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The Fig Tree, located on the corner of Roseberry and Auckland Streets, Gladstone, is a mature Ficus benjamina planted c1903 by local businessman James Friend in what was at the time, the horse paddock in the grounds of his Roseberry Street home, Elonera House. Gladstone township was established in April 1854, and the Friend family [Henry and Mary Ann Friend and their two small sons Harry (Henry jnr) aged 3 and James aged 1] were amongst its earliest settlers, arriving in 1855. Henry Friend snr was employed on the construction of Gladstone's first water supply. When this work was completed he established a general store in Toolooa Street, at the Barney Point end of town. As settlement gradually focussed further north, on Auckland Creek and the shipping trade, Friend established a shipping and forwarding agency, with his own wharf and warehouse, on the banks of the creek. He was a foundation alderman on Gladstone's first municipal council in 1863, and served as Mayor in 1866 and again in 1869-70. In 1875 his sons Henry and James took over the family general merchandising business as H & J Friend, with considerable success. In 1900 they moved from Auckland Creek to Goondoon Street, and in 1939 the business became a limited liability company known as Friends Pty Ltd. In 1954 the company celebrated 97 years of service to Gladstone during the centenary of the establishment of Gladstone in 1854. Source: apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=602385

The children at the mission learned to read and write in Guugu Yimidhirr (which had been transcribed earlier by the missionaries), and the girls helped in the missionaries’ houses and in the garden. It was routine for the girls to be confined to a dormitory each night and to have limited access to their families. Initially, the missionary Wilhelm Poland supervised them closely at Elim while the senior missionary, Georg Heinrich Schwarz, attempted to establish a second station at Hope Valley. This arrangement was altered in 1890 after the older girls, including Mulun, secretly invited Guugu Yimidhirr boys into their dormitory at night. Thereafter the older girls were periodically sent to Hope Valley to stay with Schwarz. Source: ia.anu.edu.au/biography/mulun-magdalena-29712

Lutheran involvement in the Cooktown area began in 1885 when missionary Johann Flierl stopped off at Cooktown on his way to New Guinea. He later received government permission to start a mission station. The original mission sites were at Elim and Cape Bedford. Elim became known as Hope Valley, and later Hope Vale. The Immanuel Lutheran Synod in South Australia supported work amongst the Gungu Yimidhirr people by sending missionaries C.A. Meyer, George Schwarz and Wilhelm Poland. At the outbreak of the Second World War the people, along with missionary Schwartz, were interned at Woorabinda, near Rockhampton, in Queensland. In just one month twenty eight people lost their lives with nearly a quarter of the people dying over the next eight years. In 1986 the community became the first to receive a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) and formed the Hope Vale Aboriginal Council. In 1997 a Native Title determination was made concerning the lands of the Hope Vale. Source: aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/MS...

The Guugu Yimithirr people like all Aborigines in Australia have been here for approximately 100,000 years. The Guugu Yimithirr first came to prominence in 1770 when they engaged with Captain James Cook and his crew on the good ship Endeavour. As is well known in history the Guugu Yimithirr hosted Captain Cook at present day Cooktown (Gungarr) for 7 weeks. During this time he not only had to repair the Endeavour he also met the Guugu Yimithirr people and engaged in dialogue along with Joseph Banks and Sydney Parkinson. They gathered a word list of the Guugu Yimithirr language and from this encounter the Guugu Yimithirr have been immortalised in the English language by giving the name to that giant hopping marsupial-Gangurru-Kangaroo. Hope Valley Mission was founded in January of 1886 by the Lutheran Missionary John Flierl. He was on his way to establish a mission in New Guinea but was held up in Cooktown and during the idle time he began work amongst the Guugu Yimithirr clans in Cooktown. He established himself as missionary on the Cape Bedford Aboriginal Reserve, choosing a spot on the bay north of Cape Bedford which he called Elim. Source: www.hopevale.qld.gov.au/history