From the Archives

Catherine Tucker

A few weeks ago I came across an article by Catherine Tucker describing her early life in Maleny and I quote a few extracts:-

“I was nearly four years of age when my father in 1890 took up a 160 acre selection on the Range at Maleny. We were living in Brisbane; my older sister had died of diphtheria on her sixth birthday. I left Brisbane with my mother, father and brother George and we took the train to Landsborough as the railway line from Caboolture had been recently opened.

We spent a few days at Mt. Mellum hotel waiting for a horse drawn dray that was arranged to meet us and never arrived. As father was the only one who knew anything about horses it was mother’s idea that we should start walking; not knowing what she was taking on. The road was little more than a track and took one steeply and directly over Bald Knob. We walked on the side of the road to escape the deep and muddy holes that never dried up because of the dense canopy of tree tops. We often got caught up in the ‘bush lawyer’ canes that left their mark on skin and clothes. There was no fresh water other than from a spring on a bank above the roadside, about half way up from Landsborough.

We arrived at our new home at dusk. We had taken all day to travel on foot the thirteen miles from Landsborough to Maleny We found comfort in seeing our familiar furniture which had been sent by train to Landsborough and transported up the Range by bullock wagon and positioned by father before he left for Brisbane to collect us.

The cabin was built of split hardwood slabs and lined with hessian to keep out the wind.  We had two bedrooms, a kitchen-dining room, and a verandah. There was also a recess with flooring of huge flat water-washed stones on which stood my mother’s pride and joy – a wood burning stove.

Our rain-water tank was unusual but very efficient, it never leaked and water drawn from it was always cool. It held about thousand gallons, square in shape like a ship’s tank and constructed of wide wooden boards lined with zinc sheeting.

Condensed milk took the place of fresh milk. But later my father decided to buy a house cow. This meant a ride to Kennilworth and a slow journey home with “Cherry” and she was the first cow to be kept at Maleny in an area that was to become known as a ‘dairyman’s paradise’, with pastures carrying over 16,000 cows.

On laundry days clothes were taken down to the creek. A fireplace was built on flat stones at the water’s edge large enough to hold two kerosene tins in which the clothes were boiled. After rinsing the men would carry the wet clothes in baskets back to the homestead for hanging on to the clothes line to dry.

Our larder had to be replenished several times a year. The supplies were always ordered in bulk and brought up from Landsborough by bullock team to be off loaded at the roadside nearest our homestead. Our father would use the horse drawn sled to carry it the rest of the way to the house. As children we were always excited looked forward to finding a bag of lollies, a customary gift from the grocer.

What’s round and bad-tempered?                ---------------     A vicious circle.