mayors

When I first saw the picture, I thought it was San Francisco's Emperor Norton!

Little is known of Alexander Shiels' early life in Scotland. In 1830 he married Margaret Sinclair in Linton. Alexander was born in Linton, the sixth child of Alexander Sr. and Margaret. In 1853 Alexander Sr. and Margaret decided to migrate to Australia. The family of ten children minus the eldest son Tom, emigrated to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in the sailing vessel "Wacousta". Alex was thirteen years old and we presumed he finished his schooling in Melbourne. He entered the service of the Union Bank of Australia in Melbourne. In 1858 gold was discovered in the Fitzroy River, near Rockhampton which brought masses of diggers to the area. The gold strike was limited, but it opened the rich land of the Fitzroy River basin to farming and grazing. People settled and the embryo town of Rockhampton was founded --- a busy station for trade. Soon after Alex journeyed to Rockhampton, still in its infancy, where he was employed in the Australian Joint Stockowners Bank, which also had a branch in the early settlement of Bowen. By the end of 1859, the ports of Maryborough, Port Curtis, and Rockhampton were successfully established. Port Denison at Bowen became Port of Entry and Clearance about March 1861, though Pool Island was used earlier with supplies discharged onto lighters. On February 5th, 1863 Mackay was declared a Port of Entry and Clearance. On February 14th the first sailing ship "Murray" (Captain Till) arrived after an eight days journey from Rockhampton. Among the passengers were Alex Shiels and his wife. This was an adventurous voyage with the vessel having been forced to return to Keppel Bay twice with a cyclonic gale. In the first three years of 1864, Alexander Shiels bought the land. He set himself up as an auctioneer. In those early days, there were many public services needed for the newly developed township to function with law and order, and Alex Shiels being community minded applied himself to the tasks on hand. The first post office was opened in Mackay in 1863, and as more settlers opened overland routes a public meeting of the more influential residents of Mackay was held to petition the Postmaster General to obtain the postal services so urgently required. Alex Shiels was mentioned as attending the meeting. In 1866 another meeting was held when it was decided that the Government should proclaim Mackay a warehousing port (proposed by A..Shiels) and ask the shipping company A.S.N. to reduce the freight on wool. As a result of the petition to the Government, Mackay was declared a warehousing port on November 5th, 1866. Source: www.mackayhistory.org/research/mayors/002_shiels.html

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