Foreword
“We ask for brevity for brevity is good,
Whether you are or are not understood”
Samuel Butler
This is a true story of a wonderful Queensland town (many call it home), and of a great river, the Burnett. It also details the lives of many people who, since the early 1870’s, have dwelt nearby.
By utilizing a modicum of physiography and an abundance of painstaking research and dedication, Richard and John Connor have produced an enthralling account of Bundaberg’s early days.
I can recall the well-known rugby league announcer of yesteryear, George Burnett Lovejoy, himself a Bundaberg boy, declaring “Bundaberg, the greatest town of all.”
Who of Bundaberg’s older residents has not heard of Alex Walker, born 186 years ago in Scotland and of The Steuart brothers, John and Gavin - Scotsmen all; and of Robert Knight, born in England 196 years ago? Read on about these and others who are typical of the pioneers who helped with the founding of Bundaberg.
Would you believe: In 1872 there would have been fewer than one hundred Clydesdale draught horses in the Bundaberg district but, by 1888, this number had increased to over one thousand? or
That in 1882 the largest sugar refinery in the southern hemisphere was located in Bundaberg ?
Thank you Richard for the opportunity to provide this foreword - we trust that this book will be enjoyed by your children, your grandchildren, your friends and by the wider community.
William Harvey (Bill) Mellor
The Last Mayor of Gayndah Shire; and Grandson of William Buxton Mellor
Mr. William Buxton Mellor was co-founder, with Mr. Michael
Joseph Reddan of pioneering Bundaberg’s
REDDAN & MELLOR
GENERAL DRAPERS TAILORS & MERCERS
Established in 1886
and, Gayndah is, in the historical sense, Bundaberg’s
sister town on the Burnett River and a base for early
explorers of the lower Burnett
May 2012