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--- maroon_and_rathdowney [2026/03/28 17:21] – judith
+++ maroon_and_rathdowney [2026/05/30 18:14] (current) – judith
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 [[wp>Maroon,_Queensland|Maroon]] is in the Logan district, south-west Queensland. [[wp>Mount_Lindesay_(Queensland)|Mt Lindesay]] was on Maroon's south boundary. It was country belonging to the Yuggerabul (or Yugarapul or Ugarapul) Indigenous group.((Angela Collyer, //Templin: a German settlement in Queensland//, Fassifern District Historical Society, 1992, p.1.)) Evidence of a rock shelter dates their occupation at least back to 1300 BC.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.14.)) By 1864 the indigenous owners had been dispossessed and largely decimated though 'tension' continued until the 1880s.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.14.)) Originally, the property name was spelt Marroon. There are conflicting beliefs about the name's derivation. The Wiki entry for //Maroon// states it was derived from wahlmoorum, which is the Yaggera language name for Mount Ballow, associated with a legendary giant sand goanna.(([[wp>Maroon,_Queensland]]; Rosa Praed letter to //The Courier-Mail//, 5 March 19??, in possession J. Godden.)) Deb Stenzel states that it derives from the Aboriginal name for Mt Maroon - 'murran'.((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) \\
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-Rosa Praed described //Maroon// in a number of her books, including as the //Doondi// station in her novel //The Head Station//.((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, p.36.)) Rosa also reminisced about //Maroon// in a letter to her stepsister Dorothy, 'the view from the Maroon verandah - the old racecourse and paddock and the river with its still deep pools', but also noted that, when she last visited the property in 1893, 'it had all greatly changed'.((quoted in Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa!//)) //Maroon// had rich river flats but in its outer reaches 'the imposing Mounts Maroon, Barney, Ballow and Clunie overlooked wild, thickly timbered rainforest, rocky gorges and ravines, crater lakes, waterfalls, and rugged scrub country.'((Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa!// p.22)) Deb Stenzel, a local resident who is an expert in the area's history, notes that (from her study of the original survey documents included in the Selection files in the Qld Archives) that most of the land fairly close to the homestead was quite open forest country, and not the dense vine scrubs that covered other parts of the district (including a fair bit of the original //Maroon// run). The geology also indicates that it supported open forest country. Most of the early pastoral run homesteads were built in more open country ... - less trees to be cleared, allowing easy grazing for sheep and cattle.((Deb Stenzel, email to J Godden, 16 July 2023))\\
+Rosa Praed described //Maroon// in a number of her books, including as the //Doondi// station in her novel //The Head Station//.((Roderick, //In Mortal Bondage//, p.36.)) She kept a notebook of snippets (mainly of letters sent by Australian relatives and friends) which she then used in her books. Her notes on Maroon depicted its 'deep wide veranda. Cane chairs. A hammock, filter, the verandah closed in by cloth of gold roses. A big orange tree at the end. View of mountains'. She also recalled a banana tree, and wall brackets for hanging ferns. She especially conjured up the many colours of the garden in its various seasons. At the end of the verandah, there was a wild jessamine with clusters of large white sweet-smelling blossom. There was a bignonia with its 'large flame-coloured bell'-like flowers; a Rhyncospermum (Star Jasmine - Rosa spelt it Rhincaspernum) growing over a frame; a 'shrub with purple flowers like a periwinkle'; a francesia (known as yesterday, today and tomorrrow for its changing flowers from purple to lavender to white); and honeyshuckle growing over a trellis. At the shadiest end of the verandah was a bush house with a roof of branches and bark. In its cool, dark interior grew staghorns, bird's nest and other ferns, and various 'scrub plants'. In other places, Rosa described a trellis covered with a large vine of Isabella (black) grapes and on a nearby hill, rows of grapes - they always had more grapes, she wrote, than they could eat. The front verandah had roses either end and a 'vine which bore large orange flowers' (perhaps the prolific Orange Trumpet Vine). There were also orange trees at both sides of the house and a gravel pathway.((Praed notebook, Praed papers, Box 3/item 125, unpaginated)). It was, she remembered, 'very pretty' - though she might have added that it depended on the season and whether there was a drought.
+Rosa described the homestead as originally having just two large rooms - a sitting room and a bedroom - but also 'a good many verandah rooms. It was gradually rebuilt. She recalled her and other rooms decorated with pictures out of the newspaper //Illustrated News//. Like all large country homes then, it was warmed by wood burning in a large open fireplace. The drawing room had 'Dark cedar walls. paintings upon them & Indian brass trays etc. Small narrow windows at the end with view of Mt Barney'((Praed papers. Box 23)) Lizzie recalled to Rosa that Maroon had an 'old dairy ... As a child I remember playing there & helping Mama to churn' butter.((Praed papers, Rosa's notebook Box 23/6/1? 20250416_115534.jpg))  Rosa also reminisced about //Maroon// in a letter to her stepsister Dorothy, 'the view from the Maroon verandah - the old racecourse and paddock and the river with its still deep pools', but also noted that, when she last visited the property in 1893, 'it had all greatly changed'.((quoted in Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa!//)) \\
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-The following map from Collin Pfeffer's well-researched //The Fassifern Story// shows //Maroon// and adjoining properties.{{:the_fassifern_story_map.jpg?350|}}((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.21.)) Proximity did not necessarily mean easy access. Deb Stenzel, for example, points out that the boundary between //Maroon// and //Coochin Coochin// was a ridgeway.\\
+Maroon also housed at least some of TLM-P's collection of oil paintings, including an alter piece (dated 1600), Madonnas and 'some curious Dutch subjects'. Rosa described these as looking 'strange and incongruous in a Bush dwelling but gave the house a character of its own.' Many of these ended up as the nucleus of the Queensland Art Gallery as outlined in [[brisbane_art_gallery|Brisbane Art Gallery]].((Praed notebook, Praed papers, Box 3/item 125, Unpaginated.))\\
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+//Maroon// had rich river flats and was watered by Logan river. Rosa recalled the ferns and tea-trees which grew along its banks, and the clear water which varied from shallow and suitable for paddling  to deep enough to fear drowning. She delighted in the majestic local mountains, Mts Marroon and Barney.((Praed notebook, Praed papers, Box 3/item 125)) The property's outer reaches 'overlooked wild, thickly timbered rainforest, rocky gorges and ravines, crater lakes, waterfalls, and rugged scrub country.'((Patricia Clarke, //Rosa! Rosa!// p.22)) Deb Stenzel, a local resident who is an expert in the area's history, notes that (from her study of the original survey documents included in the Selection files in the Qld Archives) that most of the land fairly close to the homestead was quite open forest country, and not the dense vine scrubs that covered other parts of the district (including a fair bit of the original //Maroon// run). The geology also indicates that it supported open forest country. Most of the early pastoral run homesteads were built in more open country ... - less trees to be cleared, allowing easy grazing for sheep and cattle.((Deb Stenzel, email to J Godden, 16 July 2023))\\
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+The following map from Collin Pfeffer's well-researched //The Fassifern Story// shows //Maroon// and adjoining properties.{{:the_fassifern_story_map.jpg?350|}}((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.21.)) Proximity did not necessarily mean easy access. Deb Stenzel, for example, points out that the boundary between //Maroon// and //Coochin Coochin// was a ridgeway. Rosa recalled that the one driving road was 'so bad and hilly that we had to get out of the buggy and walk behind it with sticks ready to prop up the wheels'.((Praed notebook, Praed papers, Box 3/item 125))\\
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 When TLM-P bought //Maroon//, the area was sparsely settled. Rosa Praed wrote that the family went via Ipswich (then the nearest town), and had to hack their way through the Dugandan Scrub to reach their new home.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)): 'It used to take a whole day getting through the Dugandine Scrub, for though its width was not great, progress was extremely slow. A boy had to go in front with his tomahawk to chop away vines and remove logs; and sometimes a huge tree would have fallen, which necessitated camping a while and clearing a fresh track round it ... We children would walk on each side of the buggy ready with large sticks or stones to prop the wheels when the horses jibbedm... The scrub was something like an Indian jungle, only less dense. Here, where the sun never penetrated, the rich soil and decaying vegetation gave out an earthly and unforgettable smell. The trees had glossy leaves, and mostly bore berries - some poisonous, others like the chucky-chuckles and purple plum wholesome and delicious."[Rathdowney display - from My Austn Girlhood?]  Later Rosa would mourn how the scrub had been cleared: 'The scrub is gone - the lovely,beautiful scrub, which can never be made again. One cannot now hear the dingoes howling and the melancholy note of the morepork[check] nor the faint crying of the native bear. Instead of the long gum stretches there are patches of maize and millet.'((Clipping from unknown newspaper, 13 February 1909 prob quoting My An Girlhood in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 23/5/1)) \\
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 TLM-P's timing when buying //Maroon// was unfortunate as he bought just before a prolonged drought. As well, a little over a year after his purchase, the [[wp>Panic_of_1866|British financial turmoil of 1866]] restricted colonial investment and caused a recession.((Ross Fitzgerald, //From the Dreaming to 1915. A History of Queensland//, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982, p.143.)) //Maroon// satisfied his desire for land and colonial gentry status, and provided a rich source for Rosa when writing about Australia, but never bought easy prosperity. It is significant that TLM-P acquired it from the Bank of Australasia after the previous owner forfeited it.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.))\\
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-Despite the drought and recession, TLM-P and Matilda had enough money left over to build a new, red-cedar lined, large home. In April-May 1867 he employed two builders to erect a new kitchen contacted by steps and a verandah to the main building, two 'privies' (toilets), repairing the stables and other work. Cedar was used for some of this work. This building work was more successful than his employment of bricklayers in 1866. As noted in //Maroon//'s ledger, 'Men engaged to make bricks at 40/-per 1000 provided that they could find proper clay. They were evidently not judges of clay and absconded after drawing the rations' worth £1.11.0.((MLMSS3117/Box 9)) \\
+Despite the drought and recession, TLM-P and Matilda had enough money left over to build a new, red-cedar lined, large home. In April-May 1867 he employed two builders to erect a new kitchen connected by steps and a verandah to the main building, two 'privies' (toilets), repairing the stables and other work. Cedar was used for some of this work. This building work was more successful than his employment of bricklayers in 1866. As noted in //Maroon//'s ledger, 'Men engaged to make bricks at 40/-per 1000 provided that they could find proper clay. They were evidently not judges of clay and absconded after drawing the rations' worth £1.11.0.((MLMSS3117/Box 9)) \\
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 The 1871 census recorded //Maroon// as having two houses with 20 people living there, so presumably the original homestead became the workers' quarters.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.20.)) By 1880, the local council's rate book valued the buildings at £52.10.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.)) As with all such properties, there were quarters for the employees, stores for meat and other goods, and workshops. The local //Fassifern Guardian// described it as one of Queensland's 'most historic homesteads', with 'walls of locally dressed cedar, its impressive fireplaces of Ipswich limestone slabs and its shingle roof'.((//Fassifern Guardian//, 19 November 1947, p.1.)) //Maroon// by this stage was more like a small village. TLM-P's children, his grandchildren, neighbours and relatives lived there and/or visited. As well, there were employees and their families. The result, Nora wrote to Rosa in 1881, no-one could 'go around a corner ... without tumbling over a child'((Nora to Rosa, 29 October 1881)). The employees' names were not always recorded in his diaries (as opposed to the ledgers) though in his 1888 diary, TLM-P noted that he was welcomed home by "Mrs Smails and the children'.((24 August))  \\