Hi Marg, I note that James Stewart & Co was a department store. I could be wrong but I would think that the "eldest son" might not have travelled rough, as my "two brothers" did throughout north Queensland. As Bev as pointed out, stage coaches did the trip, but there was also a lot of coastal shipping and if passengers were prepared to work on board, or sleep rough, fares could be come by very cheaply. One of my "brothers", at least by 1907, had a carrying business of sorts (one dray) at Townsville and I know that he took passengers. I imagine this may have been a fairly common method of transport for a lone male. I've picked up a couple of drovers listed as NSW train passengers on TROVE around that period (presumably returning after having delivered the stock to their destination). I think it was rather cute that train passengers' names were published. Not sure if this also occurred in Queensland, but worth a shot. Regards Barbara

Helle Listers,James Stewart & Co is still a department store in Rockhampton. At least in 1896, the rail went to Gladstone, but if I remember correctly, the link to Rockhampton was not made until 1902, so the usual mode of transport from Brisbane to Rockhampton was by coastal steamer. Many of these boats went right up the river and docked alongside Quay St in Rockhampton (probably named for obvious reasons). I believe some of the immigrant ships which would have arrived earlier than that were moored in Keppel Bay and the passengers boated in from there to the Immigration Depot for processing. I think there was a rail link from Brisbane to Toowoomba, or Ipswich and Toowoomba maybe. Im not 100% certain on which towns at that time. If you go onto Trove, you will find many passengers on these coastal steamers listed in Arrivals and Departures. Generally steerage passengers are not listed, and often the cabin passengers are only mentioned by surname. I havent come across any of the local papers listed rail passengers as such - just in social notes of comings and goings from Rockhampton hotels and whether they arrived or departed by train. There are several Rockhampton papers now digitised on the Trove site, so it is worth a look. Anyway, once in Rocky one could travel quite easily west on the rail - it arrived in Emerald in 1879; Capella (north of Emerald) in 1882; Clermont (still further north of Capella) in 1884. The lines from Emerald to Springsure (south); and Emerald to Barcaldine (west) were both completed in 1887. The construction of the rail line superseded the coach routes, and coaches simply kept running the remainder of the way from wherever the rail head happened to be, until it was completed. Mail services which conveyed passengers continued to service routes not on the rail. I hope this is of some use. Estelle > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:48:26 +1100 > Subject: Re: [AUS-QLD] Getting around in 1892 ? > > Hi Marg, > > I note that James Stewart & Co was a department store. I could be wrong but > I would think that the "eldest son" might not have travelled rough, as my > "two brothers" did throughout north Queensland. > > As Bev as pointed out, stage coaches did the trip, but there was also a lot > of coastal shipping and if passengers were prepared to work on board, or > sleep rough, fares could be come by very cheaply. > > One of my "brothers", at least by 1907, had a carrying business of sorts > (one dray) at Townsville and I know that he took passengers. I imagine this > may have been a fairly common method of transport for a lone male. > > I've picked up a couple of drovers listed as NSW train passengers on TROVE > around that period (presumably returning after having delivered the stock to > their destination). I think it was rather cute that train passengers' names > were published. Not sure if this also occurred in Queensland, but worth a > shot. > > Regards > Barbara > > Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply...... Thank you! > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message