Diary entry from Christie Palmerston on his exploration of the coast range in the vicinity of Port Douglas

Background

The celebrated ‘pathfinder’ of North Queensland, Christie Palmerston’s early years are shrouded in uncertainty. It is known that he was born around 1850 and baptised as Cristofero Palmerston Carandini in Melbourne. While he may have begun his working life in Tasmania, Palmerston was definitely in Central Queensland during the early 1870s and on the Hodgkinson goldfield in 1876. It was at the Hodgkinson that Palmerston’s reputation as a trailblazer commenced, and over the next 10 years he cut many tracks linking settlements in the North Queensland hinterland with coastal ports. Palmerston also discovered gold on the Upper Russell River. A consummate bushman, his success nevertheless depended heavily on local Aboriginal peoples with whom he formed close liaisons. After marrying Teresa Rooney at Townsville in December 1886 Palmerston briefly became a publican before accepting a contract to blaze trails for the Straits Development Company in the jungles of Borneo and Malaya (Malaysia). After contracting fever, Palmerston died at Kuala Pilah in January 1897.

 

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