hopevale

The Hope Valley Mission, at Hope Valley, was run by Lutheran Church Missionaries. Previously known as the Cape Bedford Mission, it was established around 1896 and closed in May 1942 when the site was taken over by the Australian Army and its residents were removed to Woorabinda, near Rockhampton. It reopened as the Hope Vale Mission in around 1950. The Hope Valley Mission was established when the administrative centre for the Mission at Elim moved to Hope Valley. Before the second world war, the Mission consisted of a number of hamlets or settlements at Springhill, Bridge Creek, and Elim with the administrative centre located at Hope Valley. Hope Valley was known as 'the school station'. This was where the Superintendent's house, the church, the school and the dormitories were situated. All of the Mission children of school age were sent to live in the dormitories at Hope Valley as this was where the Mission school was situated. The Hope Valley dormitories were also used to house orphans or children whose parents were not living on the Mission. The Mission's policy in 1939 was that it was better that Mission children were institutionalised rather than be with their parents. In 1941, 131 children were registered as inmates of the institution. In May 1942, residents of Hope Valley Mission were removed to the Woorabinda Aboriginal Reserve, over 1,000 kilometres south. The Mission site was subsequently taken over by the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Air Force, United States Army and the Civil Construction Corps. The mission reopened in around 1950, with the new name of Hope Vale. Source: www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/qld/biogs/QE00828b.htm

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According to an Honours thesis by Therese Forde (1990), Army Intelligence regarded the Lutheran Superintendent (George Schwartz, who was of German descent) at Hope Vale with suspicion, and he was taken into internment on 17 May 1942. Forde writes that when the army came to Hope Vale the mission itself was levelled: 'crops of maize, sweet potatoes and fruit were flattened, and the R.A.A.F. built an aerodrome and runway on the site' (p.41) Forde writes that while some elderly people were sent to Palm Island from Hope Vale, the majority were taken to Woorabinda in an arduous journey 'by steamer, train and cattle truck'. A Queensland Government website states that 60 of the Cape Bedford people died while at Woorabinda. The high death rate amongst the Cape Bedford people was partly attributable to inadequate housing and medical care at Woorabinda. The residents from Hope Vale were not equipped with clothing, blankets or bedding that was appropriate for winter conditions in southern Queensland. Forde writes that many people died from pneumonia shortly after their removal from Hope Vale. Source: www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/qld/QE00829

This was the first mission on Cape York Peninsula, and became the oldest surviving mission in north Queensland. It was initiated by Lutheran staff from Cooper Creek (South Australia) who established Elim and it became a stable community with the assignment of two young Neuendettelsau missionaries, Schwarz and Poland who stayed for 55 and 20 years respectively and added the Hope Valley site. The whole community was evacuated during World War II, because of its German missionary and lugger connections with Japanese. After the war Hope Vale was established on a new site. Outspoken and indomitable Missionary Schwarz is still remembered at Hope Vale which has remained a cohesive community and is home of a number of active and high profile indigenous activists. Source: missionaries.griffith.edu.au/qld-mission/cape-bedford-mis...