Local history buffs will be thrilled to discover that one of the most hard-to-find books on Townsville history is now available to read or download at NQ Heritage!
Written by Dorothy M. Gibson-Wilde and Bruce C. Gibson-Wilde and published by James Cook University’s History Department in 1988, A Pattern of Pubs: Hotels of Townsville 1864-1914 is no. 9 in the series Studies in North Queensland History. This work represents a comprehensive survey of hotels in the first 50 years of white settlement in Townsville.
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| Wyatt's Herbert Hotel, c. 1920s. JCU Library Special Collections, NQ Photographic Collection NQID 21838 |
Early hotels played an important role in the development of regional towns, as they offered accommodation and meals for both locals and travellers alike, as well as served as a place to hold community meetings before purpose-built facilities existed.
The first section of the book contains chapters that cover information on the role and types of hotels, publicans and their place in the community, and how hotels reflected the pattern of growth in Townsville. A chapter on the design of hotels focuses on the phases of architectural styles and building trends represented during this period.
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| Visible in this image of Flinders Street, Townsville, are the Royal, Queensland, and Alexandra hotels, c. 1890. JCU Library Special Collections, NQ Photographic Collection NQID 2226 |
The remainder of the book is laid out in an accessible directory style. Part II is an alphabetical list of hotels. Each entry includes alternate names a hotel may have been known by, its location, and lists the names of licensees and the date range they held the license (where known). This is followed by a summary of historical and anecdotal information. Part III is a register of licensed publicans, arranged alphabetical by surname. This is mainly a list of dates hotel licenses were held but brief biographical details are included in some entries.
Fully referenced and generously illustrated with photographs, maps and other archival material, A Pattern of Pubs also contains a Foreword by Professor Brian Dalton, Foundation Professor of History at JCU. Dalton oversaw a history publishing program at JCU that lasted more than two decades and resulted in a prolific output of new knowledge about North Queensland, telling the story of the region in an innovative way.
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| Queen's Hotel, The Strand, Townsville, c. 1881. JCU Library Special Collections, NQ Photographic Collection NQID 22875 |
But there’s more to discover!
After 40 years as the go-to text for all things ‘pioneer Townsville’, Dorothy M. Gibson-Wilde’s Gateway to a Golden Land is also now accessible at NQ Heritage!
Gateway to a Golden Land: Townsville to 1884 originated as a thesis for the Honours degree of Bachelor of Arts. It was published by James Cook University’s History Department in 1984 with minor revisions and the addition of an index.
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| Gateway to a Golden Land: Townsville to 1884, now available at NQHeritage. Photo: JCU Library Special Collections. |
Townsville was settled by Europeans in 1864 as a port for the growing pastoral industry in north Queensland. John Melton Black – a failed Melbourne theatre-owner and aspiring pastoralist – founded the township with the financial backing from a short-lived partnership with Robert Towns, a Sydney merchant and businessman. Black served as the town’s first Mayor but left Townsville for England after only three years, and did not return. Gazetted a Port of Entry in 1865, Townsville developed rapidly into a permanent town after gold discoveries in the hinterland at Cape River in 1867, Ravenswood in 1868 and Charters Towers in 1871; provided the catalyst for growth.
Gateway to a Golden Land is no. 7 in the series Studies in North Queensland History. In recommending Gibson-Wilde’s book in his Foreword, Professor Dalton wrote:
“Her study of the first twenty years of Townsville’s growth fills a major gap in knowledge of the history of this region. She provides a great quantity of information previously unknown; she also corrects much that was garbled, or simply mistaken, in earlier accounts. The result is the first thoroughly researched, detailed and reliable account of the discovery and settlement of Townsville by Europeans, and of its growth through twenty years to a position of confident prosperity.”
JCU Library’s NQHeritage repository is home to a suite of JCU History Department publications, and these are available to read online or download. This includes the multi-volume series: Lectures in North Queensland History, from 1974, 1975, 1979, 1984, and 1996.
Trisha Fielding
Special Collections, JCU Library
If you’re interested in these topics, you might also like to read:
Why did John Melton Black abandon Townsville?
Female Publicans on Women of the North Blog
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