Travel from NSW to QLD in the 19th century?

[Mary from Italy]

Oh dear.

I've just received a document from Australia that possibly throws one branch of my tree into total disarray.

Anyway, while I'm trying to work out what happened, can anyone tell me how people would have travelled from Sydney to Townsville in 1886?

Were there any trains? Would they have gone by boat, or overland? We're not talking about wealthy people here (it's the Inmans, Libby).

What surprises me is that my great-grandmother apparently made this journey almost immediately after giving birth. She had the baby in Sydney on 2nd January, and she was at Magnetic Island on 15th Jan.

Next question - what might she have been doing on Magnetic Island at that time? The baby ended up in Townsville Orphanage, but I assume there were orphanages closer to Sydney if she wanted rid of it, poor thing.

[Harrys mum]

Mary......just up and NEED cuppa. It is -4C here and our houses in tropical Qld are not built for the cold.

My Ariels roamed all over by ship in the 1850s to 1900s. There wouldn't have been trains that far north (I don't think). Magnetic Island, while being a true island is a suburb of Townsvile.

Leave it with me.

[Mary from Italy]

-4°C?? Good heavens. It's really warm here (about 30°C).

No, I don't think there'd be trains there either - according to Wikipedia, Townsville station was built in 1914, but it's easy to miss something obvious unless you have local knowledge.

I'm guessing she might have gone by boat, because the overland trip would presumably have been very rough in those days, but I have no idea what the boat trip would have cost.

[Harrys mum]

Haven't found much, Mary.............

The rail joined Brisbane to Townsville in 1905. there were a few rail lines in Townsville earlier but they were to Charters Towers and Longreach (all West of Townsville).

In the 1880s Magnetic Island (Maggie) was a picnic spot for the residents of Townsville and a resort was built there in 1890s.
Gold was discovered on Maggie in 1886.

Can you remind me of the exact names (pm if you prefer, or email) and I'll scout around.

****OH and I put an offer on a house in Tenterfield on the weekend.....will probably rent it out for a year, but will move there eventually****

[Mary from Italy]

Ooh, congratulations on the house! I'll send you a PM.

[Mary from Italy]

Ah, how stupid - I've just realised I've got the dates wrong. Libby told me by PM that it'd be practically impossible to get from Sydney to Townsville in a fortnight, and I've just realised where I went wrong.

The entry in the orphanage register correctly shows the child's birth as 2nd January 1886 in Sydney (I have the birth cert, so there's no doubt about that), but the date of admission is shown as 15 " " , and I took the ditto marks to mean January 1886.

But the entry is just one of many on the same page; all the others have been blanked out for privacy reasons. So the ditto obviously refers to the entry above, which I can't see. I'll have to e-mail Qld State Records and ask them for the date.

[dicole]

Oooh Libby, it will be a LOT colder in Tenterfield, than 4C. Its also been about that every morning this week in Parramatta and lots of frost on all our cars.

I think the only way to travel that far in 1886 would have been by boat up the coast. There were lots of coastal traders in those days, everything moved by ship.


Diane

[Mary from Italy]

I think the only way to travel that far in 1886 would have been by boat up the coast. There were lots of coastal traders in those days, everything moved by ship.

Yes, that's what I thought. Any idea how long it might have taken from Sydney to Townsville?

[Harrys mum]

Oooh Libby, it will be a LOT colder in Tenterfield, than 4C. Its also been about that every morning this week in Parramatta and lots of frost on all our cars.

I think the only way to travel that far in 1886 would have been by boat up the coast. There were lots of coastal traders in those days, everything moved by ship.


Diane

Diane.....it was -4C this morning, not 4C. -8C at Tenterfield. We spend a fair bit of time there now so used to the cold. The main difference is that it got to about 20C here today but only 10C at Tenterfield.

Mary......definitely by boat, but how long I'm not sure. It took 13 days to get from Melbourne to Rockhampton (similar distance) in 1858. Not sure if it became quicker later, or even if there was a stopover on that trip.

[Mary from Italy]

Ah, thanks, that at least gives me an idea of the time scale involved.

[Uncle John]

The rail joined Brisbane to Townsville in 1905. there were a few rail lines in Townsville earlier but they were to Charters Towers and Longreach (all West of Townsville).

Just been watching a rerun of "Down the Line". Scott McGregor was doing a circuit of obscure QLD railways, starting from Townsville to Charters Towers on a freight train.