Ships operating in North Queensland, Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea
Date1908-1935
Object number00055162
NamePostcard album
MediumPaper
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Bev Martin
DescriptionA postcard album originally owned by Ernest J Martin containing 55 postcards depicting vessels operating in North Queensland, Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea in the first half of the 20th century. It also contains 16 newspaper clippings.
The postcards in this album reveal something of life in northern Australia before the introduction of air travel. They were collected by Ernest Martin, a one-time resident of Burketown in the Gulf of Carpentaria.HistoryShipping postcards in this album reference the minor harbours of Burketown, Normanton, Thursday Island and Samarai Island, as well larger harbours at Townsville and Bundaberg. The early settlers in these areas faced considerable environmental challenges from cyclones, floods, droughts and soaring summer temperatures - elements which led to the abandonment of other settlements such as Somerset and Port Essington.
Burketown (named for the explorer Robert O'Hara Burke) was established by pastoralist Robert Towns in 1865 - the same year that he established Townsville. It had a tenuous start amid floods and a fever outbreak but gradually grew as cattle were successfully introduced into the fertile hinterland of the gulf.
Normanton grew rapidly during the north Queensland goldrush but declined just as quickly when the gold ran out.
Ernest Martin was the son of Captain George Martin who entered the Queensland Customs Department in 1883. Born in Brisbane in 1887, Ernest followed a career in banking and was manager of the North Queensland Bank in both Burketown and Normanton around 1908. He later owned a business in Darwin. He travelled extensively around the north of Australia and had a keen interest in shipping - as evidenced by this album of postcards.SignificanceAlbum is significant as a record of shipping in northern Australian waters during the first half of the 20th century.
