64-526: Download coordinates as: Bowen is a coastal town and locality in the Whitsunday Region , Queensland , Australia. In the 2021 census , the locality of Bowen had a population of 11,205 people. The locality contains two other towns: The Abbot Point coal shipping port is also within the locality ( 19°52′54″S 148°04′46″E / 19.8816°S 148.0795°E / -19.8816; 148.0795 ( Abbot Point ) ). Bowen
128-556: A few biographies have since been published. Author David Malouf used Morrill's experiences as a platform for his 1993 novel Remembering Babylon . In 1983, a statue of Morrill was made as part of the centenary celebrations of the Pioneer Sugar Mill. This statue is located in the City Botanic Gardens . A film that was meant to be released in 2022, The Wild One , is based on the story of Morrill and
192-445: A few tins of meat and a small keg of water as provisions. The raft and its occupants set off in an attempt to reach safety, supplementing their meagre rations with rainwater and fish and bird meat. After about 4 weeks adrift in the ocean, the castaways started to die off. During the following days, legs of the dead were used as bait to catch sharks for consumption by the remaining survivors. Eventually they encountered and sailed through
256-574: A group of Diocesan Sisters using the name Sisters of the Holy Family who operated the school under Quinn's direct authority until 1885, when the Sisters of Mercy took over the running of the school withSister Mary Modwena Taylor, Sister M. Stanislaus Kostka Harding and Sister M. Winifred Duggan being transferred from The Range Convent School in Rockhampton . The coral reefs around Bowen are
320-516: A job as a warehouse keeper and looked after the churchyards at Bowen, and in September 1864 he married a domestic servant by the name Eliza Ross. Morrill's health rapidly declined once he had returned to British society. Rheumatic pains and swellings which occurred while living a traditional Indigenous lifestyle, worsened and flared throughout his body. Having lived so long without clothes, he had trouble adjusting wearing attire deemed essential in
384-552: A naval contingent to rendezvous at Port Denison and establish a permanent settlement. Dalrymple planned this two pronged entry into the area because 'a sudden cooperation of land and sea forces..would either strike terror, which would result in immediate flight, or enable a blow to be struck' against the local Aboriginal people of which many had been seen camped around the harbour. To facilitate this plan, Dalrymple travelled with Lieutenant Williams and six Native Police troopers, while Lieutenant Walter Powell and his troopers travelled on
448-702: A number of council meetings in Bowen each year. In the 2016 census , the locality of Bowen had a population of 10,377 people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 9.2% of the population. 74.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 2.4%, England 2.0%, South Korea 1.3%, Philippines 1.1% and Taiwan 1.0%. 81.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 1.5% and Korean 1.2%, The most common responses for religion were No Religion 25.8%, Catholic 20.5% and Anglican 17.6%. In
512-718: A process to formally define their boundaries and to gazette them, which is almost complete. In March 2006, only South Australia and the Northern Territory had not completed this process. The CGNA's Gazetteer of Australia recognises two types of locality: bounded and unbounded. Bounded localities include towns, villages, populated places, local government towns and unpopulated town sites, while unbounded localities include place names, road corners and bends, corners, meteorological stations, ocean place names and surfing spots. Sometimes, both localities and suburbs are referred to collectively as "address localities". In
576-407: A provisional school in 1916 and was proclaimed a state school in 1924. It closed in 1951 and reopened before finally closing in 1963. Twenty-five Mile Camp Provisional School opened on circa 1919. It may have been renamed Aberdeen Provisional School. In 1920 it was renamed Bogie Range Provisional School. It closed circa 1922. Ballast Pit Provisional School opened on 11 April 1922. On 26 July 1923 it
640-666: A short memoir of his time amongst the Aboriginal people in the region. He offered to act as a sort of liaison officer between the local Aboriginal people and the British to try and change a system that "so practically and so persistently insisted upon the destruction of the native". This offer was rejected by the colonial authorities, with one settler warning he would "give a small piece of lead" in Morrill's direction if he tried to implement amicable relations toward Aboriginal people in
704-650: A similar route, approaching the district from the south and served by the Bowen railway station located to the west of the town. After exiting the station, the line turns northwest over the Don river to its next major stop at Home Hill. At Merinda railway station , there is the junction with the Collinsville-Newlands railway line servicing the Bowen basin Coalfields . The Collinsville-Newlands line extends to
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#1732787545444768-443: Is in the Bowen cemetery. Bowen State School opened in 1865. Between 1877 and 1922, it operated as two schools: Bowen Boys State School and Bowen Girls and Infants State School. A secondary department was added to Bowen State School in 1928. On 23 January 1961, the secondary department was replaced by Bowen State High School. St Mary's School was opened on 1 September 1872 by Sister M. Gertrude and Sister M. de Sales, both members of
832-542: Is located on the north-east coast in North Queensland , at exactly twenty degrees south of the equator . Bowen is halfway between Townsville and Mackay , and 1,130 kilometres (700 mi) by road from Brisbane . Bowen sits on a square peninsula, with the Coral Sea to the north, east, and south. To the south-east is Port Denison and Edgecumbe Bay . On the western side, where the peninsula connects with
896-476: Is split between the City of Newcastle and City of Lake Macquarie LGAs; and Woodville , which is split between the City of Maitland and Port Stephens Council LGAs. In unincorporated areas , localities are declared by the relevant state authority. James Morrill (castaway) James Morrill (20 May 1824 – 30 October 1865) was an English sailor aboard the vessel Peruvian which became shipwrecked off
960-489: The 2021 census , the locality of Bowen had a population of 11,205 people. Bowen has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Suburbs and localities (Australia) Suburbs and localities are the names of geographic subdivisions in Australia , used mainly for address purposes. The term locality is used in rural areas, while the term suburb is used in urban areas. Australian postcodes closely align with
1024-568: The Biri language and shared in their customs, which he later documented. Occasionally, his fellow tribespeople would advise him that other white men had passed near to shore on ships. In 1860, George Elphinstone Dalrymple landed at Cape Cleveland during an expedition and encountered the local people. Morrill later wrote how tribesmen attempted to explain the presence of Morrill to Dalrymple through signs and gesticulations but Dalrymple interpreted this as hostility and members of his group shot dead one of
1088-502: The Great Barrier Reef , and about a week later they made landfall at Cape Cleveland . After 42 days on the raft, only seven people had survived which included Morrill, the captain, the captain's wife, two other crew members, a male passenger and a boy. Despite the survivors being able to construct a camp on the beach and finding water and oysters, the two crew and the passenger soon died. After two weeks onshore, people from
1152-783: The Merinda meatworks (Bowen) for transportation of workers and distribution of meat products. In 1894 the Bowen Meatworks operation was started but was often the subject of industrial disputes, changes in management and closures. In 1922, the Meatworks was able to process 150 bullocks per day It was a major source of industry and employment until 1997. Warden Bend Provisional School opened circa 1891. On 1 January 1909 it became Warden Bend State School. It closed in 1912. Merinda Provisional School opened in 1898 and became Merinda State School on 1 January 1909. On Sunday 30 April 1911,
1216-536: The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have been operating from Bowen for almost two decades, beginning in the late 1920s. Three RAAF flying boat squadrons and one flying boat maintenance unit operated from the shores of Port Denison during World War 2 operating PBY Catalina and Martin Mariner amphibious seaplanes. No.55 (RAAF) Radar Station also operated from Cape Edgecumbe north-east of
1280-666: The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart founded by Mother Mary MacKillop . Following to ongoing conflict between MacKillop and James Quinn , the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane , over who controlled the schools operated by the Sisters in Queensland, Quinn expelled the sisters from his diocese in 1880 and they returned to South Australia where the order was first established. Quinn established
1344-490: The Aboriginal men and wounded another. With the coming of Dalrymple by sea, Morrill and the Mount Elliot people also noticed other Britishers coming by land. A neighbouring tribe reported to them how a white man came with horses and shot dead a man participating a funeral ceremony. They later approached the man on the horse, who was probably missing colonist Mr Salisbury Humphrey, and killed him. Stray cattle also entered
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#17327875454441408-603: The Australian coast in 1770. This "cape" turned out to be an island, and Gloucester Island dominates the view from Bowen's eastern beaches. Behind the island is a bay that forms an excellent port, which the town came to be built around. Shipwreck survivor, James Morrill , resided briefly in the area around the year 1850 with the local Aboriginal clan during his seventeen years living as a castaway. In 1859 Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair led an expedition to
1472-431: The British colonial paramilitary Native Police force. Powell Street is named after Lieutenant Walter David Taylor Powell and Williams Street is named after Lieutenant Ewan G. Williams. Biri (also known as Birri) is a language of Central and North Queensland. Biri refers to a language chain extending from Central Queensland towards Townsville and is often used as a universal name for other languages and/or dialects across
1536-537: The European way of living. Morrill wrote a memoir of his experiences and died soon after in the town of Bowen in 1865. Morrill is regarded as the first white man to have resided permanently in North Queensland and is one of only a few European people to have lived for an extended period completely within traditional Aboriginal culture. Morrill was born in 1824 at Heybridge in the English county Essex . His father
1600-488: The Mount Elliot clan, but Morrill never admitted to this. Descendants of Morrill continue to live in North Queensland. Morrill is one of only a few Europeans to have lived extensively within traditional Aboriginal Australian society. Other colonial figures who had similar experiences include William Buckley and Narcisse Pelletier . Revised editions of his memoirs were reprinted several times up til 1896, and
1664-514: The area in response to a reward offered by the colony of New South Wales for finding a port somewhere north of Rockhampton . They came across a "most splendid harbour" which Sinclair named Port Denison after the colonial governor of New South Wales , William Denison . On the shore they found "several acres of ground resembling a garden...full of a vegetable resembling nuts" which the local Aboriginal people had constructed. On 11 September 1860, George Elphinstone Dalrymple on his naval excursion in
1728-552: The avenue-like width of its central streets. In 1863, settlers in the area encountered a sailor, James Morrill, who had been shipwrecked 17 years previously on a shoal in the Coral Sea . He had made it to the Queensland coast on a makeshift raft with a few companions. The others had all died within two years, but Morrill lived with the local Aborigines in the Townsville area. Rejoining European society after white settlement began in North Queensland, he settled in Bowen. His grave
1792-461: The boundaries of localities and suburbs. This Australian usage of the term "suburb" differs from common American and British usage, where it typically means a smaller, frequently separate residential community outside, but close to, a larger city. The Australian usage is closer to the American or British use of "district" or "neighbourhood", and can be used to refer to any portion of a city. Unlike
1856-643: The coal-handling port at Abbot Point , also within the locality of Bowen. The railway station servicing the port is the Abbot Point railway station . Heronvale is a small coastal town 21.6 kilometres (13.4 mi) by road south of the town of Bowen, accessed via the Bruce Highway and then Heronvale Road. In the west of the locality is the Mount Aberdeen National Park . Two of Bowen's main streets are named after officers of
1920-415: The coast of north-eastern Australia in 1846. He survived a journey in a makeshift raft to the mainland near where the modern city of Townsville is now situated, and was taken in by a local clan of Aboriginal Australians . He adopted their language and customs and lived as a member of their society for 17 years. By the early 1860s, British colonisation had reached the area and Morrill decided to return to
1984-489: The colonial world. In October 1865, he was debilitated by a serious case of septic arthritis and died within two weeks. He was buried in the Bowen cemetery, which is now marked by a modest monument erected in 1963 by the Bowen Historical Society. Before he died, Morrill and his wife had a son named Ross Morrill. It is claimed that he also had a daughter with an Aboriginal woman while he was living with
Bowen, Queensland - Misplaced Pages Continue
2048-462: The conclusion that if the Mount Elliot tribe were to approach the sheep station they would certainly be killed. He told the stockmen that before he returned to British society he would first have to warn his tribe to move toward the coast and stay away from the farms. The stockmen agreed but warned him that if he didn't return by the morning they would contact the Native Police and have him and
2112-438: The first instance, decisions about the names and boundaries of suburbs and localities are made by the local council in which they are located based on criteria such as community recognition. Local council decisions are, however, subject to approval by the state's geographical names board. The boundaries of some suburbs and localities overlap two or more local government areas (LGAs). Examples of this are Adamstown Heights , which
2176-851: The foundation stone was laid for St Mary's Catholic Church. On Sunday 2 December 1912, the church was officially opened by James Murray , the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown . On 24 February 2006, Bishop Michael Putney dedicated the current St Mary's in Sinclair Street. Roseville State School opened on 7 July 1913. It was along the Bowen-to-Proserpine tramway . The school closed on 1939. Don Delta State School opened on 21 July 1913 and closed in 1964. Eden Lassie Provisional School opened on 16 October 1916. In 1924 it became Eden Lassie State School. It closed in 1951, but later reopened and closed permanently in 1963. Opened as
2240-420: The gun, Morrill managed to yell in his near forgotten English: "do not shoot me, I am a British object - a shipwrecked sailor." The stockmen took him to their hut where they fed him bread and tea. The bread got stuck in his throat and the tea was too sweet with Morrill later writing that he wasn't hungry anyway because he and his tribe had caught and feasted on 20 small wallabies earlier that day. Morrill came to
2304-495: The hills behind the beach that was in the form of a raised mound covered in bark with its surroundings swept clean and the paths leading to it closed off with branches. A similar tomb was found on nearby Stone Island. After a few days, Dalrymple and his surveying party on the Spitfire returned south. In 1861, George Elphinstone Dalrymple set out again for the area, leading an overland expedition from Rockhampton, complemented with
2368-477: The language. After a time, a large gathering occurred, which consisted of over a thousand people, some of whom were from tribes a fair distance to the south. Morrill, together with the captain and his wife, decided to join with these people when they returned south. They subsequently lived with a group of Biri Gubba people who resided in the Port Denison area. The boy went to live with a tribe further to
2432-481: The local Cape Cleveland and Mount Elliot Aboriginal clans came to find out who they were. They were given food and water and were assisted in travelling to the nearby main camp of one of clans. Here over the next few days they were introduced to numerous members of local and distant tribes and became the subject of several corroborees . During the following months, Morrill and the other survivors were taught how to gather food, snare wildfowl and were able to speak some of
2496-500: The mainland, the Don River's alluvial plain provides fertile soil that supports a prosperous farming industry. Merinda is a hinterland town 10.3 kilometres (6.4 mi) west of the town of Bowen. The Bruce Highway enters the locality from the east, approaches but does not enter the town of Bowen itself, but then turns west to pass through Merinda before exiting the locality to the north-west. The North Coast railway line follows
2560-400: The object in view was a necessity, I..formed open line and advanced. The natives..retired at our approach into a small strip of scrub commanding the wells. This we entered in the same order, cleared it and placed sentries.." Confident in having secured a beach-head, Dalrymple explored the immediate vicinity near the wells that was to become the town of Bowen. He found a large Aboriginal tomb in
2624-413: The previous 17 years and he struggled to overcome "the feeling of love I had for my old friends and companions." He returned to the stockmen's hut and within a couple of weeks was escorted to the nearby new British township of Bowen . Once back in British society, Morrill became a minor celebrity. He was approached to give his story to numerous people, and within a few months of his return, he had written
Bowen, Queensland - Misplaced Pages Continue
2688-538: The region. Another report was given to them of how a lot of white and black people on horseback were "shooting down" the Port Denison tribe which Morrill had lived with previously. By this stage it was 1863 and Morrill decided to shift away south from the Mount Elliot tribe to live on the Burdekin River where he thought he would be better placed to approach one of the British colonisers. He and members of
2752-558: The region. The language area includes the towns of Bowen, Ayr , Collinsville and Nebo . Yuru (also known as Juru, Euronbba, Juru, Mal Mal, Malmal ) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Yuru country. The Yuru language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Shire of Burdekin , including the town of Home Hill . Captain James Cook named Cape Gloucester on his voyage of exploration up
2816-529: The scene of several shipwrecks, including the SS Gothenburg , which sank in 1875 with a loss of more than 100 lives. Numerous relics of Bowen's history, from the Aboriginal past onwards, are on display at the Bowen Historical Society's museum. On 22 February 1876, an F5 tornado hit the town, causing large amounts of damage. The location of the Merinda railway station was influenced by the location of
2880-463: The schooner Spitfire to search for the mouth of the Burdekin River , landed in Port Denison. He named and climbed Mount Gordon to survey the region and observed that a river (later named the Don River ) traversed a valley just behind Port Denison and into the sea. This river was "lined with camps and bush fires of the natives" indicating "the locality to be very thickly inhabited". The Spitfire continued its exploration north to Magnetic Island , but
2944-477: The ship. He decided to continue an adventurous lifestyle and joined the crew of the vessel Peruvian which was to sail to China . In February 1846, Peruvian , commanded by Captain George Pitkethley, departed Sydney with 130 cedar logs for export. On board were 16 officers and crew including Morrill, as well as six passengers including the captain's wife and two other families. Just over a week into
3008-525: The ships. These ships were the Jeannie Dove and the Santa Barbara under the command of Capt. McDermott. The maritime group arrived first and waited for Dalrymple's overland party by camping on Stone Island at the mouth of the harbour. Dalrymple's group, which included 140 horses and 121 cattle, arrived on 11 April 1861. He rode down to the area on the foreshore 'beside the native wells' (which
3072-409: The south. After two years, the boy, the captain and his wife had died and Morrill, now the only survivor of the shipwreck, became lonely and returned to live with the clan at Mount Elliot. Morrill continued to live around Mount Elliot as a member of this tribe, living a traditional Aboriginal lifestyle, for year after year. He was given the name Karckynjib-Wombil-Mooney, learnt eight local dialects of
3136-415: The spot where..a few days ago, the wild aboriginal held undisputed sway', and that the settlement marked 'the advance of another great wave of Anglo-Australian energy'. Within the first six weeks of colonisation, the Native Police and armed colonists conducted at least six operations against the Aboriginal people in the area, driving them off the land and also pursuing them by sea. In one of these missions,
3200-418: The stockmen. Morrill firstly washed himself in a creek to make himself "as white as possible" and then climbed on top of the boundary fence of the sheep station to avoid being bitten by the station's dogs. From this position he yelled out "What cheer, shipmates" to some stockmen in a hut, who seeing a naked "red or yellow man standing on the rails", came out armed with a firearm. Before they had time to use
3264-438: The surveyors came to the conclusion that the northeastern shore of Port Denison was the most suitable site in the region for settlement especially as the large native wells present in a creek bed there could be utilised as a water supply. On 5 October, Dalrymple again came ashore to appropriate control of these wells. He wrote that: "As I approached the beach a number of armed natives appeared to wish to dispute our landing, but as
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#17327875454443328-457: The town was renamed Bowen after the first Queensland colonial governor , Sir George Bowen . Port Denison Post Office opened in April 1861 and was renamed Bowen by 1865. Between the 1860s and the 1880s, early colonists and settlers forecasted Bowen as the "capital of a new North Queensland Colony". Relics of this particular ambition can be seen today in Bowen's exacting road grid and town plan, and
3392-452: The town. The concrete seaplane aprons and ramps are still present. In 1944, Bowen elected a Communist , Fred Paterson , to Queensland Legislative Assembly . He was re-elected in 1947, but lost the seat in 1950 when the boundaries were changed to include Bowen in the seat of Whitsunday . Bowen State High School opened on 23 January 1961, replacing the secondary department at Bowen State School which had operated since 1 July 1928. Bowen
3456-501: The tribe tracked down and shot. Morrill made his way back to the tribe where he warned them that the British "had come to take their land away" and that they had many guns to kill them if they came near. The Aboriginal people told Morrill to ask the British if they could at least retain some of the swampy ground north of the Burdekin River. The next morning Morrill had an emotional farewell to the tribe he had lived with for most of
3520-456: The tribe were afraid that he would be mistaken for an Aboriginal and be shot. These fears were soon magnified when it was conveyed to them that 15 members of the Burdekin River tribe were shot dead by the Native Police . It was decided that the best means of survival of both Morrill and the Mount Elliot tribe was for him to approach the newly formed Jarvisfield sheep station established by Edward Spencer Antill, and try to make contact with some of
3584-609: The use in British or American English, this term can include inner-city, outer-metropolitan and industrial areas. Localities existed in the past as informal units, but in 1996 the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping and the Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia (CGNA) decided to name and establish official boundaries for all localities and suburbs. There has subsequently been
3648-433: The vicinity of his squattage . Morrill later accompanied a number of surveying expeditions to exploit his local knowledge. He was utilised by George Elphinstone Dalrymple in his 1864 expedition to Rockingham Bay where he was told to convey the message to the local Aboriginal people that they had come "to occupy the land and would shoot any who approached." Apart from this though, Morrill's life became unassuming. He took
3712-416: The voyage, at around 4 o'clock in the morning, the vessel crashed into a submerged reef near Minerva Shoal in the Coral Sea . The ship was unable to be floated off the rocks and of the two long boats, one was smashed to pieces and the other detached prematurely, floating away with the first mate and a sheep. A raft equipped with a sail was constructed and the remaining 21 people were placed on board with only
3776-401: The whole available force in the town was utilised in an engagement where a large group of Aboriginal people were "speedily put to rout with a loss sufficient to teach them a severe and it is hoped, useful lesson." Newspapers published reports that the local Aboriginal population were "wretched caricatures of the human race...faithless stewards of the fine property on which they horde," and that it
3840-410: Was "the duty of civilisation to occupy the soil which they disregard and disgrace," and that "force and even severity may be necessary to restrain their brutal disposition." Pastoralists were quick to enter the region through this new port and mark out land acquisitions in the hinterland, while buildings within the township were rapidly constructed. After Queensland had separated from New South Wales,
3904-570: Was a millwright . He left school at the age of 13 to pursue a career as a sailor, obtaining an apprenticeship in a local shipping company. In 1844, Morrill went to London and was induced to sign up to sail aboard the troopship HMS Ramillies which was bound for Australia carrying soldiers of the Royal Artillery and the 11th and 99th Regiments . In December 1845, HMS Ramillies arrived in Sydney where Morrill obtained permission to leave
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#17327875454443968-645: Was renamed Bin Bee Provisional School. It closed in July 1927. It was on the Bowen Coalfields railway line. Inverdon Road State School opened on 4 December 1922 and closed on 2 September 1955. It was at 174 Inverdon Road ( 19°59′23″S 148°12′43″E / 19.9896°S 148.2119°E / -19.9896; 148.2119 ( Inverdon Road State School ) ). Queens Beach State School opened on 25 November 1940. Elements of
4032-591: Was the administrative centre for the Shire of Bowen . On 15 March 2008, under the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Bowen merged with the Shire of Whitsunday to form the Whitsunday Region . Although Proserpine is the administrative centre for the new regional council, the council maintains offices in Bowen and holds
4096-406: Was to be the water supply of the settlement) in order 'to clear off the aborigines from the same, should such be necessary' and to signal McDermott's group on Stone Island. The local Aboriginal people had already fled. The settlers on Stone Island then came over to the site and the town of Port Denison was founded. Dalrymple wrote that it was 'Deeply gratifying to me to see the British flag flying over
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