Partner of R. Towns & Co. in the north) pointed out the claims of a site at the mouth of Ross Creek, and, in June of that year, organised a party who made it their business to connect the site with the squatting runs of the interior. (See Map O.) In 1865, the port of Cleveland Bay was proclaimed, and the town of Townsville was founded.[1]
The Brothers William and Frank Hann, who had settled at Maryvale, on a branch of the Clarke River, a tributary of the Burdekin, had the honour of being the first to take wool to the new port for shipment. It may be mentioned that Townsville is now a "city" of nearly 28,000 inhabitants. It is also the starting-point of a RAILWAY, through the sugar lands of the Lower Burdekin to the older town of Bowen, of another to the sugar lands at the mouth of the Herbert River (Ingham), and of a main trunk line through the Cloncurry Copperfield (480 miles) and Mount Cuthbert Copper Mine (70 miles), passing through Charters Towers Goldfield and the great pastoral centre of Hughenden, with a branch to Ravenswood Goldfield ; and it must, at no distant date, reach the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The Brothers Hann early developed a passion for exploration, and their friendship and business connection with Richard Daintree had an influence in directing their energies. The achievement of the elder brother, William, who died in the eighties, alone comes within the province of this investigation, but it may be noted that the younger brother, Frank, during a long and adventurous life, has added greatly to our knowledge of the interior of Australia, from the east coast to the west, and until quite recently was still active in exploring the less known lands on the borders of Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
William Hann's Expedition was, to some extent, assisted by the Government, and had for its object "ascertaining, as far north as the I4th parallel of latitude, the character of the country and its mineral resources, with the view to future settlement and occupation." Its members were William Hann[2] (Leader), Norman Taylor, formerly of the Geological Survey of Victoria (Geologist), Thomas Tate (Botanist),[3] Frederick Warner (Surveyor), Stewart, William Nation,[4] and Jerry, an aboriginal.
- ↑ Queensland: Its Territory, Climate and Products. By Richard Daintree, Agent-General. London, N.D. (circa 1873), p. 7.
- ↑ Born in Wiltshire, England, 26th February, 1837.
- ↑ Tate (born 25th June, 1842) was one of the survivors of the wreck of the "Maria" brig, bound for New Guinea with a number of gold prospectors. Having previously been a medical student, he was rated on the ship's books as Acting Surgeon, and was generally known as Dr. Tate. He landed at Cardwell in charge of one of the "Maria's" boats in March, 1872.
- ↑ Nation left Maryvale station on 1st September, 1873, as a volunteer member of George de Lautour's party, with cattle for Port Darwin. Fifty-four miles past the Nicholson River, a disagreement with de Lautour led to Nation and Leonard Elvoy leaving the party. Having encountered floods and other difficulties, they were soon reduced to the brink of starvation, and had killed all their horses but one for food. From a camp near the Roper River, in the Northern Territory, Elvoy rode (150 miles SW.)
