innisfail

Mourilyan is a town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was established around the Mourilyan sugar mill which provided much of the employment in the area until it was destroyed by Cyclone Larry on 20 March 2006. Construction of the Mourilyan sugar mill began in 1882, rendering it among the oldest in Australia. Excavation of the site was undertaken mainly by Kanakas, with assistance from Chinese and Anglo-Saxon laborers. After its completion in 1884, the mill had a processing capacity of 14 tonnes of sugar per 12-hour shift. In 1913, the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (now CSR) began purchasing sugar refined at the mill. Mourilyan remained a small settlement, growing only very slowly since. Mourilyan is prone to tropical cyclones; in 1918, a cyclone caused serious damage to the mill and surrounding community, having a drastic effect on sugar production in that year. In 1986, Cyclone Winifred also caused substantial damage to the area. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourilyan%2C_Queensland .

Kanakas were workers (a mix of voluntary and involuntary) from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Queensland (Australia) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They also worked in California and Chile (see Easter Island and Rapanui people as related subjects). "Kanaka", originally referred only to native Hawaiians, from their own name for themselves, kānaka ʻōiwi or kānaka maoli, in the Hawaiian language. In the Americas in particular, native Hawaiians were the majority; but Kanakas in Australia were almost entirely Melanesian. In Australian English "kanaka" is now avoided outside of its historical context, as it has been used as an offensive term. According to the Macquarie Dictionary, the word "kanaka", which was once widely used in Australia, is now regarded in Australian English as an offensive term for a Pacific Islander.[1][2] Most "Kanakas" in Australia were people from Melanesia, rather than Polynesia. The descendants of 19th century immigrants to Australia from the Pacific Islands now generally refer to themselves as "South Sea Islanders", and this is also the term used in formal and official situations. Most of the original labourers were recruited or blackbirded (kidnapped or deceived) from the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and New Caledonia, with others from the Loyalty Islands. Under the government-controlled terms of engagement in Queensland, Melanesian labourers signed on for three years and, at the end of that time, they received a pre-paid passage home. They had accumulated savings which they collected before departure from their bank savings accounts to spend on prized manufactured goods. After 1863, more than 62,000 Islanders were brought to Australia; in 1901, about 10,000 were living in Queensland and northern New South Wales. The majority of those were repatriated by the Australian Government between 1906 and 1908, under the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901,[9] legislation supporting the White Australia policy. Some were exempted on various grounds, including marriage to Australians. The descendants of those who avoided deportation today form Australia's largest Melano-Polynesian ethnic group. Many Australian South Sea Islanders are also of mixed ancestry, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, for whom they are often mistaken. As a consequence, Australian South Sea Islanders have faced forms of discrimination similar to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. After 1994, the Australian South Sea Islander community was recognised as a unique minority group, following a report by the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, which found they had become more disadvantaged than indigenous Australians. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanaka_(Pacific_Island_worker)

1885, Apr 2:- The Electric Telegraph Station at Geraldton was opened. Mr. D. Campbell was the Postmaster of the Post and Telegraph Office at the time and received £30 p.a. for his duties. Apr 7:- The Telegraph Line from Cardwell to Johnstone River was finally completed and handed over to the government. The Line followed along the route of the cattle and horse track of Scheu and Stamp. 1886, 14 private boxes were installed at the Geraldton Post Office, however, due to the decline in the need for this service by 1890 only 9 lock boxes were in service. 1906, Jan 28:- Severe Cyclone which crossed the coast near Cairns, devastated Geraldton (Innisfail), destroying buildings and crops. 1910, Jan:- Tenders were called for the construction of a new Post Office on a new site of the corner of Edith and Rankin Streets. J. G. Corbett's tender for £1327, being the lowest, was accepted. May 18:- "Geraldton" was changed to "Innisfail" 1911, Feb:- The New Innisfail Post Office was finally completed. Source: www.users.on.net/~davidcleslie/innisfail/innichron.htm

The Catholic Church in Innisfail is dedicated to Mary, Mother of Good Counsel (‘Mater Boni Consilii’), a title of Mary, Mother of God, closely associated with the Augustinian Order of priests, who served this parish from the 1880s to 1993. The present church on the corner of Grace and Rankin Streets was the third built in Innisfail. In 1885, the land was purchased in Owen Street for a church that was built in 1891. It stood on the hill facing Owen Street, approximately where the storage shed adjacent to the presbytery carport now stands. Beside it on the Grace Street side of the hill was a separate bell tower. This church was dedicated to the Mother of Good Counsel. It suffered significant wear and tear in a short time, the result of termites, etc, and of severe heat and heavy rain. A cyclone in 1906 caused such further damage that it was decided to build another church. A second church was built, larger and stronger than the first, of silky oak and cedar, on the other side of the bell tower which survived the cyclone intact. On Sunday, March 10, 1918, a cyclone of unimagined ferocity caused enormous damage to the town and district and, although not completely destroying the church, making it irreparable. The church was rebuilt and reinforced several times as cyclones in this area were very destructive. On March 20, 2006, severe cyclone ‘Larry’ caused havoc in and around Mother of Good Counsel Church: windows were shattered, the church structure was weakened and in many places ruined as some of the roofing and the silky oak rafters were torn away. Flying debris from within and without made the church unsafe for the duration of the cyclone and for some time afterward. In 2009, the church was repaired and renewed; there has been a transformation – a death and resurrection. The severe damage provided the opportunity to redesign in particular the altar and sanctuary, to accord with liturgical requirements. This has been done by Architect, Steve Gleeson, who has highlighted theological insights of Vatican II using the best of modern methods and technology while preserving the integrity, simplicity, and harmony of the original design of the church. Bishop James Foley provided much helpful advice in the redesigning. Source: www.gcparish.org.au/Pages/History.html