Hector Holthouse

Remembering Hector Holthouse

and the former Hector Holthouse Room, Bribie Library
by Lynne Hooper

Hector Holthouse

After more than 20 years living on Bribie Island, prolific and popular historian and writer, Hector Le Gay Holthouse, died on 16th November 1991.  He was 76. 

While working as a Sugar Chemist in North Queensland, Hector started contributing stories to magazines, including the Sydney Bulletin, the Queenslander and other Australian journals. After war service he joined the staff of the Brisbane Telegraph, later becoming a lecturer in journalism at the University of Queensland. 

In 1967 Hector’s first book was published River of Gold: The Story of the Palmer River Gold Rush. In 1969 he gave up journalism and concentrated on historical writing.

Remembering Hector Holthouse
now displayed at Bribie Library
Source: Lynne Hooper 

In 1973 Holthouse was awarded a half-fellowship by the literature board of the Australian Council for the Arts.  His most popular book appeared that year: S’pose I Die: The Story of Evelyn Maunsell. 

Hector authored more than 30 books focusing on Queensland, many written while living with his wife, Sybil, in the house that he largely built himself in Hill Street, Bongaree. 

Hector donated his books to the Bribie Island Library and in the 1990s he was honoured at the Library with the naming of the “Hector Holthouse Room”.

Books by Hector Holthouse
1967 River of Gold: the story of the Palmer River Gold Rush
1969 Cannibal Cargoes
1970 Up Rode the Squatter
1971 Cyclone: a century of Australian cyclonic destruction
1973 Gympie Gold: a dramatic story of Queensland
1973 S’pose I Die: the story of Evelyn Maunsell
1975 Looking Back: the first 150 years of Queensland Schools
1978 Illustrated History of Queensland
1982 Illustrated History of the Sunshine Coast
1988 White Headhunter
1991 Cape York



REFERENCES:
Geoffrey A. C. Ginn, 'Holthouse, Hector Le Gay (1915–1991)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, 2014.

Could you store four tons of flour? by Jean Bruce
[article has photo of Mrs Evelyn Maunsell with author Hector Holthouse]. 
The Australian Women's Weekly Wed 19 Dec 1973, p. 15

Canneries

Canneries of the Pumicestone Passage

By Lynne Hooper

President, Bribie Island Historical Society

The digitisation of regional Australian newspapers and magazines by the Australian National Library has revealed some fascinating “new” facts about fish canneries on and around Bribie Island. Why is this noteworthy? Until recently Bribie’s history has relied on the memories of early Bribie residents, and many of these memories were captured in the Bribie Star’s newspaper’s Souvenir Edition published in October 1963 to mark the opening of the Bribie Island Bridge.  Stories were related about the history of the Island, its early residents, and when shops, churches, police stations, water and electricity commenced. Since the recent digitised newspaper roll-out we have been able to ‘fill in the gaps’ of our remarkable Island’s past.

The history of one early industry has been clarified -  the Canneries of the Pumicestone Passage.  The first cannery was in 1897, owned by James Clark and Reginald Hocking, trading as the Toorbul Fish Company. They sold canned fish from their factory situated on the bay-side of Toorbul Point.  The business was sold to Charlie Godwin for 160 cases of canned mullet in ca1900.  Godwin, an early settler, had bought 250 acres of land in the 1890s, in the area now known as Godwin Beach.  In 1901 the supplies of locally caught fish were so erratic that Godwin moved the cannery to the northern end of Bribie Island opposite Golden Beach.  Godwin’s fish was marketed under the name of “Anchor Brand Sea-Mullet”.

Maloney Bros. Lighthouse brand
Photo courtesy Audrey Abrahams

By 1906 the Maloney Brothers had commenced a fish cannery beside Charlie Godwin’s Cannery on Bribie Island and marketed their product as the Lighthouse Brand. The Lighthouse Brand won a “highly commended” award at the Brisbane Exhibition but by 1910 the cannery closed and the family moved into the oyster and shell-grit industries.

Charlie Godwin sold his cannery for £240 in August 1907 to Lionel Landsborough, son of the pioneer William Landsborough, but by 1909 Landsborough had left Australia to settle in California.

Sarah Balls

In 1907/8 the Federal Government introduced the Bounties Act and Sarah Balls, a well-known entrepreneur from Brisbane, decided to take advantage of the half-penny per pound being offered for preserved fish (including canned). Without widely used refrigeration it was reported that Australians were only consuming 9½ pounds of fish per head, whereas in Great Britain the quantity was 47½ pounds per head and Australia was spending over £300,000 annually on importing canned fish. 

Sarah leased 8 acres on Bribie Island just north of where the IGA stands today.  Fresh water is required for the canning process and this was readily available from the springs that were once used by the Joondoburri people.

Sarah’s “Caloundra Fresh Fish Preserving & Canning Company” were canning sea-mullet, whiting, snapper, bream, flathead, tailor, kingfish and jewfish, packing them in one and two-pound tins bearing the brand “The Diver”.  The Diver canned fish was retailed at 5½ penny though snapper and whiting were a more expensive option. The newspapers extolled the product advising “the fish is deliciously appetising and will undoubtedly supplant imported canned fish as the public were getting tired of the everlasting salmon, herring or sardine”.

Sarah erected a new factory in 1908 which measured 110 feet long by 20 feet wide with 16 feet walls (30 x 6 x 4.5m). 20 people were employed at the cannery producing 200 cases per day with each case containing 4 dozen tins.

Sarah originally employed a manager from Scotland who was experienced in preserving fish. She had to take control in July 1908 when during a “glut” fishermen dumped tons of fish on the cannery wharf during hot weather. Lacking refrigeration some of the fish took too long to be processed and many tins “blew” so the product got a bad name.  Later Sarah hired local men to manage the Cannery, but kept a firm hand on her investment, earning the sobriquet of “Mum-Balls”.

Canning works jetty

A new Linde refrigeration system was purchased in late 1908 and by 1909 “The Diver” brand entered a boom period.  In 1910 Sarah expanded the factory by purchasing the cannery equipment previously owned by Lionel Landsborough.  The Cannery now measured 150 feet x 50 feet (45 x 15m) enclosing a refrigeration and freezing room, an engine and boiler room, four retorts for cooking, and an area to stack the product. Adjoining was a 40ft jetty. 

The main suppliers were fishermen Ted, Julius & Leo Freeman who were paid five shillings per hundred-weight for mullet and one and halfpenny per pound for mixed fish. It was noted that fishermen had benefited in net cash by over £150 in this period. The Freeman’s delivered about six tons of fish at a time onto the jetty where it was scaled, cleaned and filleted before moving into the processing plant.  The tins contained two belly pieces and one tail piece (packed perpendicularly) of mullet all other fish were packed side-wise with a pinch of salt added to each tin.

Sarah diversified in 1913 by leasing a further four acres so she could raise pigs and grow and can asparagus and pineapples. But by 1914 the five-year period of the Bounty had ended and the shortage of tin and men caused by WW1 were impacting on the her business.  The greatest obstacle though was that Queensland fish are mostly “hot water” fish and altogether unsuitable for canning as they contain a large amount of phosphorus and the tendency to decompose rapidly.

Circa 1922. Huet family and
canning works jetty in background.
Source: Vera Campbell photos VC8_42

In August 1914 a newspaper advertisement advised that the Cannery could be leased as a 'going concern', and although Sarah had left the business, the cannery was still operating on a seasonal basis until 30 April 1923 when the lease and equipment was transferred to J.E. Burnard & Co, who were Jam Manufacturers and Fruit Preservers in Brisbane. 

By the 1920s the Cannery Jetty was all that was left of a once thriving business and was a prime spot to get a feed of fish.

REFERENCES                      

Early fish canneries on Bribie Island by Lynne Hooper. 
The Bribie Islander issue 47, June 2018, page 36.

Apr 2017 speaker

Arthur Morley and Elsie Bates

Lynne Hooper, BIHS president

Guest speaker at BIHS meeting April 2017

At our April meeting BIHS president Lynne Hooper gave a fascinating account of the vaudeville careers of Arthur Morley (Albert Morley Welch) and Elsie Bates (Elsie Tottey).  Arthur and Elsie purchased a retirement home on Bribie in 1934.

Elsie Bates
Biography [online] Australian Variety Theatre Archive
https://ozvta.com/practitioners-b/
Image Source: Australian Variety 23 May (1915) Cover

By means of a PowerPoint presentation she gave a brief history of Vaudeville in Australia and then moved through the highlights of their careers on stage throughout Australia.  Elsie was a serio-comic and dancer while Arthur was a basso singer.  They met when they worked together at the Gaiety Theatre in Melbourne in 1905, marrying in Sydney in 1907.  Though still singing and taking part in the Vaudeville shows Arthur went on to write and produce songs for revusicals and pantomimes.  His songs were so popular they were published for the music stores. 

By the 1930s they were living in Brisbane and Arthur was working in radio for 4BC.  His first character was Bob Breezy but the one that had new and old fans flocking to listen was the ’Old Timer’. The ‘Old Timer’ recaptured the romance of the stage, he spoke of men and women he knew and worked with, particularly those who graced the vaudeville stage in the days when he himself was a front-rank vaudevillian.

It was during this time they visited Bribie Island decided to buy their retirement house.  Arthur was 65 in 1934 when they bought 2 block of lands where the IGA now stands in Welsby Parade.  They build a high-set house and it was purchased in Elsie’s name.  The annual leave rental was 15s.

In 1935 Arthur passed away and Elsie retired to Bribie Island.  Their youngest son Valentine was registered at the Bribie Island State School and it was at Bribie she met her second husband, John Sabey, and they were married in 1941 – Elsie was 58 as was Sabey. They had to leave Bribie during the war and lived in Brisbane but they moved back to Bribie Island at the end of the War.

In 1947 Elsie sold the lease of the property to Terry Vines who ran his grocery shop “The Duck-Inn” as it had a very low entry doorway.

Elsie and John moved to Mt. Nebo where Elsie died on 28 October 1953.

Reference:
Elsie Bates biography [online] Australian Variety Theatre Archive

Dec 2016 speaker

RMS Quetta, sank 28 February 1890

Lynne Hooper, BIHS president

Guest speaker at BIHS meeting December 2016

At our December meeting BIHS president Lynne Hooper, through a PowerPoint presentation, gave us a glimpse of the fascinating story of the RMS Quetta, which sank off Thursday Island on 28 February 1890.

Amongst the passengers who didn’t survive were two gentlemen (and their wives) who were well known in the Caboolture Shire: Alexander Archer and Claudius Whish. 

Alexander Archer was that delightful man who wrote a letter to his niece describing a trip by boat to Bribie. Alexander at the time of the voyage the General Manager of the Bank of NSW and was one of the famous Archer brothers of Durundur.  Claudius Whish at one time owned the Oaklands sugar plantation on the Caboolture River and the Captain Whish bridge is named for him. When the Quetta sailed he was working for the Government as the Surveyor of Roads in the Lands Department.

10 days after leaving Brisbane and steaming to its next port, Thursday Island, the RMS Quetta hit an uncharted rock at 9pm in Torres Strait and sank in 3 minutes.

133 people drowned with 158 surviving.  Out of 34 women and 30 children only 2 teenage girls and 1 baby girl were amongst the survivors.

                                                     TOTAL LOST SAVED
Saloon passengers                                    33 27 6
Steerage passengers                                 65 56 9
Deck passengers (Javanese cane cutters)  71 15 56
European Officers                                    29 14 15
Asian Crew                                              93 21 72
                                                          291 133 158

The Australian/European passengers who survived:
Saloon Class: Alice Nicklin (Brisbane – parents died), Emily Lacy (Mackay- sister & uncle died), Mr. S.T. Debney (Brisbane), Henry Corser (Maryborough –wife and child died), Mr. Clarke (Tasmania) and Mr. A.H. Renton (England). 

Steerage: Messrs: Wrathall (Townsville – wife & 2 children died), Davidson (Melbourne), Cameron (Brisbane), Ashford (Brisbane), Dunn (Brisbane), Train (Rockhampton), Gregory (Townsville), Murphy (Port Douglas) and a baby girl who was either the child of Mrs Copeland or Mrs Davidson – who both had 3 children with them.

The loss of the Quetta devastated both city and country-town alike. The Quetta had sailed its London – Brisbane – London voyage 11 times bringing with it many emigrants to Brisbane.  One of our members, Monica Nunn’s, great-grandparents and grandmother arrived on the Quetta in 1886.

Using newspaper interviews and statements made at the inquiry, Lynne spoke about the ship’s final minutes and how the passengers survived when the Quetta sank at night in crocodile and shark infested waters.

Nov 2016 speaker

Helen Page, Peachester History Committee

Guest speaker at BIHS meeting November 2016

Lynne Hooper (centre) with Jan (left) and Helen of
Peachester History Committee
Photo: Lynne Hooper

Through a fascinating PowerPoint presentation filled with photos and documents that had been given to the Peachester History Committee by Inigo Jones’ family, Helen gave us an incredible insight into the life and work of Inigo Jones.

Inigo Owen Jones (1872-1954), meteorologist, was born at Croydon, Surrey, England, son of Owen Jones, civil engineer, and his wife Emilie Susanne, née Bernoulli, of a famous scientific family. Emilie's mother Dorothy Inigo-Jones was descended from the architect Inigo Jones (1573-1652).

In 1874 his parents migrated to Queensland.  In 1888 the colonial meteorologist Clement Wragge persuaded Inigo to serve a cadetship in his office rather than attend the University of Sydney. Inigo began to develop a special interest in long-range forecasting on the basis of sunspots from that time.

In 1892 his parents bought a farm about 97 km north of Brisbane and named it Crohamhurst after a property near Inigo's birthplace. Inigo joined them there and on 2 February 1893 recorded an Australian record for one day's rainfall of 37.714 inches (958 mm). For the next thirty years he lived in relative obscurity, helping his father with pioneering work on the farm and continuing meteorological research as a hobby stimulated by first-hand experience of the farmer's dependence on weather forecasts.

In 1923 Inigo successfully predicted the end of a dry spell and the resulting press publicity created demands for his forecasts. Urged on by scientific and other friends, he became a full-time forecaster. From 1929 he wrote forecasts for many Australian newspapers.

The observatory building at Crohamhurst, was opened on 13 August 1935 and Inigo divided his time between work on the farm and work in the observatory. In 1942 Sydney grazing interests provided further support through the Long-Range Weather Forecasting Trust.

An accomplished artist and musician, Inigo married Marion Emma Comrie on 11 January 1905 at Crohamhurst.  

Peachester Cemetery
Photo: Lynne Hooper

Peachester Cemetery
Photo: Lynne Hooper

Inigo Jones died at Crohamhurst on 14 November 1954 and was buried in the nearby Peachester cemetery.

BIHS members visit to Peachester Hall

18 November 2016

BIHS group at Peachester Hall, 18 Nov 2016
Photo: Lynne Hooper

A group of BIHS members went on Friday, 18 November 2016 to Peachester and, after a cuppa and a talk, the Peachester Historical Committee took our group on a tour of the historical Peachester Cemetery.  

Helen and BIHS group at Peachester Hall, 18 Nov 2016
Photo: Lynne Hooper

BIHS group at Peachester Hall, 18 Nov 2016
Photo: Lynne Hooper

BIHS members visit to Bankfoot House

18 November 2016

Bankfoot House, 18 Nov 2016
Photo: Lynne Hooper

The group then drove to Bankfoot House, at the Glass House Mountains, where after a presentation by Ron Gillinder they explored Bankfoot House in the company of the Friends of Bankfoot House.

Ron's talk to BIHS group at Bankfoot House
Photo: Lynne Hooper

Ron's talk to BIHS group at Bankfoot House
Photo: Lynne Hooper

Apr July 2016 speaker

Lynne Hooper presentations at 

BIHS meetings of 14 April and 13 July 2016 

In April and July Lynne Hooper, our current President, spoke about the lives of the men who were involved in the discovery of the Brisbane River.

John Oxley, Surveyor-General of NSW and explorer was an interesting character and Lynne traced his life from when he joined the British Navy through to his early death at the age of 45 at his property “Kirkham” in New South Wales.

John Oxley was on an expedition to find the suspected large river in the Moreton Bay region and on Saturday, 29 November 1823, Oxley and his small party in the colonial cutter Mermaid anchored in the “Pumicestone River”, 150 yards from the shore, where Flinders had anchored 22 years before.  

Within the group of natives running along the beach towards the vessel was Thomas Pamphlett, one of three men whose boat had been wrecked on Moreton Island some 8 months previously and who thought they were south of Sydney.   John Finnegan was rescued the next day while Oxley was told that the third member, Richard Parsons, was walking towards present day Noosa trying to find his way back to Sydney.  He was found the next year.

On hearing that the men had walked inland beside a large river, Finnegan joined the crew in the small whale boat and sailed south showing Oxley the way into the Brisbane River.

Current BIHS President Lynne Hooper
Photo: Ian Hooper

Lynne’s presentation in July was about the three Castaways – who they were – their crimes – their punishments and what happened to them after they arrived as convicts in Sydney.  

Lynne drew on Chris Pearce’s book “Through the eyes of Thomas Pamphlett”, and convict documentation to elaborate on their lives in this very interesting time in Australia’s history.