal and prize for an essay on the Indigenous people in 1889. 1884, 1906-1909 and 1913, and even as late as 1923-1924. He went on to write several anthropological works and in 1926 was appointed to the Anthropology Committee of the Australian National Research Council.

In 1867, dramatic change occurred with the discovery of Gold at Gympie. Hopeful gold prospectors poured into the area, heading for the diggings, with all its hardships. The roads at this time were crude, and the journey tortuous, with the road over the Stanley range almost perpendicular in places. In time the road became passable to horse drawn coaches.

The Caboolture mail station was named “The Punt” as it was necessary for coach and horses to be loaded onto the punt or ferry to cross the river.

Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 22 August 1868

1870s

The first state school opened in 1873.

Durundur Mission some 15 miles west from Caboolture operated from 1877 to 1905 in the area now known as Woodford in the City of Moreton Bay.

In March 1877, 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of land were gazetted as an Aboriginal reserve in the parish of Durundur near Monkeybong Creek.

DURUNDUR NATIVES. A group of aboriginals employed on Durundur station in 1867. (near Caboolture, QLD)

Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Saturday 1 March 1873

Morayfield Sugar Plantation at Caboolture, 1873, SLQLD

Bridging The Caboolture, c1874, QLD

1880s

St Laurence’s Anglican Church built in 1889.

1890s

The Frazer Homestead at Upper Caboolture in 1891, QLD, Kaye

1. King Jacky Delaney, real name Menvil Wamuran. 2. Aboriginal club-like weapon

Description: King Jackie with [an Aboriginal woman] and daughter in his gunyah at the Newmarket camp. 'Wanmuarn' is one word written on the plate. (Jackie menvil? wanmuarn, King of Stoney Creek, Caboolture). (Description supplied with photograph). King Jackie has what appears to be a large spoon through his nose, and the woman on the right has a pipe in her mouth. 1897, SLQLD

Catherine Mewett, Description: Catherine was married to the timbergetter, William Mewett. She established a boarding house in Caboolture and was also a midwife in the district between Buderim and Caboolture. (Description supplied with photograph.) Taken circa 1890, SLQLD

Our Caboolture correspondent writes :- "The floods are now rapidly subsiding. The Caboolture Bridge is safe, though blocked with immense logs and tress, which are now being removed. The handrails are all gone, of course, otherwise there is no damage. There is no reliable news from Woodford, but we heard yesterday that King's store was submerged, and the water was high in the post and telegraph office. It is feared some lives have been lost on the Stanley River, and much damage done at Villeneuve.

The Queenslander
Sat 11 Feb 1893

Butcher's shop and residence at Caboolture, Queensland, ca. 1895, SLQLD

Selector's homestead on Gympie Road, Caboolture, 1896, SLQLD

DURUNDUR, CABOOLTURE, QUEENSLAND (1898, September 24). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) (stock men waiting for orders)

Caboolture railway station opened in June 1889 as part of the extension of the North Coast Line from Petrie.

Unidentified members of the Caboolture Divisional Board in the boardroom. 1898, SLQLD

Moreton Mail (Qld. : 1886 - 1899, 1930 - 1935), Friday 21 April 1899

1900s

MORAYFIELD HOUSE. Queensland Country Life (Qld. : 1900 - 1905; 1907; 1909 - 1910; 1935 - 1965), Saturday 1 August 1903
In January 1905, the Queensland Government decided to close Durundur Aboriginal Mission.

Pugh's (Queensland) official almanac, directory and gazetteer.(1905)

Pineapple plantation at Caboolture, QLD, SLQLD

Train approaching in The platform at Caboolture Railway Station, 1907

Dinnertime on the road near Caboolture, Qld - circa 1907, KAYE

D'Aguilar Hotel, near Caboolture, Qld - very early 1900s, Now called the Bushmans Arms Hotel. The original hotel was brought down by bullock teams from Gympie and placed at Waraba Creek where Buggies would stop from Caboolture. It was then moved to D'Aguilar.
Information and more reading here: www.gdaypubs.com.au/QLD/d+aguilar/49018/bushmans-arms.html

In December 1906, the Caboolture Co-operative Dairy Association was formed. The butter factory opened in October 1907 on a 1.1-hectare site on the north bank of the Caboolture River, just west of the railway line.

Crowds gather near the Caboolture Railway Station, ca. 1908, SLQLD

Timbers workers, Morton Electorate, QLD. Queensland Country Life (Qld. : 1900 - 1905; 1907; 1909 - 1910; 1935 - 1965), Saturday 28 April 1900

Workers of the Caboolture Butter Factory pose against a wall in two rows. The back row from left to right includes Fred Uhlmann, Terry Lee, unidentified?, Bob Sanders, Dan Coghill, Billy Schultz, W. A. Schmidt. The front row from left to right includes Harry Johnson, Percy Seeney, unidentified?, Harry Schultz, unidentified?. Some men wear aprons and some men wear office clothes. A boy sits cross-legged on the ground in the middle of the group. 1912, SLQLD, PD

Road bridge across the Caboolture River, Queensland, ca. 1912, SLQLD

Early EMF automobile, Caboolture, ca. 1913, SLQLD

Court House building in Caboolture, Queensland ca. 1913, SLQLD

St Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Caboolture, ca.1913. SLQLD (was in Church Street on the south side of the river. Transported to its present site in 1919)

A WELL-PRESERVED BORA OF KIPPA RING NEAR CABOOLTURE the "Sketcher"General View of The Ring (the men are standing in the centre).Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 3 January 1914, (Bora is an initiation ceremony of the Aboriginal people of Eastern Australia. The word "bora" also refers to the site on which the initiation is performed. Women and children were not permitted to be present at the sacred bora ground where these rituals were undertaken.)

Caboolture State School, ca. 1914, SLQLD

WW1

Description: Girls' patriotic tableau at Caboolture during World War 1. They stand in a row in costume bearing various national flags and hold aloft the letters spelling 'Fighting for liberty'. One girl sits in the centre of the group representing the allegorical figure of Liberty. 1917, SLQLD

Advertising postcard for A. Johnson, Sawmills at Caboolture, Qld - 1917, Kaye

Procession along a Caboolture street, Queensland, ca. 1917, SLQLD

During the pastoral period of settlement that brass plates, or gorgets, were given to those Aboriginal elders recognized by Europeans as leaders, or Kings, of their particular groups. Casino and Kyogle Courier and North Coast Advertiser (NSW : 1904 - 1932), Saturday 19 July 1919 (Aboriginals groups did not have kings or queens but operated as a gerontocracy)

'Sons of Mr and Mrs E. Cox, Methodist minister at Caboolture, and brothers of A. B. Cox, of the " Courier " mechanical department. SERGEANT W. E. COX, 49th BATT. SAPPER R. W. COX, 2nd TUN. CO. DRIVER E, M. COX. A.S.C. .Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 8 March 1919, page 13

1920s

Anzac Day Caboolture 1921, SLQLD

New Methodist Church at- Cahoolture. Daily Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1903; 1916 - 1926), Friday 19 June 1925

EARLY DAYS RECALLED
Mr. William Pettigrew was a very enterprising and energetic man, and was known as a good employer, treating his men justly in every way: consequently, he soon had a good lot of men working for him, cutting, rafting and hauling the timbers he required. The names of the old timber-getters and pioneers are getting well-nigh lost to the residents of to-day. The felling of timber was done mostly by (A)boriginals under the guidance of Dick Jones. J. Martin, Dan. Cogil, and others, while the teamsters of those early days were Charlie and Tom. Chambers, Jack Kimmond, Jim Byrnes, Peter Stevens and others, not forget-ting the old 'rafter' Charlie Brown, who brought many rafts of timber down the Maroochy River to the Cotton Tree, where the teamsters.
Nambour Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser (Qld. : 1922 - 1954), Friday 4 March 1927

Malcolm Biggs (7 July 1904 - 1 August 1972) was born in Caboolture and attended the local school. He was an Australian cricketer and played in six first-class matches for Queensland between 1927 and 1931.

Malcolm Biggs (7 July 1904 - 1 August 1972) He played in six first-class matches for Queensland between 1927 and 1931

LADIES' COMMUTEE OF THE CABOOLTURE SHOW. The group includes Mesdames I. M'Pherson (president), H. Kemp, Freeney, Tomlinson, T. Flux, E. Hinton, H,^ Shultz, Miss E. Mewett, Mesdames H. Johnston, FI. Day, H. Lltherland, S. Moller, Gracey, Hurle, and Davidson. Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 23 July 1927

1930s

'The new Car for the Caboolture and District Branch of the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade and the Garage which is being built by a Working Bee to house the Vehicle.Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Thursday 9 July 1931

Residence of J. M. Newman at Caboolture, QLD, ca. 1934 (later The War Veterans' Home (RSL Care)

The Memorial School of Arts building was erected around 1920 and demolished in 1975, Caboolture, QLD, 1936

North Coast and Stanley District News (Caboolture, Qld. : 1931 - 1964), Thursday 9 November 1939

1940s and WWII

Queensland was a frontline of the Pacific War of 1941-45. Read more here

Secret Intelligence Australia (SIA) was located at "Newman House" at Caboolture, just north of Brisbane. It was previously called "Fernhill". Read more here The Land Army girls were to pick crops at Newman's estate during WWII. Read more here

Outdoor portrait of QX6313 Captain (Capt) Henry William Albert Cobb, 2/7 Cavalry Regiment, of Caboolture, Qld. A bootmaker and saddler in civilian life, Capt Cobb enlisted on 11 July 1940. On 19 December 1942 he was killed in action in Papua, aged 27. AWM, 1940

Marching band walking past the Royal Hotel, Caboolture, ca. 1940, SLQLD

North Coast and Stanley District News (Caboolture, Qld. : 1931 - 1964), Thursday 9 May 1940

Two women seated in front of the stage in a decorated hall in Caboolture, 1940, SLQLD

North Coast and Stanley District News (Caboolture, Qld. : 1931 - 1964), Thursday 2 January 1941

CABOOLTURE AREA, QLD. 1945-02-06. LANCE SERGEANT DEANE, (1), ACCOMPANYING MEMBERS OF 12 LINE SECTION, ON CABLE LAYING DUTIES DURING TRAINING EXERCISES. AWM

CABOOLTURE AREA, QLD. 1945-02-06. SIGNALMAN C WILD, OPEREATING A 43 LINE TC4 US PATTERN SWITCHBOARD DURING 22 LINES OF COMMUNICATION SIGNALS TRAINING EXERCISES. THE UNIT IS DUG IN TO ENABLE COVERAGE OF THE OPERATOR AND THE BOARD WITH THE NORMAL ISSUE MOSQUITO NET. AWM

Here is John Cameron, black tracker, of Oxley, examininr tracks believed to hare been made by 4-year-old toddler. Ralph Shellard Kirchner, who had wandered from his Caboolture home last week and whose tiny body was later found drowned in .-lagoon, about 200 yards from the house.Worker (Brisbane, Qld. : 1890 - 1955), Monday 2 June 1947

RACING FOR THE BALL. JEAN KENWAY (left), playing for Caboolture basketball team, deflects the ball away from White Wings goalie, Audrey Hampson, during the match at New Farm Park yesterday.Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), Monday 17 October 1949

Audrey Bauer became Caboolture's first international basketballer in 1947 when she gained selection as a defence player in the 1948 Australian team to tour New Zealand.

Children Of Caboolture— Small Queensland Town— Enjoy Advantages

''THROUGH the efforts of the members of their local C.W.A., children living in the Queensland district of Caboolture arc being provided with new recreational interests and assisted to develop a sense of fraternity and citizenship.

Last October. Caboolture C.W.A. branch, which consists of 51 members and an active Younrcr Set, started out on a new field of work when It announced the ' official opening of their Kindergarten and Juvenile Centre,
Farmer and Settler (Sydney, NSW : 1906 - 1955), Friday 2 May 1947