This is an account of life in wartime Townsville. "Vivid recollections capture and convey the very atmosphere of the times of school of games Sunday School picnics the very houses we lived in. I felt myself drawn back to my own childhood. The seemingly effortless writing and detailed descriptions of places and events are evocative of a remarkable period in Australian history." - Nancy Armati Townsville.
A collection of stories drawn from the North Queensland Oral History Collection, to illustrate the life of children in North Queensland in the Federation era, 1890-1914.
Joe Clark came to Townsville with his family in 1912 from England. Within a few weeks of arrival the father died and twelve-year old Joe has to become a bread-winner to support his family. His first job was at Rooneys’ Sawmill, sweeping sawdust. He is a likeable lad and though he feels himself to be a despised ‘Pommy’, the men soon take to him. They share their midday crib and pass the hat around when he sings. Other jobs follow, feeding the plumber’s horse; creating the sound effects at the open-air Picture-Show and nippering on the railway to the new meatworks at Alligator Creek. Through it all Joe’s keen eye and lively mind don’t miss much that is going on in the Townsville of the day, the local characters, the opium dens, the illegal gambling and the shanties of Flinders Lane. There isn’t a thing he doesn’t know about every engine in town so it seems appropriate when at length his mother makes the financial sacrifice necessary to have him apprenticed at the railway. A boy’s-eye view of Townsville in the early years of the Twentieth Century
This is the story of Ray Fryer's 'making something worthwhile' of Urapunga, a run-down property on the Roper River. It is a story of years of rough living and hard work, learning to live in harmony with the tribal Aborigines, of coping with crocodiles, diseases among his stock, being cut off in the Wet and more.
Joe Clark came to Townsville with his family in 1912 from England. Within a few weeks of arrival the father died and twelve-year old Joe has to become a bread-winner to support his family. His first job was at Rooneys’ Sawmill, sweeping sawdust. He is a likeable lad and though he feels himself to be a despised ‘Pommy’, the men soon take to him. They share their midday crib and pass the hat around when he sings. Other jobs follow, feeding the plumber’s horse; creating the sound effects at the open-air Picture-Show and nippering on the railway to the new meatworks at Alligator Creek. Through it all Joe’s keen eye and lively mind don’t miss much that is going on in the Townsville of the day, the local characters, the opium dens, the illegal gambling and the shanties of Flinders Lane. There isn’t a thing he doesn’t know about every engine in town so it seems appropriate when at length his mother makes the financial sacrifice necessary to have him apprenticed at the railway. A boy’s-eye view of Townsville in the early years of the Twentieth Century
This is an account of life in wartime Townsville. "Vivid recollections capture and convey the very atmosphere of the times of school of games Sunday School picnics the very houses we lived in. I felt myself drawn back to my own childhood. The seemingly effortless writing and detailed descriptions of places and events are evocative of a remarkable period in Australian history." - Nancy Armati Townsville.
A collection of stories drawn from the North Queensland Oral History Collection, to illustrate the life of children in North Queensland in the Federation era, 1890-1914.
This is the story of Ray Fryer's 'making something worthwhile' of Urapunga, a run-down property on the Roper River. It is a story of years of rough living and hard work, learning to live in harmony with the tribal Aborigines, of coping with crocodiles, diseases among his stock, being cut off in the Wet and more.
A story about the busy, fulfilling lives of the midwife's daughters as they assist their mother in taking care of all the new births in the town - Set in the early years of Australian history_
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