Above: Wagons at Farnborough Sugar Mill. John Oxley photo from Panochini(2001).
Acknowledgments: Information for this page has been sourced from Panochini, Peter (2001). The Trail of Endurance: A journey from paradise, Yeppoon: Livingston Shire Council, South Sea Islander Cultural Mapping Project.
The Joskeleigh Museum has a photo collection and other interpretive material from the Cultural Mapping Project. Panochini's The Trail of Endurance book is available from several of Queensland's museums and is highly recommended. The John Oxley Library in Brisbane is likely the best source for photos of the mill and related activities.
It is still possible to find some artefacts from the sugar industry on the Capricorn Coast, and the Joskeleigh Museum has a two-wheeled cart (below), one of the types used for hauling cane on the Farnborough Plantation (period photos also show four-wheeled carts).
The Yeppoon Sugar Company mill and plantation at Farnborough operated from 1883 until 1901, when labour laws were changed to stop the use of Islander labour. A short-lived plantation and mill was also established at Alton Downs (Pandora Mill), and another plantation (Cawarral Sugar Company) likely existed at Cawarral, but both failed with the price crash of 1884.
Although cane was collected from as far away as Tanby, Zilzie and Joskeleigh the mill had many problems (including failure to sell all the company's shares, water shortage, poor roads, and low sugar prices), resulting in forclosure in 1898.
The second (private) company increased the capacity of the mill from 80 to 130 tons per day (or about 2,000 tons of sugar in a season) and made other improvements. While the mill did acquire a steam traction engine for hauling, most of the heavy work was done by Kanakas (Islanders), even on the small privately owned farms beyond the plantation. With the passing of the Pacific Islands Labour Act in 1901 the mill closed and assets were disposed of over the following years.
While transportation was a major problem, it is unlikely that there was sufficient water or suitable cane growing areas within the mill's likely service area to justify a mill, even if there had been a rail/tram connection.
last updated: 10/06/10.