Townsville was named after Captain Robert Towns, of Sydney, of the firm of R. Towns and Co., who held stations inland from Cleveland Bay, and as it became necessary to open some other port north of Bowen, which had hitherto been the distributing centre, explorations were made by some of the managers of these stations, foremost among whom was Mr. Ball, the result being the discovery of the site of the present town, which was gazetted as a port of entry in October, 1865. On the 10th of that month, Mr. James Gordon arrived to perform the duties of Sub-Collector of Customs, and a great number of other official duties as well.
Cardwell is situated near the head of Rockingham Bay, opposite the north end of Hinchinbrook Island, and distant north-west from Brisbane about 950 miles, in latitude 18 deg. 16 sec. S., longitude 146 deg. 4 sec. E. Population of district and town, 3,435. The first settlement in the locality took place in 1863, and it became a place of considerable importance, being the nearest port on the east coast to the Gulf of Carpentaria, but since then other ports have been opened, offering greater facilities for shipping.
The first telegraph line from the east coast to the Gulf of Carpentaria commenced at Cardwell, but the expense connected with keeping the line open across the Sea View Range and through the dense jungle on the coast side thereof, proved too great, and the route was finally abandoned. Up to 1873, Cardwell was the most northern port on the east coast of Australia, and the port of entry for the Herbert River district. The town is now in a languishing state, but the excellence of the port may yet redeem it from obscurity.
It was from here that Kennedy’s expedition took its final departure for the north early in June, 1848, and in connection with that memorable event, we may quote a paragraph recently appearing in a Queensland journal:—
“A SAD REMEMBRANCE BRINGS.”
Recently a remarkable discovery was made at the foot of the Coast Range to the north of Cardwell—relics of the vehicles left by Kennedy, the explorer, when on his ill-fated journey up York Peninsula. It may be remembered that the party landed at Tam O’Shanter Point, Rockingham Bay, on May 30th, 1848, and that on July 18th the carts were abandoned, the party going on with twenty-six pack horses and fifty sheep. The story of the fate of Kennedy and nearly all of those who accompanied him has been frequently told, and the discovery of the remains of the carts, which have lain for nearly half a century in the jungle, revives interest in one of the saddest episodes in Australian exploration. The exact locality of the relics is kept a strict secret, the possessor of the secret being of opinion that he should profit by it. No doubt the Government would be glad to secure information which would enable it to establish the authenticity of statements which have been made on the subject.
The first intimation the southern parts had of the existence of gold in the north was a telegram from Cardwell dated September 9th, 1873. It ran as follows:—“Prospectors Mulligan, Brown, Dowdall, A. Watson, and D. Robertson, got one hundred and five ounces on the Palmer River, which they prospected for twenty miles. They say nothing of the country outside the river. Nearly all are leaving here.” This news spread like wild-fire and created a great sensation all over Australia; the difficulty was to get to the Palmer quick enough. The Government sent Mr. Bartley Fahey, Sub-Collector of Customs at Normanton, to explore the Mitchell River in order to open communication from Normanton towards the new field. Mr. G. E. Dalrymple, leader of the north coast expedition, was ordered to proceed to the Endeavour River, and he arrived at Cook’s Landing on October 24th, 1873, but the expedition was recalled. In the meantime, the A. S. N. Co.’s steamer, the “Leichhardt” (Captain Saunders), left Brisbane on October 15th with some members of the Endeavour River expedition on board. Mr. A. C. MacMillan and his party were taken on at Bowen. The “Leichhardt” arrived at Townsville on October 20th, and took on all the horses, forty-six in number, and one hundred and fifty diggers, all for the new Palmer rush. Mr. Howard St. George and party embarked at Cardwell, and on Saturday, October 25th, 1873, the “Leichhardt” was made fast to the mangroves on the Endeavour River, in sixteen feet of water, and the new township began its existence on the site where the famous navigator, Captain Cook, on June 17th, 1770; beached his damaged vessel for repairs. The gold fever was irresistible, and helped to lift the town into prominence at once, drawing people from all parts of Australia. Four months after the landing of Mr. St. George, J. V. Mulligan, arriving from the Palmer field, described Cooktown as a large progressing township, about half a mile long, with stores, public houses, and shops of all sorts, with steamers and other boats coming in and going out every few days, and containing not less than two thousand people, though some estimated the numbers at a much higher figure. Cooktown dates its existence from the landing of the passengers by the steamer “Leichhardt” in 1873. The first Police Magistrate appointed was Mr. Thomas Hamilton, who also acted as Sub-Collector of Customs. Mr. James Pryde was the first Clerk of Petty Sessions. When the first court was held on December 27th, 1873, it was to deal with the charge of stealing a goat from Townsville.
Mr. Gold, Commissioner St. George, and Mr. A. C. MacMillan, soon started on their expedition after landing at Cooktown, accompanied by eighty-six diggers, the command being one hundred and eight strong. They reported finding a good track to the Palmer. One reminiscence of their journey remains in the name of the original track, which is now known as Battle Camp, because the natives came down from the adjoining hills to dispute the right of the white men to travel through their country. Things in Cooktown kept booming along, and in April, 1874, there were from three to four thousand people camped between Grassy Hill and the outside boundary of Cooktown. During that month, sixty-five publicans’ licenses were issued, and thirty more applied for; there were also twenty eating houses, twelve large stores, twenty small ones, six butchers, five bakers, three tinsmiths, four tent makers, six hairdressers, seven blacksmiths, besides doctors, chemists, fancy shops, watchmakers, bootmakers, saddlers, etc., in proportion, and all going full speed ahead. Until the discovery of the Palmer field, and the opening of Cooktown, Cardwell was the most northern port of call on the Queensland eastern coast, and was the telegraphic centre of news from the Etheridge and Gilbert goldfields. The golden news from these far northern diggings was of a most glittering nature, but there was a reverse side of the picture in the hardships and privations endured.
In 1874, the Cooktown “Courier” was started, and shortly afterwards the “Herald.” The journalistic standard of the early days of Cooktown was esteemed, comparatively speaking, brilliant. The Queensland National Bank opened a branch there in 1874, followed by the Bank of New South Wales and The Australian Joint Stock Bank. Religion was not neglected either. In 1876, Cooktown was proclaimed a municipality, and from thence to 1878, it prospered mightily. Gold was plentiful, and its export was measured by the ton. The official returns in 1878 showed something over forty tons as having passed through the Customs, but that did not represent the measure of the enormous richness of the Palmer, as thousands upon thousands of ounces of gold were secretly taken away to China. Since then the goldfields have gradually dwindled down in their returns, and the Palmer of to-day, or even the Palmer of a few years ago, was not the grand and glorious field that made Cooktown rise like magic by the side of its splendid harbour. The later discovery of tin on Cannibal Creek, and the Annan River, again caused some stir in business, but of a much quieter description than in the halcyon days of golden light. The beche de mer industry has also been a great help to business people in Cooktown. The great red-letter day in Cooktown was the turning of the first sod for the Cooktown-Maytown Railway, on April 3rd, 1884, by the Mayor, Mr. Edward D’Arcy, when a tremendous public demonstration took place. Mr. George Bashford was the contractor for the first section, and he gave a great banquet on the occasion, inviting people from all parts of Queensland to be present. Like many other towns in Queensland, Cooktown in recent years has suffered from depression, but there is a solid future before it still. With one of the finest harbours on the east coast, it is the key to the Torres Strait route and to New Guinea. The reef-bearing country on the Palmer has still to be developed, and the great extent of this mineral wealth is as yet quite under-rated. Besides containing tin and coal in abundance, North Queensland has other grand resources in its back pastoral and agricultural country.