Celebrating 140 years of the Townsville Chamber of Commerce: 1932 Jubilee Brochure digitised for NQHeritage@JCU

 

L to R, Chris Rockemer (President, Townsville Chamber of Commerce), Bronwyn McBurnie (Manager, JCU Library Special Collections) and Ross McLennan (CEO, Townsville Chamber of Commerce) viewing the original 1932 Jubilee Brochure.

 

This year marks the 140^th Anniversary of the Townsville Chamber of Commerce - making it one of the oldest institutions in the city of Townsville.  For decades the Townsville Chamber has been advocating for the success of businesses across our community – working collaboratively with all levels of government, with other representative bodies and with public and private sector organisations.  

Cover of digitised Jubilee Brochure now viewable in NQHeritage@JCU

To mark out this important moment in time, the JCU Library Special Collections team has released through NQHeritage@JCU (their online repository) a digitised version of a fragile, historic document from their North Queensland Collection titled “Advance Australia” Townsville Chamber of Commerce Jubilee Brochure, 1882 – 1932 .  Historian Dr. Lyndon Megarrity was also invited to consider the Brochure’s content and provide a written response to it.

Dr. Lyndon Megarrity answers the question “why is this item significant?”

 In 1933, the Townsville Chamber of Commerce commemorated its first fifty years (1882-1932) by publishing a 112 page brochure boldly titled “Advance Australia”: Townsville Chamber of Commerce Jubilee Brochure, 1882-1932. It stressed the economic and civic potential of North Queensland as a whole, although Townsville’s role as a major shipping and railway hub was acknowledged. Its compiler/author, H.B. Marks, was secretary of the Townsville Chamber of Commerce from 1906 to 1943.

Members of Townsville's Mt Spec Water Supply Committee, ca. 1935.  Herbert Beaumont Marks, the author of the brochure, is seated second from the right (man with white moustache.)  Source: State Library of Queensland.

What is the historical significance of the Jubilee Brochure? First, it captured the essence of North Queensland and Australia during the interwar period, when lingering doubts about the viability of European settlement in the tropics remained, when the romantic but impractical notion of settling the unemployed on the land en masse remained popularly supported, and when the idea of North Queensland as a part of the British Empire remained strong. All of these ideas would gradually become outdated in the decades following the Second World War. 

Grand View Hotel Advertisement from the digitised Jubilee Brochure, page 84.

Secondly, the advertisements that accompany the volume tell their own story of the changing nature of living in North Queensland. An advertisement enticing readers to ‘Come to Bowen the Beautiful’ reminds us of the amenities we now take for granted but which were still relatively luxurious for many people in the 1930s. For example, Bowen’s Grand View Hotel was ‘fitted with Electric Light, running water in all rooms, and Septic system.’ Elsewhere, the Townsville branch of Burns, Philp & Co, general merchants, placed an advertisement catering for the rising number of middle-class travellers able to secure an overseas trip: ‘World-Tour and Travel Agents. Passages Booked to all parts of the World—by any Line.’ Those on more restricted budgets might have been tempted by the tourist trips, fishing and boating parties arranged by the Grand View Hotel’s staff.

Burns, Philp & Company Ltd. advertisement from the digitised Jubilee Brochure, page 100.

Finally, there are northern themes present in the brochure that transcend their 1930s context. The author’s insistence that the north was missing out because of Brisbane-centric government remains a persistent theme in today’s political climate. His interest in China-Australia trade was in part a reflection of the links between Asia and North Queensland that have existed since the gold rush era of the 1870s. Lastly, while the text was focused on the region as a whole, its photos and advertisements revealed the port city of Townsville’s increasing position as the unofficial capital of North Queensland.
 

Much of Townsville’s growth was based on commercial activities in the central business district including major stores, professional firms and eateries. By the 1980s, the CBD, centred on Flinders Street, was in decline as suburban shopping centres grew and there was less need for residents to venture into the ‘heart’ of the city. But that’s another story. 

Biography
Dr. Lyndon Megarrity graduated with a PhD in history at the University of New England (2002). He has since worked as a researcher, author and tertiary teacher. Megarrity is an adjunct lecturer at James Cook University, based in Townsville. He is the author of Northern Dreams: the Politics of Northern Development in Australia (2018), which won the 2019 Chief Minister's Northern Territory History Book Award.

To read Dr. Megarrity’s full article related to this work go to Sudo Journal Volume 4, August 2022. 

Lastly, you can join in the Townsville Chamber of Commerce Anniversary celebrations by attending their 2022 Business Awards on Friday the 2nd of September, bookings can be made here.