Lower Burdekin Towns Historically Connected To Bowen, Proserpine And Whitsundays

The towns of the Burdekin Shire look towards Townsville for all our services. This was not always the case.  We have a new local newspaper, Burdekin Life, whose origins are from the Whitsundays.  Bowen started out as our centre back in 1861 and over the years it has continued to play a roll in our Burdekin lives.

Bowen, established in 1861, was the port of entry to North Queensland.  From Bowen, settlers and their supplies moved out into the country side.  The township of Wickham was established at the mouth of the Burdekin River for landing people and supplies along with Hamilton’s Crossing (Clare) on the Burdekin River.  The first paper that would have found its way to the Burdekin was the Port Denison’s Times whose owner and editor was Mr Raynor. Ayr, Brandon, and Clare were surveyed and established in 1882. One of the first businesses of Ayr was a store owned by Donald Miller whose headquarters were in Bowen. This building was on the corner of Queen and Young Streets today. His son Alex managed the business for a few years. Millers were in Ayr up till about 1901 when they sold out as the railway was opening up between Townsville and Ayr.  Many people settled on the new sugar-cane farms from Bowen.  

In the 1890’s another Bowenite, Mr William Henry Darwin came to work in Burdekin. He later became the owner of the Bowen Independent.  Some of his family and their descendants still live in the Burdekin today. The Cunningham Family of Strathmore in the Collinsville had a large land holding in the Ayr District from the late 1880’s until they shifted their headquarters to Strathmore in the early 1900’s. Ayr has a street named Cunningham Street near to the old Ayr Turf Racing track in South Ayr.

The Lands Department was based in Bowen until the 1890’s when it shifted to Townsville. Another interesting factor to our history and Bowen.  People born, married, and died in Home Hill were registered in Bowen up until the 1970’s. If you lived in Ayr, Townsville was the Register of Birth Deaths and Marriages.  A few years ago, we were in the Federal Electorate of Herbert based in Townsville. Today we live in the Federal Electorate of Dawson, based in Mackay. In the 1920’s some of our sugar was shipped through Bowen instead of Townsville.

Our history began from Bowen and we are still connected to Bowen.    Many Burdekinites have holiday homes in Bowen, Proserpine, and the Whitsundays.

If anyone would like to share some stories of your life and events of the Burdekin Shire in Burdekin Life, the Burdekin Life newspaper would like to hear from you.  

Contributed by Glenis Cislowski

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Grubb and Foote Shop in Queen Street, Ayr. Photo supplied