With the recent passing of our revered Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, I was reflecting on Maryborough’s history, and how closely associated to the British Isles we are.
As I drive around Maryborough I see reminders everywhere of this connection.
Our first white settlers (1839), the Simsons came from the Scottish Isle of Islay. Following the discovery of gold (1854), and the influx of diggers, Gold Commissioner Daly was despatched to this area to maintain law and order.
On the 10th July 1854 Daly wrote ” This day I have named the place of my camp Maryborough after my hometown in Ireland”. By years end there were sixty thousand diggers on the Maryborough goldfields.
So we were settled by three Scotsmen, named by an Irishman , and the vast majority of diggers hailed from the British Isles.
As the town established and streets created, they took the names of English monarchs (Queens, Victoria, Elizabeth), famous military battles and figures (Trafalgar, Waterloo, Sebastopol, Wellington, Nelson), British Prime Ministers (Palmerston, Churchill).
The Golf Club is officially Royal Park, Princes Park named to celebrate the wedding of Albert, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Lake Victoria after the Queen, and Coronation Park in Park Road.
Following her Coronation (1953) QEII visited Australia, the first Monarch to do so.
On 5 March, the Queen visited Maryborough, however due to a polio scare She and Prince Phillip did not leave the Royal Train. They stood at the rear of the Observation Carriage, the Brass Band played the national anthem and the huge crowd sang God Save the Queen. This was repeated when the Royal Train stopped at Talbot. So let us give thanks for a life well lived, and celebrate the legacy we enjoy in our daily lives.
