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Townsville Customs House is a heritage-listed former customs house at Wickham Street, Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George David Payne and built from 1900 to 1902 by Crawford & Cameron. With its distinctive entrance portico and domed roof the former Townsville Customs House makes an outstanding contribution to an historic and aesthetic streetscape that includes Anzac Memorial Park, the former Queen's Hotel, the State Government Offices, Tattersalls Hotel, and the former Bank of New South Wales. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townsville_Customs_House#External_l...

Townsville's first Queen's Hotel, a two-storeyed timber structure, was erected at the corner of Wickham Street and The Strand in 1872, and was extended along Wickham Street in the 1880s. It early acquired a reputation as one of the best-kept hotels in Queensland, patronised by visiting dignitaries. In 1899 the property and license were purchased by John Henry Tyack. He raised a £14,000 mortgage on the property, and called for competitive designs to replace the timber building with a substantial brick structure. The original design was more modest in size than the final structure, extending along the Strand only as far as the eastern tower, and around the corner of Wickham Street for eight bays. It was erected in stages, with trade continuing from the original hotel on the corner of Wickham Street and the Strand until 1925. In 1901, Tyack purchased an adjoining block (site of the former North Australian Hotel) along the Strand, which permitted construction of the first section of the new Queen's Hotel, comprising the eastern tower and four bays to its west, c.1902. This section was extant by March 1903. In May 1904, Tyack replaced the first mortgage with one for £20,000, which probably financed construction of the second section, completed by 1905. This involved demolition of part of the timber building along the Strand, and the extension of the brick building a further six bays toward the corner of Wickham Street. The contractor was a Mr Boyle, and work was underway in January 1904. For the next twenty years, Queen's Hotel consisted of a brick wing along the Strand, and a corner timber section that continued back along Wickham Street. Source: mstrong.info/qsatwig/historic-places/townsville/queens-ho...

English-born John Greenwood Barnes arrived in Mackay in 1863 and was the earliest settler on the northern side of the Pioneer River. Barnes had spent ten years in Victoria, perhaps initially at the goldfields, but he had developed an interest in gardening. The Mackay Mercury reported in 1868, "Two young vigorous looking orange trees were blooming in foliage, their branches literally loaded with golden fruit, fast-ripening under the genial influence of climate and the good quality of the ground". But it was the coconut palms initially planted in 1867 which increased to a plantation of 1200 trees that brought real fame. "These trees, growing in a most luxuriant manner, produce very fine fruit which was of much larger size than those obtained from the South Seas." Cremorne was already a popular venue for weekend entertainment when in 1884, Barnes erected a two-storey hotel that featured a promenade roof. Attractions for children were provided and fundraising fetes and concerts were held in Cremorne Gardens, which were possibly based on Cremorne Gardens in Melbourne, rather than those in London. developing his gardens by his father-in-law and former business partner, William Seaward, remembered for his keen interest in horticultural and agricultural pursuits. Source: www.mackayregionalbotanicgardens.com.au/about/history_of_...

Good evening, Mr Torrence.