Canoona

Canoona is a locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia.^[1] It was the site of the first North Australian gold rush.^[2]

History

After the goldfields in New South Wales and Victoria had been mined to the extent where there were few opportunities for the independent miner possessed of only basic equipment, many miners were seeking a new opportunity. On hearing that gold had been found at Canoona in about July 1858, it stimulated a gold rush and approximately 15000 miners descended on Canoona within the following months. However, relatively little gold was found at Canoona and there was great disappointment and Canoona became known as a "duffer". Having spent everything to come to Canoona, many miners were then destitute. Having lost so much of its labour force, the Victorian Government sent a ship to enable destitute miners to return to Victoria and repay their fare by working in Melbourne on their return. While many returned to the southern states, others remained in Queensland providing a labour force that enabled the development of the newly established colony of Queensland. Some remained and would try their luck in Queensland's later gold rushes.^[2] For example, Hugo William Du Rietz was enticed to Australia by the gold rushes in Ballarat and then came to the Canoona gold rush and then to the Gympie gold rush. Although never particularly successful as a miner, he was successful as an architect and builder and took an active civic role in Brisbane and Gympie.^[3]

Geography

The Fitzroy River forms the southern boundary of the locality, while Marlborough Creek and Mountain Hut Creek form most of its western boundary. The Bruce Highway forms most of the north-eastern boundary with North Coast railway line running closely beside it. A number of creeks flow through the locality, all are tributaries of the Fitzroy River. The Princhester Conservation Park lies in the west of the locality and the Lake Learmouth State Forest in the east. Apart from these areas, the land is predominantly used for grazing. Although a town centre was surveyed for Canoona at 23°01′58″S 150°08′21″E / 23.0328°S 150.1393°E / -23.0328; 150.1393, no township remains and the township land is now a reserved area.^[4]

Notable deaths

• Alwyn Torenbeek (1937-2015), a notable Australian drover, endurance- and bronc rider, was killed in an accident on a rural property at Canoona in 2015. It is believed that the accident occurred when Torenbeek inadvertently pressed the accelerator while attempting to move over to the passenger side of the vehicle he was in, causing it to collide into a post.

References

Further reading

• McDonald, Lorna (1979-01-01), The Rockhampton Delusion: a brief history of the Canoona rush, Oxley Memorial Library Advisory Committee for the Library Board of Queensland, retrieved 18 September 2015 — full text available online