Thomas Henry FitzGerald

Thomas Henry FitzGerald (1824-1888) was a pioneer in sugar cane farming and politics in the early days of the colony of Queensland, Australia. His descendants went on to become notable names in Queensland politics, business and law. He will be best remembered for founding the town of Innisfail, Queensland.

Over a varied and interesting life, FitzGerald was a surveyor, sugar cane farmer, area Superintendent, Colonial Treasurer and pioneer.

Born in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland in 1824, FitzGerald, like many of his compatriots of the time, left Ireland to seek fortune elsewhere (see Irish diaspora). While from County Monaghan, records from New Zealand in particular indicate that FitzGerald may have identified himself with County Kerry. He first went to New Zealand in 1842 where he trained and worked as a surveyor. He took a very active part in Hawke's Bay politics, and was instrumental in the separation of this province from Wellington, and on the formation of the Hawke's Bay Province became its first superintendent from 1859 to 1861.

He represented the County of Hawke electorate in the New Zealand Parliament in 1860, from 26 April to 5 November, when he apparently retired. According to Wilson, this was the only period for which this electorate existed.

In 1862, he then moved to the colony of Queensland, Australia. He settled in Brisbane and, through his work, saw early experiments in growing sugar cane in Queensland's sub-tropical climate. In 1866, while surveying in Mackay, Queensland he established the Alexandra sugar cane plantation. Over time, he developed a further four plantations in the region. The Alexandra mill was notable as it introduced new efficiencies into sugar cane milling, making the farming of sugar cane more accessible to the small farmers who, until that point, had mainly farmed cotton and maize. Between 1865 and 1871 the land under sugar cultivation had increased from 20 acres to convert|2493|acre|km2|0. By 1876, this had increased to convert|5568|acre|km2|0 and by 1884 it had reached convert|19320|acre|km2|0.

Like many pioneers, FitzGerald juggled active interests in business, politics and professional life (as a surveyor, FitzGerald laid out the original town survey for what would become the city of Mackay).

In 1867, he was elected to the seat of Rockhampton. His election was challenged on a technicality and he resigned. He later ran for Parliament again, this time for the larger seat of Kennedy and was elected on 19 July 1867. He was appointed Colonial Treasurer in November 1868 in the government of Charles Lilley, a post he held for three months. In June 1869, he resigned from the seat of Kennedy, later holding the seat of Bowen between 1873 and 1875. One of his agendas through his term was to legislate for the introduction of cheap labour for the canefields. FitzGerald's interest in this was very direct: times were very difficult in the industry and cheap labour was seen as an answer to the many problems in founding sugar cane plantations. The following years heaped even more misery upon him and his fellow farmers in the region, mainly in the torrential rains which brought about widespread cane rust. FitzGerald was declared bankrupt and had to resign his seat from Parliament, this time for ever.

FitzGerald returned to Brisbane, although his dreams of establishing settlements in far north Queensland had not died. With some backing from the Catholic Church (FitzGerald was a devout Catholic), he established, in 1880, a plantation and accompanying settlement, which later became the town of Innisfail in far north Queensland. However, despite the eventual success of the town, the early years were very trying for FitzGerald. Weather conditions (flooding in particular) made farming difficult, sugar prices were not good (competition against bigger milling operations did not make this easier) and ultimately managing the diseases that came with new settlements in sub-tropical regions proved too much for FitzGerald. He retired to Brisbane once again in poor health and died in 1888 at the age of 64.

His legacy

While having varying financial success in his life (more down than up), FitzGerald is remarked upon for his pioneering spirit - the desire to establish something greater than personal fortune despite all the failures and disappointments. For many Irish people deciding upon Australia as their new home in the world the result was often similar. What FitzGerald saw was the future - a rich and fertile far north Queensland that could house many people and feed even more. The areas he surveyed, from the Daintree down to Tully, are now some of the world's most desirable tourist locations and most productive farm lands.

What he did was take the first difficult steps in showing people that the land could be farmed well. The rush that ensued, particularly encouraged by the successful methods of the Alexandra mill, established an entire industry and led to the growth of a strong economy in north Queensland.

Innisfail was originally the name for FitzGerald's own property. The Surveyor-General called the town Geraldton, in FitzGerald's honour, in 1882. However, a Russian ship bound for Geraldton, Western Australia arrived at the port to collect a load of jarrah wood. This would be the equivalent of a ship sailing up the Potomac to Washington DC in order to collect trees from the forests of Washington State. A public meeting was held in 1910 and the name of the town was officially changed to Innisfail. A school in North Mackay is also named in his honour.

Another success which he did not live to see was that of his children and their descendants. In his immediate family of 11, most notable was Charles Borromeo FitzGerald, who held the seat of Mitchell from 1896 to 1902 and was appointed Attorney-General in the short-lived Labor government under Anderson Dawson – the first Labor government in the world. Ironically, the Labor Party was one of the primary drivers of the White Australia Policy, looking to stop the influx of foreign labour into the Australian economy (in particular the sugar cane farms of north Queensland). In subsequent generations, the scions of the Thomas Henry FitzGerald family would establish themselves in business, law (the succeeding generations of lawyers named James Francis FitzGerald), education, the clergy and the military.

Here and there are other little legacies of FitzGerald - the place name of Te Kowai in Queensland was named by FitzGerald after the flower of the same name he first saw in New Zealand as a younger man.

References

"New Zealand Parliamentary Record 1840-1984" by J. O. Wilson (1985, Government Printer, Wellington)