Hodgkinson's Marked Tree is a heritage-listed

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

Rocklands Station Rocklands Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station along the border of the Northern Territory and Queensland in the Barkly Tableland region. The station was established in 1864 by brothers James and George Sutherland. It ...

Camooweal Camooweal is an outback town and locality in the City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the Queensland border with the Northern Territory. In the , the locality of Camooweal had a population of 236 people. Geography The ...

City of Mount Isa The City of Mount Isa is a local government area in north west Queensland. The City covers the urban locality of Mount Isa, the administrative centre, and surrounding area, sharing a boundary with the Northern Territory to the west. Mount Isa ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

Hodgkinson's Marked Tree on the northeastern shore of Lake Mary, Rocklands Station, near

, was marked during William Oswald Hodgkinson's North-West Expedition of 1876 to identify new grazing land in far western Queensland. This was the last government-sponsored exploratory expedition in Queensland, taking Hodgkinson to the Diamantina,

Mulligan Mulligan(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Buck Mulligan, a fictional character in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Mulligan (games), a second chance given to a player to perform a certain move or action * Mulligan (TV series), ''Mulliga ...

and

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, Northern Territor ...

rivers, then north to Normanton via the

Gregory Gregory may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gregory (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gregory (surname), a surname *Gregory (The Walking Dead), fictional character from the walkin ...

Cloncurry Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is informally known by local people as The Curry. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry. Cloncurry is known as the ''Friendl ...

and

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

Rivers. Explorer

William Landsborough William Landsborough (21 February 1825 – 16 March 1886) was an explorer of Australia. He was notable for being the first explorer to complete a North-to-South crossing of Australia. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council. ...

was the first European to pass through the Camooweal area. At the time (1861–62) he was looking for

Burke and Wills The Burke and Wills expedition (originally called the Victorian Exploring Expedition) was an exploration expedition organised by the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) in Australia in 1860–61. The exploration party initially consisted of nine ...

. His reports led to the area being settled by pastoralists who established sheep runs in the district a few years after his expedition. The first settler to the area was John Sutherland, who with John Frazer and William Hanson of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

successfully applied for the Rocklands lease in 1865. Loss of stock to

dingo The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...

s combined with isolation, scarcity of labour and transport difficulties forced him to abandon his lease. In September 1875 the lease was auctioned and Benjamin Crosthwaite purchased Rocklands. In September 1876 William Oswald Hodgkinson during his north west exploration camped beside Lake Mary on Crosthwaite's property, near the station homestead on the eastern side of the lake, just north of the later town of

. William Oswald Hodgkinson first visited Australia in 1851 as a midshipman. By 1853 he was working for the Victorian Colonial Government until returning to England . In 1859 he returned to Australia to join the literary staff of

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

newspaper. He started with the ill-fated

Burke and Wills expedition The Burke and Wills expedition (originally called the Victorian Exploring Expedition) was an exploration expedition organised by the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) in Australia in 1860–61. The exploration party initially consisted of ninet ...

in 1860 and the following year joined in

John McKinlay John McKinlay (26 August 1819 – 31 December 1872)
,

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

and

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airport ...

before moving to the Ravenswood gold fields in 1868. In 1870 he was appointed mining warden and police magistrate on the Etheridge goldfield and in 1876

James Venture Mulligan James Venture Mulligan (13 February 1837 – 24 August 1907) was an Ireland-born Australian prospector and explorer. Early life Mulligan was born in Drumgooland, County Down and emigrated to Australia at the age of 21 in 1860. He settled at ...

named the

Hodgkinson goldfield The Hodgkinson Mineral Area was a mining area near the Hodgkinson River about west of Cairns, in the present-day Shire of Mareeba in Queensland, Australia. It was the site of a gold rush in the 1870s. History Prospector James Venture Mulliga ...

after him. Hodgkinson was

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

for

Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, Norman-Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...

in 1874–75, resigning to lead the North West Expedition. From 1878 to 1886 he served as mining warden on the Etheridge, the

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

and at

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. Located in the Greater Sunshine Coast, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River ( ...

. He was a member of the

Queensland Parliament The Parliament of Queensland is the unicameral legislative body of the Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Queensland, and the ...

on several occasions, serving as Minister of Mines and Works from 12 December 1887 to 13 June 1888 and Minister of Mines and Public Instruction from 12 August 1890 to 27 March 1893. By correspondence dated 29 September 1875, Hodgkinson was instructed by the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

to seek out pastoral country known to exist on the

Diamantina River The Diamantina River is a major river in Central West Queensland and the far north of South Australia. The river was named by William Landsborough in 1866 for Lady Diamantina Bowen (née Roma), wife of Sir George Bowen, the first Governor of Qu ...

and areas to its west towards the border with

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

's northern territory (now the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

). In 1877, Hodgkinson's report of his explorations from 13 April to 27 September 1876 was published in the Votes and Proceedings of the Queensland Parliament. On 17 September 1876 Hodgkinson traversed country below the junction of Rankin's Creek with the

Herbert River The Herbert River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it was named in 1864 by George Elphinstone Dalrymple explorer, after Robert Herbert, Robert George Wyndham Herbert, th ...

, which had been occupied before but abandoned due to the pastoral crisis of 1866 and the scarcity of labour and transport. By 26 September Hodgkinson had travelled up the Herbert River to Lake Mary, where he found Landsborough's Camp 22 marked tree of "XMAS 1861". Like Landsborough, Hodgkinson also camped on the shores of Lake Mary. He too marked a tree to show that his North-West Expedition had been there, reporting that he used a "broad arrow over H over LXXXVIII over 27-10 over 1876". On the map attached to his report he noted this camp as marked by a broad arrow over LXXXVIII over Sep 27 over 1876, and the entry date in his report is 27 September, not October. This was the last tree that Hodgkinson reported as marking during the 1876 expedition, but the map accompanying his report indicates further camp sites as the expedition continued north east along the Gregory River. Whether trees were marked at these other camps is not indicated on the 1876 map, but a 1920 survey plan showing pastoral holdings in this area indicates that Hodgkinson had marked a tree at camp 90 (broad arrow over H over XC over O), near where he crossed the O'Shanassy River. It is likely a tree was marked at each camp site as this was the usual practice of exploratory parties, so that others might follow. Hodgkinson's Marked Tree at Rocklands Station was entered in the

National Trust of Queensland National Trust of Queensland is a membership-based community organisation to "promote the natural, Indigenous and cultural heritage" of Queensland. It was founded in 1963. It is a member of the National Trust of Australia, which federates the ...

's Register of Significant Trees in 1983. At that time a photograph attached to the nomination showed that the original markings were still visible. The place was entered in the Queensland Heritage Register in August 1992 under the transitional provisions of the

Queensland Heritage Act 1992 The ''Queensland Heritage Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland that establishes a legislative framework for the registration and protection of places of local and statewide significance. The Act established the Queensland Her ...

. On Christmas Day 2003 a family group travelled by boat up the

Georgina River The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Georg ...

from Camooweal to Lake Mary to check on the Hodgkinson Tree and found it was healthy and still leaning over the lake.

Description

The Hodgkinson Tree is a mature Coolibah tree (

Eucalyptus microtheca ''Eucalyptus microtheca'', with many common names including desert box, coolibah, callaille, targoon, yathoo or coolabah, is a species of tree that is Endemism, endemic to northern Australia. It has rough, flaky or fibrous bark on the trunk and ...

) on the northeastern bank of Lake Mary, in the Rocklands Station homestead paddock north of Camooweal. It leans over the lake, which is part of the Georgina River system. The National Trust of Queensland holds a photocopy of a photograph of the tree, showing carved into a branch, above a fork in the trunk, a broad arrow over H over LXXXVIII over Sep 27 over 1876. These markings are believed to be still visible.

Heritage listing

Hodgkinson's Marked Tree was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. This Coolibah tree was marked on 27 September 1876 to record camp 88 of William Oswald Hodgkinson's government-sponsored North-West Expedition in search of unexplored pastoral country in far western Queensland. The tree marked the end of Hodgkinson's main exploratory work during this expedition, the country further north being reasonably well known by this date. Due to Hodgkinson's efforts valuable pastoral lands were opened, leading to the viable development of far western Queensland. Hodgkinson's Marked Tree is symbolic of the nature and pattern of exploration of the Australian interior in the mid 19th century and is important surviving evidence of this principal theme in Queensland's history. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. This marked tree has a special association with the work of William Oswald Hodgkinson, an explorer, journalist, goldfields warden/police magistrate and politician who in many and varied activities made a significant contribution to the development of Queensland from the 1860s to the 1890s.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Hodgkinson's Marked Tree Queensland Heritage Register Camooweal Individual trees in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register