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Saunders Beach, Queensland, Australia

~ Tales from the Past

Saunders Beach, Queensland, Australia

Tag Archives: Queensland State Archives

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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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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The Saunders’ Selections at the Bohle

11 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by saundersbeachhistoryproject in LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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Bohle, Cape Pallarenda, Halifax Bay, Qld Govt, Queensland State Archives, Town Common Townsville, Townsville City Council

Over the years ‘The Bohle’ has come to mean locations in the vicinity of the Bohle River. Geographical features bear this name – the Bohle Plains and Mount Bohle. As well, man-made features – Bohle Industrial Estate, Bohle River Bridge and the Townsville suburb of Bohle – carry ‘Bohle’ in their name. George Saunders selected his first Portion of Crown Land in the Parish of Bohle in 1873.

Image 1. The mouth of the Bohle. The cluster of houses on the left is Mt Low (Bushland Beach). Taken from Many Peaks Range in 2009.

Image 1. The mouth of the Bohle. The cluster of houses on the left is Mt Low (Bushland Beach). Taken from Many Peaks Range in 2009.

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The first European Settler in Saunders Beach

27 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by saundersbeachhistoryproject in LOCAL HISTORY, SAUNDERS BEACH

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Queensland State Archives, Saunders Beach, Springfield, West End Cemetery

The first European family to settle at Saunders Beach were the Saunders in about 1882. Continue reading →

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
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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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