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CENTENARY
CONTROVERSY
Mayor uraai.ey
Golding of . Gladstone; started
something recently when^hoydl^
agreed at a meeting of the fSljS
council on the date- to ■ be• iixeu
For the. celebration of Gladstone's
centenary. Old ' residents h&v®
since been searching early re(;0rds
to an effort-to settle the matter
The controversy entered a funffef
stage last night when Aid. Gor
ing who Is compiling „ab°°iL°n
the early history of P°rt Jpurtls
stated that his authority for 1854
came from the Mitchell Library,
Sydney, that the first settlement
was’ established at Gladstone to
1854. So confident was Aid. Gold
tog that he offered to donate £100
towards the celebrations fund U ne
were incorrect. •
However, Mayor John QM&Uey
nwtvcvci, u*u/,v; n
also had authbrities_to Jiuo|e,^atjd
held that local and Brtsban. f
tnces supported nls view that-1853
was the correct year. The Moypr
seems to have a trump card, to pmy
os yesterday the Superintendent of
the Gladstone: Ambulance, Mj.
V ("Billy") Coase, who is regard
on. +Vir 'ebrlv
V, \ aiuy ) ,, ‘rPUi.
ed. as an authority on the ebrly
history of the town, produced-a
souvenir Issue of an old Gladstone
Observer showing that the-jllrsv
store was opened ^n Gladstone by,
rr,_tirniwrit In tRM Mr/Coase
store wus GtJcitcu
Thomas Wlllmot to 1853, Mr. Copse
whose father, the late J. W, Coase,
was one of the very early settlers,,
sold that If a store was opened,in
1853 then It was logical to assume
that some settlers must have ex
isted on the shores of Port Curtis
to that year if not earlier, ffje
celebrations committee and-most
sporting bodies favour 1953-but
agree that the decision must bo
historically correct. From a file of
old newsoaoers and pictorial re
cords Mr. Coase-has dug up tnp
lorowlng interesting dates:— -
First discovery Port Curtis by
Matthew Flinders July ? 1802; first
squatters to arrive to the district
tArcher family) 1853; first store
erected by Titos Wlllmot 1853; dis
covery of gold, Cannona, 1858; first
hotel (the Commercial) erected
•by R. Hethertogton, 1856; first In
terment' at the cemetery, Patrick
•Glttlngs, December 28, 1858; first
attempt to establish convfct settle
meiit. Port Curtis by CoL Barney,
1847; first survey of Boyne and
Calliope Rivers. by Oxley, 1823;
first member elected to Par.iament.
J. Fitzsimmons. 1860; first wharf
erected by Palmer, I860; first
Mayor, Richard Hethertogton;
Town Clerk- J, C. Watson, 1863;
first newspaper, 1868.
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