The Mysteries of Rooney's Pinch

Joan and Jerry Allingham of Stoneleigh, talked about in my last blog, would have passed a small outcrop called Rooney’s Pinch on their way to and from their property. Unlike the Allinghams whose story we know, who was ‘Rooney’ and why did he have a hill named after him?

Being an historian is like being a detective. You spend most of your time looking for clues and following leads. Many will be false leads even though they may sound possible. Some will be heading in the right direction and then peter out.  Sometimes you might build a convincing ‘case’ or story and stick by it only to find later that you have it all wrong. Other times you strike gold and solve the mystery.

Recently I was asked about Rooney’s Pinch, west of Ingham, adjacent to the Stone River Road in the upper Stone area. Did I know anything about it? I did a little cursory digging and what I have come up with is purely speculative but possible. See what you think.

Rooney’s Pinch is a small hill. Why was is called Pinch and not Hill?

Now that word is a bit of a semantic mystery.

‘Pinch’ can be applied to small hills and hamlets:

English place name books suggest that similar names with the pinch element could either be the Old English pinca which means finch or Later English pink meaning minnow. http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/ephraim.htm) 

Another theory suggests that the stinginess of the owner of the land could be why an area was called a ‘pinch’:

There is also one opinion that considers that field names with the pinch element refer to “derogatory names, ambiguously referring to parsimony and torture.” (Paraphrased from: http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/ephraim.htm)  

The Macquarie dictionary suggests that ‘Pinch’ means: a hill, a rise as in - This hill is a bit of a pinch; a slatey pinch, a rocky rise. (https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/aus/word/map/search/word/pinch/Western%20District/ )

From that can be suggested then, is that Rooney’s Pinch was so named because it is a ‘small hill’ or on the other hand it could be referring to the thriftiness or meanness of the mystery ‘Rooney’.

So who was Rooney? That too, remains a mystery without further extensive research. However, I have a theory. I speculate that Rooney was Matthew Rooney of Rooney Bros. (a firm of architects, builders and contractors) established in Townsville by Matthew and his brother John in 1882. They went into partnership with James Harvey, establishing a timber-milling arm of their business.

Now M. Rooney was not a rare moniker in Ingham and Townsville as a search of old newspapers into the twentieth century show. There are M. Rooneys (including Matthew Rooneys getting up to all sorts of good as well as criminal behaviour).

So why do I speculate that Rooney’s Pinch could be taken from Matthew Rooney, respected Townsville builder?

In 1882, in the same year that Matthew and Harvey paired to go into business, a M Rooney and a J. Harvey take up neighbouring blocks in the Parish of Berwick (aka Stone River) as attested by this newspaper reference from the Queenslander, Saturday 30 September 1882, page 2 and consequent Parish of Berwick maps.

INGHAM. Before Commissioner Berwick, on the 30th August. SELECTIONS.—Accepted: W. G. Ewan, 1280a.,

Newton, 1280 a., Lannercost; J. Cassady. 1280 a., Berwick; W. C. Miller, 80a., Trebonne; H. B. Heaphy, 1000 a.. Trebonne; J. E. Palmer. 1000 a., Waterview; J. Harvey, 200 a., Berwick ; M. Rooney, 200 a., Berwick; A. Camp bell. 200 a., Cordelia; A. E. Cummins, 158 a., Berwick ; H. Stone. D. M'Auslan, J. Olson, A. S. B. Sutton, R. Hutchinson, T. Gibson, W. Harvey. J. Bonning. C. Bonning, each 160 a., Berwick. Re jected : J. M. Parkes, 1280 a., Garrawalt; B. Lynn, 1280 a., Marathon; K. A. Goldring, 1280a., Garra walt. Adjourned: W. L. Lynn, 160 a., Marathon.

It was not uncommon for people at that time to speculate on sugar land in the Herbert as in 1881 the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) had arrived in the Valley and had started to build its mill (Victoria Mill) while the Melbourne firm of Edward Fanning, Thomas NanKivell and Sons had also arrived and was building the second Gairloch Mill (1881) and had bought other defunct plantations. People had hopes of getting rich on sugar. While CSR, which had the money to lay an extensive rail system and used steam locomotives, would be anticipated to extend its line from Victoria Mill to the outlying areas such as Stone River.

And indeed, that is just what the Company did, and the line became an important one for the transport of not only sugar cane but goods and people. An article in the Northern Miner 3 September 1908, page 6 entitled “On the Stone River: ‘Along the line’” mentions M. Rooney’s landholding at the terminus of the CSR line. The area was described as “magnificent pockets of the richest land” where you can “grow anything on earth”. Even beyond the need for a terminus with storage shed, Rooney’s Pinch remained a designated siding on the Mt. Fox CSR line.

Matthew Rooney. Source: https://www.historicyongala.com.au/about-us/

Map. Parish of Berwick, County of Cardwell, September 1923

Whether M. Rooney and J. Harvey ever made good of that rich land I am not able to say. We do know however, that, unfortunately, Matthew's life ended prematurely and under tragic circumstances.

Matthew, his wife and daughter were among the 122 people, passengers and crew on board the SS Yongala when it sank, on 23 March 1911. En route from Melbourne to Cairns the Yongala encountered a cyclone and sank without a trace south of Townsville, just off Cape Bowling Green. There were no survivors.

Besides the mystery of the naming of Rooney’s Pinch is the tale of an Afghan trader or hawker who is rumored to have been buried somewhere on or around Rooney’s Pinch. FACT or FICTION?  Look out for the next blog!

SOURCES:

Paraphrased from: http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/ephraim.htm

https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/aus/word/map/search/word/pinch/Western%20District/

“Ingham,” Queenslander, Saturday 30 September 1882, 2.

“On the Stone River: ‘Along the line’,” Northern Miner 3 September 1908, 6.

Stoneleigh and the Allinghams

When your only water supply is rain water you have to think about how you use every drop. Joan Allingham recalled that when she lived at Stoneleigh: "The day I shampooed my hair, I washed Jerry's work socks in the same water."
I had the privilege to work with Joan Allingham when we were on the founding committee of the Herbert River Museum Gallery - the initiative of Vi Groundwater (Councillor) and and her good friend Josie Sheahan (Shire Librarian). She and I formulated the Acquisition Policy. An acquisition policy is important to a local museum because it ensures that the collection items are strictly local, and that there is a provenance for each item so that labelling of the item, whether it be held in the storeroom for static display, or displayed permanently, is correct and  permanently filed for changing museum 'curators'.
I loved Joan's stories of her time spent at Stoneleigh. Joan was a nurse and I recall one story of a friend she had who nursed at the Tully Hospital who rode her BICYCLE from Tully to Stoneleigh to visit Joan. Imagine how long and strenuous that ride would have been on the road/highway as it was then. A feat of daring for those days.
She also told me of how one day when there was an escapee loose from the Stone River Prison Farm, a friend played a trick on them while they were away from the house. On their return they found evidence of somebody having been in their house. They thought it was the escapee and got quite a fright!
She also was interviewed for the little publication: As We Were Volume 1 Doorways to the Past.
Here is her story in her own words:

What's in a name?

Does your property or house block have a name? Ours does. We call it Ninemile after the locomotive siding near our house: a name given to that siding by the then CSR Victoria Mill's administration over 100 years ago. All over the Herbert River Valley there are properties that have either retained or abandoned the names which their owners gave them.
In the early days, even when properties changed hands, the new owners retained the names. Romantic, fanciful or reminiscent of home country, they are glimpses into a past era. Pastoralist James Atkinson named his holding Farnham while James Cassady called his Mungalla. Planters, for instance, have bequeathed us Bemerside, Gairloch, Macknade and Hamleigh. Smaller property owners gave their properties names too.  So we had Antigua, the farm of Leonard Hartwell, Stone River and Mona and Eaglefarm of John Lely. Others, who were small farmers and founders of the Herbert River Farmers' Association similarly gave names to their farm holdings.  John Alm had Groseth, Francis Herron, Dumcree, Harald Hoffensetz, Rest Downs, James Herron, Emma Vale, Henry Faithfull, Hornsey , Niels Christian Rosendahl, Gumby, Arthur W. Carr, Oakleigh and August Anderssen, Riverview.
Passing through Cordelia, one property is still to this day clearly identified as Brooklands. Who owned that property?
The property has been owned by successive generations of the Pearson family who moved a former Gairloch Plantation house to the site. Today it remains as one of the oldest homes in the district. The Pearson men became synonymous with the Herbert River Farmers' League, the successor to the Herbert River Farmers' Association.
Daniel Pearson, an early supplier of Ripple Creek Mill, represented the Herbert River Farmers' League at the 1906 Sugar Industry Labour Royal Commission. His son Roy Villiers Garthorne Pearson, born in Ingham on 29 October 1891, was President of the Herbert River Farmers' League as was his son John Bartley Pearson. also born in Ingham on 25 March, 1920. He died at the age of 84 on the 25 September, 2004. As president of the League he was responsible for keeping it functioning through times of significant change in the Australian sugar industry. He told his story for a little publication: As We Were, Volume 1: Doorways to the Past published by the Herbert River Museum/Gallery.

Source: As We Were Volume 1: Doorways to the Past. Presented by the Herbert River Museum/Gallery Inc. n.d.

Walter John Milne, a forgotten Ingham identity

Have you ever given much thought to the building occupied by ROCKMANS? If you look up at the rather nondescript façade you will read WM Walter Milne Estd 1929. I always think it is a pity that current business owners feel it necessary to paint over or cover over the history of their buildings, rather than proudly displaying the rich heritage that tells Ingham’s unique history.

Who was Walter Milne? Walter John Milne was born on 9 April, 1891 to Jessie Sewell and Ernest Milne.  He was married to Bessie Crossman Clements on 8 December 1919. He served with 41^st Australian Infantry Battalion as a corporal and used that experience as a banner to advertise his business on Stokes Street, Townsville in 1920. Amongst the many roles he advertised was Auctioneer.  He then moved his business in December 1921 to the Bank of Queensland Chambers next door to Lennons Limited on Flinders Street. By 1929 he had moved to Ingham and had established his business at 65 Lannercost Street, while living with Bessie in Selby Estate.

In Ingham he acted as an auctioneer and commission agent. He also acted as an agent for firstly, the Australian Cooperative Fertilisers Ltd. (during his time in Townsville) and later for sulphate of ammonia for Fertilizer Distributors Pty. Ltd. He was also an agent for the insurance company, AMP. Other well-known auctioneers at the time in Ingham were George Groundwater and Felix Reitano (whose business survives to this day). Milne moved briefly away from Ingham during WW2 to Townsville to do contract work.

Like most businessmen he was public minded, holding positions on sporting bodies and the Ambulance committee. After the war when he auctioned ex-military horses and donkeys he donated his fee to the Red Cross.

In the early hours of Friday 29 May, 1942 he nearly lost his building to a fire which not only threatened his building, but the Hotel Central. Unfortunately, the fire destroyed Houng Yuen’s which was extensively stocked at the time, and the building occupied by F. J. Blackman, saddler. While Milne’s building was damaged by fire, the contents were saved. Significant to the saving of the other buildings in the main street, including not only the Hotel Central but the Shire Hall was a celotex (insulation) wall in Milne’s office. A hose was trained on the inside on it and as a result the fire would not ignite it. As well, several off-duty policemen came to the fire brigade’s assistance. Constable Blackford took the hose as a fireman ascended the balcony of the Central Hotel, training it against the encroaching fire. Fortunately, insurances covered the buildings and their stock.

While watching a cricket match in Townsville on Wednesday 31 October, 1951 Walter Milne collapsed as a result of a heart attack. He was rushed to hospital but could not to be saved. He was only 60 years of age. Bessie passed away on 16 June, 1960.

WM WALTER MILNE ESTD 1929

WALTER MILNE BUILDING, now ROCKMANS

 Group portrait of the NCOs of the 41st Battalion at Kemmel Hill. Walter John Milne: Corporal Of the 41^st Battalion AIF (second from end, right, back row)

 Source: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E01521

Australian War Memorial Australian 41^st Australian Infantry Battalion Image number: E01521

Date 22 January 1918.

Maker:Unknown Australian Official Photographer

Place made: Belgium: Flanders, West-Vlaanderen, Heuvelland, Kemmel, Kemmel Hill

Conflict First World War, 1914-1918

The Mafeking Tree and John (Jack) Simpson

Though isolated and few, the Herbert River Valley residents have never escaped being touched by major conflicts, being called upon often to play their part. The Valley provided volunteers, conscripts, machinery and horses for those conflicts. The Mafeking Tree, casting its shade where Lannercost Street divides to become Palm Terrace and Herbert Street, stands as a living reminder of not only a single conflict, but a local family and its contribution and sacrifice.

Stephen Simpson, a former Major in the British Army, arrived in Australia with his family in 1878. In 1882 he took the position of Post and Telegraph Master in Ingham. On his arrival in Australia in 1878 his son John (Jack) was only a baby. As Jack grew up he developed horse riding and bush skills that would stand him in good stead when in 1899 Britain found itself at war and it put out the call for Australian volunteers.

This war was the Boer War. What is now South Africa was formerly made up of the British held territory called Cape Colony and the Boer held Transvaal and Orange Free State. The Boers or Afrikaners were descendants of Dutch settlers. On 11 October, 1899 the Boers declared war on Britain after Britain raided the Boer’s territory in 1896 in order to obtain control of gold mines there.

Horses from the colonial Australia were in demand by the British military. Captain A. Henry, an entrepreneurial Valley resident, bred horses for use by the British Army. With the declaration of war both horses and men were called upon by Britain for the war effort. 16 000 Australians volunteered with 606 casualties in what was described as a “bloody guerrilla war.”

In the Boer War most Australians fought in the mounted units and they were held in great esteem by the British for their riding and shooting skills. Jack served in the Queensland Mounted Infantry and was reputed to be a fine horseman and a tough bushman. He was among those troops besieged in the Town of Mafeking for seven months from October 1899 to May 1900 and was wounded during the relief operations. The British emerged victorious and peace was declared on 31 May 1902. Thereafter the Boer held territory became British territory.

Jack’s father planted the Mafeking Tree, a blackbean tree, on Palm Terrace to commemorate the military relief of Mafeking. Celebrations of a similar sort were held right across Australia simultaneously. Jack returned to Ingham after the Boer War. He died in 1939. Compounding the family’s grief soon after his death his son John James Simpson was a casualty of WW 2.

Jim Simpson, brother of Jack was responsible for the installation of a plaque in 1972 detailing history and significance of the Mafeking Tree. A further installation was erected at the Mafeking Tree in 2000 as part of the Ingham Heritage Trail, on the 100 year anniversary of the planting. The Council has since removed all those signs and the Trail no longer exists. The tree is the only known Mafeking Tree (Boer War ) Memorial in Queensland.

Jack was buried with military honours in an unmarked grave. In 2003 his unmarked grave was finally given a headstone. This only resulted after RSL president Lloyd Greentree located the grave and initiated the construction of the headstone. He endeavoured to ensure that the story of Jack Simpson lives on. However, sadly, an interpretative signage installed over Jack’s grave is now (in 2019) unreadable.

When next you pass the Mafeking tree spare a thought for Stephen, first Telegraph Master, Jack, survivor of “bloody guerrilla war” and John James, a life cut short in the WW 2. While manufactured dedications to these men deteriorate the tree stands as a living reminder of not only past world conflicts, but a local family and its contribution and sacrifice.

Stephen Simpson's grave, Old Ingham Cemetery. Source: Iconicingham

John (Jack) Simpson's grave, Old Ingham Cemetery. (Source: Iconicingham)

Mafeking Tree with both memorial plaques in situe. Source: Monument Australia,http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/boer/display/91639-mafeking-tree  

Source: Vidonja Balanzategui, Bianka.  The Herbert River Story. Ingham: Hinchinbrook Shire Council, 2011.

Dr John Markwell - a doctor of character and distinction

In a recent post on the Interpreting Ingham facebook page I posted a photograph of the former J.L. Kelly Memorial Public Library, now Ingham Picture Theatre and I was reminded by a reader that Dr. John Markwell leased a small room in the library building for his practice. He was one of several doctors of character and distinction that served in the district around the same time. Others of note were Doctors Giudice and Malone. During their lifetimes these doctors were community minded men and served on many committees and as members of service clubs.

Dr John Markwell is recalled very fondly for his willingness to go beyond the call of duty to attend his patients. He was a familiar sight with his little knitted wool cap on his head strenuously huffing and puffing on his bicycle popping in on a patient recuperating at home just to check that they were progressing well. His wife, Pam, was the radiographer as the Ingham General Hospital for many years while also serving as a councillor on the local Council. They purchased the famous Japanese House, which has been lovingly preserved by Dr. Markwell's son. It continues to be a significant built feature in the landscape of the Ingham township. For those interested to know more about the house The Japanese House Australia has a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The-Japanese-House-Australia-295522460617282/

Soon after the Herbert River Museum/ Gallery opened it published a little volume: As We were Volume 1 Doorways to the Past. It was a collection of memories shared by long-time residents of the Herbert River Valley. Amongst those was Dr. John Markwell. It is a valuable little collection, because unfortunately many of those who were interviewed have since passed away.

Dr. John Marwell's story told in his own words is shown here as it appears in  As We were Volume 1 Doorways to the Past.

The building in which Dr. John Markwell first practised: the J.L. Kelly Memorial Public Library. Source: Hinchinbrook Shire Council Library Collection.

I do not know whether copies of the volume are still able to be purchased but the Herbert River Museum Gallery has a facebook page and enquiries could be made there: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Herbert-River-Museum-Gallery/1072682732775133

Those interviewed were JOAN ALLINGHAM; MELBA BACKO; MARGARET BOARD; HONORIA COPLEY; ALEXANDER FRASER; WILLIAM HANSEN; ALAN HOBBS; GLEN HOBBS; JOHN MARKWELL; LINNEA ISOKANGAS; ALDO MORETTO; GINO PARIS; JOHN BARTLEY PEARSON; JOSEPHINE SARTORESI; MARY (MOLLY) SHANAHAN; LOUIE VALLE; JAMES WATT

MERCER LANE

Was Mercer Lane, like Mount Mercer now known as Warren’s Hill, named for John Mercer who is recorded as being the district’s first overland mail contractor? He was a pioneering homesteader who together with his wife Rebecca took up land on the south bank of the Herbert River.  Their first child, John, was born in 1870 and was the first European child born in the Lower Herbert, now Ingham area. 

It is possible that Mercer Lane was also named after John Mercer. Mercer Lane was once a laneway accessible for vehicles to the off street car park which is situated between Palm Creek and Lannercost Street. In 2009 a substantial amount of money was approved by Government to upgrade and improve Lannercost Street. The improvement included a closing of Mercer Land to vehicular traffic and construction of a 60 metre covered walkway the length of the Lane.

Today the laneway houses 42 metres of mosaic art panels depicting the history of the sugar cane industry of the Herbert River district. The concept was the brain child of local business woman Karen Venables and conceived by artist Kate Carr as an Artslink Queensland community public art project.  Community enthusiasm for the project is reflected in the funding provided by individuals, clubs, council and local businesses and the contribution of labour by over 2 000 locals and visitors. The medium of mosaics was used because it is an artistic form that can be quickly learned, and also because it is associated with the artwork of ancient Italy and Italians who to this day, make up a significant percentage of the local population.

The panels not only depict the sugar industry in all its phases, historically and industrially, but also the people who were affected by and contributed to the industry. The progression of the industry from hand held and horse drawn implements, to the mechanization of field work has been graphically detailed. The life style of a time long past when farmers could only attend meetings on a night when the full moon would light their way, to children dancing in a shower of cane fire ash or ‘black snow’, to a farmer’s wife carrying smoko to the paddock to a tired, dirty, hungry gang, all jump from the mosaic in life-like reality.

The representation of the historical events was drawn from research provided by historian, Bianka Vidonja Balanzategui and brought to life by the artistic interpretation rendered by Kate Carr. Interpretative story boards enable the viewer to appreciate the panels as both story and art work.    

Furthermore local families sponsored ‘tiles’ on which have been superimposed the story of their family’s contribution to the Herbert River sugar industry. In this way from cane cutter, to farmer, baker to shopkeeper, miller to inventor all those who have contributed to the industry that still sustains the Herbert River district are recalled.

 

Mercer Lane circa 1971. Source: http://www.cbcbank.com.au/images/Branches/QLD/QLD%20country%20I-L.htm

Mercer Lane 2019.

Dancing in the 'Black Snow'. Source: Photograph taken by Christopher Parry

Interpretative Plaque. Source: Photograph taken by Christopher Parry