BOOK  REVIEW  of       “People of Maroochy”      by Betty Garrad  

Compiled and edited by Genealogy Sunshine Coast, published 2009, soft cover, 188 pages, illustrated, list of sources, general index.

  ISBN  978-0-9803538-3-9.

 Cost $35 plus $10 postage from 

The Secretary, Genealogy Sunshine Coast, PO Box 1051, Nambour Qld 4560.

“A tribute to some of the people who helped shape the history of the Maroochy Shire”, the book consists of entries compiled from information gleaned from Pioneer records held by Genealogy Sunshine Coast, from newspaper records, from public records on file, and from contributed data.

A taste of the first 150 years of the history of Qld, as experienced in the old Maroochy Shire, has been provided in these stories. The page,“Those that came before”, tells of the Aboriginal tribes, with anecdotal references to Tom Petrie’s friend Karal. “The Legend of Maroochy” is delightfully presented in verse form by Jack Bade, who also contributed the article on the Bade family. There are over 100 articles, varying in length from a couple of paragraphs to a few pages. They feature men and women from all walks of life, some famous, like artist Hugh Sawrey, Olympic champion Jim Achurch, and Eddie De Vere, Chairman of Maroochy Shire for 15 years. Some are ordinary folk like Eddie’s brother Frank De Vere of Image Flat, Adam Pringle of Woombye, Ernest Middleton (“Middy”) of Buderim, Ernest Settlefield of Mapleton (the Lilyponds), Henry Dobe of Coolum and Charles Clarke of Mooloolaba, to name a few. But each of these “ordinary” folk made a difference to the community by the quality and quantity of services rendered.

Women of the district have not been neglected in this book.  Find out how many babies were delivered by Nurse Bade. Imagine Charlotte Kuskopf closing the doors so no one could sneak out early from the meeting in the Woombye School of Arts. Picture Bli Bli teacher Mrs Love riding her horse two miles to school side saddle. Older people will remember Ada Moloney, Norma Bury and Thelma Collins, the list goes on.

The book is well illustrated. I love the photo of the daughters of William Hilliam.

I feel this book has accomplished its aim in preserving a part of the local history of the Sunshine Coast. I enjoyed reading pioneer Matthew Carroll’s reminiscences in “Nambour’s Beginnings”. In it he wrote, “Too frequently ….. no written record was obtained from those persons whose lives and deeds should have formed the real stuff of history.” This book provides a peephole into the pioneering past and into the not-so-distant past. You will probably find a person or a place you once knew, between its covers. I recommend it as a great read.   

A list of contents demonstrates the range of stories and people outlined in this publication:

Stories written:

Foreword 3

The Legend of Maroochy 5

List of Contents 7

List of Illustrations 11

Alexander & Slade - Carriers to the Coast 15

Edvin Anderson (Vuolle) – Finnish Immigrant 17

Edward Henry Arundell 19

Charles Burke and his horses 19

Jim Achurch – Nambour’s Olympic Champion 20

William Aspland 21

The Bade Abode on Coes Creek Road 22

Nurse Bade 25

The Best Family in Eumundi 27

Heinrich (Harry) Bendixen 28

Norma Bury 28

Bertie Bennett 29

Blanch Brothers of Bli Bli 31

George Browne – Overseer to Yandina Station 34

George Chadwick 36

Mary Titcomb – a popular publican 36

William Henry Burton 37

Arthur Henry Brookes 38

Alice Briggs and her Perwillowen Post Office 38

Charles Clarke 39

Vic Duhs - weatherman 41

Butts – Pioneers of the Maroochy Business World 42

Thelma Mary Collins 43

Daniel Currie 44

E.B. Fox – Solicitor 45

William Cunning Senior & Junior 46

Charles Deans 47

Les Deans 49

One Man’s Life - E.O. De Vere 50

Frank De Vere - a quiet achiever 51

Eric Jeffries – Thunderstruck at Bli Bli 52

George Etheridge - Steamboat Lucy built at Petrie’s Creek 53

Joe Jenkins - builder 53

The Ensbey Family 54

Rod Smith – a good scout 55

Ada Moloney – Hospital Shop Pioneer 56

Erbachers – market gardeners since 1912 56

Marshall Espin 57

100 years of the Sherwell Family 58

George and Lena Eggmolesse 59

Evans – the Boat People 61

Owen Edworth Youngman 63

Three Generations of Fieldings 64

Florence Bartlett Achurch – Teenage driver 66

Eric Joseph Trestrail Foote 67

The Francis Legacy 69

Lil Bowman’s Cottage 70

Agnes Jones 71

Price Jones 72

Thomas Kuskopf – early pioneer 73

The Name of Lanham 74

Thomas & Ewan Maddock 76

John Henry Lefoe 77

Charles Edgar Ellison 78

William Pettigrew's Sawmill 79

Vivian Fagg – a popular schoolteacher 79

Thomas Kidd 80

Catherine Margaret Love - One Teacher’s Career 82

F. Taudevin – a skillful undertaker 84

Lucy Marriott – Land owner and Shareholder 85

Christopher Sharry – a brief life history 86

Ernest Middleton - “Middy” 89

The Brothers Parry 90

Eumundi’s Partridge Family 91

William Potts – a Maroochy Identity 92

George Pitman - Man with a motor car 93

Lewis Tutt - Teacher 94

Adam Pringle 95

The Pringles 96

May Pringle - Sportswoman 97

Dorothy Richards 98

Ed Sims and his motor cars 98

Gustav Adolf Reibe 99

William Samwell 101

David and Mary Sawrey 102

A Walk at Night 103

Hugh David Sawrey – Australian Artist 104

Ernie Setterfield - Man with a plan 105

James Shearer 107

Snippets of the Past from Grace Burne 107

William Skene – Carpenter from Aberdeen 108

Stan Whalley - Skeptic Extraordinaire 109

John Snook and Betsey Perren 110

William J. Smith – Mapleton Pioneer 111

The Tatnell Family - Farmers & fishermen 112

Going Fishing 113

Frank Wise – Farmer with a difference 114

A Plane Lands at Maroochydore 115

The Ensbey Family 116

The First Mail Service 117

Henry (Heinrich) August Keil - Bullock Driver and Selector 118

Robert Coe and his Monkey 120

Andrew Alfred McFadden 121

James Thomas McClintock 123

Island of Goats 124

Dick Caplick – Treefeller 124

Ann Jones – Postmistress 125

Charlotte Kuskopf 127

James Hamilton Carruthers 128

Lewis Herbert Collins – Maroochy Businessman 129

Henry Dobe – Shaping Coolum 131

Two Farmhouses on the River 132

Charles Benjamin Ellis Brown – Timber Rafter 133

Nancy Rose saw her future in Braille 134

The Daughters of William Hilliam 135

Mary Main Whitecross and the CWA 136

Franz Nyman 1857-1941 138

Sarah Axe – midwife to many 139

Mr and Mrs J.T. Lowe 140

George Albert Reynolds – a youthful Postman 141

The first mail service 141

Fred Fink – local historian 142

Daisy Bowder – Coast Pioneer creates a home 143

Mr & Mrs Henry Ernest Lowe 144

James Cusack Hassall 145

Three Generations of Cordwells 145

Nambour’s Beginnings –Mathew Carroll reminisces 146

Settlers in Ninderry Agricultural Village 152

Settlers in Gneering Agricultural Village 152

Names of some timber getters and suppliers 152

A Walk down Currie Street Nambour 1910 153

Sources 156