RIP Valma Anne Smith (nee Anderson)

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Glassford

Glassford is an abandoned mining town from early last century, which is now part of Dawes National Park. We have been here several times before, and seen the 2 standing chimneys, Blue Bag mine, boarding house chimney etc, but we had never been able to find the cemetery, where 5 children are buried. On Wed we arrived and had some lunch before setting off up the creek on our search. Within half an hour we had found it! It was both exciting, and a little bit of a let-down, as we then looked at each other and said 'what now' as we had been expecting to spend a couple of days on the search. There is very little to show for the cemetery. Someone has made a stamped sheet-metal plaque mounted on timber, and wired up onto a tree. This has the names of the children and dates of death. Beneath a lot of lantana, I saw a right-angle edge, and when we cleared around it found that is was the concrete memorial plaque for Ethel. We looked at other piles of rocks, but could find no further evidence of burials. I decided that I wanted to get a geotagged photo of each of the remaining visible features at the site, so we walked around and Darryl even took me up the hill to the explosives store, which I hadn't seen before. We also walked up the creek, which is flowing more than we have ever seen, and we sat on the rocks enjoying afternoon tea.

The next morning we walked along a road which went up and up and Darryl thought probably led to more mines. At the top of the hill was a warning sign of open shafts, and although there was signs of disturbance, we couldn't see any – mind you, we didn't spend a lot of time looking, as the grass was pretty long, and you don't want to stumble on one unseen.

Back at camp we had lunch, and I had a nap while Darryl walked along the creek. We then decided to head off, and drove to Kalpower State Forest, before finally stopping at Gaeta Recreational Reserve.

George Henry Charles Wright - 25 Nov 1921-9 Jun 2011

Like most kids growing up in the 20s, Dad was expected to pull his weight from a young age. He would always remind us that, from the age of 8, he had to milk the cows and turn it into cream and butter before running barefoot off to school. Forced to work hard from a young age instilled a strong work ethic within him, and helped create the success and drive he had in life. 

 
During the depression, finding work as a young lad was not easy and he had a variety of jobs.
At 15, he worked for Neville Bros assisting the mechanics, and cleaning up the machinery and floor, but after an altercation with an apprentice he was sacked and went to work in the laboratory at Goondi Mill helping the Chemist to collect and analyse cane samples. He would also deliver buns with Tommy Clarke while the delivery boy was on holidays, and was paid 2 bob a day plus all the buns he could eat.

From 15 to 18 years of age, he sometimes went to Ella Bay during the slack season to live, but also to the Atherton Tablelands where he worked for Fred McLeans to help plant corn, milk 60 cows, feed 200 pigs and drive ploughs with 6 horses. While on the Tablelands, he also worked with a butcher at Kauri making sausages and serving customers.
At 18, he worked with Uncle Bert as an assistant sugar boiler. During WWII he helped Jean Beck and Dick Clarke paint the water tower with camouflage paint. He worked at Chillagoe during the slack season from ages 19 to 20, and on the weekends, he would help herd cattle, and break in brumbies on properties owned by other workers. When Chillagoe shut down, he worked at Rotherine Park Station for 2 weeks, until he became sick of living on corn beef and damper, and left to work for the Main Roads around Almerdin, Herberton, and Hot Springs where he filled potholes with white ant nests, and
helped build bridges. He eventually returned to Goondi Mill to work full time as a Boiler Hand, and, during the slack season, he dived in the North Johnstone River to retrieve pulleys, and wagons etc
that were lost off the ferry during the crushing season. After working on the boiler floor for 6 months, he obtained his 3 class ticket, and became the winch driver for the carrier. He worked during the slack season to clean and paint the boilers. Once he completed his time with the carrier, he switched to driving the knives for two seasons (years). This was a 2nd class job and after 12 months and 1 day, he took on the job of driving the Shredder. After another 12 months ½ day he sat for first class ticket
qualifying at 26 as the youngest First Class ticket holder in Australia. During this period, he also worked overtime loading bags of sugar.

Some time after Mum and Dad married, Dad left Goondi Mill to take over pop’s cane farm on the Palmerston Highway. Here, he earned extra money by cutting wood for use in the boilers and by providing logs for the sawmill. He cut the logs by attaching the other end of a cross cut saw to a bicycle tube and this helped with the return stroke. 

Due to his hard work, the cane farm proved to be one of the best in Innisfail and produced 52 tons per acre, and due to his high CCS he received 15 shillings per ton more than his neighbours. After Nan and Pop sold the farm in the early 50s, Dad returned to permanent work at Goondi Mill on the boilers during the crushing, and crane driver/rigger during the slack. In January 1974 Dad left Goondi Mill to work in QAL where he worked his way up to be the top Panel Operator by the time he retired.
His story telling of numerous jobs led Marc to ask him “Poppa why couldn’t you hold down a job?” which gave him a good laugh. While he was younger, he helped his father build a couple of houses, improved the houses on the Palmerston Highway and Kurramine Beach, and built a house in Pine St.

In Innisfail, all the Wright’s were known as keen fisherman, and Dad really loved to fish. He built a plywood boat on the enclosed back verandah while we lived in Pine Street, and took the louvre frame out to shift it outside. He later purchased a fibreglass boat, and his most recent one was a tinnie. While we were growing up, most of our holidays were spent at Kurramine and Mission Beach, where he loved to fish with his family and friends. Later, after moving to Gladstone, Elliott Heads and back to Gladstone, he continued to enjoy his regular fishing.

Dad was always good for a yarn with many stories of the old days. In later years, with failing memory, meant we heard the same stories regularly enough to almost commit them to memory ourselves. Dad took up playing bowls when he moved to Gladstone, and continued playing after he retired to Elliott Heads, and on his return to Gladstone. He loved his bowls, and when he experienced difficulty playing he continued to play with a bowling arm. He won several trophies, and one of his wishes was to be buried with them.

When asked a few years ago about what he wanted on his memorial, Dad replied “At least I tried”

by Darryl

George's 89th Birthday

George turned 89 today. Darryl, Marc and I drove to Gladstone and  took him out for lunch. Here are the 3 generations.

George's 88th Birthday - 25 Nov 2009

Historic Buildings Walk Rockhampton 23 Aug 08

I have thought for a long time that I would like to lead a 'Bushwalk' on the Historic Buildings Walk in Rocky. We have many beautiful buildings, and some years ago a local group got together and put up brass plaques on the more significant ones. This was also linked to the 10,000 steps program, and a booklet was published telling of the individual histories.

Around 10 of us met up on the Riverbank across from the Criterion Hotel - the site of the first hotel, called The Bush Inn, in Rocky. We leisurely strolled along the riverbank, viewing and photographing the beautiful old buildings, while I read out some of the history. Our walk took us up as far as Derby St, with the Walter Reid Warehouse, which has now been converted to apartments, on the corner. We made our way to East Street and walked in a northerly direction until it ended at Archer Street, then we crossed the road to come back down East Street on the opposite side. My idea was that the view of the buildings was much better from the opposite side, although the plaques are attached to the buildings as named.
I had intended to continue up East St to Derby Street, but we ran out of time, so we went back to the Criterion, and drove to the 'Coffee Star' Cafe for a delicious morning tea. We will have the rest of the walk at a later time, and no doubt I will run it again at another time.

Tuesday 1 April 2008

We had a lovely weekend. On Saturday it was my birthday, and my recent strong desire for campfire smoke, (which couldn't be sated over Easter), resulted in us having a BBQ. Darryl fired up the wood BBQ - luckily the rain earlier in the day disappeared - and we enjoyed perfectly cooked scotch fillet steak, accompanied by creamy potato salad with bacon and egg, and fresh Greek salad made with fetta, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, spanish onion and kalamata olives. This was topped off with a rich chocolate mud cake, with thick ganache icing and cherries. It was a lovely, intimate, family gathering and we sat, chatting, around the glowing coals until around 11pm. Darryl took a lovely photo of me, with Shane and Marc. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and had a very relaxing weekend, and feel quite a bit better now.