Tag Archives: JCU Library

George Saunders and Lord George

01 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by in LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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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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New Year’s Eve 1891

31 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by in LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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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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