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Saunders Beach, Queensland, Australia

~ Tales from the Past

Saunders Beach, Queensland, Australia

Tag Archives: George Saunders

Saunders Beach: Bird Smuggling Destination

29 Sunday Oct 2017

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

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André Sabbé, Australian native birds, bird smuggling, George Saunders, Jalloonda, Laurie Friswell, NanKivell, nickel refinery, Queensland State Archives, Springfield

Tuesday the 25th February 1964 was two nights before a new moon. At 8pm on that day darkness had closed around Saunders Beach. The Melisande, a sleek, steam-driven clipper, glided to a stop in shallow water about one kilometre from the beach. She was answering a beach bonfire.

Image 1. The Melisande was once owned by the King and Queen of Belgium. She had two engines each capable of 15 knots and allegedly sunk in Hong Kong Harbour in typhoon.

Image 1. The Melisande was once owned by the King and Queen of Belgium. She had two engines each capable of 15 knots and allegedly sunk in Hong Kong Harbour in typhoon.

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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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Saunders Beach Cyclone Story Sign

01 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by saundersbeachhistoryproject in COMMUNITY ACTIVITY, LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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Bureau of Meteorology, Cyclone Althea, Cyclone Leonta, Cyclone Sigma, Cyclone Yasi, George Saunders, Ross Creek, Saunders Beach Rural Fire Brigade, Thuringowa City Council, Toolakea Beach, Townsville City Council, Townsville Enterprise Ltd, Townsville Grammar, Volunteers

The 2016-17 cyclone season starts today, 1st November 2016 with the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology launching its cyclone warning service for 2016-17.

Since 2007 Saunders Beach has had a constant reminder of cyclones in the form of interpretive signage in Saunders Park, at the northern end of Reef Street.

Image 1. The Saunders Beach Cyclone sign. Designed and installed by Thuringowa City Council.

Image 1. The Saunders Beach Cyclone sign. Designed and installed by Thuringowa City Council.

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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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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
  • Wulgurukaba People – Ethno-Botanical Trail at Jezzine Barracks
  • Saunders Beach Cyclone Story Sign
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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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