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For shade, colour and in memory of sacrifice: Amenity and memorial tree planting in Queensland's towns and cities, 1915–55

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2015

Peter Griggs
Peter Griggs*
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Extract

During the inter-war period, parts of Queensland were subjected to continued deforestation as successive state governments encouraged more intensive use of the state's vast land reserves. Yet running parallel to this process was the deliberate planting of mainly exotic tree species — although it was on a small scale and located mostly throughout the streets of the state's urban centres. This activity can be considered part of the earliest town planning efforts to improve the quality of the urban landscape in Queensland's settlements, through the provision of shade and attractive surroundings. However, the public demands for street trees can also be seen as part of a wider community movement that was concerned about the type of environment being created in Queensland, particularly as so much of the state's native forests were being destroyed and parts of the state during the 1910s and 1920s were overrun with prickly pear.

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Articles
Information
Queensland Review , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , June 2015 , pp. 30 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

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References

Endnotes

1 For general details on deforestation in Queensland after 1900, see Fitzgerald, Ross, From 1915 to the early 1980s: A history of Queensland (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1984), pp. 79–83Google Scholar.

2 Lyndal Plant and Adam Tom, ‘Brisbane's urban forest’, Trees and Natural Resources (March 1996), 6.

3 For the most comprehensive accounts on this topic, see the following: Chris McConville, Sean O’Keeffe and Marie Lynch, ‘The town planning association in Queensland 1915–1934: Socialism, regularity and property rights’, in Proceedings 9th Australasian Urban History Planning History Conference, 2008, pp. 237–48; Minnery, John and Choy, Darryl Low, ‘Early innovations and false starts’, in Gleeson, Brendan and Steele, Wendy (eds), A climate for growth: Planning for South-east Queensland (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 2010), pp. 23–38Google Scholar; and Baker, Mark, Visions, dreams and plans: Selected aspects of the history of town planning in Queensland (Brisbane: Author, 2012)Google Scholar.

4 Petrow, Stefan, ‘Planning pioneer: R.A. McInnis and town planning in Queensland 1922–1944’, Journal Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 16 (7) (1997), 28Google Scholar.

5 Jean Sim, ‘Designed landscapes in Queensland, 1859–1939: Experimentation-adaption-innovation’, unpublished PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology (1999), pp. 305–6.

6 Griggs, Peter, ‘Creating shady places: Street tree-planting and public garden formation in Queensland's towns and cities, 1840–1914’, Queensland History Journal, 22 (6) (2014), pp. 441–57Google Scholar.

7 For the formation of these towns, see Walker, Meredith, Historic towns in Queensland (Brisbane: National Trust of Queensland, 1981), pp. 1–18Google Scholar, 1–26 and 1–27, and Baker, Visions, dreams and plans, pp. 13–16.

8 Townsville Daily Bulletin, 4 November 1944, 5.

9 For additional details, see Baker, Visions, dreams and plans, pp. 26–7.

10 Courier-Mail, 25 September 1936, 15; 1 August 1938, 3; 5 December 1938, 8; 3 May 1939, 5.

11 Greenwood, Gordon and Laverty, John, Brisbane 1859–1959: A history of local government (Brisbane: Council of the City of Brisbane, 1959), pp. 410–11Google Scholar; Sim, Jean, ‘Superintending the parks by Harry Moore’, in Fisher, Rod (ed.), Brisbane: Houses, gardens, suburbs and congregations (Brisbane: Brisbane History Group, 2010), pp. 128 and 138Google Scholar; Centenary Park, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Entry No. 602442, p. 1, Queensland Heritage Register, http://www.derm.qld.gov.au (hereafter QHR).

12 McKinnon, Ross, ‘The old botanic gardens of Brisbane: An historical survey’, in Fisher, Rod (ed.), Brisbane: People, places and pageantry (Brisbane: Brisbane History Group, 1987), p. 143Google Scholar; Bowen Park, Entry No. 601523, p. 6, QHR.

13 Worker, 14 January 1915; 16 and 31 January 1918, 9; Brisbane Courier, 29 August 1921, 8 and 23 May 1921, 4; McConville, O’Keeffe and Lynch, ‘The town planning association in Queensland 1915–1934’, 239.

14 Brisbane Courier, 25 March 1922, 6; The Queenslander, 24 March 1923, 16.

15 Brisbane Courier, 29 October 1925, 16; 8 August 1929, 18; Sim, ‘Superintending the parks by Harry Moore’, pp. 128–9.

16 Brisbane Courier, 30 October 1929, 16; 29 August 1930, 12 and 20 December 1930, 12; Item 578/1933 re: street tree planting, in ‘Reports and Proceedings of Brisbane City Council (hereafter Proceedings BCC), 1932–33’, 483, Brisbane City Council Archives (hereafter BCCA).

17 Courier-Mail, 28 November 1934, 17; Victoria Park, Entry No. 602493, 3, QHR.

18 Courier-Mail, 28 November 1934, 17 and 9 January 1935, 10.

19 Courier-Mail, 15 January 1936, 13; 3 December 1937, 16; Item 1488/1935–36 re: street tree planting in Brisbane, in ‘Proceedings BCC, 1935–36’, 622; for examples of requests from residents or community organisations to the council for street trees, see Item 844/1937–38 re: tree planting request by Sherwood Progress Association, in ‘Proceedings BCC 1937–38’, 370 and Item 1451/1938–39 re: tree planting Dewar Terrace, Corinda, in ‘Proceedings BCC, July 1938-June 1939’, 633, BCCA.

20 Courier-Mail, 31 December 1940, 3.

21 BCC, Annual Report (hereafter AR) 1941–42, 12; BCC, AR 1945–46, 18; BCC, AR 1946–47, 28; Courier-Mail, 23 June 1949, 4.

22 Save the Trees Campaign, AR 1950–51, 1; AR 1951–52, 1, John Oxley Library; BCC, ARs 1947–48, 41–42 and 1954–55, 14; Courier-Mail, 22 June 1951, 5.

23 BCC, AR 1965–66, 41; BCC, AR 1966–67, 37.

24 Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 5 July 1948, 6; Toowoomba Tourist Bureau, Toowoomba: Queensland's mountain resort; information for tourists (Toowoomba: Toowoomba Tourist Bureau, 1946), p. 86Google Scholar.

25 For mention of street tree planting throughout Rockhampton, see Cairns Post, 6 November 1918, 4; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 23 May 1921, 7; 15 April 1937, 8; 7 July 1944, 2.

26 Western Champion, 9 June 1928, 4; Courier-Mail, 9 December 1939, 13.

27 Central Queensland Herald, 13 June 1946, 26.

28 Courier-Mail, 30 August 1934; 10 and 9 January 1935, 16.

29 Cairns Post, 14 August 1923, 4.

30 Loveday, Gaye and Schulz, Fahey, Mundubbera 1915 to 1995: Eighty years of local government (Mundubbera: Mundubbera Shire Council, 1995), p. 44Google Scholar; Courier-Mail, 22 May 1937, 7 and 25 October 1940, 4; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 7 July 1944, 2; Townsville Daily Bulletin, 9 July 1953, 8.

31 For the tree species planted in these towns, see Courier-Mail, 9 December 1939, 13 (Roma); Townsville Daily Bulletin, 23 January 1924, 10 (Atherton); Morning Bulletin, 4 June 1941, 4 (Barcaldine); Longreach Leader, 20 August 1938, 5 (Muttaburra); Courier-Mail, 8 September 1938, 4 (Dulacca); and Gee, Patricia, Redcliffe: Looking at the landscape: A history of the creeks, reclamation and trees and of the names of streets, suburbs and parks (Redcliffe: Redcliffe City Council, 2007), pp. 196–7Google Scholar.

32 For the tree species planted in these towns, see: Townsville Daily Bulletin, 23 January 1924, 10 (Atherton); Morning Bulletin, 4 June 1941, 4 (Barcaldine); Cairns Post, 2 July 1954, 7 (Cairns); Loveday and Schulz, Mundubbera 1915 to 1995, p. 44; and Morning Bulletin, 15 May 1937, 14; and 6 May 1939, 11 (Rockhampton).

33 Item 430/1949–50 re: tree planting program, in ‘Minutes of Meetings Brisbane City Council, July 1949 to June 1950, 148, BCCA; Courier- Mail, 19 March 1936, 14; 20 August 1949; 1 and 26 September 1950, 3; Brisbane City Council, AR, 1947–48, 42.

34 The Queenslander, 27 December 1928, 9; Csurhes, Steve (ed.), Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) in Queensland (Brisbane: Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, 1996)Google Scholar, http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/documents/Biosecurity_EnvironmentalPests/IPA-Mesquite-PSA.pdf.

35 For the use of palms in municipal planting schemes prior to 1915, see Sim, ‘Designed landscapes in Queensland, 1859–1939’, 270.

36 Sim, ‘Superintending the parks by Henry Moore’, pp. 128–9.

37 The Western Champion, 3 May 1930, 17; Townsville Daily Bulletin, 19 February 1947, 2.

38 http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/documents/Biosecurity_EnvironmentalPests/IPA-Cocos-Queen-Palm-PP73.pdf.

39 For street tree vandalism in Brisbane, see Brisbane Courier, 5 September 1922, 6; Courier-Mail, 11 October 1933, 11; 30 April 1934, 12; 12 September 1935, 3; 3 December 1937, 16; and 30 September 1941, 4.

40 Townsville Daily Bulletin, 8 January 1947, 3; Cairns Post, 23 March 1933, 4.

41 Item 2192/1932 re: damage to street trees by livestock, in ‘Proceedings, 1932–33’, 30, BCCA; Cairns Post, 1 October 1924, 4.

42 Brisbane Courier, 24 December 1930, 5; Courier-Mail, 29 May 1940, 10; Townsville Daily Bulletin, 8 January 1947, 3.

43 For more details, see Inglis, Ken, Sacred places: War memorials in the Australian landscape (Melbourne: Melbourne University Publishing, 2008)Google Scholar.

44 Gee, Redcliffe, p. 194; Brisbane Courier, 7 August 1923, 7; Nundah and Districts Historical Society Inc., Historical appraisal Kalinga Greenspaces (Brisbane: Brisbane City Council, 1999), p. 26Google Scholar.

45 Eumundi War Memorial Drive, Entry No. 601122, p. 2, QHR; BCC, Natural Environment and Sustainability Branch, Avenues of Honour research report (Brisbane: Brisbane City Council, 2007), p. 51Google Scholar.

46 Courier-Mail, 12 September 1949, 5; Tennyson Memorial Avenue, Monument Australia, http://monumentaustralia.org.au; BCC, Natural Environment and Sustainability Branch, Avenues of Honour research report, p. 42.

47 BCC, Natural Environment and Sustainability Branch, Avenues of Honour research report, p. 5.

48 Eumundi War Memorial Drive, Entry No. 601122, p. 3 and Yeppoon War Memorial, Entry No. 602126, p. 1, QHR; Commonwealth Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Roma and district's Avenue of Heroes (Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Veterans’ Affairs, 2001)Google Scholar.

49 Nundah and Districts Historical Society Inc., Historical appraisal Kalinga Greenspaces, p. 26; Rockhampton Botanic Gardens, Entry No. 601819, p. 3, QHR.

50 Brisbane Courier, 18 March 1922, 17; Ross, Ann, Beerburrum Anzac Avenue of Memorial Trees (Glass House Mountains: Glass House Country RSL Sub-Branch Inc., 2010)Google Scholar.

51 BCC, Natural Environment and Sustainability Branch, Avenues of Honour research report, pp. 5, 20 and 37.

52 Anzac Square, Brisbane, Entry No. 600062, QHR p. 2; Sinclair, Bruce, Toowong Memorial Park (Brisbane: Toowong and District Historical Society, 2011), p. 1Google Scholar.

53 Brisbane Courier, 23 December 1926, 11; for additional details, see Ewart, Merv and Fairhall, Pat, The story of Anzac Memorial Avenue (Strathpine: Pine Rivers Shire Council, 1993)Google Scholar and Gee, Redcliffe, pp. 194–6.

54 Berenis Alcorn, ‘The cultural landscape engineers: Humans and environment in the Maroochy district, 1850–1950’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Queensland (2008), pp. 266–7.

55 BCC, Natural Environment and Sustainability Branch, Avenues of Honour research report, pp. 7 and 10.

56 Yeppoon War Memorial, Entry No. 602126, p. 2, QHR; Graceville Memorial Park, Monument Australia, http://monumentaustralia.org.au; Nundah and Districts Historical Society Inc., Historical appraisal Kalinga Greenspaces, p. 26.

57 Sinclair, Toowong Memorial Park, p. 1; Ross, Beerburrum Anzac Avenue of memorial trees, p. 13.

58 Courier-Mail, 24 July 1948, 3 and 12 September 1949, 5; Eumundi War Memorial Drive, Entry No. 601122, 3 and Roma War Memorial and Heroes Avenue, Entry No. 600824, p. 1, QHR; Alcorn, ‘The cultural landscape engineers’, p. 266.

59 Ross, Beerburrum Anzac Avenue of memorial trees, pp. 9 and 13; Anzac Memorial Avenue, Entry No. 602693, pp. 5–6, QHR.

60 BCC, Natural Environment and Sustainability Branch, Avenues of Honour Research Report, p. 42; Ross, Beerburrum Anzac Avenue of memorial trees, p. 23.

61 Eumundi War Memorial Drive, Entry No. 601122, p. 2, QHR.

62 Toowong Memorial Park, Entry No. 602459, p. 3 and Yeppoon War Memorial, Entry No. 602126, p. 2, QHR.

63 Gee, Redcliffe, p. 196.

64 Diamond, Marion and Smith, Jean, From bulldust to beef roads and beyond: Main Roads — the first fifty years (Brisbane: Main Roads Department, 199?), p. 16Google Scholar; O’Keefe, Sean, ‘The great north coast road: The early development of the Bruce Highway and features of its cultural landscape’, in Professional Historian Association (Queensland) (ed.), Journeys through Queensland history: landscape, place and society (Brisbane: Professional Historian Association (Queensland), 2009), p. 61Google Scholar.

65 Brisbane Courier, 26 July 1934, 18; Cohen, Kay, ‘Kemp, Sir John Robert (1883–1955)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 15 (Canberra: ANU, 2000), 1–2Google Scholar.

66 Queensland Commissioner of Main Roads, AR 1946–47, 13; Courier- Mail, 26 July 1934, 18; The Worker, 8 March 1933, 8.

67 Brisbane Courier, 24 June 1933, 8; Courier- Mail, 4 June 1936, 12; Lock, Arnold, Tropical tapestry: from Capricorn to Cape York (Melbourne: Georgian House, 1956), p. 255Google Scholar.

68 Item 2937/1937–38 re: tree planting along Brisbane to Toowoomba Road, in ‘Proceedings BCC, 1937–38’, 1275, BCCA.

69 Queensland Commissioner of Main Roads, AR 1947–48, 15; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 11 December 1948, 1.

70 Queensland Commissioner of Main Roads, AR 1946–47, 13; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 31 January 1949, pp. 3 and 4 June 1951, 5.

71 Queensland Commissioner of Main Roads, ARs 1953–54, 6; 1956–57, 9; and 1957–58, 12; Central Queensland Herald, 10 June 1954, 31.