Graveyard shift continues for North Queensland authors - Anne Alloway and Roberta Morrison

Roberta Morrison and Anne Alloway in the Helen Mays reading room continuing their research into Cloncurry graves.

The first visitors to the Helen Mays reading room this year were local authors Anne Alloway and Roberta Morrison who had travelled from the Sunshine coast and Hughenden respectively to use our materials.

Anne and Roberta, childhood friends who both originate from Hughenden were raised on pastoral stations and hence from an early age both had a heightened awareness of the graves sites in remote areas of western Queensland.  In 2011 they decided to research and document the graves in the Hughenden area before all trace of them was lost.  This resulted in their 2012 publication “Tales from Bush Graves”.

Anne Alloway in 2017 with her books, two of which have been co-authored with Roberta Morrison.

Anne then followed up with another book pertaining to Hughenden titled “With this Ring” in 2015 which focused on weddings from the earliest times through to 1960.  Anne and Roberta’s most recent publication is “Tales from Bush Graves Winton” released in 2017 after Peter Russell (former opal miner and now resident of Winton) asked them to produce a book on the Winton area utilizing information he had previously collected.

All of these books are held in the main library collection (where they can be borrowed) and also in the North Queensland Collection where they will be preserved for current and future generations of researchers.  Currently Anne and Roberta are working on a new book which will document the graves of the Cloncurry area of North Queensland with assistance from Greg Humphreys.

Check out the current Helen Mays Reading Room opening hours online when planning your visit to JCU Library Special Collections on the Townsville Campus.  Please email all enquiries to specialcollections@jcu.edu.au