Mysterious poisoning at Boonooroo

On March the 6th, 1932 the poisoning of three brothers occurred at Foster’s Camp,Boonooroo.

James Herbert Bayley 29, William Edward Bayley 23 and Henry Walter George Bayley 32 died of strychnine poisoning after eating scones at a Fisherman Hut located at  Boonooroo. The details of the inquest held in Maryborough on the 19th April, 1932 can be found here.

George Greaves and Emil Wegner were also poisoned but recovered.  The boys were heading out for a fishing trip when they met Alfred Dong. Alfred owned the hut. He was a farmer and owned a shop in Adelaide Street, Maryborough. He used the hut as a weekender. He was good friends with the five men. They crossed paths on this fishing trip and Alfred said they were able to use the hut as they pleased. The strychnine was in the flour and it was believed to have been put in there between the time Alfred Dong left the hut and the five men cooked scones.

Alfred Dong gave evidence here He stated that he was afraid of his neighbor and believed the poison was for him. He said   "I have suspicion on Frank Hugh Gormley, for he is my enemy, for putting strychnine poison in the half-bag of flour”("CAMP POISONING - Sensational Evidence INQUEST AT MARYBOROUGH MARYBOROUGH, April 19. - The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947) - 19 Apr 1932", 2016).

It was found that despite the evidence “pointing in the same direction”, no arrest was made as “lack of suitable evidence made arrest impossible”("DETECTIVE RECALLED - MARYBOROUGH POISONING - Sunday Mail (Brisbane) (Qld. : 1926 - 1954) - 27 Mar 1932", 2016). This conclusion can be found here


Who do you think did it?



We have some images of Alfred Dong’s sisters but none of Alfred, if you have any images of historical interest we would love to see these.

 You can find the location of the Dong’s shop by taking a walk down Adelaide Street and following the story trail signs. It is on the opposite side to the Town Hall Green. In 1912, it moved to upper Adelaide Street. His sisters ran the shop until 1956 when they retired.


References:
CAMP POISONING - Sensational Evidence INQUEST AT MARYBOROUGH MARYBOROUGH, April 19. - The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947) - 19 Apr 1932. (2016). Trove. Retrieved 20 October 2016, from http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/184030602?searchTerm=fosters%20camp%20poisoning%20Maryborough&searchLimits

DETECTIVE RECALLED - MARYBOROUGH POISONING - Sunday Mail (Brisbane) (Qld. : 1926 - 1954) - 27 Mar 1932. (2016). Trove. Retrieved 20 October 2016, from http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97928663?searchTerm=fosters%20camp%20poisoning%20Maryborough&searchLimits=


Tags #boonooroo #Chinese #frasercoastlibraries #fostershut #poisoning #strychnine

Hyne Timber innovating since 1882

Hyne & Son Timber Mill around 1897
This image is part of the Maryborough Wide Bay & Burnett Historical Society Inc. collection. Copies of this image can be purchased from the Maryborough Wide Bay& Burnett Historical Society Inc. Contact emailmuseum@maryboroughhistoricsociety.com.au

Hyne Timber has been a cornerstone of Industry in Maryborough since 1882. J.R.L Hyne has written a history of the timber family in Queensland called Hyne-Sight that can be borrowed from the Library.  The mill was established late in the 19th century. An 1883 Chronicle article which details the mill can be found here


Like any successful business, Hyne Timber has always been able to adapt to a changing business environment. Mills were opened in Townsville and Rockhampton. Hyne acquired two sailing ships and they began shipping timber to Sydney and North Queensland and in 1886 the Mayflower Schooner was acquired. In 1889 “the Mayflower nearly came to grief in a cyclone” (Hyne, 1980, p.39). The details can be found here

Hyne was also a very active public figure. Hyne (1980,p. 22) claims “The 1880’s saw my Grandfather prospering in the timber industry and at the same time devoting himself to a wide range of public causes”. R.M. Hyne served one term (five years) in the Queensland Parliament, and aligned himself with the Griffith Liberal camp found here.

Mr Richard Mathews Hyne passed away on the 5^th July, 1902 details of which are located here.

Henry James Hyne took over the business at this time, with J. R. Lambert Hyne taking part in the business in 1928. In 1936 Lambert and his three sons have built the business by utilising modern techniques through a responsiveness to technological change (Hyne, 1980).

The Hyne family: James Hyne (Executive Director and Tuan Mill Operations Manager), Chris Hyne (Director), Peter Hyne (Executive Director and Manager of Sales and Marketing), Martin Kriewaldt (Chairman) and Richard Hyne (Shareholder). Richard and Chris are brothers and uncles to both Peter and James who are also brothers.

Katie Fowden, Communications Manager for Hyne timber  states "Today, Hyne Timber is one of Australia’s largest producers of sawn timber products sourced from responsibly grown plantation softwood. We also have an engineered timber plant in Maryborough which supplies glue laminated timber solutions for a range of construction designs including iconic, contemporary commercial buildings". Some of these can be seen here

Just recently an Engineered Timber Bridge Solution has been developed by Hyne experts. A prefabricated and installed timber bridge near Maryborough, Queensland which can be used nationally can be found here

Have you or your family ever worked for Hyne &Son?

We would love to add your images to our local history collection.

Further information can be found in the library vertical files under the heading of Hyne & Son.

References:

Hyne, J. R. L. (James Richard Lambert) (1980). Hyne-Sight: a history of  a timber family in Queensland. J.R.L. Hyne, Maryborough, Qld.

Tags: #Hyne  #timber #Maryborough #Frasercoast #industry

 

Susan Brandt - Movie Maker and Local History, Local Music

Susan Brandt an enthusiastic historian.



Fraser Coast Libraries and the Maryborough and Wide Bay Burnett Historical Society Inc have been working on a Historypin project called Local Music, Local History. A small group of dedicated contributors have made this the most successful collaborative project yet launched by the Partnership since it began early in 2015. Susan Brandt is one of those volunteers. Susan is a keen history enthusiast who attends all our local events. When we wanted to try and challenge our production of content on the Historypin site she keenly offered to assist.  She also always asks interesting questions which helps complete the story of the pictures we find.

Susan says her interest in history began when she was growing up. Reading biographies about the childhoods of well-known people was one of her favourite past times. “There was a popular series in the libraries at that time.  It was called When they were Young. This fostered my love of historical novels and later history in high school and university” enthused  Susan.
Susan continued “Years later I worked in Aged Care. It was often quite demanding work, but one of the principal enjoyments of it was the reward of listening to older folk tell their life stories”.

Susan claims she has never done any formal research, but when she retired she joined two local historical societies in North West Sydney where she has  lived most of her life. “This area, which centred around Castle Hill, was one of the earliest settled areas of the colony of New South Wales, and the local history groups had marvellous material with which to work, including quite a few folk who were descended from the earliest European settlers” she explains.

“When I retired to the Fraser Coast in 2015, to be near my relatives, I knew very little of the history of Queensland at all. My first connection was discovering the Mary River was named after the Governor's wife, Lady Mary Fitzroy.She had been thrown from her carriage and killed in the grounds of Government House Parramatta, caused by the reckless driving of her husband the Governor. The spot was well known to me as it is very well marked in Parramatta Park”.

“Following that, I discovered the grave of John Carne Bidwill and read about his early role in the establishment of  Maryborough. The early settlers' homes in North West Sydney were often marked by the tree named after him: the Bunya or Araucaria bidwillii. Many still remain. From those connections I guess I just read any local history book I could find and attended history talks in the library. I have found the history of the area absolutely fascinating” she impassions.

Robin Hinricks, Marilyn Jensen and Susan Brandt sharing some music history photos.

“Historypin is interesting because it encourages local people to share their stories, and especially their old photos. Local information of this kind completes the picture that formal histories only touch upon” she continues. “This is especially so, in understanding the life of any community, how they worked, what interested them in times past. I would never have known of the role Alfred Wynne played in the community with his music store and radio station, were it not for the photos and information collected for the recent Historypin project about him”.

Susan Brandt, Marilyn Jensen and Ken Brooks (President of the Maryborough, Wide Bay and Burnett Historical Society Inc) getting the hang of Movie Maker.

We find History fascinating as well!

Do you know anything about the Fraser Coast’s Music History?

Susan Brandt and Marilyn Jensen used moviemaker to create a slide show of historical photos from 4MB. These can be found here

And it is a great effort, especially as it was a first go!

Other contributors include Marilyn Jensen, Peter Groom, Elwin Andersen, Karen Lynch and Robin Hinricks. Please feel free to come to the Historypin chat group on the first Tuesday of the month from 12-1pm at the Maryborough Library. You can also become a member on Historypin and add content to the libraries site.

Tags: #Historypin  #Frasercoastlibraries  #Localhistorylocalmusic