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Saunders Beach, Queensland, Australia

~ Tales from the Past

Saunders Beach, Queensland, Australia

Tag Archives: Crown Land

George Saunders and Lord George

01 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by saundersbeachhistoryproject in LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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Crown Land, Elizabeth Annie Morris, Elizabeth Saunders, George Saunders, horseracing, JCU Library, Louisa Emma BENTON, National Library of Australia, Queensland State Archives, Springfield, Suffolk Punch, Townsville Times, Townsville Turf Club, Trove

Throughout his time in Townsville George Saunders exhibited a passion for horses. He gained an income through trading horses and breeding the Suffolk Punch draught horse. Training racehorses occupied much of his time.

Image 1. Horses on Saunders Beach, taken 2015. From the early 1880s the Saunders family resided at Springfield, a 2 100 hectares property which nowadays takes in the current Saunders Beach. The Saunders used to ride <a href="https://saundersbeachhistoryproject.com/2015/12/31/pioneers-4/" target="_blank">socially</a> on the beach and no doubt George Saunders used to train his racehorses on the beach.

Image 1. Horses on Saunders Beach, taken 2015. From the early 1880s the Saunders family resided at Springfield, a 2 100 hectares property which nowadays takes in the current Saunders Beach. The Saunders used to ride socially on the beach and no doubt George Saunders used to train his racehorses on the beach.

Lord George, a bay gelding and perhaps named for his owner, raced in the Townsville Turf Club’s 1875 Christmas Races.

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George Saunders’ Role in Queensland’s Kangaroo Cull

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by saundersbeachhistoryproject in LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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Australian War Memorial, Beach Banter, Crown Land, George Saunders, Queensland State Archives, Saunders Beach, Saunders Beach Community Centre Association Inc, Springfield, Thuringowa Divisional Board, Thuringowa Marsupial Board

Queensland became a separate British colony from NSW in 1859, cash poor but rich in land. The first parliaments knew a prosperous pastoral industry would generate income for Queensland through wool and beef exports so the politicians listened to the wants and needs of their constituents on the land.

One pressing complaint of the rural sector, both agricultural and grazing concerned kangaroos, wallabies and other marsupials. They ate food intended for both humans and stock and drank sparse water in drought-prone areas.

The situation couldn’t go on. Action was needed, action that took the form of a new law:

1877 Title

Image 1. The header of Queensland’s new law authorising a cull of kangaroos, wallabies and other marsupials. Image from the Queensland Government Gazette 1877 Volume XXI.

‘Destruction of Marsupials’ quite simply meant money for scalps. In the 1877 Act a scalp is defined as “a portion of the skin of the head of any marsupial to which both of its ears are attached”.

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New Year’s Eve 1891

31 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by saundersbeachhistoryproject in LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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Beach Banter, Black River, Crown Land, JCU Library, Mathew Index, nickel refinery, North Qld Herald, Queensland State Archives, Saunders Beach, Saunders Beach Community Centre Association Inc, Springfield, Thuringowa Divisional Board, Volunteers, Yabulu

The first Europeans to settle on what is now Saunders Beach were the Saunders family. They spent New Year’s Eve 1891 hosting a party for about thirty guests at their residence Springfield, north of the Black River.

The guests danced and sang and an enjoyable night passed too quickly, reports The North Queensland Herald of 6 January 1892 (available on microfilm at James Cook University).

On New Year’s Day “a riding party proceeded to a fine beach…where a pleasant picnic took place”. Afterwards some members of the party relaxed under the spreading trees while the more energetic rode races or walked along the beach. That night there was more dancing until the party-goers were exhausted.

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Memories of 30 Years at Saunders Beach

23 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by saundersbeachhistoryproject in LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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Althaus Ck, Atoll St, Cay St, crocodiles, Crown Land, david luxton, Halifax Bay, Jalloonda, les tyrell, mangroves, Ultralight

1997 Atoll St, Saunders Beach

1997 Atoll St, Saunders Beach

Saunders Beach History Project is pleased to share with you an oral history from a long time resident (“L.”), looking back at memories from Saunders Beach in days gone by. Included below is a recording and the transcript.

Listen

https://saundersbeachhistoryproject.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/soundtrack-saunders-beach.mp3

Way back in the dim dark ages (that is, 1971) an auction took place at the Land’s Office for 6 Lots at Jalloonda (now known as Saunders Beach). One lot in Atoll Street was successfully purchased by a man who many years later I met and married.

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The Mangroves of Saunders Beach

04 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by saundersbeachhistoryproject in BIRD LIFE, LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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Althaus Ck, Bohle, bush medicine, bush tucker, butterfly, crabs, crocodiles, Crown Land, flying fox, George Saunders, Halifax Bay, lanette west, mangroves, surveyors, Townsville City Council, wharves, Wulgurukaba, Yasi

Althaus Creek at Saunders Beach where mangroves line both sides in the intertidal zone. March 2011.

Image 1. Althaus Creek at Saunders Beach where mangroves line both sides in the intertidal zone. March 2011.

We now know that, “approximately 17% of Australia’s mangroves have been destroyed since European settlement, with mangroves near developing centres being removed and destroyed for land reclamation.” [Source]. Previously the enormous environmental value of mangroves was little understood. Just ask any barramundi fisherman about why we need mangroves!

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Saunders Beach History Project acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Saunders Beach, the Wulgurukaba people.

THANK YOU

Thank you everyone for your kind contributions of photos, stories and memorabilia to the history of Saunders Beach.
We at Saunders Beach History Project take great delight in hearing your memories of the Beach. Please email saundersbeachhistoryproject@yahoo.com or add a comment to one of the stories if you have something to share.

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  • Saunders Beach: Bird Smuggling Destination
  • George Saunders and Lord George
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24 Reef Street, Saunders Beach

The first permanent house in Saunders Beach, built for Bruce Robinson, grandson of George and Elizabeth Saunders. Photo by Judith Ecuyer, May 2009.

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