Early Days of Sugar on the Fraser Coast.

Sugar Cane being taken to load onto trains.

In 1864,  Mr Buhot, manager of the Victorian Cotton and Sugar Plantation arrived in the township to take delivery of 10 000 setts (stem cuttings or sections of the stalks) of cane grown by Mr John Eaton at Rosehill and he demonstrated a simple way of manufacturing brown sugar.

Sugar cane that was grown on new scrub land. None of the stumps had been removed. The price for sugar cane in 1882 was ten shillings per ton.

In 1866 the first ton of sugar was manufactured in Queensland.

The sugarcane in this photograph was from A. H. Hope's property at River Road, Tinana. The horses in the photograph were named Dick and Punch.

In 1865 the Maryborough Sugar Company was formed and a large area on the Mary River and Tinana Creek was soon under cane. In 1881 Millaquin refinery was erected and then moved to Doolbi in Isis. Mills that operated in the area at this time include Alpha, Alford, Antigua, Central, Eatonvale, Ferney, Good Hope, Linda, Irrawarra, Island Plantation, Kirkcubbin, Magnolia, Netherby, Nerada, Tolasco and Yerra.

A team of farmers on Norman Christiansen's cane farm after a fire burnt out his cane. All the farmers helped to cut and load the cane. 1st left (standing on ground ) is Anders Christiansen. Sitting 2nd from left, front row: is Lars Andersen. They were among the first settlers in Hervey Bay in the 1870s. Most of the others pictured here are decendants of other settlers who came later. The picture was taken in the 1920s.

Harvesting sugar cane at the Walligan Siding, Pialba line, in the 1924 cane season.

Messrs L. Nissen, L Stalley, W. Nissen and F. Stalley cutting sugar cane and loading on to horse drawn wagon ready for transportation to a sugar mill.

The majority of this sugar was produced in Isis, Bundaberg and Maryborough was shipped overseas through the deep sea port at Urangan. Maryborough sugar mill remains the sole surviving unit in the area and in 1954 there were 441 cane growers.

Group of teamsters with horse drawn wagons loaded with sugar cane at the Walligan siding during the 1924 season. Standing on load, left to right: Oswald Horne, Jim Stocks, George Whitaker, Ambrose Horne and Ted Neilsen. Seated on wagon: Eddie Horne, Charlie Nielsen and two other men. Standing on ground: Alick Newburn, Frank Kopp, Jim McLiver and at horses head Henry Phillips.

Loading sugar cane at the Urraween siding, using a gantry to unload the cane from horse drawn wagons onto the cane train.

These images and more can be found on our image gallery in our catalogue  

References:

Kerr, John D (1987) Sugar at Maryborough : 120 years of challenge

Tags #sugar #frasercoast #Urangan #Industry